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Nonprofits · head to head

CharityEngine vs Glue Up

CharityEngine logo

CharityEngine

Nonprofits

Nonprofit CRM with its own in-house payment processing rather than a third-party gateway

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Glue Up logo

Glue Up

Nonprofits

Membership, events and engagement software with strong Asia-Pacific presence

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: CharityEngine payment processing rates are negotiated and never published, so the total cost cannot be compared to a licence-only CRM without getting a quote and modelling your own volume in basis points.; Glue Up pricing is not published, and quotes vary substantially by region, which makes budgeting harder than with the published North American tools
  • They diverge on capability: CharityEngine covers In-house payment processing, Glue Up covers Event management.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which CharityEngine and Glue Up actually diverge.

Attributes where CharityEngine and Glue Up differ
AttributeCharityEngineGlue Up
PlatformsWebWeb, iOS, Android

Identical on both: starting price (On request), pricing model (quote), 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 CharityEngine

  • In-house payment processing
  • Recurring giving recovery
  • Direct mail segmentation
  • Peer-to-peer and events
  • Advocacy and membership
  • Marketing automation

Only in Glue Up

  • Event management
  • Membership management
  • Member mobile app
  • Email campaigns
  • Integrated CRM
  • Regional payments

What people use each for

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

CharityEngine

  • A nonprofit processing high recurring gift volume that wants card updater and dunning built into the CRM rather than bought separatelynot Glue Up
  • Replacing a stack of a CRM, an email tool and a separate donation gateway with one contract and one reconciliationnot Glue Up
  • A direct mail heavy organisation that needs offline gift entry and mail file segmentation as first-class features, not add-onsnot Glue Up
  • An organisation whose finance team wants a single settlement file that already reconciles to donor recordsnot Glue Up

Glue Up

  • Chambers of commerce and professional bodies operating across Asia-Pacificnot CharityEngine
  • Associations whose events are the core of member value rather than an add-onnot CharityEngine
  • Organisations wanting a branded member app rather than a web portalnot CharityEngine
  • Bodies needing local payment methods and regional data residencynot CharityEngine

Where each one falls short

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

CharityEngine

  • Payment processing rates are negotiated and never published, so the total cost cannot be compared to a licence-only CRM without getting a quote and modelling your own volume in basis points.
  • Because the vendor is both the software provider and the merchant processor, switching CRM also means re-papering merchant services and re-tokenising every recurring donor, which is a far larger project than a normal migration.
  • Subscription pricing is quote-only and reported entry points come from third parties rather than the vendor, so small organisations often discover the floor is well above what they budgeted.
  • The interface is dense and configuration-heavy, and organisations without a dedicated database administrator tend to use a fraction of what they pay for.
  • Implementation and data migration are billed on top of the subscription and are commonly the largest first-year line item, which is easy to miss when comparing monthly figures.

Glue Up

  • Pricing is not published, and quotes vary substantially by region, which makes budgeting harder than with the published North American tools
  • Membership management is less deep than the dedicated association management systems, reflecting its event-management origins
  • Smaller North American and European ecosystem, so integrations and local references are thinner outside Asia
  • Fundraising and donor management are weak, so charities whose main activity is giving should look elsewhere
  • The breadth means individual modules are good rather than excellent when compared against specialist tools

Pricing, plan by plan

CharityEngine

On request
  • CharityEngine$undefined/year
    • Donor CRM and gift processing
    • In-house payment processing at a negotiated rate
    • Email, SMS and direct mail tools

Glue Up

On request
  • Essentials$undefined/year
    • Event management
    • Membership
    • Email campaigns
  • Professional$undefined/year
    • All Essentials features
    • Member mobile app
    • CRM
  • Enterprise$undefined/year
    • Multi-chapter
    • API access
    • Custom integrations

Which should you pick?

Choose CharityEngine if

  • You need in-house payment processing.
  • You also want recurring giving recovery.
CharityEngine review

Choose Glue Up if

  • You need event management.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want membership management.
Glue Up review

Questions people ask

Is CharityEngine or Glue Up better?
Neither clearly leads. CharityEngine starts at On request and Glue Up at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, CharityEngine or Glue Up?
CharityEngine starts at On request and Glue Up at On request.
Does CharityEngine or Glue Up run on more platforms?
CharityEngine runs on Web. Glue Up runs on Web, iOS, Android.
What is CharityEngine best used for?
CharityEngine is most often used for a nonprofit processing high recurring gift volume that wants card updater and dunning built into the crm rather than bought separately, replacing a stack of a crm, an email tool and a separate donation gateway with one contract and one reconciliation, a direct mail heavy organisation that needs offline gift entry and mail file segmentation as first-class features, not add-ons, an organisation whose finance team wants a single settlement file that already reconciles to donor records. Of those, a nonprofit processing high recurring gift volume that wants card updater and dunning built into the crm rather than bought separately and replacing a stack of a crm, an email tool and a separate donation gateway with one contract and one reconciliation are not what Glue Up is typically brought in for.
What can CharityEngine do that Glue Up cannot?
CharityEngine covers In-house payment processing, Recurring giving recovery, Direct mail segmentation, Peer-to-peer and events. Glue Up covers Event management, Membership management, Member mobile app, Email campaigns.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

CharityEngine: Does CharityEngine publish pricing?

No. Both the subscription and the payment processing rate are quoted. Third-party sites report a starter tier around 550 US dollars a month, but the vendor does not confirm this.

Glue Up: Where is Glue Up strongest?

Asia-Pacific. Local payment methods, WeChat integration, regional data residency and in-region support are things the North American platforms cannot match there.

CharityEngine: Is the payment processing optional?

In practice no. The processing is the product. Using an external gateway removes most of what distinguishes CharityEngine from cheaper CRMs.

Glue Up: Was it called something else?

Yes, EventBank. The rename to Glue Up reflected the shift from pure event management to membership and engagement.

CharityEngine: Is there a nonprofit discount?

Every customer is a nonprofit, so there is no separate discount; pricing is tiered by contact count and gift volume instead.

Glue Up: What does it cost?

Not published, and it varies by region. Expect an annual contract quoted on member count and modules.

CharityEngine: How long is the contract?

Annual terms are standard, and multi-year commitments are used to buy down the rate.

Glue Up: Is the member app real?

Yes, a branded native app rather than a mobile web view. For associations whose members network at events, it is one of the strongest reasons to choose it.

Glue Up: Should a US-only association consider it?

It can, but Wild Apricot and MemberClicks have published pricing, larger local ecosystems and more local references. The Asia-Pacific advantage is the reason to pick Glue Up.

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