Beacon vs Keela
Beacon
beaconcrm.org
Keela
keela.coSide by side
| Figure | Beacon | Keela |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | £37/mo | $13.67/mo |
| Free plan | — | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| iOS | Yes | Yes |
| Android | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 4 | 30 |
| Spec score · Nonprofit CRM Software | 9.2 (#1) | 8.8 (#5) |
| Spec score · Donor Management Software | 9.2 (#1) | 8.6 (#7) |
| Founded | 2017 | LinkedIn lists 2013 as the founding year, while Keela’s story says the product launched in 2015. |
| Fundraising | Fundraising tools include branded donation forms, grants, major gifts, legacies, funds, recurring payments, Gift Aid and JustGiving integration. | Its fundraising features include custom donation forms, smart donor asks, campaign tracking, recurring giving prompts, and automatic gift acknowledgements. |
| Integrations | The integration directory lists Stripe, GoCardless, PayPal, Mailchimp, Gmail, Outlook, Gift Aid, JustGiving, Enthuse, Xero, QuickBooks, WordPress, Wix, Drupal, Joomla and Zapier among others. | Listed integrations include Aplos, Raisely, Stripe, PayPal, QuickBooks Online, Eventbrite, Mailchimp, SendGrid, Xero, Zapier, BitPay, DonorSearch, Google Calendar, Gmail, Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager. |
| Praise: usability and support | G2 reviewers repeatedly describe the interface as simple or easy to use and praise responsive customer support. | Independent reviewers repeatedly describe the interface as easy to learn and customer support as responsive and helpful. |
| Product | Beacon is a cloud CRM designed specifically for charities and nonprofit organisations. | Keela is a donor management platform for nonprofits that combines contact management, AI-powered donor insights, and native email marketing. |
| Rating on G2 | 4.7 out of 5 from 10 reviews | 4.6 out of 5 from 103 reviews. |
| Security | Beacon states that it holds ISO 27001:2022 and Cyber Essentials Plus certifications. | Keela says HTTPS encrypts data sent to its servers and that data is backed up multiple times a day. |
| Security controls | The company states that data is encrypted at rest, traffic uses HTTPS, two-factor authentication is available, and permissions can be controlled at feature, record and field level. | The security article states HTTPS encryption, multiple daily backups and protection from Microsoft Azure, AWS and Google Cloud security systems. |
| Support | All plans include live chat and email support, free Lighthouse training and webinars; Beacon targets a five-minute response time. | Every plan includes unlimited email support, online training, a knowledge base, training videos, and Keela U; Premium Care adds live chat and scheduled phone support. |
Plans
Beacon
- Starter£37 a month
- Standard£127 a month
- Premium£325 a month
- UltimatePriced on request
Keela
- 1001-2500 contacts — annual$243 a month
- 2501-5000 contacts — annual$316 a month
- 5001-7500 contacts — annual$379 a month
- 7501-10000+ contacts — annual$438 a month
- 1001-2500 contacts — monthly$259 a month
- 2501-5000 contacts — monthly$357 a month
- 5001-7500 contacts — monthly$420 a month
- Annual · up to 1,000 contacts$164 a year
- Up to 1000 contacts — annual$164 a month
- Monthly · up to 1,000 contacts$190 a month
In their own words
Beacon
Beacon is a CRM built especially for charities, combining fundraising, memberships, events, and case management. Fundraising tools include branded donation forms, grants, major gifts, legacies, recurring payments, and Gift Aid. Organizations can create branded membership and event ticketing forms and track attendance. For service work, Beacon tracks enquiries, ongoing use, and activities over time. Workflow automation and AI tools support data filtering, email drafting, and database logic.
Listed integrations include Mailchimp, Dotdigital, Sendgrid, Xero, JustGiving, Stripe, GoCardless, PayPal, and Zapier. Beacon also provides a documented RESTful API for custom integrations and Beacon-powered features. The service has web, iOS, Android, and API platform listings. Plans start at £37/mo, with annual billing also listed for Starter, Standard, and Premium; Ultimate pricing is custom. Beacon says its infrastructure and customer data are hosted in the UK and that it holds ISO 27001:2022 and Cyber Essentials Plus certifications. All plans include in-app chat and email support. Implementation is not included in plan pricing and is handled by certified Implementation Partners. Beacon was founded in 2017 and is headquartered in Shoreditch, London.
Keela
Keela is a web-based donor management platform for nonprofits, combining contact records, fundraising, email marketing, and reporting. Fundraising tools include custom donation forms, campaign tracking, recurring-giving prompts, smart donor asks, and automatic gift acknowledgements. Donor profiles support deduplication, relationship tracking, donor scores, and pipeline management. Teams can build customizable emails and automated workflows, organize audiences with tags and segments, and use texting services. Reporting includes customizable dashboards, real-time reports, visual summaries, presentation-ready reports, and calculated KPIs. Listed integrations include Raisely, Aplos, Stripe, QuickBooks Online, PayPal, Eventbrite, Mailchimp, SendGrid, Xero, Zapier, BitPay, and DonorSearch. Plans include unlimited forms, emails, donations, and support, but pricing scales with contact count. The annual plan for up to 1,000 contacts is $164 a month; the monthly option is $190 a month. Organizations with more than 10,000 contacts are directed to request custom pricing. Premium Care, pipelines, texting, and wealth screening are additional features; Premium Care starts at $200 per month.