Most "free" crowdfunding platforms cost a UK charity £150 to £300 per £10,000 raised once processing fees are counted, and that fee shrinks your Gift Aid reclaim too.
- Zeffy is the only platform in this list that charges no platform fee, no processing fee, and no transaction fee: £10,000 raised means £10,000 received.
- Crowdfunder UK is the strongest UK alternative for time-bound campaigns where match funding from the National Lottery or local authorities is on the table.
- JustGiving has the biggest brand recognition, but its suggested donor voluntary contribution prompt is the most-criticised pattern in UK fundraising press.
- Chuffed and Wonderful.org offer genuinely low-cost options; GivenGain adds free automated Gift Aid for community and challenge-style fundraising.
- Choose on true cost per £10,000 raised, Gift Aid handling, and whether the platform can replace your current stack of tools.
In this article:
Why "free" crowdfunding platforms aren't actually free
Run the numbers on a £10,000 crowdfunding campaign. On a platform that waives its subscription but routes payments through Stripe at the standard UK card rate of 1.5% + 20p per donation, your charity loses roughly £150 before a single pound reaches your bank account. Add a platform fee of 1.5% to 2.5%, and the real cost rises to £300 or more per £10,000 raised. That is the fee you never saw on the pricing page.
There is a second reason every fee point matters more for UK charities than for their US counterparts: Gift Aid. Under the Gift Aid scheme, HMRC reclaims 25p for every £1 a UK taxpayer donates, boosting a £10,000 campaign by up to £2,500 at no extra cost to donors. But every pound lost to platform fees is a pound that never qualifies for that reclaim. A charity that loses £300 to processing fees on a £10,000 campaign does not just lose £300: it also loses the Gift Aid that would have been claimed on that £300.
The third UK-specific cost to watch is the suggested voluntary contribution prompt. JustGiving's default prompt of around 17% of the donation value is the single most-criticised pattern in UK fundraising press (Money Saving Expert, consumer charity forums). Donors sometimes assume that tip goes to the charity. It does not. Transparency here is not just a courtesy: the Fundraising Regulator's Code of Fundraising Practice (Section 9, online platforms, effective 1 November 2025) requires platforms to be clear about how fees and voluntary contributions work.
Zeffy is the only platform in this list that is truly zero-fee: no platform fee, no processing fee, and no credit card fee passed to the charity.
How to choose the right crowdfunding platform
Five criteria separate platforms that protect small-charity budgets from those that quietly erode them:
- True cost per £10,000 raised. Add platform fee + processing fee + monthly subscription. "£0 to start" with 1.5% + 20p per donation processing equals roughly £150 per £10,000, not free. Then model what that fee costs you in lost Gift Aid reclaim on top.
- Free-tier honesty. Ask who absorbs Stripe or PayPal processing: the platform, the donor via an optional voluntary contribution, or you. Voluntary-contribution-funded models typically see opt-in rates below 50% in practice, so your real per-donation cost is unpredictable.
- Grassroots fit. Self-serve sign-up with no demo gate and no monthly minimum. A small charity or PTA should not need a procurement process to launch a campaign page.
- Gift Aid handling. The platform must (a) collect a valid Gift Aid declaration (donor's full name, home address, charity name, and confirmation they have paid sufficient UK tax), (b) support submission via HMRC Charities Online, and (c) retain records for at least 6 years, as required by HMRC guidance.
- UK GDPR readiness. The platform must be compliant with the Data Protection Act 2018 and PECR for donor email marketing. UK charities consistently ask "Are you GDPR compliant?" before adopting any new tool, address this before signing up.
1. Zeffy: the only truly zero-fee crowdfunding platform
Zeffy is the only platform in this comparison where a £10,000 campaign nets £10,000. There is no platform fee, no transaction fee, and no credit card fee passed to the charity. Stripe processing exists; Zeffy absorbs it entirely. More than 100,000 charities and not-for-profits run on Zeffy, which has facilitated over £2 billion raised to date.
