Category guide
Donation processing software
Donation platforms take the money: forms, recurring gifts, and the fees on every gift. Genuinely free options compete head-on with paid ones here, so the real comparison is the fee math on your volume.
How to choose
Three models compete. Zeffy charges the nonprofit nothing at all, funded by optional donor tips. Givebutter is free with tips on (0% platform fee) or a flat 3% with tips off, and adds events, auctions, and peer-to-peer. Donorbox charges a platform fee (about 2.95%, lower on Pro) and delivers the deepest recurring-gift tooling in the class: failed-card recovery, donor portals, and CRM integrations. WordPress shops reach for GiveWP, and 4aGoodCause offers flat monthly pricing with no transaction fees.
Run your annual online volume through each fee model before choosing, and test the donor-facing checkout on your phone. Donor experience moves conversion more than a fee point does, and every platform here will let you try a live form for free.
The tools, at a glance
Free to start; ~2.95% platform fee
Shops that want serious recurring-gift tooling without building anything
Free with donor tips on (0% platform fee)
Shops running campaigns, events, and peer-to-peer on one modern platform
Free (no platform or processing fees)
Fee-sensitive shops that want to keep every dollar of every gift
Related reading
Processing stays free in the grassroots stack and the $250k-$1M stack; paid tooling enters at $1M-$5M.