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Nonprofits · head to head

Candid vs Fundraise Up

Candid logo

Candid

Nonprofits

Funder and nonprofit data subscriptions from the organisation formed by Foundation Center and GuideStar

From
$219/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Fundraise Up logo

Fundraise Up

Nonprofits

Donation checkout layer that replaces the giving form on an existing nonprofit website

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Candid grant records derive largely from Form 990 filings, which are published with a lag, so the database describes what a funder did up to eighteen months ago rather than what it intends to fund now.; Fundraise Up the fee is a percentage of donations, so cost rises exactly as the product succeeds, and a single large gift routed through the checkout carries the same rate as a twenty pound one unless the agreement caps it.
  • They diverge on capability: Candid covers Foundation Directory, Fundraise Up covers Embedded donation checkout.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Candid and Fundraise Up actually diverge.

Attributes where Candid and Fundraise Up differ
AttributeCandidFundraise Up
Starting price$219/monthOn request
Pricing modelPer user per month by tierPercentage of each donation
PlatformsWeb, APIWeb

Identical on both: free tier (No), 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 Candid

  • Foundation Directory
  • 990 based grant records
  • Nonprofit Profiles
  • Charity check
  • Data APIs and bulk feeds
  • Candid Learning
  • Funding Information Network

Only in Fundraise Up

  • Embedded donation checkout
  • Digital wallet payments
  • Recurring gift upgrade prompts
  • Multi currency and multi language
  • Donor covered fees
  • CRM sync

What people use each for

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

Candid

  • A development director building a list of foundations that have actually funded organisations of your size, sector and geography in the past three yearsnot Fundraise Up
  • A funder verifying US tax exempt status before releasing a grant paymentnot Fundraise Up
  • A software vendor embedding nonprofit organisation data and charity verification into its own productnot Fundraise Up
  • A nonprofit maintaining a transparency seal on its public profile because institutional funders check it before givingnot Fundraise Up

Fundraise Up

  • A charity with a working CRM and website that wants to raise online conversion without replatformingnot Candid
  • An international organisation needing donors to give in local currency and languagenot Candid
  • A campaign pushing one time givers into monthly recurring support at the point of donationnot Candid
  • A digital team that can measure conversion before and after and justify a percentage fee with datanot Candid

Where each one falls short

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

Candid

  • Grant records derive largely from Form 990 filings, which are published with a lag, so the database describes what a funder did up to eighteen months ago rather than what it intends to fund now.
  • Foundation Directory is a research database, not a pipeline tool: there is no proposal tracking, deadline management or task assignment, so most teams pay for a grants tracker alongside it.
  • Monthly pricing is high relative to the budget of a small nonprofit, and the same database is available free in person through partner libraries in the Funding Information Network, which makes the subscription hard to justify for occasional research.
  • Coverage is US-centric and built on the US tax filing system, so it is of limited use to organisations seeking funding from UK, EU or Commonwealth foundations.
  • Many funders do not accept unsolicited proposals at all, and the database cannot reliably tell you which, so prospect lists built from it still require manual qualification before outreach.

Fundraise Up

  • The fee is a percentage of donations, so cost rises exactly as the product succeeds, and a single large gift routed through the checkout carries the same rate as a twenty pound one unless the agreement caps it.
  • It is a checkout, not a CRM, so it is always an additional cost on top of a donor database rather than a replacement for one.
  • Donor covered fee opt in rates vary widely by audience, so an organisation with an older or offline leaning donor base absorbs more of the fee than the sales model assumes.
  • Design control is limited to what the embedded component exposes, so brand teams that want full control over the giving experience will hit boundaries.
  • Live recurring gift authorisations are held in the platform, which makes leaving considerably harder than adopting, because migrating active mandates risks lapsing donors.

Pricing, plan by plan

Candid

$219/month
  • Foundation Directory Essential$219/month
    • Search US grantmakers and grant records
    • Saved searches and prospect lists
    • Single user
  • Foundation Directory Professional$1499/month
    • Full grantmaker, grant and recipient search
    • Trustee and key staff search
    • Advanced filters and larger exports
  • Data licensing$undefined/year
    • API and bulk data feeds
    • Charity check and organisation verification
    • Priced by volume and use case, quoted

Fundraise Up

On request
  • Fundraise Up$undefined/year
    • Platform fee taken as a percentage of every donation processed
    • Card processing billed separately on top of the platform fee
    • Optional donor covered fee prompt shifts the cost to the giver rather than removing it

Which should you pick?

Choose Candid if

  • You need foundation directory.
  • You work on Web, API.
  • You also want 990 based grant records.
Candid review

Choose Fundraise Up if

  • You need embedded donation checkout.
  • You also want digital wallet payments.
Fundraise Up review

Questions people ask

Is Candid or Fundraise Up better?
Neither clearly leads. Candid starts at $219/month and Fundraise Up at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Candid or Fundraise Up?
Candid starts at $219/month and Fundraise Up at On request.
Does Candid or Fundraise Up run on more platforms?
Candid runs on Web, API. Fundraise Up runs on Web.
What is Candid best used for?
Candid is most often used for a development director building a list of foundations that have actually funded organisations of your size, sector and geography in the past three years, a funder verifying us tax exempt status before releasing a grant payment, a software vendor embedding nonprofit organisation data and charity verification into its own product, a nonprofit maintaining a transparency seal on its public profile because institutional funders check it before giving. Of those, a development director building a list of foundations that have actually funded organisations of your size, sector and geography in the past three years and a funder verifying us tax exempt status before releasing a grant payment are not what Fundraise Up is typically brought in for.
What can Candid do that Fundraise Up cannot?
Candid covers Foundation Directory, 990 based grant records, Nonprofit Profiles, Charity check. Fundraise Up covers Embedded donation checkout, Digital wallet payments, Recurring gift upgrade prompts, Multi currency and multi language.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Candid: Is Candid the same as GuideStar?

GuideStar is now part of Candid, merged with Foundation Center in 2019. GuideStar nonprofit profiles continue under the Candid brand.

Fundraise Up: Is Fundraise Up a CRM?

No. It is a donation checkout that syncs into a CRM you already run, so budget for both.

Candid: Can I use Foundation Directory for free?

Yes, in person. Hundreds of partner libraries and nonprofit resource centres in the Funding Information Network provide free access, which is a genuine alternative to a subscription for occasional research.

Fundraise Up: How does it charge?

A percentage of each donation, plus separately billed card processing. There is no flat licence that insulates you from volume.

Candid: How current is the grant data?

It is drawn largely from Form 990 filings and lags real time by roughly a year to eighteen months. Treat it as evidence of past funding behaviour, not current priorities.

Fundraise Up: Does the donor covered fee option remove the cost?

It shifts it. When donors opt in they pay the platform and processing fee; when they do not, the charity does.

Candid: Does Candid help outside the United States?

Only marginally. The data model is built on US tax filings and US registered organisations.

Fundraise Up: What happens to recurring donors if we leave?

Active recurring authorisations sit with the platform and its processor, and migrating them is the part of an exit most organisations underestimate.

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