That model is built for the small-to-mid UK charity: a PTA running a summer fair raffle, a village hall doing a community appeal, a registered charity running a time-bound campaign where every fee pound shrinks mission impact. Set-up is self-serve with no demo, no contract, and no monthly minimum. See how Zeffy's zero-fee donation forms work before you commit.
The stacked-tool pain is real for most UK charities at this income level. A £15 fete ticket, an autumn appeal donate page, a Christmas raffle, and a sponsored 5K currently means Ticket Tailor + JustGiving + Crowdfunder + a CRM. Zeffy consolidates that entire stack, free, with Gift Aid handling and UK regulatory fit alongside the Fundraising Regulator's Code of Fundraising Practice (Section 9, online platforms, effective 1 November 2025) and UK GDPR-compliant donor data handling under the Data Protection Act 2018.
Key crowdfunding features:
- Customisable donation pages with suggested amounts and one-time or recurring giving options
- Peer-to-peer campaigns for team and community fundraising, included free
- Fundraising thermometers, goal trackers, and real-time donor dashboards
- Gift Aid declaration handling and donor records retained for compliance
- Ticketing, auctions, raffles, and membership tools in the same account
- Mobile-first donor experience that works on any device
- Built-in supporter CRM with automated donation acknowledgements
True cost per £10,000 raised: £0. The full £10,000 reaches your bank account.
How Zeffy is free: No platform fee, no transaction fee, no credit card fee. Ever.
We switched to Zeffy after the company we were using raised their rates and added a monthly fee. Zeffy has been great! As a charity, we receive 100% of the money donated to us. We are a small organisation, so we do not take advantage of many of the features Zeffy has to offer, but it is nice to know more is available as we continue to grow. I would definitely recommend Zeffy to other charities. Janet B, G2 Review
2. GoFundMe UK
GoFundMe is the name most donors picture when they hear "crowdfunding": the UK's most recognised personal fundraising platform, with built-in discovery that can carry a story-driven, one-off campaign further than a tool nobody has heard of.
The cost lives in two places. GoFundMe charges a processing fee on every donation (1.9% + 20p for registered charities; higher for personal fundraisers), deducted before funds reach your cause, and it asks each donor for an optional voluntary contribution on top of that. For current UK fee figures, see the Zeffy vs GoFundMe comparison page (verified June 2026).
Is it worth it for a small UK charity? For a single viral campaign where reach beats margin, GoFundMe's brand recognition can help. For recurring gifts, tickets, and everyday giving, the per-donation processing fee compounds quickly. There is also a trust question specific to the UK: a registered charity with a Charity Commission number looks weaker on a GoFundMe URL than on its own charity-domain donate page. Cold UK donors expect a registered charity to have its own fundraising presence, and the brand mismatch costs trust before a single donation is made.
Cons for UK charities:
- A processing fee on every donation, plus a voluntary contribution prompt on top
- GoFundMe is dominated by individuals, not charities: brand mismatch costs institutional trust
- Thin charity tooling: limited Gift Aid handling, supporter management, and repeat-giving infrastructure
3. Crowdfunder UK
Crowdfunder is the UK's largest home-grown crowdfunding platform, built specifically for charities, community groups, social enterprises, and projects with a clear funding target and a defined campaign window. Unlike GoFundMe, it is designed from the ground up for the UK third sector.
The 0% platform fee for charities is a real promise, not a teaser rate. Card processing costs apply on top, but the fee stack is among the most transparent in the UK market. For current fee figures, see the Zeffy vs Crowdfunder comparison page (verified June 2026).
Crowdfunder's real UK differentiator is match funding. Partnerships with the National Lottery Community Fund, local authorities, and campaign Champions can double the value of a live campaign. That is the reason many UK charities choose Crowdfunder over a generic donate button, not just the fee structure. If you are running a time-bound community project and a match-funding grant is on the table, Crowdfunder is the strongest UK-native option after Zeffy.
Cons for UK charities:
- Best for time-bound campaigns with a clear target, not steady-state donate buttons or monthly giving
- No integrated ticketing, membership, auction, or CRM tools: you will still need a separate stack for events and supporter management
- Card processing costs apply on top of the 0% platform fee
4. JustGiving
JustGiving is the household name in UK charity fundraising: the platform most UK donors recognise and most charities reach for by default. It has been the market leader since 2001 and is now owned by Blackbaud.
