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Plain-English guide · for nonprofits
Keela alternatives, honestly compared
Updated September 2026
Keela was acquired in 2024 and folded into a new suite called Velora in 2025. If that has you shopping, here is the landscape, with prices, and with who each tool actually fits. One disclosure up front: we make Ember, one of the options below.
Aplos acquired Keela in June 2024. In August 2025, Aplos, Keela and Raisely launched together as Velora, under the same private equity owner. Keela keeps running inside that suite. Nothing here says it is shutting down. But an acquisition and a rebrand are a fair moment to check the market, and contact-tier pricing means your bill grows with your list either way.
Before you switch anything
Export your data first
Contacts, gift history, notes, emails. Do it while everything works and you are calm, not during a migration.
Do the contact-tier math
Keela starts near $164 a month at 1,000 contacts on annual billing, and rises with your list. Know your real contact count and what it costs on each tool before comparing anything else.
Check your renewal date
Migrations take longer than planned. Start well before renewal, not the week of it.
The alternatives
| Tool | Entry price | Bill grows with | Honest fit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stay on Keela / Velora | ~$164/mo at 1,000 contacts | Contacts, add-ons | If it works and the price holds, switching has real costs too. |
| Little Green Light | $45/mo to 2,500 records | Records only | Donor management done simply. Unlimited users, no contracts, unlimited users and no contracts since 2007. |
| Bloomerang | $125/mo | Contacts | The donor retention specialist, now a full giving suite. Unlimited users, private equity owned. |
| CiviCRM | Free to license; hosted from $15/mo | Hosting and help | Powerful and free, but it needs someone technical or a paid implementer. |
| Zeffy | $0 | Nothing; funded by donor tips | Fundraising and donor tracking only. Your donors are asked to tip Zeffy at checkout. |
| Ember (that's us) | $0 under $50K budget; $29/mo to $100K | Your annual budget band, never contacts | A whole suite: donors, volunteers, programs, grants, board, compliance. Newest tool on this list, built for nonprofits of every size. |
How to choose between them
If donor management is the whole job, Little Green Light is hard to beat on price and calm. If donor retention analytics matter most, that is Bloomerang's home turf. If you have technical help and no budget, CiviCRM does the most for free. If you only need donation forms, Zeffy costs nothing, with the tip model as the tradeoff.
Ember's honest pitch is different: one place for the whole operation, priced by your budget so a growing contact list never raises your bill. We are also the newest tool here. If you want a decade of track record, that is Little Green Light, not us.
Before you compare, add up what your tools cost today, next to 2026 published prices.
Prices and company facts were read from each vendor's own pages on the date shown above and change often. Nothing here is legal, tax or purchasing advice. Check the vendor's current pricing page before you decide, and read your own contract before you switch.
Where Ember fitsEmber
Simple tools made for nonprofits like yours, priced by your annual budget, never by contacts or seats. Free under a $50K budget, and every tier includes every app. Unlimited users on every tier.
Sources: Prices read from each vendor's own pricing page on 29 August 2026. Acquisition facts from company press releases: Aplos acquired Keela (June 2024), Aplos announcement; Velora launch (August 2025), BusinessWire. Pricing changes often; check the vendor's page before deciding.