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Nonprofits · head to head

Give Lively vs Keela

Give Lively logo

Give Lively

Nonprofits

Fundraising software given free to nonprofits, funded by its founders rather than by fees

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Keela logo

Keela

Nonprofits

Nonprofit CRM and fundraising platform with Canadian tax receipting built in

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Give Lively has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Give Lively eligibility is limited to US 501(c)(3) organisations, so charities registered in the UK, Canada, Australia or the EU cannot use it at all regardless of fit.; Keela pricing scales with contact count, so a charity that keeps twenty years of lapsed donors pays every month for records it never contacts, and the only fix is deleting history it may need for reporting.
  • They diverge on capability: Give Lively covers Branded donation pages, Keela covers Donor records and segmentation.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Give Lively and Keela actually diverge.

Attributes where Give Lively and Keela differ
AttributeGive LivelyKeela
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelFree to nonprofits, card processing charged by the processorPer month by contact count
Free tierYesNo

Identical on both: platforms (Web), 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 Give Lively

  • Branded donation pages
  • Peer-to-peer fundraising
  • Text-to-donate
  • Event ticketing
  • Donor database
  • DAFpay
  • Multiple processors

Only in Keela

  • Donor records and segmentation
  • CRA and IRS receipting
  • Donation forms and pages
  • Email and automation
  • Grant and pledge tracking
  • Reporting dashboards

What people use each for

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

Give Lively

  • A US nonprofit currently paying a percentage platform fee on every gift and wanting that money back in programme budgetnot Keela
  • Running a peer-to-peer campaign where thin margins make a per-donation platform cut painfulnot Keela
  • A small organisation with no software budget that still needs branded, mobile-ready donation pagesnot Keela
  • Adding donor advised fund giving at checkout without paying for a separate DAF integrationnot Keela

Keela

  • A Canadian registered charity that must issue CRA compliant receipts without building templates itselfnot Give Lively
  • A development team of two to five people replacing spreadsheets and a mailing toolnot Give Lively
  • An organisation already running Aplos fund accounting that wants gifts to post through automaticallynot Give Lively
  • A bilingual charity sending French and English donor communications from one contact listnot Give Lively

Where each one falls short

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

Give Lively

  • Eligibility is limited to US 501(c)(3) organisations, so charities registered in the UK, Canada, Australia or the EU cannot use it at all regardless of fit.
  • The platform is funded by its founders' personal philanthropy rather than by revenue, so there is no contractual commitment to a roadmap or a service level and no paying customer base to keep it alive if that funding stops.
  • Support is email based with no paid escalation tier, so an organisation mid-campaign with a broken form has no way to buy faster attention.
  • The donor database is adequate for gift tracking but thin compared with a real CRM, so most organisations still pay for Bloomerang, DonorPerfect or Salesforce alongside it and maintain a sync.
  • Optional donor tips appear at checkout to fund the platform, which some boards object to because it puts a second ask in front of a donor who has already decided what to give.

Keela

  • Pricing scales with contact count, so a charity that keeps twenty years of lapsed donors pays every month for records it never contacts, and the only fix is deleting history it may need for reporting.
  • The email marketing tools are adequate for donor appeals but weaker than a dedicated platform, so organisations with heavy newsletter programmes end up paying for a second tool and syncing lists.
  • Custom reporting is limited to the fields and filters Keela exposes, so questions the product did not anticipate require exporting to a spreadsheet.
  • The integration list is short next to Salesforce or Blackbaud, so a charity running an unusual event, membership or advocacy tool will be moving data by CSV.
  • Since the 2023 Aplos acquisition the roadmap serves a combined accounting and fundraising suite, so investment favours the accounting join rather than standalone CRM depth.

Pricing, plan by plan

Give Lively

Free
  • Give LivelyFree
    • All fundraising products included
    • No platform fee on donations
    • No setup or subscription charge

Keela

On request
  • Keela$undefined/month
    • Published tiers priced by number of contacts held, not by user seat
    • Higher tiers unlock automation, custom fields and additional reporting
    • Card processing is charged separately by the payment processor

Which should you pick?

Choose Give Lively if

  • You need branded donation pages.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You also want peer-to-peer fundraising.
Give Lively review

Choose Keela if

  • You need donor records and segmentation.
  • You also want cra and irs receipting.
Keela review

Questions people ask

Is Give Lively or Keela better?
Neither clearly leads. Give Lively starts at Free and Keela at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Give Lively or Keela?
Give Lively has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Give Lively and On request for Keela.
Does Give Lively or Keela run on more platforms?
Both run on Web, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
Can I use Give Lively for free?
Yes. Give Lively has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Keela starts at On request.
What is Give Lively best used for?
Give Lively is most often used for a us nonprofit currently paying a percentage platform fee on every gift and wanting that money back in programme budget, running a peer-to-peer campaign where thin margins make a per-donation platform cut painful, a small organisation with no software budget that still needs branded, mobile-ready donation pages, adding donor advised fund giving at checkout without paying for a separate daf integration. Of those, a us nonprofit currently paying a percentage platform fee on every gift and wanting that money back in programme budget and running a peer-to-peer campaign where thin margins make a per-donation platform cut painful are not what Keela is typically brought in for.
What can Give Lively do that Keela cannot?
Give Lively covers Branded donation pages, Peer-to-peer fundraising, Text-to-donate, Event ticketing. Keela covers Donor records and segmentation, CRA and IRS receipting, Donation forms and pages, Email and automation.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Give Lively: Is it genuinely free, or free with a percentage taken?

Genuinely free. Give Lively takes no cut of donations and charges no subscription. You pay only the card processing fee, which goes to Stripe, Shift4 or PayPal, starting around 1.99% plus $0.25.

Keela: Does Keela issue CRA compliant tax receipts?

Yes, receipt numbering, required wording and batch issuance are built in, which is the main reason Canadian charities choose it over US products.

Give Lively: How does the company make money?

It does not, in the ordinary sense. Operating costs are covered by its founders as a philanthropic commitment, plus voluntary tips donors can add at checkout.

Keela: Who owns Keela?

Aplos Software, a US fund accounting vendor, acquired it in 2023. Keela is still sold as its own product but shares a roadmap with Aplos.

Give Lively: Can a UK or Canadian charity use it?

No. Give Lively requires US 501(c)(3) status.

Keela: Is pricing per user?

No, it is by contact count. Adding staff does not raise the bill, growing the mailing list does.

Give Lively: Does it replace a donor CRM?

Not for most organisations. It stores donors and gift history, but fundraisers running major gift or grant pipelines usually keep a dedicated CRM and sync to it.

Keela: Can it replace a fund accounting system?

No. It records income and pledges but does not do fund accounting, so you still need Aplos, QuickBooks or an equivalent.

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