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Nonprofits · head to head

CharityEngine vs Mightycause

CharityEngine logo

CharityEngine

Nonprofits

Nonprofit CRM with its own in-house payment processing rather than a third-party gateway

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Mightycause logo

Mightycause

Nonprofits

Fundraising platform for nonprofits and causes

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Mightycause has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: CharityEngine payment processing rates are negotiated and never published, so the total cost cannot be compared to a licence-only CRM without getting a quote and modelling your own volume in basis points.; Mightycause no paid tiers or premium upgrade options available
  • They diverge on capability: CharityEngine covers In-house payment processing, Mightycause covers Campaign creation.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which CharityEngine and Mightycause actually diverge.

Attributes where CharityEngine and Mightycause differ
AttributeCharityEngineMightycause
Starting priceOn requestFree
Pricing modelquotesubscription
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWebWeb, Mobile-responsive
FoundedUnknown2008

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Nonprofits).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in CharityEngine

  • In-house payment processing
  • Recurring giving recovery
  • Direct mail segmentation
  • Peer-to-peer and events
  • Advocacy and membership
  • Marketing automation

Only in Mightycause

  • Campaign creation
  • Donation collection
  • Email campaigns
  • Donation tracking
  • Social sharing
  • Stripe
  • PayPal
  • Google Analytics

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

CharityEngine

  • A nonprofit processing high recurring gift volume that wants card updater and dunning built into the CRM rather than bought separatelynot Mightycause
  • Replacing a stack of a CRM, an email tool and a separate donation gateway with one contract and one reconciliationnot Mightycause
  • A direct mail heavy organisation that needs offline gift entry and mail file segmentation as first-class features, not add-onsnot Mightycause
  • An organisation whose finance team wants a single settlement file that already reconciles to donor recordsnot Mightycause

Mightycause

  • Nonprofits running online donation and peer-to-peer fundraising campaigns without a software subscription feenot CharityEngine

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

CharityEngine

  • Payment processing rates are negotiated and never published, so the total cost cannot be compared to a licence-only CRM without getting a quote and modelling your own volume in basis points.
  • Because the vendor is both the software provider and the merchant processor, switching CRM also means re-papering merchant services and re-tokenising every recurring donor, which is a far larger project than a normal migration.
  • Subscription pricing is quote-only and reported entry points come from third parties rather than the vendor, so small organisations often discover the floor is well above what they budgeted.
  • The interface is dense and configuration-heavy, and organisations without a dedicated database administrator tend to use a fraction of what they pay for.
  • Implementation and data migration are billed on top of the subscription and are commonly the largest first-year line item, which is easy to miss when comparing monthly figures.

Mightycause

  • No paid tiers or premium upgrade options available

Pricing, plan by plan

CharityEngine

On request
  • CharityEngine$undefined/year
    • Donor CRM and gift processing
    • In-house payment processing at a negotiated rate
    • Email, SMS and direct mail tools

Mightycause

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Campaign creation
    • Donation collection
  • Professional$50/month
    • Advanced features
    • Email campaigns
    • Premium support

Which should you pick?

Choose CharityEngine if

  • You need in-house payment processing.
  • You also want recurring giving recovery.
CharityEngine review

Choose Mightycause if

  • You need campaign creation.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Mobile-responsive.
  • You also want donation collection.
Mightycause review

Questions people ask

Is CharityEngine or Mightycause better?
Neither clearly leads. CharityEngine starts at On request and Mightycause at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, CharityEngine or Mightycause?
Mightycause has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for CharityEngine and Free for Mightycause.
Does CharityEngine or Mightycause run on more platforms?
CharityEngine runs on Web. Mightycause runs on Web, Mobile-responsive.
Can I use Mightycause for free?
Yes. Mightycause has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. CharityEngine starts at On request.
What is CharityEngine best used for?
CharityEngine is most often used for a nonprofit processing high recurring gift volume that wants card updater and dunning built into the crm rather than bought separately, replacing a stack of a crm, an email tool and a separate donation gateway with one contract and one reconciliation, a direct mail heavy organisation that needs offline gift entry and mail file segmentation as first-class features, not add-ons, an organisation whose finance team wants a single settlement file that already reconciles to donor records. Of those, a nonprofit processing high recurring gift volume that wants card updater and dunning built into the crm rather than bought separately and replacing a stack of a crm, an email tool and a separate donation gateway with one contract and one reconciliation are not what Mightycause is typically brought in for.
What can CharityEngine do that Mightycause cannot?
CharityEngine covers In-house payment processing, Recurring giving recovery, Direct mail segmentation, Peer-to-peer and events. Mightycause covers Campaign creation, Donation collection, Email campaigns, Donation tracking.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

CharityEngine: Does CharityEngine publish pricing?

No. Both the subscription and the payment processing rate are quoted. Third-party sites report a starter tier around 550 US dollars a month, but the vendor does not confirm this.

Mightycause: How much does Mightycause cost?

Mightycause is completely free to use. The platform provides full fundraising capabilities at zero cost per month for nonprofit organizations.

Source
CharityEngine: Is the payment processing optional?

In practice no. The processing is the product. Using an external gateway removes most of what distinguishes CharityEngine from cheaper CRMs.

Mightycause: Is Mightycause free forever?

Yes, Mightycause charges zero dollars per month for all nonprofit organizations using its fundraising platform.

Source
CharityEngine: Is there a nonprofit discount?

Every customer is a nonprofit, so there is no separate discount; pricing is tiered by contact count and gift volume instead.

Mightycause: Are there any hidden costs or add-on fees?

No hidden costs are mentioned. Mightycause emphasizes that it provides a complete feature set for nonprofit fundraising at no cost, positioning itself as an alternative to paid fundraising tools.

Source
CharityEngine: How long is the contract?

Annual terms are standard, and multi-year commitments are used to buy down the rate.

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