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Nonprofits · head to head

CiviCRM vs Salesforce for Nonprofits

CiviCRM logo

CiviCRM

Nonprofits

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

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Salesforce for Nonprofits logo

Salesforce for Nonprofits

Nonprofits

Enterprise CRM for nonprofit organizations

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.; Salesforce for Nonprofits the Power of Us free grant covers only 10 Salesforce Nonprofit Cloud or Sales/Service Cloud licences; every licence beyond that is paid
  • They diverge on capability: CiviCRM covers Contribution and pledge tracking, Salesforce for Nonprofits covers Donor management.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which CiviCRM and Salesforce for Nonprofits actually diverge.

Attributes where CiviCRM and Salesforce for Nonprofits differ
AttributeCiviCRMSalesforce for Nonprofits
Pricing modelOpen source, no licence feesubscription
PlatformsWeb, Linux, Self-hostedWeb, IOS, Android
FoundedUnknown1999

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 Salesforce for Nonprofits

  • Donor management
  • Campaign tracking
  • Volunteer management
  • Program tracking
  • Advanced reporting
  • Stripe
  • Google Analytics
  • Slack

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 Salesforce for Nonprofits
  • An advocacy group needing to hold constituent data on infrastructure it controlsnot Salesforce for Nonprofits
  • A charity already running Drupal or WordPress that wants CRM inside the same stacknot Salesforce for Nonprofits
  • An organisation with unusual data requirements that no hosted product will build for itnot Salesforce for Nonprofits

Salesforce for Nonprofits

  • Nonprofit constituent CRM covering fundraising, programs, outcomes and volunteersnot CiviCRM
  • Consolidating donor, grant and program data on the Salesforce platformnot 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.

Salesforce for Nonprofits

  • The Power of Us free grant covers only 10 Salesforce Nonprofit Cloud or Sales/Service Cloud licences; every licence beyond that is paid
  • Nonprofit Cloud Enterprise is $60 per user per month billed annually and Nonprofit Cloud Unlimited is $100 per user per month billed annually
  • The free licences require passing Salesforce eligibility criteria for the Power of Us program
  • Most Salesforce products are sold on annual contracts
  • Some products must scale together when you add or upgrade, which requires going through an Account Executive

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

Salesforce for Nonprofits

Free
  • Nonprofit CloudFree
    • Donor management
    • Campaign tracking
    • Volunteer management
  • Professional$150/month
    • Advanced reporting
    • API integrations
    • Customization

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 Salesforce for Nonprofits if

  • You need donor management.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, IOS, Android.
  • You also want campaign tracking.
Salesforce for Nonprofits review

Questions people ask

Is CiviCRM or Salesforce for Nonprofits better?
Neither clearly leads. CiviCRM starts at Free and Salesforce for Nonprofits at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, CiviCRM or Salesforce for Nonprofits?
CiviCRM starts at Free and Salesforce for Nonprofits at Free.
Does CiviCRM or Salesforce for Nonprofits run on more platforms?
CiviCRM runs on Web, Linux, Self-hosted. Salesforce for Nonprofits runs on Web, IOS, Android.
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 Salesforce for Nonprofits is typically brought in for.
What can CiviCRM do that Salesforce for Nonprofits cannot?
CiviCRM covers Contribution and pledge tracking, Membership management, Events and registration, Case management. Salesforce for Nonprofits covers Donor management, Campaign tracking, Volunteer management, Program tracking.

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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