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Nonprofits · head to head

GrantStation vs Keela

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
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: 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.; 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: GrantStation covers US grantmaker database, 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 GrantStation and Keela actually diverge.

Attributes where GrantStation and Keela differ
AttributeGrantStationKeela
Starting price$199/yearOn request
Pricing modelPer organisation per yearPer month by contact count

Identical on both: free tier (No), platforms (Web), 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 GrantStation

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

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.

GrantStation

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

Keela

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

Where each one falls short

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

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.

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

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

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 GrantStation if

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

Choose Keela if

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

Questions people ask

Is GrantStation or Keela better?
Neither clearly leads. GrantStation starts at $199/year and Keela at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, GrantStation or Keela?
GrantStation starts at $199/year and Keela at On request.
Does GrantStation or Keela run on more platforms?
Both run on Web, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
What is GrantStation best used for?
GrantStation is most often used for a small nonprofit with no grants budget that needs a starting list of plausible funders in its state, a solo grant writer validating whether a cause area has enough funders to justify a grants strategy, an organisation whose state nonprofit association resells the membership at 75 to 139 dollars, making it near-free research, supplementing an existing donor crm with opportunity discovery without adding a second four-figure subscription. Of those, a small nonprofit with no grants budget that needs a starting list of plausible funders in its state and a solo grant writer validating whether a cause area has enough funders to justify a grants strategy are not what Keela is typically brought in for.
What can GrantStation do that Keela cannot?
GrantStation covers US grantmaker database, Federal and state funding, International and Canadian databases, Weekly opportunity bulletin. Keela covers Donor records and segmentation, CRA and IRS receipting, Donation forms and pages, Email and automation.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

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.

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.

GrantStation: Does it track my applications?

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

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.

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.

Keela: Is pricing per user?

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

GrantStation: Is there a free trial?

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

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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