Softwr

Nonprofits · head to head

CommCare vs Trello for Nonprofits

CommCare logo

CommCare

Nonprofits

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

From
$100/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Trello for Nonprofits logo

Trello for Nonprofits

Nonprofits

Simple project management for nonprofits

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Trello for Nonprofits has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • 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.; Trello for Nonprofits free plan limited to 10 collaborators per Workspace, which restricts larger team usage
  • They diverge on capability: CommCare covers Case management, Trello for Nonprofits covers Kanban boards.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which CommCare and Trello for Nonprofits actually diverge.

Attributes where CommCare and Trello for Nonprofits differ
AttributeCommCareTrello for Nonprofits
Starting price$100/monthFree
Pricing modelPer month by mobile user countsubscription
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsAndroid, WebWeb, IOS, Android
FoundedUnknown2011

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 CommCare

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

Only in Trello for Nonprofits

  • Kanban boards
  • Card management
  • Team collaboration
  • Integrations
  • Labels and checklists
  • Slack
  • Google Drive
  • Zapier

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 Trello for Nonprofits
  • A ministry of health digitising a national frontline protocol and requiring in-region data hosting for legal reasonsnot Trello for Nonprofits
  • An NGO running the same intervention in four countries that needs one application, several languages and consolidated reportingnot Trello for Nonprofits
  • 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 Trello for Nonprofits

Trello for Nonprofits

  • Project management and team collaboration for nonprofit organizationsnot 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.

Trello for Nonprofits

  • Free plan limited to 10 collaborators per Workspace, which restricts larger team usage
  • Pricing shown is per-user monthly subscription; total cost grows with team size

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

Trello for Nonprofits

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Up to 10 collaborators per Workspace
    • Unlimited cards
    • Up to 10 boards
  • Standard$5/month
    • Annual billing; $6 USD per user per month with monthly billing
    • AI features
    • Unlimited boards
  • Premium$10/month
    • Annual billing; $12.50 USD per user per month with monthly billing
    • Multiple views (Calendar, Timeline, Table, Dashboard, Map)
    • Unlimited command runs
  • Enterprise$17.5/month
    • Billed annually at $210 per user per year
    • Unlimited Workspaces
    • Organization-wide permissions

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 Trello for Nonprofits if

  • You need kanban boards.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, IOS, Android.
  • You also want card management.
Trello for Nonprofits review

Questions people ask

Is CommCare or Trello for Nonprofits better?
Neither clearly leads. CommCare starts at $100/month and Trello for Nonprofits at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, CommCare or Trello for Nonprofits?
Trello for Nonprofits has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $100/month for CommCare and Free for Trello for Nonprofits.
Does CommCare or Trello for Nonprofits run on more platforms?
CommCare runs on Android, Web. Trello for Nonprofits runs on Web, IOS, Android.
Can I use Trello for Nonprofits for free?
Yes. Trello for Nonprofits has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. CommCare starts at $100/month.
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 Trello for Nonprofits is typically brought in for.
What can CommCare do that Trello for Nonprofits cannot?
CommCare covers Case management, Offline-first mobile app, App builder, Multi-language support. Trello for Nonprofits covers Kanban boards, Card management, Team collaboration, Integrations.

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.

Trello for Nonprofits: How much does Trello Standard plan cost?

Trello Standard costs $5 USD per user per month with annual billing, or $6 USD per user per month with monthly billing. Standard includes AI features, unlimited boards, custom fields, card mirroring, and 1,000 workspace command runs monthly.

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.

Trello for Nonprofits: What is the difference between Trello Premium and Enterprise plans?

Premium ($10 per user per month annually, $12.50 monthly) includes multiple views, unlimited command runs, and admin controls. Enterprise ($17.50 per user per month or $210 annually) adds unlimited Workspaces, organization-wide permissions, multi-board guests, Atlassian Guard Standard, and 24/7 Enterprise Admin support.

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.

Trello for Nonprofits: What is included in Trello Free plan?

Trello Free includes unlimited cards, up to 10 boards, up to 10 collaborators per Workspace, Inbox, unlimited Power-Ups, assignees, due dates, mobile apps, and two-factor authentication. No payment 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.

Share

Related pages

More on CommCare

More on Trello for Nonprofits

Keep looking

Other head to heads