Last Updated: May 2026
Most organizations comparing ToucanTech and Raklet have already filtered down past the enterprise advancement platforms (Blackbaud, iModules) and want a more affordable, less complex tool that still handles alumni records, fundraising, communications, and member self-service in one place. ToucanTech is the long-standing answer for independent schools and universities. Raklet is the option for alumni networks that sit inside broader membership organizations: international school groups with corporate parents, university alumni clubs that also run paid memberships, nonprofits that combine alumni and donor programs, and chapter-based associations.
This comparison covers what each platform actually does today, what it costs (ToucanTech’s pricing page returns a 404, so we sourced the figure independently), how each company is funded and staffed, and which kind of organization is genuinely better served by each. If you are also evaluating community-led platforms like Hivebrite, see our best Hivebrite alternatives roundup; if you are looking at the consolidated Gravyty product, see Graduway (Gravyty) vs Raklet. The full hub of alternatives to ToucanTech covers more options.
Quick Verdict: ToucanTech vs Raklet
| Dimension | ToucanTech | Raklet |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | From $8,000 per year (flat annual rate, verified via Capterra) | Free plan for 100 contacts; paid plans on the Raklet pricing page |
| Pricing transparency | No public pricing page (toucantech.com/pricing returns 404); demo required | Public, contact-based pricing with add-on packs for contacts, admin seats, email volume |
| Vertical focus | Schools, universities, and advancement offices (300+ schools, 400+ customers) | Alumni, associations, nonprofits, professional bodies, clubs (50+ countries) |
| Mobile app | Branded iOS and Android app included | Branded iOS and Android app available as an add-on on any plan |
| AI features | None as of May 2026 (AI discussed in blog only, not in product) | AI-assisted onboarding (website matching, page import); engagement scoring on roadmap |
| Company health | Founder-led, ~60 employees, £1M seed (Pembroke VCT, 2020); no later rounds | Founder-led, privately held, 10+ employees; backed by Techstars and Microsoft Ventures (2016) |
Verdict: ToucanTech wins for independent schools and university advancement offices that want a purpose-built, education-vertical tool with a named account manager and want to avoid the complexity of Blackbaud or iModules. Raklet wins for alumni networks that sit inside broader programs (corporate alumni, multi-program nonprofits, international school groups that also run paid clubs and chapters), or for any organization that wants public pricing, a permanent free tier, and an open REST API instead of a quote-only flat annual rate.
Side-by-Side Overview
What ToucanTech Is
ToucanTech is a UK-headquartered alumni and community platform founded in 2014 by Kate Jillings and Sian Morley-Smith, and commercially launched in 2016. The product is sold primarily to independent schools, universities, and nonprofit advancement offices. The homepage lists 400+ customers and the alumni management page lists 300+ schools and universities, with offices in London, Lisbon, Sydney, and Washington D.C. The company is a CASE partner (Council for Advancement and Support of Education), which is a credibility signal in the school and higher-ed advancement community. Every customer gets a named specialist account manager, which is the product’s defining go-to-market promise.
What Raklet Is
Raklet is a membership and community platform founded in 2013, backed by Techstars and Microsoft Ventures in 2016, and serving organizations across more than 50 countries. The core of the platform is a contact-centric CRM with custom fields, segmentation, and a per-contact timeline. On top of that core sit apps for memberships, events, email and SMS marketing, fundraising, a private community portal, a job board, directories, and a full public REST API. Roughly half of Raklet’s customers are US-based; the other half spans alumni networks, professional associations, nonprofits, and clubs worldwide. Raklet ships features quickly, prices transparently, and offers a permanent free tier for 100 contacts.
