How we make this list: we compare pricing pages, product documentation and public user reviews. Rankite is independent; if a vendor ever pays for a featured spot, that listing is clearly labeled Partner.
Key takeaways
- Small nonprofits running one or two auctions a year should start with the free tiers: 32auctions (free for up to 20 items), Auctria (free Explorer plan) or RallyUp (0% platform fee on its free plan).
- Gala-scale organizations that need ticketing, seating and donor management in one system are choosing between GiveSmart, OneCause and Handbid; all three are quote-based, so budget time for demos.
- Watch the fee model, not just the sticker price: RallyUp and Auctria charge per event or per component, Handbid and ClickBid price per event or per year, and processing fees (usually 2.9% + $0.30) sit on top everywhere.
- If raffles matter to your fundraiser, confirm support before you buy: not every auction platform handles them.
Quick comparison
| Tool | Best for | Starting price | Free plan |
|---|
 Handbid | Galas and high-value auctions wanting white-glove setup | See website (per-event pricing) | No |
 Auctria | Nonprofits that run silent, live and online auctions from one dashboard | $375/year (Emerald plan; Explorer plan free) | Yes (Explorer plan) |
 32auctions | Small nonprofits, schools and PTAs running simple silent auctions | Free (Most Popular upgrade about $170 per event) | Yes (free for up to 20 items) |
 GiveSmart | Nonprofits consolidating event fundraising into one annual platform | See website (flat-fee annual subscription, unlimited campaigns) | No |
 OneCause | Mid-size and large nonprofits running professional event programs | See website (custom quote) | No |
 ClickBid | Auction-focused organizations that want unlimited items and raffles | See website (annual plans) | No (free trial available) |
 Event.Gives | Smaller events that need straightforward mobile bidding | See website | No |
 RallyUp | Nonprofits that want to start free and stack raffles, auctions and donations | Free (0% platform fee; Flex plan component fees 2.9% to 6.9%) | Yes |
 Silent Auction Pro | Budget-conscious nonprofits wanting unlimited events for one annual fee | See website | No |
Is your product missing or out of date?
We review this list regularly. Vendors can request a listing, send updated pricing or ask about featured placement.
The best nonprofit auction software
Picture the night of your gala. Two hundred guests, phones in hand, bidding on seventy items while the paddle raise runs between dinner courses. The difference between a smooth night and a chaotic one is rarely the auctioneer. It is the software running underneath: the bidding app, the checkout flow, the item pickup list. These nine charity auction platforms cover the real market, from free silent-auction tools to concierge-level event platforms, with honest notes on what each one costs and where it falls short.
#1
Handbid
Best for: Galas and high-value auctions wanting white-glove setup
Visit handbid.com
Starting priceSee website (per-event pricing)
Free planNo
Handbid positions itself as an experience platform rather than auction software, and the product reflects it. Their team does the setup: item configuration, access rules, payment flows, so your staff focuses on the event. Bidding runs through a polished mobile app with push notifications, and the white-labeling is thorough enough that guests never see Handbid's name. Credit card processing runs through their system at 3.5% plus $0.30 per transaction.
The trade is cost and sales process. There is no self-serve signup and no price list; expect a per-event quote that reflects nonprofit pricing, and ask for the full fee breakdown in writing. Organizations running multiple large galas a year with dedicated budgets are the fit. A PTA running one spring auction will find cheaper options below that do the job.
What we like- Concierge onboarding where their team configures items and payment flows
- Full white-label branding across URLs, emails and interface
- Handles silent, live, online and sealed-bid formats in one platform
Watch out for- No public pricing, everything runs through a demo and quote
- No raffle support, which some fundraisers need
#2
Auctria
Best for: Nonprofits that run silent, live and online auctions from one dashboard
Visit auctria.com
Starting price$375/year (Emerald plan; Explorer plan free)
Free planYes (Explorer plan)
Auctria has been in this space since 2011, and the pricing is refreshingly transparent for the category. Explorer is free, Emerald at $375 a year covers events up to $10,000 in annual event revenue, and Diamond at $750 a year removes the revenue cap. One license covers the full toolkit: mobile bidding, bid sheets for in-person events, ticket and table sales, raffles, paddle raises, sponsorship tracking and automated bidder statements with payment links.