The headline 0% platform fee is accurate, but it is not the whole picture. JustGiving charges card processing (1.9% + 20p per donation) and a Gift Aid processing fee of 5% of the Gift Aid value. Some charities also pay a monthly subscription of £15 to £39 + VAT for additional features. On top of that, JustGiving's default suggested voluntary contribution prompt of around 17% of the donation value is the single most-criticised pattern in UK fundraising press. Donors occasionally assume the voluntary contribution goes to the charity. It does not. For current UK fee figures, see the Zeffy vs JustGiving comparison page (verified June 2026).
Cons for UK charities:
- Processing fee (1.9% + 20p) and Gift Aid processing fee (5% of Gift Aid value) compound on every donation
- The ~17% default voluntary contribution prompt is widely criticised by UK charities and consumer press
- Monthly subscription required for advanced features
- Small charities increasingly moving to cheaper alternatives; the brand still helps with cold donors who recognise the URL
5. The Big Give
The Big Give runs the Christmas Challenge, the UK's largest online matched giving campaign. It is not a year-round donate-button platform: its value is entirely in match funding, where donations made during the campaign window are doubled by a Champion funder.
Note on fees: The Big Give's fee model changed on 1 July 2026. The current rates were not verifiable at the time of writing. Do not rely on any figure quoted elsewhere: check donate.biggive.org directly for the terms applicable to your campaign before committing.
The Christmas Challenge remains one of the highest-ROI fundraising windows in the UK charity calendar if you can secure a Champion to match-fund your campaign. That match-funding layer is what makes The Big Give genuinely different from every other platform in this comparison. Outside the Christmas Challenge window, it is not a platform for everyday crowdfunding.
Cons for UK charities:
- Not a year-round fundraising tool: campaign windows are fixed
- Fee model changed July 2026: verify current rates directly at donate.biggive.org before applying
- Securing a Champion funder requires a separate application process
6. Chuffed
Chuffed is an Australian-founded, social-impact-focused crowdfunding platform with a UK footprint, built specifically for charities, community groups, and social enterprises. It operates on a donor voluntary-contribution model: organisers pay no platform fee, and donors are invited to leave an optional contribution to cover costs.
That model keeps the headline cost at 0% for the charity, but the real cost per campaign depends on how many donors choose to contribute voluntarily. In practice, opt-in rates are below 50%, so some processing cost reaches the charity. For current UK fee figures, see the Zeffy vs Chuffed comparison page (verified June 2026).
Chuffed has a smaller UK profile than Crowdfunder, which means cold-donor discovery is weaker. Its user base is passionate and its campaigns tend to attract donors who care about the cause rather than the platform brand.
Cons for UK charities:
- Tip-funded model means real cost per campaign is unpredictable: it depends on donor opt-in behaviour, not a published rate
- Smaller UK brand than Crowdfunder or JustGiving: cold-donor discovery is limited
- Processing fees pass to the charity when voluntary contributions fall short
7. Wonderful.org
Wonderful.org is a UK platform built around Open Banking (account-to-account transfers) rather than card payments. On the Pay by Bank route, it charges 0% platform fee, 0% Gift Aid processing fee, and 0% card fee: the full donation reaches the charity. Technically, it is the most fee-efficient donate-button option for UK charities on a per-donation basis. Money Saving Expert has noted this positioning.
The trade-off is reach and donor experience. Open Banking requires donors to authenticate with their bank app, which converts well with younger, digitally-confident donors and poorly with older donors uncomfortable authenticating mid-donation. The platform has a narrower profile than JustGiving, so it will not generate cold-donor discovery on its own. For current fee figures, see the Zeffy vs Wonderful comparison page (verified June 2026).