Feature Comparison
| Feature | ToucanTech | Raklet |
|---|---|---|
| Alumni and member CRM | Purpose-built alumni records with relationships, careers, mentoring, and prospect tracking | Custom-field CRM with timeline, segmentation, and unified profiles spanning members, donors, alumni, and prospects |
| Memberships and dues | Supported through donation and registration flows; not a core membership-management product | Native membership types, renewals, dues, and self-service portal with automated reminders |
| Event management | Event registration, ticketing, and check-in | Unlimited ticket types per event, member-only ticketing, QR check-in |
| Fundraising and donations | One-off and recurring donations, prospect tracking, gift entry. Capterra reviewers report monthly recurring gifts must be logged manually each month. | Donation forms, fundraising campaigns, recurring billing through Stripe or PayPal |
| Email and newsletters | Newsletter builder, mailing list segmentation, consent management. Reviewers describe the design hub as “clunky”. | Built-in email campaigns, segmentation, open and click tracking, plus SMS |
| Forms | Built-in forms tied to the database. Reviewers note “form functionality limited, limited design option”. | Drag-and-drop form builder; submissions feed the CRM and trigger automations |
| Branded mobile app | iOS and Android app included as part of the subscription | Free Raklet-branded app on all plans; custom-branded org app available as a paid add-on |
| Community portal and discussion | Alumni directory, mentoring connections, news feed | Full private community portal: boards, posts, threaded comments, member-only content gating |
| Mentoring module | Dedicated mentoring module: mentor registration, mentee sign-up, coordinator-managed or self-matched pairing, and program tracking built into the platform | No dedicated mentoring module. Alumni mentoring programs run through the directory with custom fields (mentor availability, industry, expertise) and filter-based coordinator matching. Manual introduction workflow; no automated pairing. |
| Public REST API | Available; integrations described by reviewers as limited and gap-heavy for Wonde, PASS, and third-party payment providers | Public REST API on all plans; Swagger documentation; 3,000+ Zapier integrations |
| Reporting and analytics | Standard reports on giving and engagement. SmartThoughts review describes reporting as “more limited for data-heavy organizations”. | Reporting on member growth, churn, event attendance, email engagement, and revenue |
| Digital membership cards | Not a documented feature | Native digital membership cards delivered to member wallets |
| Verticals supported | Schools, universities, nonprofit advancement offices. Buyer feedback from this evaluation cycle: ToucanTech “is a school-focused alumni system; they don’t work in the club scene or corporate.” | Alumni networks, professional associations, chambers, nonprofits, religious communities, clubs, and corporate alumni |
AI Features: ToucanTech vs Raklet
ToucanTech has no AI-driven product features documented as of May 2026. The company has published two blog articles discussing AI as a category topic (thought leadership about how schools should think about AI), but those posts describe no in-product capability. There is no public mention of AI matching for mentoring, AI-assisted segmentation, AI-generated communications, or AI engagement scoring.
Raklet’s AI capabilities today focus on onboarding: when a new organization signs up, Raklet’s AI scans the customer’s existing website, matches the design, and imports pages so the customer does not have to rebuild content from scratch in the first week. AI-assisted engagement scoring (flagging contacts at risk of lapsing) is in active development. Neither platform offers an AI mentoring-match feature yet; if that is a hard requirement, neither product will satisfy it in 2026.
The AI onboarding has a real limit. It accelerates visual setup (homepage, basic pages, theme matching). It does not automate the transfer of structured alumni data, such as multi-year gift history, family or household relationships, or class-year custom fields. That migration work still requires a CSV export, field mapping, and reconciliation regardless of platform.
For independent schools that want a stable, non-AI alumni database with strong account management, ToucanTech’s lack of AI is not a disqualifier. For organizations that expect AI-assisted setup and want a vendor actively shipping AI features, Raklet is closer to that direction.
Pricing Comparison
ToucanTech Pricing
ToucanTech does not publish pricing on its own website. The pricing path on toucantech.com returns a 404 error. The starting figure of $8,000 per year is published on the third-party Capterra ToucanTech pricing page and corroborated on GetApp. Actual pricing is contact-based and depends on organization size, alumni count, and feature scope. There is no free version. A demo call is required to receive a quote.
The Capterra-listed $8,000 starting figure should be treated as the floor for the smallest customer. Larger schools, multi-campus international school groups, and university advancement offices report higher annual contracts in third-party reviews. Pricing-page-on-Capterra also notes a “free trial” availability, but the practical buying flow remains a quoted annual subscription after a demo.
Raklet Pricing
Raklet publishes plan pricing publicly. The free plan covers 100 contacts and does not require a credit card. Paid plans scale by total contacts in the account, with add-on packs available for additional contacts, admin seats, and email volume, so an organization does not need to jump a full tier to add capacity. The custom-branded mobile app is a paid add-on on any plan. See the Raklet pricing page for current plan limits and tier amounts.
Raklet charges no platform transaction fee on membership or donation revenue collected through the platform. Standard payment processor fees (Stripe and PayPal: 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction in the US) still apply, since those are levied by the processor and not by Raklet.