The honest knock is the interface, which reviewers describe as functional rather than beautiful, with a learning curve for new volunteers. Reporting is adequate but not deep. For the price, though, it is hard to beat: an organization running several auctions a year gets a complete platform for less than many competitors charge per event.
What we like- Published annual pricing with a genuinely free Explorer tier
- Covers silent, live and online auctions plus tickets, tables, raffles and paddle raise
- Each event gets its own brandable website
Watch out for- Interface feels dated next to newer competitors
- Reporting depth draws criticism from power users
#3
32auctions
Best for: Small nonprofits, schools and PTAs running simple silent auctions
Visit 32auctions.com
Starting priceFree (Most Popular upgrade about $170 per event)
Free planYes (free for up to 20 items)
32auctions does one job on purpose: silent auctions. The base auction is free forever, covering a custom URL, real-time mobile bidding, up to 20 items, outbid email notifications and unlimited bidders. The trade for free is house ads on your auction page. Most organizations upgrade to the Most Popular package at about $170 per event for a branded, ad-free page with more items, and there is no annual contract and no percentage taken from what you raise.
The limitation is scope, and the company is upfront about it. There is no ticketing, no table assignments, no donor CRM, no text-to-give. If your fundraiser is an auction plus a gala dinner with seating charts, pair 32auctions with other tools or pick a fuller platform. If your fundraiser is an auction, period, the focus is the point: volunteers can set it up in an afternoon.
What we like- Free tier is genuinely free with no credit card required
- Fully web-based, so bidders need no app download
- Per-event pricing with no annual contract or commission on funds raised
Watch out for- Deliberately silent-auction only, no ticketing, CRM or peer-to-peer modules
- Free tier shows house ads on the auction page
#4
GiveSmart
Best for: Nonprofits consolidating event fundraising into one annual platform
Visit givesmart.com
Starting priceSee website (flat-fee annual subscription, unlimited campaigns)
Free planNo
GiveSmart, part of the Community Brands family, sells the all-in-one event fundraising story. One flat annual fee covers unlimited campaigns: auctions, ticketing, guest management, seating, mobile bidding with text-driven participation, peer-to-peer and donor management. The mobile bidding flow is genuinely smooth, guests get a text link, browse and bid in one click, and outbid notifications pull them back. Higher tiers add a dedicated service consultant and CRM integrations.
The pricing model cuts both ways. Unlimited campaigns favor organizations that run many events; a nonprofit with one annual gala pays the same subscription as one with twelve events. Setup fees, annual fees and transaction fees add up, and reviewers note the feature set can overwhelm small teams. Get the full quote in writing, including processing, before comparing against per-event platforms.
What we like- One subscription covers unlimited campaigns year-round, not per-event fees
- Strong event toolkit with ticketing, seating, mobile bidding and live displays
- Dedicated support consultants on higher tiers
Watch out for- No public pricing, quote only
- Can be expensive for smaller organizations once setup and transaction fees stack up
#5
OneCause
Best for: Mid-size and large nonprofits running professional event programs
Visit onecause.com
Starting priceSee website (custom quote)
Free planNo
OneCause is one of the established names in nonprofit event fundraising, with thousands of organizations on the platform and a product that spans auctions and events, peer-to-peer campaigns, online fundraising and text giving. The auction tools handle silent, live and online formats with mobile bidding, and the broader suite means the gala, the golf outing and the year-end campaign can live in one system. In late 2025 the company was acquired by Bonterra, which folded it into a larger nonprofit software portfolio.
Buyers should know the purchase is consultative: demos, scoping and custom quotes, no self-serve tier. Reviewers comparing it against simpler tools note the steeper learning curve. It fits organizations with professional development staff running multiple fundraising events a year, less so the volunteer committee planning its first auction.
What we like- Mature, full-suite platform covering auctions, peer-to-peer, online fundraising and Text2Give
- Strong bidder experience with good mobile design
- Large nonprofit customer base and deep event expertise
Watch out for- Sales-led purchase with no public pricing
- Onboarding and learning curve reported as steeper than simpler tools
#6
ClickBid
Best for: Auction-focused organizations that want unlimited items and raffles
Visit try.cbo.io
Starting priceSee website (annual plans)
Free planNo (free trial available)
ClickBid has served nonprofits for over two decades with an auction-first platform. The three tiers, Essentials, Enhanced and Full Suite, scale from core mobile bidding up through ticketing, livestreaming and advanced customization. Unlimited items is a real differentiator for organizations with big catalogs, and raffles can run inside the license. Integrations cover the usual nonprofit stack: Salesforce, Blackbaud, Kindful, Neon and Stripe.
