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Nonprofits · head to head

CommCare vs Fulcrum

CommCare logo

CommCare

Nonprofits

Offline-first case management and mobile data collection for frontline health and development programmes

From
$100/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Fulcrum logo

Fulcrum

Manufacturing

Field operations management for installing, inspecting and maintaining physical work

From
$39/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: CommCare pricing is by included mobile user bands with a hard step between them, so a programme at 260 mobile users pays the Pro band plus per-user overage or jumps to Advanced, and neither option matches its actual size.; Fulcrum monthly pricing only available for first 12 months; after that, annual commitment required
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which CommCare and Fulcrum actually diverge.

Attributes where CommCare and Fulcrum differ
AttributeCommCareFulcrum
Starting price$100/month$39/month
Pricing modelPer month by mobile user countsubscription
PlatformsAndroid, WebWeb
CategoryNonprofitsManufacturing

Identical on both: free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated).

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 CommCare

  • Case management
  • Offline-first mobile app
  • App builder
  • Multi-language support
  • Two-way SMS
  • Report builder
  • API access
  • BI integration

Only in Fulcrum

Nothing recorded that CommCare does not also cover.

What people use each for

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

CommCare

  • A community health worker programme where each worker must see their own assigned households, what is overdue and what happened last visit, which a survey tool cannot representnot Fulcrum
  • A ministry of health digitising a national frontline protocol and requiring in-region data hosting for legal reasonsnot Fulcrum
  • An NGO running the same intervention in four countries that needs one application, several languages and consolidated reportingnot Fulcrum
  • A research team collecting longitudinal data on the same participants over years, where linking visits to a case rather than a submission is the whole requirementnot Fulcrum

Fulcrum

  • Capturing inspection photos and data completely offlinenot CommCare
  • Collecting field data in areas without cell coveragenot CommCare
  • Tagging asset locations with geospatial coordinatesnot CommCare
  • Automating asset maintenance work order workflowsnot CommCare

Where each one falls short

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

CommCare

  • Pricing is by included mobile user bands with a hard step between them, so a programme at 260 mobile users pays the Pro band plus per-user overage or jumps to Advanced, and neither option matches its actual size.
  • The subscription is the small number; application design, device procurement, worker training and supervision dominate the real cost, and grant budgets that fund only the licence stall at deployment.
  • Grant funding cycles and subscription renewals rarely align, so programmes routinely face a year-four cliff where the software is embedded in a workflow and the money that paid for it has ended.
  • It is Android-only on the device side, which is usually right for the target markets but blocks iOS-issued staff and makes the platform a poor fit for programmes in higher-income settings.
  • The open source option is real but effectively theoretical: self-hosting CommCare HQ requires substantial engineering, so the licence being free does not translate into an escape from the subscription.

Fulcrum

  • Monthly pricing only available for first 12 months; after that, annual commitment required
  • Additional storage costs $2.20 USD per month per 20 GB block
  • Enterprise plan requires minimum of 5 users

Pricing, plan by plan

CommCare

$100/month
  • Standard$100/month
    • 50 mobile users included
    • $2 per additional mobile user per month
    • Unlimited free web users
  • Pro$500/month
    • 250 mobile users included
    • Case sharing and child cases
    • Web report builder
  • Advanced$1000/month
    • 500 mobile users included
    • Power BI and Tableau integration
    • Web applications
  • Enterprise$4000/month
    • Custom mobile user count
    • Single sign-on
    • Named account management

Fulcrum

$39/month
  • Professional$43/month
    • 100 GB storage
    • 10 data shares
    • Standard email and in-app support
  • Elite$39/month
    • 500 GB storage
    • 50 data shares
    • Priority email, in-app, and phone support
  • Enterprise$null/mo
    • Custom pricing
    • Unlimited users minimum 5
    • Unlimited storage

Which should you pick?

Choose CommCare if

  • You need case management.
  • You work on Android, Web.
  • You also want offline-first mobile app.
CommCare review

Choose Fulcrum if

Nothing in the data separates Fulcrum from CommCare on the points above - pick on price and on how each one feels to use.

Fulcrum review

Questions people ask

Is CommCare or Fulcrum better?
Neither clearly leads. CommCare starts at $100/month and Fulcrum at $39/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, CommCare or Fulcrum?
CommCare starts at $100/month and Fulcrum at $39/month.
Does CommCare or Fulcrum run on more platforms?
CommCare runs on Android, Web. Fulcrum runs on Web.
What is CommCare best used for?
CommCare is most often used for a community health worker programme where each worker must see their own assigned households, what is overdue and what happened last visit, which a survey tool cannot represent, a ministry of health digitising a national frontline protocol and requiring in-region data hosting for legal reasons, an ngo running the same intervention in four countries that needs one application, several languages and consolidated reporting, a research team collecting longitudinal data on the same participants over years, where linking visits to a case rather than a submission is the whole requirement. Of those, a community health worker programme where each worker must see their own assigned households, what is overdue and what happened last visit, which a survey tool cannot represent and a ministry of health digitising a national frontline protocol and requiring in-region data hosting for legal reasons are not what Fulcrum is typically brought in for.
What can CommCare do that Fulcrum cannot?
CommCare covers Case management, Offline-first mobile app, App builder, Multi-language support.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

CommCare: How much does CommCare cost?

Standard is $100 a month for 50 mobile users, Pro $500 for 250, Advanced $1,000 for 500 and Enterprise from $4,000. Extra mobile users are $2 each per month; web users are unlimited and free.

Fulcrum: How much does Fulcrum cost per user?

Professional and Elite plans cost $43 per month for monthly billing or $55 per user per month when billed annually. Enterprise pricing is custom and requires contacting Fulcrum.

Source
CommCare: Is CommCare open source?

Yes, CommCare HQ is open source, but self-hosting requires serious engineering capacity. Nearly all users take the hosted service.

Fulcrum: What is Fulcrum's storage limit?

Professional includes 100 GB storage, Elite includes 500 GB storage, and Enterprise includes unlimited storage. Additional storage blocks of 20 GB cost $2.20 USD per month.

Source
CommCare: Where is our data stored?

You choose United States, European Union or India hosting, which is what makes it acceptable to ministries with data residency rules.

Fulcrum: Are there restrictions on monthly billing for Fulcrum?

Monthly pricing is only available during the first 12 months as a Fulcrum customer. After 12 months, the company learns your usage pattern and offers pricing with an annual commitment required.

Source
CommCare: Who funds CommCare?

Dimagi is a for-profit B Corporation funded by customer subscriptions and services. Individual deployments are usually funded by donors such as USAID successors, the Gates Foundation or national health budgets.

CommCare: Does it do case management or just forms?

Case management. Workers hold a caseload of individuals or households and see history and due actions, which is the main reason to choose it over a form tool.

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