Donorbox vs Zeffy Comparison 2026
Donorbox charges 2.95 to 3.95 percent free, or $150 a month for Pro's 1.75 to 2 percent, with donors able to opt into covering that cost instead of a mandatory prompt. Zeffy charges nothing at all, no platform cut and no processing fee, funded instead by an optional tip it asks each donor to add at checkout. Zeffy only accepts registered nonprofits at signup, where Donorbox also welcomes a broader cause-driven campaign.
At a glance
- Both have a genuinely free tier.
Side by side
Donorbox | Zeffy | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | From $150 | Free |
| Pricing model (they differ) | Free plan, paid tiers | Free |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Billing (they differ) | Monthly or annual | Usage-based |
| Free trial | None | Not stated |
| API | Yes |
Donorbox
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.
Zeffy
Fundraising with no platform or processing fee
Zeffy takes nothing from a donation, and covers card processing itself out of the optional tips donors leave at checkout. Donations, ticketed events, raffles, auctions, memberships and a donor database are all in the same account. It is built for nonprofits, and the sign-up asks you to be one.
Our note
If you qualify as a nonprofit, start here, because no competitor can beat zero. Read the tip prompt on a live form first and decide whether you are comfortable with your donors seeing it, since that is the whole trade.
Why people weigh these two
- Zeffy instead of Donorbox
- Zeffy runs fundraising with no platform or processing fee, worth testing before a $150 monthly plan makes sense.
- Donorbox instead of Zeffy
- Donorbox runs donation pages and recurring giving, with a free tier and plans from $150, well above Zeffy's zero cost for the same nonprofit fundraising job.
Which one should you pick
Pick Donorbox if the campaign is not strictly a registered nonprofit, since it welcomes a cause-driven campaign more broadly while Zeffy's signup checks for charity status specifically. It also fits a nonprofit wanting event ticketing, peer-to-peer fundraising and, on the $150 a month Pro plan, an API and crypto donations that Zeffy's page does not describe.
Pick Zeffy for any qualifying nonprofit that wants the lowest possible cost, since nothing beats its genuine zero on both platform and processing fees, well under Donorbox's cheapest 2.95 percent. Ticketed events, raffles, auctions, memberships and a donor database sit in the same free account. Look at a live donation form first, though, since every donor sees Zeffy's tip prompt, which Donorbox does not force on its own checkout.
Common questions
- Which one is actually free?
- Zeffy, completely: no platform fee and no processing fee on any donation. Donorbox's free plan still charges 2.95 to 3.95 percent, and its $150 a month Pro plan lowers that to 1.75 to 2 percent rather than removing it.
- Does Zeffy require nonprofit registration the way Donorbox does?
- Zeffy's signup checks for registered nonprofit status specifically. Donorbox positions itself more broadly, for a registered nonprofit or a cause-driven campaign, without describing the same signup check.
- What is the trade for Zeffy's zero fees?
- Every donor sees a prompt asking them to tip Zeffy at checkout, since that tip is what funds the free processing. Donorbox instead lets a donor opt to cover its processing fee, a softer ask that is not forced into every checkout the way Zeffy's prompt is.
- Which one has more fundraising features beyond a donation form?
- Zeffy bundles ticketed events, raffles, auctions, memberships and a donor database into its one free account. Donorbox covers crowdfunding and peer-to-peer campaigns too, and adds an API and crypto and stock donations once Pro's $150 a month is in play.
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.