Fundraise Up charges 4% plus Stripe or PayPal processing, about $6.20 on a $100 gift. Here is how the alternatives compare on all-in cost and what is bundled.
The math behind the 4%
Fundraise Up advertises 4% per transaction with no monthly fee, then Stripe or PayPal processing applies on top. Using Stripe's nonprofit rate of 2.2% plus 30 cents, a $100 gift costs about $6.20 all in. To its credit, the checkout itself is genuinely strong, and no monthly fee keeps the entry friendly.
But 4% is the highest platform rate among the major options, and on $500,000 of annual giving the difference between $6.20 and $5.00 per hundred is real money: roughly $6,000 a year, before donor-covered fees are even counted. See the side-by-side in our fees comparison.
A great checkout is not a fundraising stack
Fundraise Up optimizes the last thirty seconds of a donation. Everything before and after lives elsewhere: how donors discover you, what happens when they ask questions, whether their employer match gets claimed, and whether they ever give again.
That is the real comparison to run. Answer engine optimization decides whether AI search recommends you at all. Matching gifts can quietly double eligible donations. Hyper-personal donation flows mean returning donors never see a stranger's form. If those need three more vendors, the 4% was never the whole price.
The alternatives, honestly compared
Whitelabel is 3.5% plus 1.5% processing, $5.00 all in on $100, no monthly fees, with donors covering fees by default so 100% of the gift typically reaches your cause, and the AI suite is bundled rather than bolted on. Processing meets PCI DSS Level 1, the same compliance spec Stripe is built to.
Donorbox Free is cheaper to enter at 2.95% plus processing, about $5.15 all in, with more limited personalization and AI. Givebutter is platform-free and tip-funded, well suited to smaller teams and event fundraising. Classy serves enterprise organisations on subscription pricing with deep workflow tooling. Pricing is as published at the time of writing, so always verify current rates.
How teams actually switch
Checkout first. Because a Whitelabel donorfront sits on top of the website you already have, most teams point one campaign at the new checkout, compare conversion and all-in cost against the old flow, and migrate the rest once the numbers settle the argument.
Donor data follows automatically: every gift lands on a DonorCardAI record and syncs two-way with the CRM you already run, so the switch never becomes a replatforming project.
Frequently asked questions
What does Fundraise Up actually cost per $100 donation?
About $6.20 all in: the 4% platform fee plus Stripe's nonprofit processing of 2.2% and 30 cents. There is no monthly fee.
Is Whitelabel cheaper than Fundraise Up?
On a $100 gift, Whitelabel is $5.00 all in versus about $6.20, and donors cover fees by default so 100% of the gift typically reaches your cause.
How long does switching take?
Checkout can be live in days. A donorfront layers on top of your existing website, nothing migrates, and your CRM stays in two-way sync throughout.