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Nonprofits · head to head

Submittable vs Sumac

Submittable logo

Submittable

Nonprofits

Application, review and grant management for funders running open calls at volume

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Sumac logo

Sumac

Nonprofits

Modular nonprofit CRM that pairs donor management with client case management

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Submittable pricing is not published and tier jumps are steep, so an organisation that grows past a submission or form limit can face a renewal quote well above the previous year with limited negotiating room mid-programme.; Sumac pricing is not published at all, so a small organisation cannot compare Sumac against per contact priced competitors without committing to a sales process.
  • They diverge on capability: Submittable covers Configurable application forms, Sumac covers Donor and gift management.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Submittable and Sumac actually diverge.

Attributes where Submittable and Sumac differ
AttributeSubmittableSumac
PlatformsWebWeb, Windows

Identical on both: starting price (On request), pricing model (quote), 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 Submittable

  • Configurable application forms
  • Blind and multi-stage review
  • Reviewer management
  • Grant payments
  • Impact reporting
  • Applicant messaging
  • API and integrations

Only in Sumac

  • Donor and gift management
  • Case management module
  • Memberships and volunteers
  • Grant management
  • Role based permissions
  • Custom fields and forms

What people use each for

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

Submittable

  • A foundation running an open grant round where a volunteer panel must score hundreds of applications without seeing applicant identitiesnot Sumac
  • A corporate giving team collecting employee-nominated grant requests and needing an audit trail for financenot Sumac
  • An arts council managing fellowship and residency applications with multi-stage juriesnot Sumac
  • A city agency distributing relief funds and required to show equitable review and decision recordsnot Sumac

Sumac

  • A social service agency that must record client cases and donor gifts without buying two systemsnot Submittable
  • A charity that wants only donor and grant modules and refuses to pay for an events suite it will not usenot Submittable
  • A Canadian organisation wanting local support hours and receipting conventionsnot Submittable
  • An agency replacing a legacy Access or FileMaker database with something supportednot Submittable

Where each one falls short

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

Submittable

  • Pricing is not published and tier jumps are steep, so an organisation that grows past a submission or form limit can face a renewal quote well above the previous year with limited negotiating room mid-programme.
  • It is built around the application funnel rather than the funder's relationship with grantees, so long-term relationship management, pledge tracking and multi-year commitments are weaker than in a purpose-built grants CRM.
  • Applicant-facing forms are constrained by the platform's templates, and organisations wanting a fully branded application experience on their own domain will find the customisation shallow.
  • Reporting is serviceable for programme counts but limited for board-level financial reporting, so many finance teams still export to spreadsheets to reconcile awards against the general ledger.
  • Payment disbursement capability varies by tier and region, and organisations funding recipients outside the United States often still pay grants through their bank rather than through the platform.

Sumac

  • Pricing is not published at all, so a small organisation cannot compare Sumac against per contact priced competitors without committing to a sales process.
  • The interface reflects the product's age, and staff arriving from consumer grade software find navigation and data entry slower than in newer CRMs.
  • Holding client case notes and donor records in one database makes permission design a compliance obligation, and a misconfigured role can expose confidential client material to fundraising staff.
  • The integration catalogue is small, so payment, email and accounting connections outside the listed few mean manual export or paid custom work.
  • Modular licensing means the price rises in visible steps as programmes expand, and organisations frequently discover the module they need most was not in the original quote.

Pricing, plan by plan

Submittable

On request
  • Submittable$undefined/year
    • Application forms and applicant portal
    • Reviewer workflow and scoring rubrics
    • Grant award and reporting modules on higher tiers

Sumac

On request
  • Sumac$undefined/year
    • Quoted by module selection and organisation size
    • Case management is a separately licensed module
    • Implementation and data migration quoted separately

Which should you pick?

Choose Submittable if

  • You need configurable application forms.
  • You also want blind and multi-stage review.
Submittable review

Choose Sumac if

  • You need donor and gift management.
  • You work on Web, Windows.
  • You also want case management module.
Sumac review

Questions people ask

Is Submittable or Sumac better?
Neither clearly leads. Submittable starts at On request and Sumac at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Submittable or Sumac?
Submittable starts at On request and Sumac at On request.
Does Submittable or Sumac run on more platforms?
Submittable runs on Web. Sumac runs on Web, Windows.
What is Submittable best used for?
Submittable is most often used for a foundation running an open grant round where a volunteer panel must score hundreds of applications without seeing applicant identities, a corporate giving team collecting employee-nominated grant requests and needing an audit trail for finance, an arts council managing fellowship and residency applications with multi-stage juries, a city agency distributing relief funds and required to show equitable review and decision records. Of those, a foundation running an open grant round where a volunteer panel must score hundreds of applications without seeing applicant identities and a corporate giving team collecting employee-nominated grant requests and needing an audit trail for finance are not what Sumac is typically brought in for.
What can Submittable do that Sumac cannot?
Submittable covers Configurable application forms, Blind and multi-stage review, Reviewer management, Grant payments. Sumac covers Donor and gift management, Case management module, Memberships and volunteers, Grant management.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Submittable: What does Submittable actually cost?

It is not published. Reported entry points are in the low thousands of dollars a year, with price driven by submission volume, number of forms and seats. Get the tier limits written into the contract before signing.

Sumac: Is Sumac the same product as Societ?

The vendor has been moving its products under the Societ brand, so you may see both names for the same platform during a sales cycle.

Submittable: Is it a grants management system or a submission manager?

Both, depending on tier. The review side is its strength. Award tracking, payments and grantee reporting sit on higher tiers and are less deep than a dedicated grants CRM.

Sumac: Can it handle client case management?

Yes, that is its clearest differentiator among donor CRMs. It is a licensed module, not part of the base product.

Submittable: Can reviewers work anonymously?

Yes. Blind review, staged rounds and conflict of interest flagging are core features rather than paid extras.

Sumac: Is pricing published?

No. It is quoted by module and organisation size, which makes like for like comparison harder than with published per contact products.

Submittable: Is there a nonprofit discount?

Nonprofit pricing exists but is applied inside the quote rather than published as a percentage, so compare quotes rather than assuming a standard rate.

Sumac: Does it work for US charities?

Yes, though the vendor is Canadian and its receipting and support conventions are strongest for Canadian organisations.

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