Online giving for churches: what each platform costs in fees

Of the eight online giving platforms below, seven publish their rates, and six of those seven take a fee from each gift. On a card gift each of the six charges a percentage plus 30 cents, and the five that list a rate for gifts from a bank account charge less for those. For the sample church further down, which receives $100,000 a year online, the year’s fees run from $0 to $3,200. Every rate here was read off the company’s own pricing page on October 13, 2026.

The rates

A bank transfer is also called ACH, the network banks use to move money between accounts. American Express cards cost more at Tithely and Givelify, 3.5% plus $0.30. Anedot’s row shows its rate for 501(c)(3) organizations, which are tax-exempt under that section of the federal tax code, the one that lists religious and charitable purposes. Anedot’s standard rate for other organizations is 4% plus $0.30, so confirm that your church gets the lower rate.

The table leaves out a few details.

• Subsplash gives a lower card rate, 2.3% plus $0.30, to churches that buy its larger platform, Subsplash One, and it does not publish that platform’s price.
• Zeffy charges nothing and covers the card fees itself. Its page says it “relies entirely on optional contributions from donors,” so each giver is asked for a tip to Zeffy when he gives. The page describes Zeffy as free for nonprofits, so confirm that it accepts your church.
• Pushpay publishes no rates. Its pricing page says “We offer 1, 2, and 3 year contracts,” so ask for the rates and the contract length in writing.

Stripe is the payment company behind Planning Center Giving. A church can also take gifts through Stripe directly with a payment link, a payment page it sets up on Stripe’s site with no code. Before you do that, find out how you would record each gift by fund and produce giving statements.

What a church pays in a year

Take a church that receives $100,000 a year online in 1,000 gifts of $100, spread evenly at about 83 gifts a month. Seven hundred of the gifts come by card and three hundred by bank transfer.

Among the five platforms that charge a fee on both card gifts and bank gifts, the spread is $511 a year for this church, from $2,189 at Planning Center to $2,700 at Anedot. Givelify lists one rate, so its figure applies that rate to all 1,000 gifts. Run the same arithmetic with your own numbers. Type your church’s online giving for a year and see the lowest, the highest and the middle of the platforms, from rates read in July. The full calculator adds the split between cards and bank transfers.

Free tool you can try here

What your giving platform keeps

Type what your church receives online in a year and see what four platforms would keep, at the rates each one publishes.

This free tool is made by Hamilton Holdings LLC, the company behind Covenant OS, and published on Church Posting.

Online giving in a year, in dollars With 60 percent on cards, 30 on bank transfer and 10 on American Express, and gifts averaging $100.

Fees for a year, lowest first

Use it free

The calculator is free, and the full version splits cards, bank transfers and American Express across eight platforms.

Ways to pay less

1. Ask regular givers to give from a bank account. A $100 gift by card costs the church $2.45 at Planning Center and $3.20 at Tithely, and the same gift by bank transfer costs $0.30 and $1.30.
2. Turn on the option that lets a giver add the fee to his gift. Tithely and Anedot both offer it, and Tithely’s page says 60% of donors use it, which is the company’s own figure.
3. Count the gifts in your busiest month before you choose Planning Center, because its monthly charge depends on the number of gifts in a month.

What to check besides the fee

For what a giving statement has to say, see church accounting software. The free tool builds the statement for every giver from a spreadsheet of gifts, and this is one for a made-up giver.

Free tool you can try here

See a giving statement

Type a giver and three gifts. The real tool does this for every giver from one spreadsheet.

This free tool is made by Hamilton Holdings LLC, the company behind Covenant OS, and published on Church Posting.

Church name

Giver

Gift 1

Gift 2

Gift 3

Cedar Hill Baptist Church

Contribution statement for 2026

Michael and Hannah Brooks

Total gifts	$700.00

The church provided no goods or services in exchange for these gifts, other than intangible religious benefits.

Use it free

The tool is free, reads your spreadsheet without it leaving your computer and opens with your church name.