Cost by Alumni Database Size
Annual billing, lowest-cost Raklet path at each contact tier. ToucanTech’s only publicly verified figure is the $8,000/year floor from Capterra; actual pricing is quote-only and scales with alumni count, feature scope, and school size.
| Database size | ToucanTech (annual) | Raklet (annual, optimized path) | Admin seats (Raklet) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1,000 contacts | $8,000+ minimum (quote required; ToucanTech is designed for schools with much larger databases) | Essentials ($588/yr) + 1 contacts pack ($290/yr) = $878/yr | 1 seat included; extra seats $190/yr each |
| 5,000 contacts | $8,000+ (small independent school floor; quote required for actual figure) | Professional ($1,188/yr) + 4 contacts packs ($1,160/yr) = $2,348/yr (add Custom Domain at $290/yr for $2,638/yr total). Or: Premium = $4,788/yr if you expect to grow past 7,000 contacts and want one fixed number. | Professional: 2 seats. Premium: 3 seats. Extra seats $190/yr each. |
| 10,000 contacts | $8,000+ (scales with alumni count and feature scope; quote required) | Premium ($4,788/yr): 10,000 contacts natively, no packs needed | 3 seats included; extra seats $190/yr each |
| 50,000 contacts | $8,000+ (scales significantly at university scale; quote required) | Premium ($4,788/yr) + 40 contacts packs (40 × $290/yr = $11,600/yr) = $16,388/yr. Contact Raklet for volume pricing at this scale. | 3 seats included; extra seats $190/yr each |
Raklet prices as of May 2026 from the public pricing page. Annual billing; monthly billing is roughly 20% higher. Each contacts add-on pack adds 1,000 contacts at $290/year. Admin seats: $190/year per additional seat beyond plan baseline. ToucanTech: $8,000 floor verified via Capterra as of May 2026; figures above that are quote-based and should be confirmed directly.
Company Health
ToucanTech is a private, founder-led company. It raised a single £1 million seed round from Pembroke VCT in June 2020 (about $1.27 million USD at the time), and no subsequent rounds are documented through May 2026. The UKTN coverage of that round is the canonical public reference (UKTN report on ToucanTech’s £1M seed round). Crunchbase records the same single round and no acquisitions or exits (ToucanTech on Crunchbase).
Headcount sits at roughly 60 employees as of May 2026 (Tracxn reports 58 as of 2026-03-31; the company’s own team page shows about 60). The team page also shows that marketing is one person and sales is four; the rest of the company is product, engineering, design, data, customer success, and operations. That is a product-led and support-led shape, not an outbound-sales shape, which fits with the named-account-manager promise on every contract.
Co-CEOs Kate Jillings and Sian Morley-Smith have led the company since founding in 2014, with the product launching commercially in 2016. There is no executive change signal and no PE ownership. The company maintains an active blog (57 articles indexed) with content dated into 2026, but does not publish a public changelog or release notes page, so feature cadence is visible only through customer reviews and case studies. For independent schools that value stability and continuity, this is a healthy profile; for buyers used to enterprise platforms that publish quarterly release notes, the lack of a public changelog is a transparency gap.
Raklet is also a private, founder-led company. It was founded in 2013, backed by Techstars and Microsoft Ventures in 2016, and is not PE-owned. The team is small (10+ employees) and remote, with engineers and designers shipping features directly. Customers are spread across more than 50 countries, with roughly half US-based.
What ToucanTech Users Say
A consultant evaluating alumni platforms for an international school told us this after completing a ToucanTech demo earlier the same morning:
“Another one that we looked at, that I had a meeting with this morning, was ToucanTech. They are a school-focused alumni system. So basically they don’t work in the club scene, or in corporate. So their focus is just education.”
Consultant evaluating alumni platforms for an international school (verbatim, Raklet sales call, 2026)
That narrowness is also what ToucanTech’s strongest reviewers love. On the Capterra reviews of ToucanTech (4.9 average, 151 reviews as of May 2026), the most common praise themes are responsive customer service, a vertical-specific UX designed around advancement office workflows, and the named account manager. Sub-ratings on Capterra: ease of use 4.8, customer service 4.9, value for money 4.8.
The most common complaints in the same Capterra reviews:
- Recurring donation automation is manual. Multiple reviewers note that monthly recurring gifts have to be logged by hand each month rather than processed automatically. One Capterra reviewer wrote: “Each of these donations have to be added manually each month. It would be really helpful if this happened automatically.”
- Reporting is limited for data-heavy organizations. The reporting interface is consistently described as needing improvement. The independent SmartThoughts AMS analyst calls reporting “more limited for data-heavy organizations”. One Capterra reviewer: “the reporting functions aren’t the most user-friendly”.
- Integrations are limited and require manual data amendments. Reviewers specifically call out gaps with school MIS platforms (Wonde, PASS) and third-party payment providers. One: “Integration between third-party payment providers and customer records was a little problematic.” Another: “Data issues. We import via Wonde from our school database, but there is a need to amend the data.”
- Forms and newsletter design are constrained. One reviewer: “Form functionality limited, limited design option especially for the newsletter, not enough CRM features.” The newsletter design hub is described as clunky.
