Growing an audience
Running the business
Both cover tips & donations and monetization & payments. Here is what separates them on price, billing, what you can take with you, and coverage.
| Donately | StreamElements | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | From $99 | Free |
| Pricing model | Free plan, paid tiers | Free |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Billing | Monthly or annual | One-time purchase |
| Free trial | Not stated | None |
| 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 | Tips & Donations, Live Streaming, Monetization & Payments |
| Works with | Nothing in particular | YouTube, Twitch |
| 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.
Only on this side
Overlays, alerts and a chatbot, all free
StreamElements is the layer over a stream: alerts when somebody follows, overlays built in a visual editor, a chat bot with commands and loyalty points, and a tipping page. All of it is free with no tier above it, because the business is sponsorships rather than subscriptions. Most streams running something other than plain OBS are running this or its one real rival.
Our note
StreamElements and Streamlabs are the two, they do much the same job, and this is the one that has never charged for it. Set it up alongside OBS rather than instead of it.
Only on this side
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.