Cons for UK charities:
- Open Banking flow converts poorly with donors uncomfortable using their bank app
- Narrow platform profile: you bring your own audience, no cold-donor discovery
- Card-payment donations carry processing costs even on the 0%-fee positioning
8. GivenGain
GivenGain is an international subscription-free P2P and crowdfunding platform that launched in the UK in 2022. It offers free automated Gift Aid handling, which makes it one of the few platforms in this comparison that addresses the Gift Aid requirement directly. UK partners include Swimathon, the British Heart Foundation, and the Dame Kelly Holmes Trust.
GivenGain's champion-page model encourages longer-lasting community fundraising: individuals set up pages and raise money on behalf of the charity over time, not just during a fixed campaign window. That makes it a genuine alternative for challenge-event and community-style crowdfunding.
One important note for charities with TCS London Marathon or Great Run places: those events use Enthuse as their exclusive online fundraising partner until 2034. GivenGain does not integrate with those official event channels. For current UK fee figures, see the Zeffy vs GivenGain comparison page (verified June 2026).
Cons for UK charities:
- Less brand recognition than JustGiving: cold donors may need more reassurance before giving through an unfamiliar platform
- Not integrated with TCS London Marathon or Great Run official fundraising (Enthuse is exclusive to 2034)
- Smaller UK footprint than Crowdfunder or JustGiving limits cold-discovery reach
Looking for Zeffy alternatives? Here's the honest answer
If you landed here searching for Zeffy alternatives or Zeffy competitors, the honest framing is this: every other platform in this comparison charges your charity something on every £10,000 raised, either as a platform fee, a processing pass-through, a monthly subscription, or a combination. Zeffy is the only one in the set that does not.
The stacked-tool cost is where the real saving compounds. A small UK charity running a £15 fete ticket, an autumn appeal donate page, a Christmas raffle, and a sponsored 5K currently needs Ticket Tailor for ticketing, JustGiving for fundraising, Crowdfunder for the project campaign, and a separate CRM for supporter records. Each tool carries its own fee. Zeffy consolidates that entire stack, free, with Gift Aid handling built in.
And Zeffy is not just the lowest-cost option: it is built to do the job. Unlimited donation forms, peer-to-peer campaign pages, supporter management, and donation acknowledgements are all included, all free. For the discovery that draws donors to crowdfunding platforms in the first place, Zeffy runs a free charity directory at zeffy.com/en-gb/home/donate where donors can browse and give to verified causes with no platform fee on either side.
Which platform is right for your charity?
Map your organisation to the platform built for your shape:
- PTAs, PFAs, CASCs, village halls, small registered charities, CICs, and unincorporated community groups with income under £500k: Zeffy. Truly zero-fee, self-serve, every campaign type included, with a free charity directory for donor discovery and Gift Aid handling built in.
- Running recurring gifts, events, and everyday giving alongside a campaign: Zeffy. The per-donation fees on other platforms compound fastest in this scenario, and Zeffy keeps all of it free. One account replaces Ticket Tailor + JustGiving + Crowdfunder + a CRM.
- Time-bound community project with match funding on the table: Crowdfunder UK. The National Lottery Community Fund and local-authority match-funding partnerships are Crowdfunder's genuine differentiator.
- Charities where cold-donor discovery through a recognised brand is the priority: JustGiving. Brand recognition still helps with donors who recognise the URL, but model the full fee cost (processing + Gift Aid processing fee + voluntary contribution prompt) before committing.
- £1m+ charity with dedicated fundraising staff and a procurement process: larger paid suites such as Beacon, Donorfy, or Salesforce NPSP are calibrated for that workflow. For everyone else, paying a platform fee to crowdfund is a cost without a reason.
If your charity is registered with OSCR (Scotland) or CCNI (Northern Ireland), the platform choice is the same: all UK platforms named in this comparison operate across the four nations.
