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Nonprofits · head to head

Fundraise Up vs SmartSimple Cloud

Fundraise Up logo

Fundraise Up

Nonprofits

Donation checkout layer that replaces the giving form on an existing nonprofit website

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
SmartSimple Cloud logo

SmartSimple Cloud

Nonprofits

Configurable grants, research and case management platform for large funders

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Fundraise Up the fee is a percentage of donations, so cost rises exactly as the product succeeds, and a single large gift routed through the checkout carries the same rate as a twenty pound one unless the agreement caps it.; SmartSimple Cloud almost everything useful is configured rather than switched on, so first-year cost is dominated by professional services and a live system is typically months rather than weeks away.
  • They diverge on capability: Fundraise Up covers Embedded donation checkout, SmartSimple Cloud covers Configurable object model.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Fundraise Up and SmartSimple Cloud actually diverge.

Attributes where Fundraise Up and SmartSimple Cloud differ
AttributeFundraise UpSmartSimple Cloud
Pricing modelPercentage of each donationquote

Identical on both: starting price (On request), 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 Fundraise Up

  • Embedded donation checkout
  • Digital wallet payments
  • Recurring gift upgrade prompts
  • Multi currency and multi language
  • Donor covered fees
  • CRM sync

Only in SmartSimple Cloud

  • Configurable object model
  • Workflow and approval engine
  • Peer review
  • Budget and payments
  • Grantee portal
  • Report writer
  • Research administration

What people use each for

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

Fundraise Up

  • A charity with a working CRM and website that wants to raise online conversion without replatformingnot SmartSimple Cloud
  • An international organisation needing donors to give in local currency and languagenot SmartSimple Cloud
  • A campaign pushing one time givers into monthly recurring support at the point of donationnot SmartSimple Cloud
  • A digital team that can measure conversion before and after and justify a percentage fee with datanot SmartSimple Cloud

SmartSimple Cloud

  • A national research council running peer-reviewed funding calls with panel conflict rules and multi-year milestone paymentsnot Fundraise Up
  • A private foundation whose grant process differs enough between programmes that packaged software would need four separate instancesnot Fundraise Up
  • A government department that must show a full audit trail of every decision and payment against public fundsnot Fundraise Up
  • A health charity running grants and beneficiary case management in one system with shared contact recordsnot Fundraise Up

Where each one falls short

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

Fundraise Up

  • The fee is a percentage of donations, so cost rises exactly as the product succeeds, and a single large gift routed through the checkout carries the same rate as a twenty pound one unless the agreement caps it.
  • It is a checkout, not a CRM, so it is always an additional cost on top of a donor database rather than a replacement for one.
  • Donor covered fee opt in rates vary widely by audience, so an organisation with an older or offline leaning donor base absorbs more of the fee than the sales model assumes.
  • Design control is limited to what the embedded component exposes, so brand teams that want full control over the giving experience will hit boundaries.
  • Live recurring gift authorisations are held in the platform, which makes leaving considerably harder than adopting, because migrating active mandates risks lapsing donors.

SmartSimple Cloud

  • Almost everything useful is configured rather than switched on, so first-year cost is dominated by professional services and a live system is typically months rather than weeks away.
  • Because each deployment is bespoke, upgrades and new platform features often need configuration work before they apply to your instance, which slows the benefit of paying an annual subscription.
  • Organisations that lose their internal configurator become dependent on the vendor or a partner for even routine form changes, which turns small requests into billable work.
  • The user interface is dense and utilitarian; occasional users such as grant reviewers and applicants need instructions, which increases support load during a funding round.
  • It is priced and scoped for large funders, so a small foundation running one annual round will pay for flexibility it never uses and would be served faster by a packaged tool.

Pricing, plan by plan

Fundraise Up

On request
  • Fundraise Up$undefined/year
    • Platform fee taken as a percentage of every donation processed
    • Card processing billed separately on top of the platform fee
    • Optional donor covered fee prompt shifts the cost to the giver rather than removing it

SmartSimple Cloud

On request
  • SmartSimple Cloud$undefined/year
    • Configurable grants, review and case management
    • Grantee and reviewer portals
    • Annual subscription plus separate implementation engagement

Which should you pick?

Choose Fundraise Up if

  • You need embedded donation checkout.
  • You also want digital wallet payments.
Fundraise Up review

Choose SmartSimple Cloud if

  • You need configurable object model.
  • You also want workflow and approval engine.
SmartSimple Cloud review

Questions people ask

Is Fundraise Up or SmartSimple Cloud better?
Neither clearly leads. Fundraise Up starts at On request and SmartSimple Cloud at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Fundraise Up or SmartSimple Cloud?
Fundraise Up starts at On request and SmartSimple Cloud at On request.
Does Fundraise Up or SmartSimple Cloud run on more platforms?
Both run on Web, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
What is Fundraise Up best used for?
Fundraise Up is most often used for a charity with a working crm and website that wants to raise online conversion without replatforming, an international organisation needing donors to give in local currency and language, a campaign pushing one time givers into monthly recurring support at the point of donation, a digital team that can measure conversion before and after and justify a percentage fee with data. Of those, a charity with a working crm and website that wants to raise online conversion without replatforming and an international organisation needing donors to give in local currency and language are not what SmartSimple Cloud is typically brought in for.
What can Fundraise Up do that SmartSimple Cloud cannot?
Fundraise Up covers Embedded donation checkout, Digital wallet payments, Recurring gift upgrade prompts, Multi currency and multi language. SmartSimple Cloud covers Configurable object model, Workflow and approval engine, Peer review, Budget and payments.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Fundraise Up: Is Fundraise Up a CRM?

No. It is a donation checkout that syncs into a CRM you already run, so budget for both.

SmartSimple Cloud: How long does implementation take?

Plan in months, not weeks. Complex multi-programme funders routinely run six to twelve month implementations, and that work is billed separately from the subscription.

Fundraise Up: How does it charge?

A percentage of each donation, plus separately billed card processing. There is no flat licence that insulates you from volume.

SmartSimple Cloud: Is pricing published?

No. It is quoted by modules, user counts and configuration scope. Ask specifically what future configuration changes cost, because that is the recurring surprise.

Fundraise Up: Does the donor covered fee option remove the cost?

It shifts it. When donors opt in they pay the platform and processing fee; when they do not, the charity does.

SmartSimple Cloud: Can it handle multi-currency, multi-year grants?

Yes. Tranche payments conditional on milestone reports and multi-currency awards are among the reasons large international funders choose it.

Fundraise Up: What happens to recurring donors if we leave?

Active recurring authorisations sit with the platform and its processor, and migrating them is the part of an exit most organisations underestimate.

SmartSimple Cloud: Do we need our own administrator?

Practically, yes. Organisations without an internal configurator end up paying the vendor for routine form and workflow changes.

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