Donately vs Fundraise Up Comparison 2026
Donately charges 2 percent on its free plan, or a lower unstated rate on the $99-a-month plan, plus the usual Stripe or PayPal processing on top. Fundraise Up sells no plans at all: a flat 4 percent of every donation, plus processing, with every feature included regardless. Fundraise Up's checkout is built specifically to raise more per donor, with suggested upgrades and a monthly-giving nudge, and the company says most donors choose to cover the fee themselves at checkout. Donately's raw fee is lower. Fundraise Up's argument is that the checkout earns back the difference.
Donation forms with the fee written down
A donation checkout tuned to raise more
At a glance
- Both have a genuinely free tier.
Side by side
Donately | Fundraise Up | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | From $99 | Free |
| Pricing model (they differ) | Free plan, paid tiers | Free |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Billing (they differ) | Monthly or annual | Usage-based |
| Free trial | Not stated | Not stated |
| API | Yes |
Donately
Donation forms with the fee written down
Donately puts donation forms and recurring giving on a site you already have, and states its own cut on the pricing page rather than after signup. Every plan carries every feature, so what the money buys is a lower fee rather than more product. It argues openly against the platforms that call themselves free and then take a fifth through donor-paid fees.
Our note
The arithmetic is straightforward: below about $60,000 raised a year the free plan is cheaper, and above it the monthly plan starts winning. Ask what the $99 plan's fee actually is before you sign, because the page never says.
Fundraise Up
A donation checkout tuned to raise more
Fundraise Up replaces a donation form with a checkout tuned to raise the amount given: suggested upgrades, a monthly nudge, wallets and a currency the donor recognises. It charges four percent of what comes in and sells no plans at all. The company's own figure is that most donors elect to cover that cost, which is the argument for a percentage over a subscription.
Why people weigh these two
- Fundraise Up instead of Donately
- Fundraise Up puts a donation checkout tuned to raise more on your site, free to start rather than $99 a month, when conversion matters most.
- Donately instead of Fundraise Up
- Donately does the same donation forms with the fee written down, free to start with a paid tier at $99.
Which one should you pick
Buy Donately if the lowest stated fee is what matters and you want to run the donation form on a site you already control. Free carries a 2 percent platform fee, and prepaying $5,000 removes it entirely for up to $1 million raised, both cheaper on paper than Fundraise Up's flat 4 percent.
Buy Fundraise Up if a checkout tuned to raise more per donor is worth a higher headline fee, and having no plans to choose between is itself the appeal. The whole product is included at 4 percent of what comes in, and the company's own claim is that most donors cover that cost themselves at checkout. Ask for numbers from a comparable organisation before assuming that claim holds for your own audience, since a plain lower fee is a certainty and a better-converting checkout is not.
Common questions
- Which one takes a smaller cut of each donation?
- Donately, on paper: 2 percent on the free plan against Fundraise Up's flat 4 percent, with standard card processing added on top of both. Fundraise Up's case for the higher rate is that its checkout raises more per donor than a plain form does.
- Does Fundraise Up have a free plan?
- It has no plans at all: one flat 4 percent fee covers every feature, with no subscription or contract. Donately does have a genuine free plan, at a 2 percent platform fee before processing.
- Can donors choose to cover the fee themselves?
- On Fundraise Up, yes: the option is offered at checkout, and the company states most donors take it. Donately's own feature list does not describe an equivalent donor-covers-the-fee option.
- Which is simpler to budget for?
- Fundraise Up, in one sense: one flat percentage with every feature included, no plan to choose. Donately has more to track: a 2 percent free-plan fee, an unstated reduced rate at $99 a month, and a $5,000 prepay option that removes the platform fee entirely.
Ratings are the average of reviews readers left. The facts are stated by each tool’s own listing and are not verified by CloutStack. How we make money.