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Nonprofits · head to head

CommCare vs GiveSmart

CommCare logo

CommCare

Nonprofits

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

From
$100/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
GiveSmart logo

GiveSmart

Nonprofits

Mobile bidding and event fundraising for charity auctions and galas

From
On request
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.; GiveSmart licensing is annual while many buyers run a single event a year, so the effective cost per event is far higher than the annual figure makes it look.
  • They diverge on capability: CommCare covers Case management, GiveSmart covers Mobile bidding.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which CommCare and GiveSmart actually diverge.

Attributes where CommCare and GiveSmart differ
AttributeCommCareGiveSmart
Starting price$100/monthOn request
Pricing modelPer month by mobile user countquote
PlatformsAndroid, WebWeb, iOS, Android

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 CommCare

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

Only in GiveSmart

  • Mobile bidding
  • Auction management
  • Ticketing and check in
  • Text to give
  • Paddle raise and appeals
  • Payment settlement

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

GiveSmart

  • A hospital or school foundation running an annual gala with a live and silent auctionnot CommCare
  • An organisation losing revenue to uncollected pledges after event nightnot CommCare
  • A charity running several auction events a year that can amortise an annual licencenot CommCare
  • A team wanting bidding, check in and payment settlement handled by one system on the nightnot 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.

GiveSmart

  • Licensing is annual while many buyers run a single event a year, so the effective cost per event is far higher than the annual figure makes it look.
  • Pricing is not published, and quotes commonly separate the licence, payment processing, hardware and event night staffing, so the first number a buyer sees is rarely the total.
  • On site technical support and equipment are usually extra, and organisations that decline them discover that event night is the worst possible time to be self supporting.
  • It is event software rather than a donor CRM, so guest and bidder data has to be pushed into the CRM afterwards or the relationship built at the gala is not retained.
  • Consolidation under Community Brands means several nominally competing products share an owner, which reduces the negotiating leverage a buyer thinks a shortlist gives them.

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

GiveSmart

On request
  • GiveSmart$undefined/year
    • Quoted as an annual licence rather than per event
    • Payment processing charged separately on funds raised
    • On site staffing, hardware and additional event support quoted as add ons

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 GiveSmart if

  • You need mobile bidding.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want auction management.
GiveSmart review

Questions people ask

Is CommCare or GiveSmart better?
Neither clearly leads. CommCare starts at $100/month and GiveSmart at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, CommCare or GiveSmart?
CommCare starts at $100/month and GiveSmart at On request.
Does CommCare or GiveSmart run on more platforms?
CommCare runs on Android, Web. GiveSmart runs on Web, iOS, Android.
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 GiveSmart is typically brought in for.
What can CommCare do that GiveSmart cannot?
CommCare covers Case management, Offline-first mobile app, App builder, Multi-language support. GiveSmart covers Mobile bidding, Auction management, Ticketing and check in, Text to give.

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.

GiveSmart: Is GiveSmart priced per event?

It is normally an annual licence, so organisations running one event a year carry the full cost against one night.

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.

GiveSmart: Who owns GiveSmart?

Community Brands, the private equity backed nonprofit and association software group that also owns MemberClicks.

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.

GiveSmart: Does it replace our donor database?

No. It captures bidders and guests at an event and needs to feed a CRM afterwards.

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.

GiveSmart: What is the actual benefit over paper bid sheets?

Bidding continues across the room and payment settles before guests leave, which is where paper auctions lose money.

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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