'Cheapest' isn't one number. It depends on how big your donations are. Here's the honest breakdown.
Headline fees mislead. A platform advertising 0% still passes through card processing of roughly 2.9% + $0.30 on every gift, and a fixed 30-cent fee is trivial on a $500 donation but punishing on a $5 one. So the cheapest platform for a few big gifts is rarely the cheapest for many small ones.
| Platform | Est. fees on $5,000 | Effective rate |
|---|---|---|
| Ralli — flat 2% + low-cost rails | $150 | 3.0% |
| GiveSendGo | $435 | 8.7% |
| GoFundMe | $445 | 8.9% |
| Donorbox | $558 | 11.2% |
| Indiegogo | $600 | 12.0% |
| Kickstarter | $700 | 14.0% |
| Patreon | $945 | 18.9% |
Estimated fees on a $5,000 raise across 1,000 small contributions; actual rates vary by country and payment method.
Tip-model sites (0% platform) are competitive when you have a small number of large donations and your donors agree to top up the fees. Ralli's flat 2% plus low-cost account-to-account rails wins when you have lots of small contributions, when donors don't top up, or when you need the money paid straight to your own bank anywhere in the world.
Run your own numbers — free, no sign-up.
Open the fee calculator →There's no single winner — it depends on your average gift size. For many small donations, a flat 2% plus low-cost rails (as Ralli charges) is usually cheapest because fixed per-gift processing fees hurt most there. For a few large gifts, a 0%-platform tip-model site can match or beat it.
Fixed per-transaction fees — like $0.30 on every gift — barely dent a $500 donation but swallow a large share of a $5 one. The more small gifts you have, the more those fixed fees add up as a percentage.
No. Ralli is non-custodial and pays contributions direct to your own bank account, typically within about 48 hours. There's just the flat 2% plus a small low-cost rail cost — no separate withdrawal charge.
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Figures are estimates based on each platform's published fee structure and typical processing rates, which vary by country and payment method. Platform names belong to their respective owners; Ralli is not affiliated with them.