CiviCRM

Overview

CiviCRM is an open-source project, set up in 2005 as a California limited liability company, that builds a web-based, highly customisable CRM for nonprofit and civic organisations.^[16] It is released under the GNU Affero General Public License version 3 and is supported by a global community the project describes as tens of thousands of individuals and organisations.^[16]

The software itself is free; organisations pay instead for hosting, implementation and support from partners, or run it themselves. It covers contacts, contributions, memberships, events, mailings and case management, and is installed alongside a content management system.

CiviCRM is attractive to organisations that want full control of their data, avoid per-user licensing or need deep customisation, and is commonly considered by advocacy groups and membership associations. Its total cost depends heavily on implementation quality, and it requires technical capacity or a reliable partner.

CiviCRM features

• Contacts and relationships
• Contributions and pledges
• Memberships and events
• Bulk email
• Case management
• Extensions ecosystem
• Open source with no licence fee
• Runs on WordPress, Drupal, Joomla, Backdrop

CiviCRM pricing

Software free under AGPL v3; costs come from hosting, implementation and support.

CiviCRM strengths and limitations

Appears in

• Best Donor Management Software in 2026 #12
• Best CRM for Nonprofits in 2026 #10

CiviCRM alternatives and competitors

Alternatives to CiviCRM: companies ranked in the same lists.

• Blackbaud
• SSSalesforce Sales Cloud
• Bloomerang
• Neon CRM
• DonorPerfect
• Virtuous
• Little Green Light
• Keela
• Givebutter
• Donorbox
• Zeffy
• Microsoft Power BI