Short version: with tips enabled (the default), Givebutter charges your organization nothing — you keep $100 of every $100 and donors are asked to tip Givebutter. Donorbox Standard charges ~$5.45 per $100 card gift (2.95% + 2.2% + $0.30) with no tip prompts, and donors can cover all fees at checkout. If you turn Givebutter's tips off, it becomes the pricier classic-fee option: ~$6.20 per $100 card gift vs Donorbox's $5.45.
Run your own numbers
Preset to this pair in all modes. The donors-cover-fees slider applies to Donorbox; the tip slider only affects what donors add on Givebutter's default mode.
Fee schedules, side by side
Sources: givebutter.com/pricing, donorbox.org/pricing — verified 2026-06-10. US rates, donation forms.
| Fee | Givebutter — tips ON (default) | Givebutter — tips OFF | Donorbox Standard (free) | Donorbox Pro ($150/mo) |
|---|
| Platform fee | 0% | 3% | 2.95% | 1.75% |
| Card processing | $0 (donors asked; Givebutter covers if declined) | 2.9% + $0.30 | 2.2% + $0.30 | 2.2% + $0.30 |
| Bank transfer (ACH) | $0 | 1.9% + $0.30 | 0.8%, capped at $5 | 0.8%, capped at $5 |
| Donor can cover fees? | Built into tips system | Not published — confirm with vendor | Yes | Yes |
| Tip prompt to donors | Yes, for Givebutter | No | No | No |
| Org keeps, of a $100 card gift | $100.00 | $93.80 | $94.55 (or $100 if donor covers) | $95.75 + plan fee |
Notes: Donorbox card rate is Stripe's US nonprofit rate; via PayPal it processes at 1.99% + $0.49 (non-AmEx). On ACH, Donorbox is markedly cheaper when orgs pay the fees: a $100 bank gift costs $3.75 on Donorbox Standard (2.95% + 0.8%) vs $5.20 on Givebutter tips-off (3% + 1.9% + $0.30). Givebutter Plus (optional CRM, $29–$129/month) is separate from transaction fees. Vendor-published adoption stats: Givebutter says 92% of donors cover fees when asked.
Honest verdict by organization size
Under ~$25k/yr online
Givebutter with tips on wins the pure money math ($100.00 vs $94.55 kept per $100 card gift) — if your donors are fine seeing a tip request to Givebutter at checkout. If you want no third-party tip framing at all, Donorbox Standard with donor-covers-fees enabled gets you close to 100% at the rates your donors actually accept it.
~$25k–$150k/yr
Same logic, bigger dollars: at $100k/yr of card volume, the org-paid gap between Givebutter tips-off (~$6,200/yr) and Donorbox Standard (~$5,450/yr) is real but smaller than what donor fee-covering can erase on Donorbox. The donor-experience question — tip prompts vs a plain "cover fees" checkbox — matters more than the 0.75-point spread.
Above ~$150k/yr
If you're paying fees yourself, Donorbox Pro becomes the cheapest classic-fee option here (1.75% + processing; the $1,800/yr plan fee is outweighed by the platform-fee saving above roughly $150k volume). Givebutter tips-on still posts $100.00 kept — at this size, evaluate whether the tips experience fits a larger, often more formal donor base.
Related: Zeffy vs Givebutter · How much does Donorbox take? · How we compute these numbers