CiviCRM vs Little Green Light (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, CiviCRM and Little Green Light share a 2.4 GPA, and only CiviCRM has a free plan.
Checked Nov 13, 2026 · graded Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
CiviCRM grades higher on value for money. Little Green Light grades higher on ease of use. They get the same grade on the free plan, features and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
CiviCRM
Open source constituent CRM for nonprofits and civic groups
Little Green Light
Donor management database for small and mid-size nonprofits
Which one is for you
Pick CiviCRM if
- Fits if you have someone technical who can host and maintain a server
- Works for groups that want to own their data and avoid per-seat pricing
Look elsewhere if
- Not for you if you want no server work, as the free download needs hosting and upkeep
- Tight if you pick Spark: it is not the full download and takes no complex customisation
- Watch out: Spark prices rise with contacts and emails, and are listed only to 10,000 contacts
- Skip it if you want a native phone app, as there is none
Pick Little Green Light if
- Fits if you run a small nonprofit and want every feature at one price per record count
- Works for teams of any size, since users are unlimited
Look elsewhere if
- Not for you if your organization is in the EU, UK or Switzerland, as the vendor does not sell there
- Pricey if your list is large: $135 a month at 50,000 records and $15 more per extra 10,000
- Watch out: online gifts also pay processor fees of 2.2% plus $0.30 and up
- Skip it if you want phone apps, as none are listed
How we grade them
| 2.4GPACiviCRMFair | 2.4GPALittle Green LightFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | BSpark Starter is $15 a month for up to 5,000 contacts, right at the category's cheaper quarter. The free download only counts as free if you run the server yourself. | C$45 a month for up to 2,500 records, rising to $135 at 50,000, against a category middle of $29. Unlimited users and every feature are on every tier. |
| Free plan and trial | CThe software is free to download, but it needs your own server and upkeep, and CiviCRM publishes no price for hosting help. There is no trial. | C30-day free trial on every new account with no card required. After that there is no free plan. |
| Features | BContacts, contributions and memberships, events, peer-to-peer fundraising, bulk email and SMS, case management and reports. Spark ships most but not all of that. | BConstituent and gift records, acknowledgments and receipts, email and appeals, online donation forms and reports for major gifts. Nothing in the listing is missing from a donor database's core job. |
| Ease of use | DThe main product is self-hosted and needs a server and upkeep. No store rating on record. | CNo store rating on record. You import and set up your records and forms before it pays off. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb only, with WordPress, Drupal, Joomla, Backdrop, Mailchimp, Zapier, QuickBooks and Xero. No native phone or desktop apps. | BWeb only, with Mailchimp, Constant Contact, Stripe, PayPal, QuickBooks Online and Zapier. No desktop or phone apps are listed. |
| Best for | an open source CRM you can host yourself | donor records for small and mid-size nonprofits |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: CiviCRM and Little Green Light. How we grade
Price against what you get
CiviCRM starts at $15 a month and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Little Green Light starts at $45 a month and scores 2.7.
Little Green Light scores higher, and starts $30 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other CRM tools on the chart, 14 score higher than CiviCRM for less, and 7 score higher than Little Green Light for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- CiviCRM is open source and self-hostable, according to its own site.
- CiviCRM also covers case management.
- Little Green Light also covers tasks and forms.
At a glance
| CiviCRM | Little Green Light | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free trial |
| Starts at | $15 per month for up to 5,000 contacts (Spark Starter) | $45 per month for up to 2,500 constituents, billed monthly |
| Free plan | The full software is free to download, use and share under the GNU AGPL v3; you host it yourself or pay a hosting partner. | None |
| Free trial | None listed | 30 days free on every new account, no credit card required |
| Web | ||
| Made by | CiviCRM LLC | Little Green Light, LLC |
| Price read from | civicrm.com | littlegreenlight.com |
| Checked | Nov 13, 2026 | Nov 13, 2026 |
Worth knowing
CiviCRM
- The free download needs your own server and upkeep, or a paid hosting partner or expert, and the price of that is not published by CiviCRM.
