Zeffy vs Donorbox: comparing the real cost of processing

Published April 8, 2026 · Part of the grassroots stack

Zeffy charges nothing: no platform fee, no processing fee, funded by optional donor tips at checkout. Donorbox charges about 2.95% plus Stripe processing (roughly 2.7% + 5 cents), or about 1.75% on the ~$150/mo Pro plan. Zeffy wins on pure cost; Donorbox wins on recurring-gift tooling.

The two fee models

Zeffy is 100% free to nonprofits. Every dollar donated arrives as a dollar. It runs on Stripe underneath, and the company covers processing costs through an optional tip donors can add at checkout. Zeffy also covers more than donation forms: ticketing, raffles, and memberships are included at the same price of zero.

Donorbox is free to start, with a platform fee of about 2.95% on each gift plus Stripe processing at roughly 2.7% + 5 cents. The Pro plan, around $150/mo, drops the platform fee to about 1.75%. At roughly $150k per year in online volume, Pro’s fee savings cover its own subscription, so larger shops effectively get the upgrade free.

Full disclosure: this site has an affiliate relationship with Donorbox and earns nothing from Zeffy, which has no affiliate program because there is no fee revenue to share. The recommendation below is unaffected either way.

What Donorbox’s fee buys

The percentage is not dead weight. Donorbox has best-in-class recurring-gift tooling: automatic failed-card recovery and donor portals where supporters update their own payment details. Recurring revenue quietly leaks every month as cards expire, and tooling that recovers those gifts protects the most valuable revenue a small shop has.

If monthly giving is your growth strategy, that machinery can be worth more than the fee costs. A recovered recurring donor keeps giving for years.

What Zeffy’s zero costs

Two real considerations, neither hidden.

First, the tip prompt. Donors see a suggested tip to Zeffy at checkout. Most shops report donors handle this fine, and the ask is transparent, but it is a step in your checkout that you don’t control.

Second, payouts arrive on a schedule rather than instantly. For most organizations this is a bookkeeping detail. For a shop that needs gala revenue in the account the next morning, it’s worth planning around.

Which shop each one fits

Choose Zeffy if cost is the deciding factor. For a shop under $250k, keeping 100% of every gift is hard to argue with, and the included ticketing and raffle tools replace other line items too. Read our Zeffy review for the full feature rundown.

Choose Donorbox if monthly giving drives your plan. The failed-card recovery and donor portals exist precisely to defend recurring revenue, and no free tool matches them. Start on the free plan, and when online volume approaches $150k per year, the Pro upgrade pays for itself.

Both are quick to evaluate. Zeffy costs nothing to try by definition, and Donorbox’s free tier means you can run a live form this week. Set up a test form on each, make a $5 donation to yourself, and judge the donor experience firsthand.

Either one fills the donation-processing line in the under-$250k stack.

This post is part of the guide to the grassroots fundraising stack (under $250k raised).