CiviCRM review (2026)
Open-source constituent relationship management software (AGPL-3) for nonprofits, self-hosted or via partners; Chabad Suite is a hosted, customized CiviCRM.
Quick facts
- Published price
- Free (open source) + hosting
- Setup / onboarding
- Varies by host/partner
- Payment processing
- Via processor extensions (Stripe, PayPal etc.)
- Target size
- Any
- Region
- Global
- Company
- Not stated · since Site copyright from 2005; founding year not stated
Not ranked
We could verify fewer than 55% of the feature fields from public pages, so a score would be a guess. The profile below shows exactly what is and is not documented.
Documented strengths
- Free, open, extensible; Hebrew-calendar extension exists
Documented limitations
- Requires hosting/technical capacity; Hebrew extension last updated 2019
CiviCRM pricing
| Plan | Monthly | Annualized | Limit | Includes | Excludes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Self-hosted | — | — | — | Free software under GNU AGPL 3; hosting/implementation costs borne by org | |
| CiviCRM Spark (hosted) | — | — | — | 'Low monthly subscription', includes CiviAcademy; price not on page (Capterra snippet: $15/mo, third-party) |
Pricing model: free (open source) + hosting. Terms: Spark: 'Cancel or upgrade and keep your data'. Chabad Suite's 'Our Story' and support docs confirm it is built on CiviCRM. Source: https://civicrm.org/, checked 2026-10-12 (vendor-page). Prices exclude payment-processing fees unless stated.
Feature coverage, with evidence
"Yes" means we found the capability described on a vendor page (linked). "Partial" means limited, add-on or third-party. "Not verified" means we could not find it documented; it may exist. Ask the vendor.
| Capability | Status | Notes and evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Membership & household records | Yes | Contacts, households, relationships, Memberships source |
| Yahrzeit tracking & reminders | Partial | Community 'Hebrew Calendar' extension (com.fountaintribe.hebrewcalendarhelper): yahrzeit dates, reminders, search; last updated 2019-09-15, 185 active installs, 'Works with CiviCRM 5.9 or higher' source |
| Hebrew calendar integration | Partial | Same extension; Hebrew birthdays, Adar handling source |
| Dues, billing & receivables | Partial | Memberships + contributions; invoicing basic source |
| Online payments | Not verified | Not stated on the pages fetched. source |
| Donations, pledges & campaigns | Yes | Contributions, pledges, P2P source |
| General ledger / fund accounting | Not verified | Not stated on the pages fetched. source |
| QuickBooks integration | Not verified | Not stated on the pages fetched. source |
| Religious school management | Not verified | Not stated on the pages fetched. source |
| Events & registration | Yes | Events source |
| High Holiday seating | Not verified | Not stated on the pages fetched. source |
| Honors, aliyot & gabbai tools | Not verified | Not stated on the pages fetched. source |
| Cemetery management | Not verified | Not stated on the pages fetched. source |
| Website / CMS | Partial | Integrates with CMSs, not a CMS itself source |
| Email & newsletters | Yes | Email marketing source |
| SMS / texting | Not verified | Not stated on the pages fetched. source |
| Member self-service portal | Not verified | Not stated on the pages fetched. source |
| Mobile app | Not verified | Not stated on the pages fetched. source |
| API / data export | Yes | REST API, exports source |
| Automation & workflows | Not verified | Not stated on the pages fetched. source |
Migration
Documented import sources: CSV import.
Assistance: Via partners
source
Support & security
Channels: community forums, partners. Training: CiviAcademy with Spark. source
Security: Self-hosted security is the org's responsibility
What independent sources say
Individual experiences, not survey data. Review platforms are sparse in this niche; treat counts under 20 as anecdotes.
- Capterra: 3.9/5 from 41 reviews. Flexibility praised; upgrade breakage and difficult UI criticized (snippets) source
Questions to ask CiviCRM before you sign
- Is the Hebrew Calendar extension compatible with current CiviCRM 5.7x/6.x releases?
Alternatives to CiviCRM
| Product | Published price | Score | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Easyshul | Standard (congregations with more than 150 families) $349/mo | 80.5/100 | |
| ShulCloud | Standard ('ShulCloud without Financials') $161.99/mo; Premium ('ShulCloud with Financials') $313.99/mo; Enterprise ('The Complete ShulCloud') $464.99/mo; Small-shul Premium rate (signup checkbox) $97.99/mo | 78.5/100 | |
| Rakefet Online | RakefetOnline-CRM Annual - NEW USERS (year 1) $149/mo; RakefetOnline-CRM Annual - EXISTING USERS $90/mo | 78.0/100 | |
| MyShul | Standard $179/mo; Premium $310/mo; Enterprise ('most popular') $460/mo | 75.0/100 |
Sources
- https://civicrm.org/
- https://civicrm.org/about/license
- https://civicrm.org/extensions/hebrew-calendar
- https://civicrm.com/
Spotted an error? Vendors and users can request a correction; we re-verify and note the change.