- Data hosting raises questions for non-UK and non-US orgs. A reviewer outside the UK or US flagged: “Data hosting. This is an issue for overseas users, as different countries have different data privacy standards.”
ToucanTech is well-loved by schools that buy what it does, and frustrating to organizations that need a broader CRM, deeper reporting, or international hosting flexibility.
Migration: What Switching Actually Looks Like
If you are leaving ToucanTech for Raklet, three things matter on the way out:
- Data export. ToucanTech holds your alumni database, donation history, mentoring connections, and event registrations. Request a full CSV export of contacts, custom fields, gift records, event attendance, and any communications log. Reviewers report that exports are responsive when requested.
- Contract terms. ToucanTech sells annual contracts. Confirm your renewal date in writing before you start the migration. There is no published cancellation policy on the website (because there is no public pricing page either), so the contract itself is the source of truth. Raklet does not lock in annual contracts: organizations can move from monthly to annual or vice versa, and cancel without a long notice window.
- Workflow rebuild. Raklet handles alumni-network workflows in a slightly different mental model: the CRM is the spine, and apps for memberships, events, fundraising, and the community portal plug into the same contact record. Raklet’s AI-assisted onboarding imports the customer’s existing website pages automatically, which compresses the first-week setup work for site theme and basic pages.
Migration timeline scales with data complexity rather than calendar weeks. A simple contact list import with a few custom fields can land in a week. A multi-year migration with gift history, household relationships, mentoring connections, and event attendance reconciliation typically runs four to twelve weeks, regardless of which platform is on the receiving end. Plan an overlap period with the outgoing system so finance and advancement teams can reconcile gift records before the cutover, not after.
If you are staying on ToucanTech but want a second platform for clubs, corporate alumni, or paid memberships that sit outside the school’s advancement office, Raklet runs comfortably alongside ToucanTech as a separate system for those programs.
FAQ
Is ToucanTech a good fit for non-school alumni networks?
ToucanTech’s product, marketing, and customer success organization are built around independent schools, universities, and nonprofit advancement offices. The 300+ schools and universities figure on the alumni management page reflects the customer base. Buyers we interviewed during research described ToucanTech as “a school-focused alumni system” that does not cover corporate alumni or club networks. For a non-school alumni or member network, a broader CRM-led platform like Raklet is the closer match.
How much does ToucanTech actually cost?
ToucanTech’s pricing is not published on toucantech.com (the pricing URL returns a 404). The starting figure of $8,000 per year is published on third-party sites including Capterra and GetApp, and that figure is verified as of May 2026. Actual pricing scales with the size of the organization, the alumni count, and the feature scope, and is quoted after a demo call. There is no free version.
Does Raklet have a free plan, and what is included?
Yes. Raklet has a permanent free plan for 100 contacts with no credit card required. The free plan includes the core CRM, memberships, events, email, and the community portal. Paid plans scale by contact count, with add-on packs available so an organization does not need a full tier upgrade to add more contacts, admins, or email volume. Current limits and tier amounts are published on the Raklet pricing page.
Can Raklet handle alumni mentoring and career networks?
Yes. Raklet supports alumni directories, custom membership types for career networking programs, and a private community portal for posts, mentoring outreach, and threaded discussion. Mentor and mentee profiles use custom fields plus segmentation, so a coordinator can shortlist matches with filters before introducing them. Raklet does not currently offer an AI-driven mentor-matching algorithm (neither does ToucanTech). Programs that need automated mentor-mentee matching usually start with directory plus filter-based discovery and add structured matching as the program scales.
Is ToucanTech still actively developed?
Yes. The company is founder-led, has roughly 60 employees as of May 2026, and continues to publish content and customer case studies through 2026. There is no public changelog page, so the pace of feature releases is visible only through customer reviews and case studies. Capterra reviewers describe “frequent updates” and mention a reporting interface rebuild that was in progress in late 2024. No AI product features have been launched as of May 2026.
Final Recommendation
Pick ToucanTech if you run an independent school, a university advancement office, or a nonprofit whose primary product is alumni and donor records and whose buying preference is a bundled annual contract with a named account manager. The product is built for that vertical, the customer base is concentrated there, and the company has been stable in that niche since 2014.
Pick Raklet if you run an alumni network that sits inside a broader membership program: corporate alumni, multi-program nonprofits, or international school groups that also run paid clubs and chapters. The same applies to organizations that want public pricing and a permanent free tier instead of a quote-only flat annual rate, or that need a public REST API and a vendor actively shipping AI-assisted features. For broader category context, see Raklet’s alumni engagement software overview.
