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Nonprofits · head to head

CharityEngine vs SmartSimple Cloud

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
SmartSimple Cloud logo

SmartSimple Cloud

Nonprofits

Configurable grants, research and case management platform for large funders

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • 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.; SmartSimple Cloud almost everything useful is configured rather than switched on, so first-year cost is dominated by professional services and a live system is typically months rather than weeks away.
  • They diverge on capability: CharityEngine covers In-house payment processing, SmartSimple Cloud covers Configurable object model.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which CharityEngine and SmartSimple Cloud actually diverge.

Attributes where CharityEngine and SmartSimple Cloud differ
AttributeCharityEngineSmartSimple Cloud

Identical on both: starting price (On request), pricing model (quote), free tier (No), platforms (Web), 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 SmartSimple Cloud

  • Configurable object model
  • Workflow and approval engine
  • Peer review
  • Budget and payments
  • Grantee portal
  • Report writer
  • Research administration

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 SmartSimple Cloud
  • Replacing a stack of a CRM, an email tool and a separate donation gateway with one contract and one reconciliationnot SmartSimple Cloud
  • A direct mail heavy organisation that needs offline gift entry and mail file segmentation as first-class features, not add-onsnot SmartSimple Cloud
  • An organisation whose finance team wants a single settlement file that already reconciles to donor recordsnot SmartSimple Cloud

SmartSimple Cloud

  • A national research council running peer-reviewed funding calls with panel conflict rules and multi-year milestone paymentsnot CharityEngine
  • A private foundation whose grant process differs enough between programmes that packaged software would need four separate instancesnot CharityEngine
  • A government department that must show a full audit trail of every decision and payment against public fundsnot CharityEngine
  • A health charity running grants and beneficiary case management in one system with shared contact recordsnot 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.

SmartSimple Cloud

  • Almost everything useful is configured rather than switched on, so first-year cost is dominated by professional services and a live system is typically months rather than weeks away.
  • Because each deployment is bespoke, upgrades and new platform features often need configuration work before they apply to your instance, which slows the benefit of paying an annual subscription.
  • Organisations that lose their internal configurator become dependent on the vendor or a partner for even routine form changes, which turns small requests into billable work.
  • The user interface is dense and utilitarian; occasional users such as grant reviewers and applicants need instructions, which increases support load during a funding round.
  • It is priced and scoped for large funders, so a small foundation running one annual round will pay for flexibility it never uses and would be served faster by a packaged tool.

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

SmartSimple Cloud

On request
  • SmartSimple Cloud$undefined/year
    • Configurable grants, review and case management
    • Grantee and reviewer portals
    • Annual subscription plus separate implementation engagement

Which should you pick?

Choose CharityEngine if

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

Choose SmartSimple Cloud if

  • You need configurable object model.
  • You also want workflow and approval engine.
SmartSimple Cloud review

Questions people ask

Is CharityEngine or SmartSimple Cloud better?
Neither clearly leads. CharityEngine starts at On request and SmartSimple Cloud at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, CharityEngine or SmartSimple Cloud?
CharityEngine starts at On request and SmartSimple Cloud at On request.
Does CharityEngine or SmartSimple Cloud run on more platforms?
Both run on Web, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
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 SmartSimple Cloud is typically brought in for.
What can CharityEngine do that SmartSimple Cloud cannot?
CharityEngine covers In-house payment processing, Recurring giving recovery, Direct mail segmentation, Peer-to-peer and events. SmartSimple Cloud covers Configurable object model, Workflow and approval engine, Peer review, Budget and payments.

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.

SmartSimple Cloud: How long does implementation take?

Plan in months, not weeks. Complex multi-programme funders routinely run six to twelve month implementations, and that work is billed separately from the subscription.

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.

SmartSimple Cloud: Is pricing published?

No. It is quoted by modules, user counts and configuration scope. Ask specifically what future configuration changes cost, because that is the recurring surprise.

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.

SmartSimple Cloud: Can it handle multi-currency, multi-year grants?

Yes. Tranche payments conditional on milestone reports and multi-currency awards are among the reasons large international funders choose it.

CharityEngine: How long is the contract?

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

SmartSimple Cloud: Do we need our own administrator?

Practically, yes. Organisations without an internal configurator end up paying the vendor for routine form and workflow changes.

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