What is CiviCRM used for?

CiviCRM is an open-source constituent relationship management system for nonprofits, advocacy groups and NGOs, running standalone or inside a CMS. It is a good fit for managing donors and supporters for a charity, and adding a CRM to a WordPress or Drupal site.

Is CiviCRM open source?

Yes. CiviCRM is open source under the AGPL-3.0 licence. Its source code is on GitHub at civicrm/civicrm-core and is written mainly in PHP.

Yes. CiviCRM is open source, so the software itself is free to use.

Can I self-host CiviCRM?

Yes. CiviCRM can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure.

What is CiviCRM an alternative to?

CiviCRM is an open-source alternative to Salesforce and HubSpot. Other open-source alternatives to Salesforce include Krayin CRM, SuiteCRM and EspoCRM.

Is CiviCRM actively maintained?

Yes. The most recent commit to CiviCRM was on 1 October 2026. The project has 779 stars on GitHub.

CiviCRM: open-source alternative to Salesforce, HubSpot

About CiviCRM

CiviCRM is a constituent relationship management system designed for advocacy, nonprofit and non-governmental organizations. This repository holds its core application and framework. The project is open source under the AGPL-3.0 license and is coordinated by CiviCRM LLC.

It is delivered as a standalone PHP web application and as a module that runs inside the Backdrop, Drupal, Joomla and WordPress content management systems, which lets organizations combine their website and contact records. Topics on the repository point to fundraising among its focus areas. Installation guides are published on the project website, along with documentation, a community Q&A site and a directory of providers offering paid support.

Key features

Constituent relationship management for nonprofits
Runs standalone as a PHP application
Modules for Drupal, WordPress, Joomla and Backdrop
Fundraising support for organizations
Documentation and sysadmin installation guides

Good fit for

→Managing donors and supporters for a charity
→Adding a CRM to a WordPress or Drupal site

Built with: PHP
Tags: crm; nonprofit; fundraising; ngo; advocacy; php; drupal; wordpress

CiviCRM: questions and answers

What is CiviCRM used for?: CiviCRM is an open-source constituent relationship management system for nonprofits, advocacy groups and NGOs, running standalone or inside a CMS. It is a good fit for managing donors and supporters for a charity, and adding a CRM to a WordPress or Drupal site.
Is CiviCRM open source?: Yes. CiviCRM is open source under the AGPL-3.0 licence. Its source code is on GitHub at civicrm/civicrm-core and is written mainly in PHP.
Is CiviCRM free?: Yes. CiviCRM is open source, so the software itself is free to use.
Can I self-host CiviCRM?: Yes. CiviCRM can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure.
What is CiviCRM an alternative to?: CiviCRM is an open-source alternative to Salesforce and HubSpot. Other open-source alternatives to Salesforce include Krayin CRM, SuiteCRM and EspoCRM.
Is CiviCRM actively maintained?: Yes. The most recent commit to CiviCRM was on 1 October 2026. The project has 779 stars on GitHub.