Nonprofit & Fundraising · head to head
Virtuous vs GuideStar
Virtuous
Nonprofit & Fundraising
CRM designed for faith-based and mission-driven organizations
- From
- On request
- Rated
- -
GuideStar
Nonprofit & Fundraising
Nonprofit profile and intelligence platform
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Only GuideStar has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
- Each has a real cost: Virtuous the pricing page publishes no rate, no minimum and no cost driver for any product; every tier says Request Pricing; GuideStar guideStar and Foundation Directory are being retired and merged into a single Candid platform, per Candid's own learning.candid.org help pages, with existing subscribers redirected to log in at app.candid.org
- They diverge on capability: Virtuous covers Donor management, GuideStar covers Nonprofit profile.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Virtuous and GuideStar actually diverge.
Identical on both: pricing model (subscription), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Nonprofit & Fundraising).
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 Virtuous
- Donor management
- Volunteer tracking
- Giving analysis
- Ministry management
- Stripe
- PayPal
- Mailchimp
- Slack
Only in GuideStar
- Nonprofit profile
- Impact data
- Donor verification
- Financial transparency
- Ratings
- Salesforce
- Google Analytics
- Mobile-responsive support
Both cover
- Web support
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Virtuous
- Donor management and pipeline tracking for mid-sized and large nonprofitsnot GuideStar
- Marketing automation and supporter journeys tied to giving datanot GuideStar
- Online donation forms and giving pages connected to the CRMnot GuideStar
GuideStar
- Business operationsnot Virtuous
- Productivitynot Virtuous
- Automationnot Virtuous
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Virtuous
- The pricing page publishes no rate, no minimum and no cost driver for any product; every tier says Request Pricing
- Tier eligibility is set by the nonprofit's own annual fundraising revenue, with a $5 million threshold separating Platform from Enterprise
- CRM+, Raise, Insights, Analytics, Volunteer and Momentum are packaged as separate products, each with its own Request Pricing button
- Momentum, the AI fundraising agent, is sold separately from the CRM rather than included
GuideStar
- GuideStar and Foundation Directory are being retired and merged into a single Candid platform, per Candid's own learning.candid.org help pages, with existing subscribers redirected to log in at app.candid.org
- Candid's own pricing page lists Candid Premium (annual) at $1,199 per year in USD, and $219 per month if billed monthly, with an Ultimate annual tier at $1,699 per year adding compliance monitoring features
- Candid's free tier limits search results, profile views and dashboards; full grants and profile data downloads are capped even on Premium annual, at 1,000 grants downloads and 5,000 profile downloads per month
Pricing, plan by plan
Virtuous
On request- Starter$99/month
- Donor management
- Volunteer tracking
- Advanced$199/month
- Giving analysis
- Ministry management
- Email campaigns
GuideStar
Free- ProfileFree
- Nonprofit profile
- Basic data
- Gold$300/month
- Enhanced profile
- Donor verification
- Impact reporting
Which should you pick?
Choose Virtuous if
- You need donor management.
- You work on Web, IOS, Android.
- You also want volunteer tracking.
Choose GuideStar if
- You need nonprofit profile.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Web, Mobile-responsive.
- You also want impact data.
Questions people ask
- Is Virtuous or GuideStar better?
- Neither clearly leads. Virtuous starts at On request and GuideStar at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Virtuous or GuideStar?
- GuideStar has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for Virtuous and Free for GuideStar.
- Does Virtuous or GuideStar run on more platforms?
- Virtuous runs on Web, IOS, Android. GuideStar runs on Web, Mobile-responsive.
- Can I use GuideStar for free?
- Yes. GuideStar has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Virtuous starts at On request.
- What is Virtuous best used for?
- Virtuous is most often used for donor management and pipeline tracking for mid-sized and large nonprofits, marketing automation and supporter journeys tied to giving data, online donation forms and giving pages connected to the crm. Of those, donor management and pipeline tracking for mid-sized and large nonprofits and marketing automation and supporter journeys tied to giving data are not what GuideStar is typically brought in for.
- What can Virtuous do that GuideStar cannot?
- Virtuous covers Donor management, Volunteer tracking, Giving analysis, Ministry management. GuideStar covers Nonprofit profile, Impact data, Donor verification, Financial transparency. Both handle Web support.