Growing an audience
Running the business
Both cover monetization & payments. Here is what separates them on price, billing, what you can take with you, and coverage.
| Donately | SamCart | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | From $99 | From $79 |
| Pricing model | Free plan, paid tiers | Paid subscription |
| Free tier | Yes | No |
| Billing | Monthly or annual | Monthly or annual |
| Free trial | Not stated | Not stated |
| API | Yes | Not stated |
| Data export | Everything, in an open format | Not stated |
| Their cut | Not stated | Not stated |
| Runs on | Web | Web |
| Covers | Tips & Donations, Crowdfunding, Monetization & Payments | Monetization & Payments, Digital Products & Storefronts |
| Works with | Nothing in particular | Nothing in particular |
| Founded | Not listed | Not listed |
| Reader rating | No reviews yet | No reviews yet |
| Live deals | None right now | None right now |
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.
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Checkout pages built for testing offers
SamCart is a checkout designed to be tested: one-page carts, order bumps, upsells taken after the card has cleared, and recovery mail for the ones who left. It sits beside whatever hosts your product rather than replacing it, which is why people run it alongside a course platform. Courses are on the entry plan now, and used to be an upgrade.
Our note
Buy this for the upsell flow rather than for the storefront, because that is where it earns the monthly fee back. If your products are cheap or few, Gumroad or Lemon Squeezy take a percentage and cost nothing while you are quiet.
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.
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