CiviCRM vs Beacon

CiviCRM9.3Visit Beacon8.1Visit

Higher score CiviCRM #1 in Donor Management Software 9.3/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 5 of 5 features Visit CiviCRM

vs

Beacon #12 in Donor Management Software 8.1/10 Paid ✓ 5 of 5 features Visit Beacon

• CiviCRM fits best

  Open-source nonprofits needing broad flexibility

• Beacon fits best

  UK charities needing Gift Aid and integrations

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Side by side

Feature	CiviCRM 9.3/10 Visit ↗	Beacon 8.1/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score	9.3	8.1
Ranking	#1 in Donor Management Software	#12 in Donor Management Software
Best for	Open-source nonprofits needing broad flexibility	UK charities needing Gift Aid and integrations
Pricing model	Free plan + paid	Paid
Starting price	$15/mo	£33.50/mo
Free plan	✓ (best)	—
Free trial	—	—
Deployment	Cloud, Self-hosted	Cloud
Platforms	Web	Web
Support	Email, Community, Live chat, Docs	Email, Live chat, Docs
Compliance	GDPR	ISO 27001, GDPR, SSO/SAML, 2FA
Integrations	8 integrations	20 integrations
Built for	Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise	Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise
Features CiviCRM 5/5 · Beacon 5/5
Campaign management	✓	✓
Online donation forms	✓	✓
Recurring donations	✓	✓
Automated receipts	✓	✓
Donor segmentation	✓	✓
Specs
Reporting level	Advanced	Advanced
Our review
Pros	Core software is free and open source Supports recurring gifts, receipts, segmentation and reporting Works with major CMS, payment, accounting and automation tools	Gift Aid data and claim management supports UK charity workflows Advanced dashboards, metrics, charts and filters support reporting REST API plus payment, fundraising, finance and marketing integrations
Cons	Hosted plans cap contacts and email volumes Self-hosting requires an organization-managed deployment The breadth of features may require more configuration	There is no permanent free plan Monthly pricing rises with contact volume and enabled features The broad feature set may exceed the needs of smaller organisations
Our verdict	CiviCRM is a web-based, open-source constituent relationship management system for nonprofit and civic-sector organizations. It brings contact records, contributions, fundraising campaigns, memberships, events, email communications and… Read the review →	Beacon is a cloud-based CRM for charities and other nonprofit organisations that need one place for people, organisations, payments, subscriptions, campaigns, fundraising pages, Gift Aid data and communications. Its core workflow covers… Read the review →

Strengths and trade-offs

• CiviCRM — where it wins

  • Core software is free and open source
  • Supports recurring gifts, receipts, segmentation and reporting
  • Works with major CMS, payment, accounting and automation tools

  Where it doesn't

  • Hosted plans cap contacts and email volumes
  • Self-hosting requires an organization-managed deployment
  • The breadth of features may require more configuration

• Beacon — where it wins

  • Gift Aid data and claim management supports UK charity workflows
  • Advanced dashboards, metrics, charts and filters support reporting
  • REST API plus payment, fundraising, finance and marketing integrations

  Where it doesn't

  • There is no permanent free plan
  • Monthly pricing rises with contact volume and enabled features
  • The broad feature set may exceed the needs of smaller organisations

• CiviCRM9.3/10 · Free plan

  A flexible donor system with broad fundraising tools and open-source deployment options.

  Visit CiviCRMFull verdict →
• Beacon8.1/10 · Paid

  A capable UK charity CRM with Gift Aid, advanced reporting and broad integrations.

  Visit BeaconFull verdict →