The friction is transparency. Pricing is not published on a standard pricing page, so get a written quote early and confirm which tier includes ticketing and livestreaming before you budget. Also note the tier gating: ticketing and livestreaming need Enhanced or above, so price the tier you actually need.
What we like- Unlimited auction items on paid plans
- Raffle support included, which Handbid lacks
- Long track record with nonprofits since 2002
Watch out for- Official site lists pricing behind a trial signup flow rather than a public page
- Lower tiers limit customization and gate features like ticketing and livestreaming
#7
Event.Gives
Best for: Smaller events that need straightforward mobile bidding
Visit event.gives
Starting priceSee website
Free planNo
Event.Gives keeps things simple: mobile bidding, text-driven participation and basic event fundraising tools without the enterprise weight. For a small nonprofit that needs guests bidding from their phones and a clean checkout, the focused scope is a feature. Integrations include Stripe, Apple Pay, Google Pay and Blackbaud CRM.
The problem for buyers is the information gap. No pricing is published on any review site or the vendor's own pages that we could verify, which makes comparison shopping difficult. Request a quote early and ask specifically about per-event versus annual pricing, processing fees and any bidder-facing charges. If the quote comes back competitive, the simplicity suits small teams; if not, the free tiers on this list do similar jobs for nothing.
What we like- Simple, focused mobile bidding with text-to-bid mechanics
- Quick to set up for volunteer teams
- Integrations with Stripe, Apple Pay and Google Pay
Watch out for- No public pricing information anywhere
- Thinner feature set than full-suite competitors, with limited event management depth
#8
RallyUp
Best for: Nonprofits that want to start free and stack raffles, auctions and donations
Visit rallyup.com
Starting priceFree (0% platform fee; Flex plan component fees 2.9% to 6.9%)
Free planYes
RallyUp's pitch is the free plan: 0% platform fee, no contract, donors see an optional tip prompt at checkout, and you keep what you raise either way. The Flex plan lets you disable tipping and instead pay per-component fees: 2.9% for ticketing and storefront, 4.9% for auctions, 6.9% for raffles, with auction fees capped at $100 per item. Payment processing (1.9% to 2.9% plus $0.30) goes to Stripe or PayPal on top. Campaign types stack, so a gala page can hold the auction, the raffle and the donation form together.
Do the fee math for your mix. An auction-heavy fundraiser on Flex at 4.9% can cost more than a flat annual subscription elsewhere, and 6.9% on raffles is worth pricing against alternatives. The free plan is the value play: for organizations comfortable with donor tipping, it is genuinely free fundraising software.
What we like- Free plan with 0% platform fee and no subscription or contract
- Stackable campaign types, auctions, raffles, donations, crowdfunding, a-thons, on one page
- Auction fees capped at $100 per item on Flex
Watch out for- Flex component fees add up across campaign types (raffles at 6.9% is steep)
- No printed bid sheets, mobile bidding only
Starting priceSee website
Free planNo
Silent Auction Pro has served nonprofits since 2007 with a simple value proposition: one annual fee, unlimited events. The vendor does not publish a pricing page we could verify, so confirm current numbers directly. The platform covers online bidding, bid sheets for in-person events, and mobile bidding depending on tier.
This is a budget pick for organizations that run many small auctions and want predictable annual costs. It will not match Handbid or GiveSmart on polish or event-management depth. For a school or club running monthly auctions on volunteer labor, the unlimited-events model is the appeal; verify the current plan structure on a demo before committing.
What we like- Annual pricing covers unlimited events rather than per-event fees
- Tiered plans (Bidsheet and Mobile) match different event styles
- Long history in the category since 2007
Watch out for- No public pricing page we could verify
- Interface and feature depth trail newer platforms
The fee models, translated
Auction software pricing comes in four shapes, and the shape matters more than the number.
Per-event pricing (Handbid, 32auctions upgrades) charges per auction. Good for one big gala a year; punishing if you run monthly auctions. Annual licenses (Auctria, ClickBid, Silent Auction Pro) charge once a year for unlimited or capped events. Good for frequent fundraisers; wasteful for a single event.
