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Nonprofits · head to head

GiveWP vs GrantStation

GiveWP logo

GiveWP

Nonprofits

WordPress donation plugin for nonprofits

From
$199/year
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
GrantStation logo

GrantStation

Nonprofits

A low-cost grant opportunity database sold on annual membership, usually at a heavy standing discount

From
$199/year
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: GiveWP recurring donations and fee recovery only available in Pro and Elite tiers; Essentials tier ($199/year) limited to one-time donations; GrantStation it is a database with no pipeline, no deadline tracking against your own applications and no post-award reporting, so any team of more than one ends up managing grants in a spreadsheet anyway.
  • They diverge on capability: GiveWP covers Donation forms, GrantStation covers US grantmaker database.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which GiveWP and GrantStation actually diverge.

Attributes where GiveWP and GrantStation differ
AttributeGiveWPGrantStation
Pricing modelsubscriptionPer organisation per year
PlatformsWordPress plugin (self-hosted on WordPress sites)Web
Founded2012Unknown

Identical on both: starting price ($199/year), 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 GiveWP

  • Donation forms
  • Recurring donations
  • Donor management
  • Fundraising campaigns
  • Stripe
  • PayPal
  • Mailchimp
  • Zapier

Only in GrantStation

  • US grantmaker database
  • Federal and state funding
  • International and Canadian databases
  • Weekly opportunity bulletin
  • PathFinder library
  • Saved searches

What people use each for

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

GiveWP

  • WordPress-hosted nonprofits managing donors with self-hosted data (no third-party donor database)not GrantStation
  • Organisations needing text-to-give and multi-gateway payment processing (Stripe, PayPal, Square, Apple Pay, Google Pay)not GrantStation

GrantStation

  • A small nonprofit with no grants budget that needs a starting list of plausible funders in its statenot GiveWP
  • A solo grant writer validating whether a cause area has enough funders to justify a grants strategynot GiveWP
  • An organisation whose state nonprofit association resells the membership at 75 to 139 dollars, making it near-free researchnot GiveWP
  • Supplementing an existing donor CRM with opportunity discovery without adding a second four-figure subscriptionnot GiveWP

Where each one falls short

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

GiveWP

  • Recurring donations and fee recovery only available in Pro and Elite tiers; Essentials tier ($199/year) limited to one-time donations
  • Email marketing integrations (Mailchimp, Constant Contact, Salesforce) require Pro tier or higher
  • Peer-to-peer fundraising only available in Elite tier ($599/year); not in lower tiers

GrantStation

  • It is a database with no pipeline, no deadline tracking against your own applications and no post-award reporting, so any team of more than one ends up managing grants in a spreadsheet anyway.
  • The published 699 dollar list price bears no relation to the market price, which means buyers who purchase direct without checking association rates routinely overpay by three to nine times.
  • Funder records are broad but shallow compared with 990-derived tools, so vetting whether a foundation actually funds organisations like yours still requires separate research.
  • There are no integrations with donor CRMs or accounting systems, so nothing found in GrantStation flows anywhere else without manual re-entry.
  • Data freshness varies by database, and the international pool in particular is thin relative to the US listings it is bundled with.

Pricing, plan by plan

GiveWP

$199/year
  • Essentials$199/year
    • Everything needed to start fundraising on your own site
    • Unlimited donation forms
    • Donor database
  • Pro$399/year
    • All Essentials features
    • Recurring donations
    • Fee recovery options
  • Elite$599/year
    • All Pro features
    • Peer-to-peer fundraising
    • Funds and designations

GrantStation

$199/year
  • Membership (promotional or association rate)$199/year
    • Full US, Canadian and international databases
    • Weekly opportunity bulletin
    • PathFinder training library
  • Membership (list price)$699/year
    • Identical access to the promotional rate
    • Rarely the price actually paid

Which should you pick?

Choose GiveWP if

  • You need donation forms.
  • You work on WordPress plugin (self-hosted on WordPress sites).
  • You also want recurring donations.
GiveWP review

Choose GrantStation if

  • You need us grantmaker database.
  • You also want federal and state funding.
GrantStation review

Questions people ask

Is GiveWP or GrantStation better?
Neither clearly leads. GiveWP starts at $199/year and GrantStation at $199/year, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, GiveWP or GrantStation?
GiveWP starts at $199/year and GrantStation at $199/year.
Does GiveWP or GrantStation run on more platforms?
GiveWP runs on WordPress plugin (self-hosted on WordPress sites). GrantStation runs on Web.
What is GiveWP best used for?
GiveWP is most often used for wordpress-hosted nonprofits managing donors with self-hosted data (no third-party donor database), organisations needing text-to-give and multi-gateway payment processing (stripe, paypal, square, apple pay, google pay). Of those, wordpress-hosted nonprofits managing donors with self-hosted data (no third-party donor database) and organisations needing text-to-give and multi-gateway payment processing (stripe, paypal, square, apple pay, google pay) are not what GrantStation is typically brought in for.
What can GiveWP do that GrantStation cannot?
GiveWP covers Donation forms, Recurring donations, Donor management, Fundraising campaigns. GrantStation covers US grantmaker database, Federal and state funding, International and Canadian databases, Weekly opportunity bulletin.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

GiveWP: How much does GiveWP cost?

GiveWP pricing starts at $199 per year for the Essentials plan, $399 per year for Pro, and $599 per year for Elite. There are no per-transaction donation processing fees on any tier.

Source
GrantStation: What does GrantStation actually cost?

List price is 699 USD a year but the standing promotional rate is 199, and nonprofit associations resell it to members for 75 to 139. Check your association before buying direct.

GiveWP: Does GiveWP charge transaction fees on donations?

No, GiveWP charges no platform fees or per-donation transaction fees. Organizations only pay the standard payment processor fees (Stripe, PayPal, Square, etc.).

Source
GrantStation: Does it track my applications?

No. It finds opportunities. Pipeline, deadlines and reporting have to live elsewhere.

GiveWP: Do I own my donor data with GiveWP?

Yes, with GiveWP you retain complete data ownership of your donor relationships and donation history. There is no vendor lock-in.

Source
GrantStation: How does it compare with Instrumentl?

It is roughly a tenth of the price and does roughly a tenth of the job. Instrumentl adds matching, pipeline and post-award tracking.

GrantStation: Is there a free trial?

GrantStation offers a limited free search tool and periodic trials, but the full databases require membership.

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