CiviCRM vs Dux-Soup: Complete Comparison (2026)
An in-depth comparison of CiviCRM and Dux-Soup to help you choose the right tool for your business.
Last updated: November 2026
CiviCRM
6.6/10
Open-source CRM built for nonprofits and advocacy groups, covering contacts, donations, memberships, events, email marketing and case management.
Dux-Soup
5.6/10
LinkedIn prospecting automation tool, now sold as STACKED, that runs visit, connect and message campaigns and syncs leads to sales teams' CRMs.
Feature-by-Feature Comparison
| Feature | | |
|---|---|---|
| Scores | ||
| Overall Rating | 6.6/10 | 5.6/10 |
| Customization | 9/10 | 5/10 |
| Analytics | 6/10 | 4/10 |
| Integration | 7/10 | 7/10 |
| Support | 4/10 | 5/10 |
| Ease of Use | 3/10 | 5/10 |
| Security | 6/10 | 5/10 |
| Cost | 9/10 | 7/10 |
| Scalability | 7/10 | 5/10 |
| Pricing | ||
| Free plan | Yes | No |
| Cheapest paid plan | $15/mo Spark Starter | $55/user/mo STACKED Local |
| Estimated cost for 10 users | Free Self-hosted (open source) | $550/mo STACKED Local |
| Features | ||
| Customer Support Management | ||
| Collaboration | ||
| Contact Management | ||
| Integrations | ||
| Reporting & Analytics | ||
| Built-in Calling | Not listed | |
| Lead Management | Not listed | |
| Marketing Automation | Not listed | |
| Sales Automation | Not listed | |
CiviCRM vs Dux-Soup cost by team size
CiviCRM costs less at every team size we checked.
| Team size | CiviCRM | Dux-Soup |
|---|---|---|
| 1 user | FreeSelf-hosted (open source) | $55/moSTACKED Local |
| 5 users | FreeSelf-hosted (open source) | $275/moSTACKED Local |
| 10 users | FreeSelf-hosted (open source) | $550/moSTACKED Local |
| 25 users | FreeSelf-hosted (open source) | $1,375/moSTACKED Local |
| 50 users | FreeSelf-hosted (open source) | $2,750/moSTACKED Local |
The plan that fits each team size, billed monthly, before add-ons and usage charges. Each cost opens that tool's pricing calculator for the team size.
Which One Should You Choose?
Why choose CiviCRM
- Has a free plan (Dux-Soup does not)
- Lower estimated cost for 10 users: Free vs $550/mo
- Higher Customization score (9/10 vs 5/10)
- Higher Analytics score (6/10 vs 4/10)
- Better fit for marketing teams (5/10 vs 3/10)
Why choose Dux-Soup
- Higher Ease of Use score (5/10 vs 3/10)
- Higher Support score (5/10 vs 4/10)
- Better fit for sales teams (7/10 vs 2/10)
- Better fit for startups (6/10 vs 4/10)
Pros & Cons
CiviCRM
Pros
- The core software is free and open source under the AGPL, so there are no licence fees whatever the number of users or contacts.
- Donations, memberships, events, CiviMail email and case management all come in one nonprofit-focused system.
- It runs inside WordPress, Drupal and Joomla, so data is shared between the website and the CRM.
- Every Spark hosted plan allows unlimited users, starting at $15 per month.
- A large extension ecosystem and an active community make it highly customisable.
Cons
- Reviewers consistently describe the interface as dated and clunky.
- Self-hosted setup and customisation usually need a developer, which adds hidden costs.
- The open-source project offers no dedicated vendor customer service. Help comes from community forums or paid partners.
- Spark plans cap contacts at 5,000 to 10,000 and limit integrations and customisation.
- It has no sales pipeline or opportunity tooling for commercial sales teams.
Dux-Soup
Pros
- The Local plan's annual price of $41.25 per seat per month is low compared with cloud-first LinkedIn automation tools.
- Native CRM syncing with HubSpot, Salesforce, Pipedrive, Freshsales, SharpSpring and HighLevel, plus Zapier and Make.
- Both plans allow unlimited concurrent campaigns.
- The Cloud plan keeps campaigns running without a computer left on.
- Long track record: running since 2015 and reports more than 300,000 users.
Cons
- Campaigns on the Local plan stop when the computer sleeps or shuts down.
- Sequences are linear only, with no if-then branching.
- No email or phone enrichment, so synced CRM records hold only LinkedIn data.
- Several reviews describe the interface as dated and confusing for new users.
- LinkedIn automation always carries a risk of account restrictions.
Not sold on either?
Frequently Asked Questions
CiviCRM scores higher on our CRM criteria: 6.6/10 against 5.6/10 for Dux-Soup. The largest gap is in Customization: 9/10 for CiviCRM and 5/10 for Dux-Soup.
CiviCRM costs less for 10 users: free on its Self-hosted (open source) plan, against about $550/mo on its STACKED Local plan for Dux-Soup, billed monthly.
CiviCRM has a free plan; Dux-Soup does not list one.
Dux-Soup is the better fit for sales teams: we rate it 7/10 for them, against 2/10 for CiviCRM.
CiviCRM has Customer Support Management, which Dux-Soup lacks.
