"Free online giving." You've seen it on a dozen websites. And it's usually true, in the sense that there's no monthly bill. But somebody always pays for the card processing. It's either your church, your donors, or a monthly subscription that lowers your rate.
So let's sort it out. Here's who pays on each "free" platform, using the rates on each vendor's own pricing page.
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Three kinds of "free"
- No monthly fee, church pays processing. Tithe.ly, Givelify, Subsplash Giving and Vanco's $0 plan. You pay a percentage plus a per-gift fee on every gift.
- Donor pays through a tip. Zeffy and Givebutter. The church keeps the full gift, and donors are asked to add a contribution at checkout.
- Low processing, optional tips. Every.org charges a lower card rate, makes bank gifts free, and asks donors for optional tips.
What a $100 gift costs your church
| Platform | Monthly fee | $100 card gift | $100 ACH gift | Who covers the gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zeffy | $0 | $0 | $0 | Donor tips at checkout |
| Givebutter (tips on) | $0 | $0 | — | Donor tips at checkout |
| Every.org | $0 | $2.50 | $0 | Church on cards; optional donor tips |
| Planning Center Giving | Free up to 10 gifts/mo, then $15–$239 | $2.45 | $0.30 | Church |
| Tithe.ly | $0 | $3.20 | $1.30 | Church |
| Givelify | $0 | $3.20 | No ACH discount | Church |
| Subsplash Giving | $0 | $3.29 | $1.00 | Church |
| Vanco ($0 plan) | $0 | $3.35 | $1.45 | Church |
| Anedot | $0 | $3.60 | $0.60 | Church |
Rates from Zeffy, Givebutter, Every.org, Planning Center, Tithe.ly, Givelify, Subsplash, Vanco and Anedot. Anedot's rate is its 501(c)(3) rate.
Zeffy: truly $0 to the church
Zeffy charges no platform fees and covers transaction and card fees. It's funded by optional donor contributions at checkout (source).
Here's the catch, and I'm not going to soften it. Checkout pre-selects a contribution, and in one test it was 17% on a $50 gift. Donors have to notice it and change it, and the church can't customize it. Reviewers say donors who miss it often blame the charity (source). For a church, where trust is everything, think hard about that.
Givebutter: free with tips, expensive without
On Givebutter's free plan there's a 0% platform fee and no processing fees when donor tips are on. Turn tips off and it's a 3% platform fee plus 2.9% + 30¢ processing (source). That's about $6.20 on a $100 gift, which is the most expensive option on this list.
Reviewers say the pre-selected tip confuses donors, and payouts are manual unless you pay 1.75% for instant payout (source).
Every.org: the quiet bargain
Every.org has no platform fee. Cards are 2.2% + $0.30, and ACH, stock, DAF and IRA gifts are free (source). Donors are asked for optional tips. Your church has to pass 501(c)(3) verification.
The trade-off is that it's not built for churches. There's no church app or member database, so you'd need something else for that.
The platforms where the church pays
Tithe.ly, Givelify, Subsplash and Vanco have no monthly fee on their basic plans, but your church pays processing on every gift. That's a fair, honest model. Your donors give $100 and see $100. You just need to know the rate.
Planning Center Giving isn't free past 10 gifts a month, but its card rate of 2.15% + $0.30 and flat $0.30 ACH often beat the "free" apps once you're doing real volume. I ran the full math in Church Giving App Fees Compared.
What I'd tell a pastor friend
- If you want donors to see exactly what they give, skip the tip-funded platforms. Pay processing and own it.
- If budget is truly zero, Zeffy works. Just tell your people about the checkout contribution and show them how to set it to $0.
- If you're small and on a plain website, Every.org's free ACH is a real deal.
- Whatever you pick, push ACH. Bank transfers are the cheapest gifts on almost every platform.
- Check what it connects to. A free tool that doesn't sync with your church database means someone retypes gifts every Monday.
Want to see more ways to save? Grab the free Church Software Savings Guide, or browse all online giving tools.