- Spark is described by the vendor as not a replacement for the full download: it ships most but not all features and does not take complex customizations.
- Spark prices rise with contacts and emails; the page lists tiers only up to 10,000 contacts and 50,000 emails.
- Runs in a browser only; there are no native mobile or desktop apps.
Little Green Light
- The vendor says it does not offer Little Green Light to organizations in the EU, UK or Switzerland.
- Online donations carry processor fees of 2.2% plus $0.30 per transaction and up, paid to the processor.
- Cost rises with record count: $135 a month at 50,000 constituents and $15 more per further 10,000.
- Platform is web only; the pages list no desktop or mobile apps.
Key features
CiviCRM
- Contact management
- Keeps donors, members, volunteers and other contacts with their relationships and history in one place, with custom fields, import and export, and deduplication.
- Contributions and memberships
- Takes payments through customizable contribution pages and manages memberships with automated renewals and reminders.
- Events and peer-to-peer fundraising
- Runs any number of events and lets supporters raise money through their own fundraising pages.
- Bulk email and SMS
- Sends email and SMS campaigns to segments of contacts; the Spark tiers cap monthly emails.
- Case management
- Tracks ongoing work with a constituent as cases with their own processes.
- Reports and extensions
- Ships with dozens of configurable reports, and a public extensions directory adds payment gateways, accounting links and other integrations.
Little Green Light
- Constituent and gift records
- Keeps donors, volunteers and members in one database with every gift, tags, documents and a log of mailings, emails, meetings and tasks.
- Acknowledgments and receipts
- Produces thank-you letters and receipts by mail or email from inside the system, plus mail-merge letters, labels and envelopes.
- Email and appeals
- Builds, schedules and sends emails for acknowledgments, appeals and event invitations, with segmented lists for solicitations.
- LGL Forms for online donations
- Donation forms that sync gifts into constituent records; payments are processed through Stripe or PayPal.
- Reports and major gifts
- Built-in and custom reports, scheduled reports, a dashboard of fundraising totals, and task series for managing major gift prospects.
Plans
CiviCRM
Self-hosted download$0
Free to download and run on your own server, standalone or with Backdrop, Drupal, Joomla or WordPress. You host and maintain it yourself.
Spark Starter$15
per month for up to 5,000 contacts
Hosted CiviCRM with unlimited users, most CiviCRM components and CiviMail.
Spark Essentials$30
per month for up to 5,000 contacts
Everything in Starter plus Mosaico HTML emails, with up to 10,000 emails.
Spark Pro$50
per month for up to 10,000 contacts
Additional extensions, up to 50,000 emails and a custom domain.
Little Green Light
Up to 2,500 constituents$45
per month for up to 2,500 constituents, billed monthly
Every feature and unlimited users on every tier; the price follows the record count.
Up to 5,000 constituents$60
per month for up to 5,000 constituents, billed monthly
Same features. The price rises with the record count: $75 at 10,000 and $90 at 20,000.
Up to 50,000 constituents$135
per month for up to 50,000 constituents, billed monthly
Above 50,000 records it adds $15 a month per 10,000; accounts top out at 200,000 records.
Ways to pay less
CiviCRM
No public discounts listed.
Little Green Light
- Annual discount
10% off for prepaying 12 months
Prepaying 12 months takes 10% off the monthly price; 6 months gets 5% and 3 months gets 2.5%.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, CiviCRM or Little Green Light?
As of Nov 13, 2026, CiviCRM is cheaper to start with: $15 a month, against $45 a month for Little Green Light. CiviCRM starts at $15 per month for up to 5,000 contacts (Spark Starter), and Little Green Light starts at $45 per month for up to 2,500 constituents, billed monthly.
Which has a free plan, CiviCRM or Little Green Light?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only CiviCRM has a free plan. Little Green Light does not, though it has a free trial.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.