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Nonprofits · head to head

GiveSmart vs Keela

GiveSmart logo

GiveSmart

Nonprofits

Mobile bidding and event fundraising for charity auctions and galas

From
On request
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

  • Each has a real cost: 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.; 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: GiveSmart covers Mobile bidding, 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 GiveSmart and Keela actually diverge.

Attributes where GiveSmart and Keela differ
AttributeGiveSmartKeela
Pricing modelquotePer month by contact count
PlatformsWeb, iOS, AndroidWeb

Identical on both: starting price (On request), 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 GiveSmart

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

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.

GiveSmart

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

Keela

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

Where each one falls short

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

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.

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

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

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 GiveSmart if

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

Choose Keela if

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

Questions people ask

Is GiveSmart or Keela better?
Neither clearly leads. GiveSmart starts at On request and Keela at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, GiveSmart or Keela?
GiveSmart starts at On request and Keela at On request.
Does GiveSmart or Keela run on more platforms?
GiveSmart runs on Web, iOS, Android. Keela runs on Web.
What is GiveSmart best used for?
GiveSmart is most often used for a hospital or school foundation running an annual gala with a live and silent auction, an organisation losing revenue to uncollected pledges after event night, a charity running several auction events a year that can amortise an annual licence, a team wanting bidding, check in and payment settlement handled by one system on the night. Of those, a hospital or school foundation running an annual gala with a live and silent auction and an organisation losing revenue to uncollected pledges after event night are not what Keela is typically brought in for.
What can GiveSmart do that Keela cannot?
GiveSmart covers Mobile bidding, Auction management, Ticketing and check in, Text to give. Keela covers Donor records and segmentation, CRA and IRS receipting, Donation forms and pages, Email and automation.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

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.

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.

GiveSmart: Who owns GiveSmart?

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

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.

GiveSmart: Does it replace our donor database?

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

Keela: Is pricing per user?

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

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.

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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