Crowdfunding platform comparison table
Every fee in the table below was current as of June 2026. Pricing changes: confirm any platform's fee on its own pricing page before launching, and compare Zeffy side-by-side with UK platforms for the always-current view.
|
| Zeffy | £0 | 0% | 0% (Zeffy absorbs all processing) | Yes, included free | £0 |
| Crowdfunder UK | £0 for charities | 0% for charities | Standard card processing applies | Supported | Verify on zeffy.com/en-gb/compare/zeffy-vs-crowdfunder |
| JustGiving | £0 to £39+VAT/month | 0% platform fee | 1.9% + 20p per donation; 5% on Gift Aid value | Yes, with fee | Verify on zeffy.com/en-gb/compare/zeffy-vs-justgiving |
| GoFundMe UK | £0 | 0% | 1.9% + 20p (registered charities) | Passed through free | Verify on zeffy.com/en-gb/compare/zeffy-vs-gofundme |
| The Big Give | Verify at donate.biggive.org | Verify at donate.biggive.org | Verify at donate.biggive.org | Supported | Verify at donate.biggive.org (fee model changed July 2026) |
| Chuffed | £0 | 0% (donor voluntary contribution model) | Processing applies when tip opt-in falls short | Supported | Verify on zeffy.com/en-gb/compare/zeffy-vs-chuffed |
| Wonderful.org | £0 | 0% on Pay by Bank | 0% on Pay by Bank; card rate applies otherwise | 0% Gift Aid fee on Pay by Bank | Verify on zeffy.com/en-gb/compare/zeffy-vs-wonderful |
| GivenGain | £0 | 0% | Processing applies | Free automated Gift Aid | Verify on zeffy.com/en-gb/compare/zeffy-vs-givengain |
Frequently asked questions
What is the best crowdfunding platform for UK charities?
For UK charities that want to keep 100% of every pound raised, Zeffy is the only platform in this comparison with no platform fee, no transaction fee, and no processing fee passed to the charity. £10,000 raised means £10,000 received. For time-bound projects where match funding from the National Lottery or a local authority is available, Crowdfunder UK is the strongest UK-native alternative. For brand recognition with cold donors, JustGiving is the market leader, but its fee stack (processing fee plus Gift Aid processing fee plus voluntary contribution prompt) makes it expensive relative to Zeffy.
Does Zeffy handle Gift Aid for UK charities?
Zeffy supports Gift Aid workflows for UK charities, including the collection of Gift Aid declarations from donors. For the most current information on HMRC Charities Online submission and declaration record-keeping, contact Zeffy directly via zeffy.com/en-gb/register or the Zeffy help centre before launching your campaign. The Gift Aid mechanism itself (25p per £1 reclaimed from HMRC) is explained in full on the HMRC donor guidance page.
How much does a £10,000 crowdfunding campaign actually cost on each platform?
On Zeffy: £0. On platforms that charge 1.5% + 20p Stripe processing (roughly £150 per £10,000 at standard UK card rate), plus a platform fee of 1% to 2.5% on top, the true cost rises to £250 to £400 per £10,000 raised. JustGiving adds a 5% Gift Aid processing fee on the Gift Aid value, which compounds the total. Every pound paid in fees is also a pound that no longer qualifies for Gift Aid reclaim, so the real cost to the charity is higher than the headline percentage. Use the fee figures on each platform's canonical UK compare page (linked throughout this article) to model your campaign before committing.
Which crowdfunding platforms support Gift Aid for UK charities?
Gift Aid handling is one of the most important criteria for UK charities, and it varies significantly by platform. Zeffy includes Gift Aid declaration collection. GivenGain offers free automated Gift Aid. JustGiving handles Gift Aid but charges a 5% processing fee on the Gift Aid value. Crowdfunder UK supports Gift Aid. Wonderful.org charges 0% on Gift Aid processing via Pay by Bank. Always verify the current Gift Aid workflow directly with any platform before launching, and confirm the platform is HMRC-recognised (holds a Charities Reference Number) if it will be submitting claims on your behalf.
JustGiving vs Zeffy: which keeps more of every £10,000 raised?
Zeffy keeps more. On Zeffy, £10,000 raised means £10,000 received: no platform fee, no transaction fee, no processing fee. On JustGiving, the processing fee of 1.9% + 20p per donation and the 5% Gift Aid processing fee mean the charity does not receive the full amount. The default voluntary contribution prompt (around 17% of the donation value) adds further complexity. For a detailed, current comparison of both platforms' UK fees, see the Zeffy vs JustGiving comparison page.
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