Platform subscriptions (GiveSmart, OneCause) bundle unlimited campaigns into an annual fee with support and services layered in. Good when fundraising is a year-round operation; expensive when it is one night.
Percentage or tip-based (RallyUp) takes a cut per transaction or asks donors to tip. Good for starting free; the percentages deserve a spreadsheet before you commit, especially on raffles.
On top of all four sits payment processing, almost always 2.9% plus $0.30 per transaction through Stripe or PayPal, or 3.5% plus $0.30 on Handbid's own system. Nobody waives this except by letting donors cover it. When comparing quotes, add processing to every option or you are comparing fiction.
What to check before you choose
Start with the event, not the software. A 40-item silent auction at a school needs 32auctions or RallyUp, not a concierge platform. A 300-guest gala with seating charts, live auction and paddle raise needs GiveSmart, OneCause or Handbid. Write down the must-haves: ticketing, seating, raffles, text-to-give, CRM integration, then eliminate everything that lacks one.
Then check the bidder experience on a phone. Most bidding now happens on mobile, in a noisy room, on venue Wi-Fi. Open each finalist's demo auction on your own phone and try to find an item, place a bid and check out. If it takes more than a minute, your guests will struggle too.
Then confirm the money details in writing: who charges the processing fee and whether donors can cover it, what happens to unclaimed items, how payouts and reconciliation work, and whether you can export your donor and bidder data. Ask for two reference customers of similar size and actually call them. An hour of reference calls beats a month of feature matrices.
How we chose
We started with the categories buyers search: nonprofit auction software, charity auction software and fundraising auction platform. For each candidate we opened the vendor's homepage to confirm the current product name and URL, checked pricing against the vendor's own pages or vendor-supplied pricing documents, and compared auction features, fee models and organization-size fit against public reviews on G2, Capterra and practitioner discussion. Where a price could not be verified on the vendor's own materials we wrote "See website" rather than guessing. Three homepage opens were blocked, so those URLs rest on official search-result evidence and are flagged in our notes.
Frequently asked questions
How much does charity auction software cost?
Anywhere from free to several thousand dollars per event. Free tiers (32auctions, Auctria Explorer, RallyUp) cover small auctions at no software cost. Mid-range annual licenses start around $375 a year. Gala platforms like Handbid, GiveSmart and OneCause are quote-based and typically run into the thousands per event or per year. Add payment processing of about 2.9% plus $0.30 per transaction to every option.
Can I run a charity auction for free?
Yes, for small silent auctions. 32auctions is free for up to 20 items, Auctria's Explorer plan is free, and RallyUp's free plan charges 0% platform fee. You will still pay payment processing fees on online payments (usually 2.9% plus $0.30), and free tiers may show vendor branding or ads. For a first auction or a small fundraiser, free is genuinely workable.
What is the difference between silent auction and live auction software needs?
Silent auctions need mobile bidding, outbid notifications and self-checkout, since guests bid throughout the event without an auctioneer. Live auctions need bid-calling displays, paddle tracking and clerk tools for the auctioneer team. Most platforms on this list handle both, but confirm live-auction support specifically if your event has a live component; some silent-auction specialists do not.
Should we let donors cover the processing fees?
Most platforms offer donor-covered fees at checkout, and a large share of donors accept. It can recover thousands of dollars on a big night. The trade is a slightly higher ask at checkout. Test it on one event and check your completion rate before making it the default.
Do we need ticketing in our auction software?
If the auction is part of a ticketed gala, yes: selling tickets in the same system as the auction keeps guest data unified and simplifies check-in. If the auction is standalone or online-only, separate ticketing just adds cost. Match the software to the event, not the other way around.
Sources we checked (7)
- https://www.handbid.com
- https://auctria.com
- https://assets.auctria.com/PlanRunCloseOnePager.pdf
- https://32auctions.com
- https://givesmart.com
- https://www.onecause.com
- https://www.galabid.com/blog/free-silent-auction-software-popular-options-comparison
Is your product missing or out of date?
We review this list regularly. Vendors can request a listing, send updated pricing or ask about featured placement.
Shihab Mia · Founder, Rankite
Shihab has spent more than a decade helping SaaS and e-commerce brands grow through search. He writes Rankite's software buying guides from pricing pages, documentation and public user reviews. More about Shihab.