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Nonprofits · head to head

Salesforce for Nonprofits vs Tendenci

Salesforce for Nonprofits logo

Salesforce for Nonprofits

Nonprofits

Enterprise CRM for nonprofit organizations

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Tendenci logo

Tendenci

Nonprofits

Open-source association management system for nonprofits

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Salesforce for Nonprofits the Power of Us free grant covers only 10 Salesforce Nonprofit Cloud or Sales/Service Cloud licences; every licence beyond that is paid; 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: Salesforce for Nonprofits covers Donor management, Tendenci covers Open-source licence.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Salesforce for Nonprofits and Tendenci actually diverge.

Attributes where Salesforce for Nonprofits and Tendenci differ
AttributeSalesforce for NonprofitsTendenci
Pricing modelsubscriptionOpen source, with paid hosting available
PlatformsWeb, IOS, AndroidWeb, Linux, Self-hosted, Cloud
Founded1999Unknown

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), 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 Salesforce for Nonprofits

  • Donor management
  • Campaign tracking
  • Volunteer management
  • Program tracking
  • Advanced reporting
  • Stripe
  • Google Analytics
  • Slack

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.

Salesforce for Nonprofits

  • Nonprofit constituent CRM covering fundraising, programs, outcomes and volunteersnot Tendenci
  • Consolidating donor, grant and program data on the Salesforce platformnot Tendenci

Tendenci

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

Where each one falls short

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

Salesforce for Nonprofits

  • The Power of Us free grant covers only 10 Salesforce Nonprofit Cloud or Sales/Service Cloud licences; every licence beyond that is paid
  • Nonprofit Cloud Enterprise is $60 per user per month billed annually and Nonprofit Cloud Unlimited is $100 per user per month billed annually
  • The free licences require passing Salesforce eligibility criteria for the Power of Us program
  • Most Salesforce products are sold on annual contracts
  • Some products must scale together when you add or upgrade, which requires going through an Account Executive

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

Salesforce for Nonprofits

Free
  • Nonprofit CloudFree
    • Donor management
    • Campaign tracking
    • Volunteer management
  • Professional$150/month
    • Advanced reporting
    • API integrations
    • Customization

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 Salesforce for Nonprofits if

  • You need donor management.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, IOS, Android.
  • You also want campaign tracking.
Salesforce for Nonprofits 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 Salesforce for Nonprofits or Tendenci better?
Neither clearly leads. Salesforce for Nonprofits starts at Free and Tendenci at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Salesforce for Nonprofits or Tendenci?
Salesforce for Nonprofits starts at Free and Tendenci at Free.
Does Salesforce for Nonprofits or Tendenci run on more platforms?
Salesforce for Nonprofits runs on Web, IOS, Android. Tendenci runs on Web, Linux, Self-hosted, Cloud.
Can I use Salesforce for Nonprofits for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Salesforce for Nonprofits best used for?
Salesforce for Nonprofits is most often used for nonprofit constituent crm covering fundraising, programs, outcomes and volunteers, consolidating donor, grant and program data on the salesforce platform. Of those, nonprofit constituent crm covering fundraising, programs, outcomes and volunteers and consolidating donor, grant and program data on the salesforce platform are not what Tendenci is typically brought in for.
What can Salesforce for Nonprofits do that Tendenci cannot?
Salesforce for Nonprofits covers Donor management, Campaign tracking, Volunteer management, Program tracking. Tendenci covers Open-source licence, Membership management, Events and registration, Donations.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

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.

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.

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.

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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