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Nonprofits · head to head

Keela vs Tendenci

Keela logo

Keela

Nonprofits

Nonprofit CRM and fundraising platform with Canadian tax receipting built in

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Tendenci logo

Tendenci

Nonprofits

Open-source association management system for nonprofits

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Tendenci has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: 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.; Tendenci self-hosting is a real operational commitment, and organisations without technical capacity should not treat the free licence as a free system
  • They diverge on capability: Keela covers Donor records and segmentation, Tendenci covers Open-source licence.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Keela and Tendenci actually diverge.

Attributes where Keela and Tendenci differ
AttributeKeelaTendenci
Starting priceOn requestFree
Pricing modelPer month by contact countOpen source, with paid hosting available
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWebWeb, Linux, Self-hosted, Cloud

Identical on both: 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 Keela

  • Donor records and segmentation
  • CRA and IRS receipting
  • Donation forms and pages
  • Email and automation
  • Grant and pledge tracking
  • Reporting dashboards

Only in Tendenci

  • Open-source licence
  • Membership management
  • Events and registration
  • Donations
  • Content-managed website
  • Email

What people use each for

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

Keela

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

Tendenci

  • Nonprofits whose boards require member and donor data to stay under their own controlnot Keela
  • Organisations with data residency obligations a hosted platform cannot satisfynot Keela
  • Groups with technical capacity wanting to avoid per-member subscription costs at scalenot Keela
  • Associations needing to customise workflows beyond what a proprietary platform allowsnot Keela

Where each one falls short

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

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.

Tendenci

  • Self-hosting is a real operational commitment, and organisations without technical capacity should not treat the free licence as a free system
  • The community is small compared with mainstream open-source projects, so answers are harder to find and contributors are few
  • The interface is dated against the commercial association platforms and this is the most common user complaint
  • Fewer integrations than commercial competitors, and building them is a development task rather than a configuration one
  • Feature depth in events and continuing education is behind the specialist commercial systems

Pricing, plan by plan

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

Tendenci

Free
  • Self-hostedFree
    • Full source code
    • No per-member licence
    • Community support
  • Managed hosting$undefined/month
    • Hosted and maintained
    • Updates applied
    • Support included

Which should you pick?

Choose Keela if

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

Choose Tendenci if

  • You need open-source licence.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Linux, Self-hosted, Cloud.
  • You also want membership management.
Tendenci review

Questions people ask

Is Keela or Tendenci better?
Neither clearly leads. Keela starts at On request and Tendenci at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Keela or Tendenci?
Tendenci has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for Keela and Free for Tendenci.
Does Keela or Tendenci run on more platforms?
Keela runs on Web. Tendenci runs on Web, Linux, Self-hosted, Cloud.
Can I use Tendenci for free?
Yes. Tendenci has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Keela starts at On request.
What is Keela best used for?
Keela is most often used for a canadian registered charity that must issue cra compliant receipts without building templates itself, a development team of two to five people replacing spreadsheets and a mailing tool, an organisation already running aplos fund accounting that wants gifts to post through automatically, a bilingual charity sending french and english donor communications from one contact list. Of those, a canadian registered charity that must issue cra compliant receipts without building templates itself and a development team of two to five people replacing spreadsheets and a mailing tool are not what Tendenci is typically brought in for.
What can Keela do that Tendenci cannot?
Keela covers Donor records and segmentation, CRA and IRS receipting, Donation forms and pages, Email and automation. Tendenci covers Open-source licence, Membership management, Events and registration, Donations.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

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.

Tendenci: Is Tendenci really free?

The software is, under an open-source licence with no per-member fee. Running it is not: hosting, updates, backups and security are the organisation responsibility unless managed hosting is purchased.

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.

Tendenci: Who should choose it?

Organisations with a genuine requirement to control their own data, and the technical capacity to act on it. Choosing it purely to avoid subscription cost usually ends badly.

Keela: Is pricing per user?

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

Tendenci: Can I move my data out?

Yes, entirely. That is the point. Data lives in a PostgreSQL database you control, and there is no vendor holding 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.

Tendenci: How does it compare to Wild Apricot?

Wild Apricot is easier, better supported and better looking. Tendenci is the answer when data ownership is a requirement rather than a preference.

Tendenci: Is it actively maintained?

It is developed openly on GitHub with a small team and community. Check recent commit activity before committing, as with any small open-source project.

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