Growing an audience
Running the business
Both cover crowdfunding. Here is what separates them on price, billing, what you can take with you, and coverage.
| Donorbox | PledgeBox | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | From $150 | Free |
| Pricing model | Free plan, paid tiers | Free |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Billing | Monthly or annual | Usage-based |
| Free trial | None | Not stated |
| API | Yes | Not stated |
| Data export | Not stated | Not stated |
| Their cut | Not stated | 3% of what you earn |
| Runs on | Web | Web |
| Covers | Tips & Donations, Crowdfunding, Monetization & Payments | Crowdfunding |
| 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 pages and recurring giving
Donorbox is built for nonprofits and reads that way, which is exactly right for a creator running a fundraiser or a cause and wrong for one collecting tips. Recurring donations, an embeddable form and donor records are the substance. Its free plan charges a higher percentage on each gift than the paid one.
Our note
Pro costs $150 a month and saves roughly 1.5 percent per donation, so it pays for itself somewhere around $10,000 a month in giving. Below that the free plan is the cheaper one, whatever the fee percentage looks like.
Only on this side
Pledge manager for a funded campaign
PledgeBox handles what happens after a campaign funds: surveying backers for addresses and choices, selling add-ons, and producing the shipping list. It costs nothing unless the survey earns something, because the fee is a percentage of add-on sales rather than a subscription. Campaigns with no upsell pay nothing at all.
Our note
Free until there are add-ons to sell is the right shape for a first campaign, because the cost only arrives with the revenue. The 3 percent applies to add-on sales and not to what the campaign already raised, which is the distinction that makes it cheap.
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.