Donors are asked to tip Givebutter
Givebutter is free only while it asks your donors for a tip. In June 2026, watchdog TINA.org found 15% already added on a Givebutter page: a $500 gift became $590 with fees.
A Givebutter alternative with no tip requests
Collect donations without asking your donors for a tip
Payly takes no platform fee, and never asks your donors to tip Payly. Gifts go straight to your own PayPal or Stripe account, and you pay only their standard processing fees.
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Payly and Givebutter at a glance
$0
Platform fee, either way
Payly never takes a platform fee. Givebutter takes none when donors are asked to tip, and 3% of each gift when tips are off.
None
Tip requests
Payly never asks your donors for a tip. Givebutter is free only while it asks.
3%
When Givebutter's tips are off
Givebutter takes 3% of each gift, plus 2.9% + 30 cents for processing. On $5,000 in $50 gifts you keep $4,675.00, against $4,776.50 to $4,825.00 on Payly.
Why some organizations choose Payly over Givebutter
Givebutter is free for your organization when donors can tip, and it does a lot more than Payly, but some organizations want a simpler form with no tips.
Watchdogs dislike pre-filled tips
CharityWatch told CNN it deeply dislikes them. Payly never asks for a tip, and its cover-the-fee box starts unticked.
Turning tips off costs 3%
Without tips, Givebutter takes 3% of each gift plus card fees: about 6.5% of a $50 gift, against 3.5% to 4.5% on Payly.
The guarantee has limits
Givebutter covers card fees with tips on, but its Terms call this a credit program with limits it sets. It also skips DAFpay and card readers.
What you actually pay
Givebutter's published fees against Payly's, for $5,000 in gifts in a month: 100 gifts of $50.
| Cost | Payly$0/mo | Givebutterfree with donor tips |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly plan | $0 | $0 |
| Platform fee on $5,000 in gifts | $0 | $0 with tips on, $150.00 with tips off |
| Card processing on 100 gifts of $50 | $223.50 with PayPal, $175.00 with Stripe | $0 with tips on, $175.00 with tips off |
| Tips asked of your donors | None | Up to $750.00 with tips on, at a reported 15% |
| What you and your donors pay in all | $223.50 with PayPal, $175.00 with Stripe | Up to $750.00 with tips on, $325.00 with tips off |
$5,000 a month is 100 gifts of $50. On Payly the organization pays the card fees: PayPal's 3.49% + $0.49 at checkout or Stripe's 2.9% + 30 cents for US cards. With Givebutter's tips on, Givebutter absorbs the card fees and you pay nothing, and your donors pay Givebutter instead. The $750.00 is a 15% tip on every gift, the rate TINA.org reported in June 2026, paid by donors to Givebutter. With tips off, Givebutter takes 3% plus 2.9% + 30 cents on cards and wallets, PayPal included. Givebutter Plus, an optional paid add-on, is not counted. Givebutter pricing as published November 2026.
What you get
- Suggested amounts, one picked at the start, and an amount donors type themselves
- A line on what each amount pays for
- One-time, monthly and yearly gifts
- A fundraising goal with a progress bar that counts monthly gifts and takes off refunds
- A box donors can tick to cover the processing fee
- A donation receipt for every gift, with your tax ID if you add it
- Any other questions you need, such as a name, an address or a message
- Your logo, header photo, colors and font, in one or two columns
- A link to share and a QR code to print
- Gifts as a summary, one at a time, or in a table you can download as CSV
- A robot check on every form to keep out spam
How donation forms work in Payly
You set the amounts and the goal. PayPal or Stripe collects each gift.
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Create a donation form
In Your sites, click New and choose Donation form. Start from a template or from scratch.
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Choose the amounts
Set suggested amounts, let donors type their own, and choose whether they can give once, monthly or yearly.
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Connect PayPal or Stripe, then publish
Your form runs on your own free Cloudflare account. Gifts go straight to your own PayPal or Stripe, and each donor gets a donation receipt by email.
Honest answers
Is Payly really free?
Yes. There is no monthly fee, no transaction fee and no paid tier, and Payly never asks your donors for a tip. PayPal and Stripe charge their standard processing fees, as they would on any platform. How can this possibly be free?
Is Payly cheaper than Givebutter?
With tips off, yes: on $5,000 in $50 gifts Givebutter costs $325.00, against $175.00 to $223.50 on Payly. With tips on, Givebutter charges you nothing and asks your donors for a tip instead, a reported 15%. If more than about 1 in 4 donors keep it (3 in 10 with PayPal), your donors pay Givebutter more than the card fees on Payly.
Do donors mind being asked to tip a platform?
Some do. In a May 2026 Give.org survey, only 13% of online givers called total fees above 15% acceptable, tips included. Payly never asks for a tip.
What do my donors pay on Payly?
The gift, and nothing else. If you switch on the cover-the-fee box, donors can tick it to add the processing fee to their gift. It is not ticked to start with. At PayPal's 3.49% + $0.49 rate, a $50 gift comes to $52.32 with the fee covered. Payly never asks for a tip. Let donors cover the processing fee
What does Givebutter do that Payly does not?
A lot. Givebutter has fundraising pages for supporters and teams, events and tickets, auctions, a free CRM, year-end giving summaries, widgets to embed on other websites and a mobile app that takes in-person payments. Payly's donation form has no pages for supporters, no year-end tax summaries and no way to place a form inside another website. If you need those tools, Givebutter is the better fit.
How do I move my donation form to Payly?
Payly has no importer for donation forms, so moving means setting up a new form. Set up a donation form in Payly, choose your amounts and goal, connect PayPal or Stripe and publish. The first time, Payly asks you to connect your free Cloudflare account, which hosts the form. Then share the new link or QR code. Past gifts and receipts stay in Givebutter, and Payly cannot move monthly gifts that donors already set up there, so ask those donors to give again on your new form.
Thinking about another platform?
Collect donations without asking for a tip
Your form, your payment account, your donors. The only thing you pay is normal PayPal and Stripe processing fees.
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