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Nonprofits · head to head

CiviCRM vs Constant Contact

CiviCRM logo

CiviCRM

Nonprofits

Open source constituent relationship management for nonprofits, with no per contact or per donation fee

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Constant Contact logo

Constant Contact

Nonprofits

Email marketing and event management

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: CiviCRM nobody maintains it for you, so security patches and major version upgrades are your operational responsibility and organisations that skip them end up stranded on an old release.; Constant Contact core plan started at $9.99 per month and Plus plan at $45 per month, both scaling by contact list size rather than a flat rate (Internet Archive capture, 2022)
  • They diverge on capability: CiviCRM covers Contribution and pledge tracking, Constant Contact covers Email marketing.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which CiviCRM and Constant Contact actually diverge.

Attributes where CiviCRM and Constant Contact differ
AttributeCiviCRMConstant Contact
Pricing modelOpen source, no licence feesubscription
PlatformsWeb, Linux, Self-hostedWeb, Mobile-responsive
FoundedUnknown1995

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), 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 CiviCRM

  • Contribution and pledge tracking
  • Membership management
  • Events and registration
  • Case management
  • CMS integration
  • Extension framework

Only in Constant Contact

  • Email marketing
  • Event management
  • Contact management
  • Automation
  • Analytics
  • Salesforce
  • Zapier
  • Google Analytics

What people use each for

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

CiviCRM

  • A membership organisation with a large contact file that refuses to pay a per contact meternot Constant Contact
  • An advocacy group needing to hold constituent data on infrastructure it controlsnot Constant Contact
  • A charity already running Drupal or WordPress that wants CRM inside the same stacknot Constant Contact
  • An organisation with unusual data requirements that no hosted product will build for itnot Constant Contact

Constant Contact

  • Business operationsnot CiviCRM
  • Productivitynot CiviCRM
  • Automationnot CiviCRM

Where each one falls short

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

CiviCRM

  • Nobody maintains it for you, so security patches and major version upgrades are your operational responsibility and organisations that skip them end up stranded on an old release.
  • The interface and configuration model are dated compared with hosted competitors, and staff turnover is expensive when the next fundraiser has to be trained on it from scratch.
  • Extension quality is inconsistent, so a payment processor or integration that works on one version can break on the next with no vendor obligation to fix it.
  • Total cost of ownership is genuinely low only at scale, and a five person charity often pays more to a partner for setup and support than a hosted product would have charged outright.
  • Implementation partners hold the practical knowledge of your configuration, so switching partners can be as disruptive as switching products despite the software being free.

Constant Contact

  • Core plan started at $9.99 per month and Plus plan at $45 per month, both scaling by contact list size rather than a flat rate (Internet Archive capture, 2022)

Pricing, plan by plan

CiviCRM

Free
  • CiviCRMFree
    • No licence fee, no per contact charge and no percentage of donations
    • Costs are hosting, implementation partner time and upgrade work
    • Paid hosting and support available from partners at their own rates

Constant Contact

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Basic email marketing
    • Contacts up to 100
  • Plus$45/month
    • Advanced features
    • Event management
    • Automation

Which should you pick?

Choose CiviCRM if

  • You need contribution and pledge tracking.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Linux, Self-hosted.
  • You also want membership management.
CiviCRM review

Choose Constant Contact if

  • You need email marketing.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Mobile-responsive.
  • You also want event management.
Constant Contact review

Questions people ask

Is CiviCRM or Constant Contact better?
Neither clearly leads. CiviCRM starts at Free and Constant Contact at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, CiviCRM or Constant Contact?
CiviCRM starts at Free and Constant Contact at Free.
Does CiviCRM or Constant Contact run on more platforms?
CiviCRM runs on Web, Linux, Self-hosted. Constant Contact runs on Web, Mobile-responsive.
Can I use CiviCRM for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is CiviCRM best used for?
CiviCRM is most often used for a membership organisation with a large contact file that refuses to pay a per contact meter, an advocacy group needing to hold constituent data on infrastructure it controls, a charity already running drupal or wordpress that wants crm inside the same stack, an organisation with unusual data requirements that no hosted product will build for it. Of those, a membership organisation with a large contact file that refuses to pay a per contact meter and an advocacy group needing to hold constituent data on infrastructure it controls are not what Constant Contact is typically brought in for.
What can CiviCRM do that Constant Contact cannot?
CiviCRM covers Contribution and pledge tracking, Membership management, Events and registration, Case management. Constant Contact covers Email marketing, Event management, Contact management, Automation.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

CiviCRM: Is CiviCRM really free?

The software is, with no licence, per contact or per donation charge. Hosting, implementation and support are real costs and are where the budget goes.

CiviCRM: Do we need a developer?

You need technical capacity, either in house or a retained partner. Treating it as a hosted product without support is the common failure mode.

CiviCRM: Where does it win against commercial CRMs?

At scale. A large contact file or high donation volume that would cost tens of thousands a year in metered fees costs nothing in licence here.

CiviCRM: Can it be hosted for us?

Yes, several partners offer managed CiviCRM hosting, which removes the upgrade burden and reintroduces a monthly fee.

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