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Nonprofits · head to head

GiveWP vs SmartSimple Cloud

GiveWP logo

GiveWP

Nonprofits

WordPress donation plugin for nonprofits

From
$199/year
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
SmartSimple Cloud logo

SmartSimple Cloud

Nonprofits

Configurable grants, research and case management platform for large funders

From
On request
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; SmartSimple Cloud almost everything useful is configured rather than switched on, so first-year cost is dominated by professional services and a live system is typically months rather than weeks away.
  • They diverge on capability: GiveWP covers Donation forms, SmartSimple Cloud covers Configurable object model.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which GiveWP and SmartSimple Cloud actually diverge.

Attributes where GiveWP and SmartSimple Cloud differ
AttributeGiveWPSmartSimple Cloud
Starting price$199/yearOn request
Pricing modelsubscriptionquote
PlatformsWordPress plugin (self-hosted on WordPress sites)Web
Founded2012Unknown

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 GiveWP

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

Only in SmartSimple Cloud

  • Configurable object model
  • Workflow and approval engine
  • Peer review
  • Budget and payments
  • Grantee portal
  • Report writer
  • Research administration

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 SmartSimple Cloud
  • Organisations needing text-to-give and multi-gateway payment processing (Stripe, PayPal, Square, Apple Pay, Google Pay)not SmartSimple Cloud

SmartSimple Cloud

  • A national research council running peer-reviewed funding calls with panel conflict rules and multi-year milestone paymentsnot GiveWP
  • A private foundation whose grant process differs enough between programmes that packaged software would need four separate instancesnot GiveWP
  • A government department that must show a full audit trail of every decision and payment against public fundsnot GiveWP
  • A health charity running grants and beneficiary case management in one system with shared contact recordsnot 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

SmartSimple Cloud

  • Almost everything useful is configured rather than switched on, so first-year cost is dominated by professional services and a live system is typically months rather than weeks away.
  • Because each deployment is bespoke, upgrades and new platform features often need configuration work before they apply to your instance, which slows the benefit of paying an annual subscription.
  • Organisations that lose their internal configurator become dependent on the vendor or a partner for even routine form changes, which turns small requests into billable work.
  • The user interface is dense and utilitarian; occasional users such as grant reviewers and applicants need instructions, which increases support load during a funding round.
  • It is priced and scoped for large funders, so a small foundation running one annual round will pay for flexibility it never uses and would be served faster by a packaged tool.

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

SmartSimple Cloud

On request
  • SmartSimple Cloud$undefined/year
    • Configurable grants, review and case management
    • Grantee and reviewer portals
    • Annual subscription plus separate implementation engagement

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 SmartSimple Cloud if

  • You need configurable object model.
  • You also want workflow and approval engine.
SmartSimple Cloud review

Questions people ask

Is GiveWP or SmartSimple Cloud better?
Neither clearly leads. GiveWP starts at $199/year and SmartSimple Cloud at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, GiveWP or SmartSimple Cloud?
GiveWP starts at $199/year and SmartSimple Cloud at On request.
Does GiveWP or SmartSimple Cloud run on more platforms?
GiveWP runs on WordPress plugin (self-hosted on WordPress sites). SmartSimple Cloud 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 SmartSimple Cloud is typically brought in for.
What can GiveWP do that SmartSimple Cloud cannot?
GiveWP covers Donation forms, Recurring donations, Donor management, Fundraising campaigns. SmartSimple Cloud covers Configurable object model, Workflow and approval engine, Peer review, Budget and payments.

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
SmartSimple Cloud: How long does implementation take?

Plan in months, not weeks. Complex multi-programme funders routinely run six to twelve month implementations, and that work is billed separately from the subscription.

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
SmartSimple Cloud: Is pricing published?

No. It is quoted by modules, user counts and configuration scope. Ask specifically what future configuration changes cost, because that is the recurring surprise.

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
SmartSimple Cloud: Can it handle multi-currency, multi-year grants?

Yes. Tranche payments conditional on milestone reports and multi-currency awards are among the reasons large international funders choose it.

SmartSimple Cloud: Do we need our own administrator?

Practically, yes. Organisations without an internal configurator end up paying the vendor for routine form and workflow changes.

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