Flat-rate pricing by member band is usually the cheaper and more predictable model for nonprofits with more than a few hundred contacts and more than one staff login. Per-user pricing is cheapest when one or two people run everything. Per-contact and per-transaction pricing start low and grow with your list or your sales volume, so the first-year price rarely matches year three.
What each one is
Nonprofit software is sold four main ways.
Per user charges for each admin login. Salesforce Nonprofit Cloud is the clearest example: $60/user/mo for Enterprise, billed annually, with the first 10 licenses free for eligible nonprofits through the Power of Us program. The list price looks small until you count every volunteer coordinator, board treasurer, and seasonal program staffer who needs access.
Per contact charges by the size of your database, in tiers. Wild Apricot starts at $66/mo for 100 contacts month-to-month, and pricing counts every contact, not only active members. Keela starts at $134/mo billed annually ($160/mo monthly) for up to 1,000 contacts and moves to $209/mo annual for 1,001 to 2,500. Your bill climbs when you import a lapsed-member list or a newsletter audience.
Per transaction charges a fee on each registration, ticket, or payment. Eventbrite is free for free events and charges 3.7% + $1.79 per paid ticket plus 2.9% payment processing per order. ActiveNet does not publish pricing; the vendor describes it as transaction-based with upfront consulting costs, and a 2011 Costa Mesa proposal showed a $3.94 fee on a $105 registration with a $12,000 annual hosted minimum.
Flat rate by member band charges a fixed monthly fee for a range of members, with no charge per login. Communal is $75/mo for up to 250 members and scales by band (500, 1,000, 2,000, 5,000, 10,000, quote above 20,000). Modules you do not use are not billed, and admin accounts are unlimited.
Decision table
| Model | Example (published) | Grows with | Cheapest when | Watch for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Per user | Salesforce Nonprofit Cloud, $60/user/mo annual, 10 free | Number of staff logins | 1 to 10 admins | Implementation and consultant costs, annual terms |
| Per contact | Wild Apricot from $66/mo (100 contacts); Keela from $134/mo annual (1,000 contacts) | Database size, including lapsed and non-member contacts | Very small lists | Tier jumps when you import a list; surcharges for third-party gateways |
| Per transaction | Eventbrite 3.7% + $1.79 per paid ticket plus 2.9% processing; ActiveNet quote only | Sales volume | Low volume or free events | Fees compound on high-volume registration seasons; minimums |
| Flat by member band | Communal $75/mo up to 250 members | Member count, in wide bands | Several hundred members, multiple admins | Add-on modules, processing rate in your agreement |
When you need one, the other, or both
Per user makes sense when a small, stable team runs a database and your list is large relative to your staff. A three-person development office with 15,000 donors will often do better on a per-user CRM than on per-contact pricing. The trap is growth in logins: every new coordinator is a new license, so organizations start sharing passwords, which defeats the audit trail.
Per contact makes sense when your list is small and stays small. A 90-member club on Wild Apricot's 100-contact tier is paying $66/mo for a lot of functionality. It stops making sense when the list grows past the tier boundary or when you want to keep lapsed members and prospects in the same system. Check whether the vendor counts every contact or only paying members before you estimate.
Per transaction makes sense for occasional, low-volume events where you do not want a monthly bill, or for free events. It rarely makes sense as the pricing for your main registration system, because a busy season turns a "free" tool into the most expensive line in the budget. A rec department running 2,000 registrations a season should model the fee total, not the headline rate.
Flat by member band makes sense when you want the bill to stay put for a year, you have more than one or two admins, and you are moving toward a single system for members, programs, volunteers, and donations. The main thing to check is what the band includes and what is an add-on.
Two models often stack. A flat-rate platform still passes through card processing. A per-contact tool may add a percentage on top if you use your own payment gateway (Wild Apricot's help center describes a 20% payment system servicing fee on the subscription price for third-party gateways in the US and Canada). Ask for the total at your list size and volume.
Where Communal fits
Communal uses flat pricing by member band: $75/mo up to 250 members with member CRM, volunteer, donor, and POS software included, unlimited admin accounts, no contracts, and prorated billing when you add or cancel a module. Programs and events is +$50/mo and facilities starts at +$50/mo. It is not the cheapest option for a 50-member club with one volunteer admin, and card processing is still a separate percentage set in your agreement. See pricing for the full band table and our membership software pricing guide for how to compare quotes.
To compare pricing across specific products, start at the alternatives hub.
Frequently Asked Questions
Quick answers to common questions about this topic.
Flat pricing by member band is usually better once you have more than a few hundred contacts, because the bill stays the same as the list grows inside a band and you can add staff logins without paying for each one. Per-contact pricing can be cheaper for very small lists. Model a year at your real contact count before deciding.
Per-user pricing charges for each staff or volunteer login. Salesforce Nonprofit Cloud, for example, is $60/user/mo billed annually after the first 10 free licenses. Per-contact pricing charges by the size of your database. Wild Apricot starts at $66/mo for 100 contacts and Keela at $134/mo billed annually for up to 1,000 contacts. One penalizes adding admins, the other penalizes growing your list.
It depends on volume. Eventbrite charges 3.7% + $1.79 per paid ticket plus 2.9% payment processing per order. ActiveNet does not publish rates; a 2011 municipal proposal showed a $3.94 fee on a $105 class registration. Per-transaction pricing looks free when you start and scales directly with how much you sell.
Flat by member band. $75/mo covers up to 250 members and includes member CRM, volunteer management, donor management, and POS software. Bands scale at 500, 1,000, 2,000, 5,000, and 10,000 members, with quotes above 20,000. Programs and events is +$50/mo and facilities starts at +$50/mo. Admin accounts are unlimited. Card processing is a percentage set in your agreement, often around 2%.
Yes. Every tool that takes online payments passes a card-processing cost through, either as a published rate, a processor's rate, or a fee built into the subscription. Flat-rate pricing means the software fee is predictable; it does not mean card fees disappear. Ask each vendor for the processing rate and whether there are monthly minimums.
Written by
Matt Elliott
We help community organizations, recreation centers, and nonprofits streamline their operations with software built for how they actually work.
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