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Nonprofits · head to head

Give Lively vs Submittable

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
Submittable logo

Submittable

Nonprofits

Application, review and grant management for funders running open calls at volume

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.; Submittable pricing is not published and tier jumps are steep, so an organisation that grows past a submission or form limit can face a renewal quote well above the previous year with limited negotiating room mid-programme.
  • They diverge on capability: Give Lively covers Branded donation pages, Submittable covers Configurable application forms.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

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

Attributes where Give Lively and Submittable differ
AttributeGive LivelySubmittable
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelFree to nonprofits, card processing charged by the processorquote
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 Submittable

  • Configurable application forms
  • Blind and multi-stage review
  • Reviewer management
  • Grant payments
  • Impact reporting
  • Applicant messaging
  • API and integrations

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 Submittable
  • Running a peer-to-peer campaign where thin margins make a per-donation platform cut painfulnot Submittable
  • A small organisation with no software budget that still needs branded, mobile-ready donation pagesnot Submittable
  • Adding donor advised fund giving at checkout without paying for a separate DAF integrationnot Submittable

Submittable

  • A foundation running an open grant round where a volunteer panel must score hundreds of applications without seeing applicant identitiesnot Give Lively
  • A corporate giving team collecting employee-nominated grant requests and needing an audit trail for financenot Give Lively
  • An arts council managing fellowship and residency applications with multi-stage juriesnot Give Lively
  • A city agency distributing relief funds and required to show equitable review and decision recordsnot 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.

Submittable

  • Pricing is not published and tier jumps are steep, so an organisation that grows past a submission or form limit can face a renewal quote well above the previous year with limited negotiating room mid-programme.
  • It is built around the application funnel rather than the funder's relationship with grantees, so long-term relationship management, pledge tracking and multi-year commitments are weaker than in a purpose-built grants CRM.
  • Applicant-facing forms are constrained by the platform's templates, and organisations wanting a fully branded application experience on their own domain will find the customisation shallow.
  • Reporting is serviceable for programme counts but limited for board-level financial reporting, so many finance teams still export to spreadsheets to reconcile awards against the general ledger.
  • Payment disbursement capability varies by tier and region, and organisations funding recipients outside the United States often still pay grants through their bank rather than through the platform.

Pricing, plan by plan

Give Lively

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

Submittable

On request
  • Submittable$undefined/year
    • Application forms and applicant portal
    • Reviewer workflow and scoring rubrics
    • Grant award and reporting modules on higher tiers

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 Submittable if

  • You need configurable application forms.
  • You also want blind and multi-stage review.
Submittable review

Questions people ask

Is Give Lively or Submittable better?
Neither clearly leads. Give Lively starts at Free and Submittable at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Give Lively or Submittable?
Give Lively has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Give Lively and On request for Submittable.
Does Give Lively or Submittable 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. Submittable 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 Submittable is typically brought in for.
What can Give Lively do that Submittable cannot?
Give Lively covers Branded donation pages, Peer-to-peer fundraising, Text-to-donate, Event ticketing. Submittable covers Configurable application forms, Blind and multi-stage review, Reviewer management, Grant payments.

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.

Submittable: What does Submittable actually cost?

It is not published. Reported entry points are in the low thousands of dollars a year, with price driven by submission volume, number of forms and seats. Get the tier limits written into the contract before signing.

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.

Submittable: Is it a grants management system or a submission manager?

Both, depending on tier. The review side is its strength. Award tracking, payments and grantee reporting sit on higher tiers and are less deep than a dedicated grants CRM.

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

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

Submittable: Can reviewers work anonymously?

Yes. Blind review, staged rounds and conflict of interest flagging are core features rather than paid extras.

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.

Submittable: Is there a nonprofit discount?

Nonprofit pricing exists but is applied inside the quote rather than published as a percentage, so compare quotes rather than assuming a standard rate.

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