Both platforms market themselves as free, and both publish comparison pages about the other. We don't sell software — here is the fee math, every number cited to the official pricing page (verified 2026-06-10).
Short version: with default settings, both Zeffy and Givebutter deliver 100% of every donation to your nonprofit and fund themselves by asking your donors for an optional tip at checkout. The money difference appears only if you want the tip prompts gone: Givebutter sells that option (3% platform fee + processing); Zeffy doesn't offer one.
Preset to this pair — including Givebutter's tips-off mode. Adjust the tip slider to see what your donors would be paying on top.
| Fee | Zeffy | Givebutter — tips ON (default) | Givebutter — tips OFF |
|---|---|---|---|
| Platform fee | 0% | 0% | 3% |
| Card processing | $0 (Zeffy covers) | $0 (donors asked to cover; Givebutter covers if they decline) | 2.9% + $0.30 |
| Bank transfer (ACH) | $0 | $0 | 1.9% + $0.30 |
| Monthly cost | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Who funds the platform | Optional donor tips to Zeffy | Optional donor tips to Givebutter | Your organization |
| Org keeps, of a $100 card gift | $100.00 | $100.00 | $93.80 |
Notes: Givebutter also sells an optional CRM tier (Givebutter Plus, $29–$129/month by contact volume) that is separate from transaction fees. Zeffy's contribution prompt "cannot be customized" by the nonprofit, and the suggested amount changes dynamically with transaction size (Zeffy support center). Zeffy says "on average, 2 of 3 donors leave us a tip"; Givebutter says "92% of donors" cover fees when asked — both are vendor-published figures.
Zeffy and Givebutter each publish pages arguing the other is more expensive. Both are right about the other and silent about themselves: each shifts platform funding onto donors via tip prompts, and each frames the other's prompt as the problem. That mutual-attack dynamic is exactly why this neutral page exists. We make money the same way regardless of which platform you pick (see disclosure), so the table above has no thumb on the scale.
Pure money: a tie at $100 kept per $100 with default settings on both. Your decision should hinge on donor experience (both show tip prompts your org can't fully control on Zeffy; Givebutter's can be turned off for 3% + processing) and on features you actually need — verify those on the vendors' sites, we only audit fees.
Still a money tie with tips on. If tip prompts bother your donor base, Givebutter's tips-off mode costs about $6.20 per $100 card gift (3% + 2.9% + $0.30) — that's the real price of removing the prompts; Zeffy has no equivalent paid mode at any volume.
At scale the tips-off question becomes a budget line: on $500k/yr of card volume, removing tip prompts via Givebutter costs roughly $30k/yr at a $100 average gift. Run your real mix in the calculator above; at this size also compare Donorbox Pro (Givebutter vs Donorbox), where org-paid fees are lower.
Related: Zeffy vs Donorbox · Is Zeffy really free? · How we compute these numbers