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Nonprofits · head to head

Glue Up vs Keela

Glue Up logo

Glue Up

Nonprofits

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

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: Glue Up pricing is not published, and quotes vary substantially by region, which makes budgeting harder than with the published North American tools; 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: Glue Up covers Event management, 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 Glue Up and Keela actually diverge.

Attributes where Glue Up and Keela differ
AttributeGlue UpKeela
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 Glue Up

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

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.

Glue Up

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

Keela

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

Where each one falls short

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

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

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

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

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 Glue Up if

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

Choose Keela if

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

Questions people ask

Is Glue Up or Keela better?
Neither clearly leads. Glue Up 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, Glue Up or Keela?
Glue Up starts at On request and Keela at On request.
Does Glue Up or Keela run on more platforms?
Glue Up runs on Web, iOS, Android. Keela runs on Web.
What is Glue Up best used for?
Glue Up is most often used for chambers of commerce and professional bodies operating across asia-pacific, associations whose events are the core of member value rather than an add-on, organisations wanting a branded member app rather than a web portal, bodies needing local payment methods and regional data residency. Of those, chambers of commerce and professional bodies operating across asia-pacific and associations whose events are the core of member value rather than an add-on are not what Keela is typically brought in for.
What can Glue Up do that Keela cannot?
Glue Up covers Event management, Membership management, Member mobile app, Email campaigns. Keela covers Donor records and segmentation, CRA and IRS receipting, Donation forms and pages, Email and automation.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

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.

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.

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.

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.

Glue Up: What does it cost?

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

Keela: Is pricing per user?

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

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.

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.

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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