Apps · 5 reviews
The Best Church Giving Platforms
Online giving, text-to-give, kiosks and non-cash gifts - and what each one actually costs per donation.
In this category the fee schedule is the product. Two platforms with identical feature lists can differ by a percentage point per donation, which on a church receiving $500,000 a year is $5,000 - the cost of a part-time staff member. So read the fees before the features, and be suspicious of any vendor that will not publish them.
The fee has two parts that vendors often blur together: the card-processing cost, which mostly goes to Visa, Mastercard and the processor, and the platform's own software fee on top. A headline like "2.9% + 30c" is usually just the processing half. Ask what the platform adds, and whether there is a separate monthly charge as well.
Almost every platform here lets donors opt to cover the fee so the church receives the full gift, and in practice a majority of donors do when asked. That single setting affects your net receipts more than switching vendors usually does - check it is switched on before you renegotiate anything.
Finally, non-cash giving is where the real money is and most churches ignore it. Appreciated stock, crypto and donor-advised funds are how wealthier givers actually prefer to give, and a church that cannot accept them is leaving the largest gifts on the table. That is a different product category from card processing, and worth adding alongside rather than instead.
SecureGiveFounded in 2004 by a pastor who put the first giving kiosk in an American church, and still selling to churches on a published rate card rather than a sales call - with a transaction cap on both priced tiers that decides whether it fits you.Best free option
ZeffyThe only platform in this category that charges a church nothing whatsoever - no monthly fee, no transaction fee, no card fee - and pays for itself by asking your donors for a tip instead, which makes this a pastoral decision rather than a financial one.| App | Rating | Starting price | Free tier | Platforms |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SecureGive | 4.2 ★ | $149/mo ($135/mo billed annually), plus processing | No | Web · iOS 15.1+ · Android · Kiosk hardware |
| Overflow | 4.2 ★ | $1,200/year subscription, then 2.5% + $0.30 per card gift | No | Web - donor giving pages and church admin dashboard - plus Overflow Tap NFC hardware |
| Zeffy | 4.0 ★ | Free - $0 platform fee and $0 transaction fees, funded by optional donor contributions | Yes | Web · iOS 15.1+ (Tap to Pay) · Android |
| Anedot | 4.0 ★ | $0/month, then 3.3% + 30c per card gift for 501(c)(3) organisations | Yes | Web - donor Action Pages, church admin dashboard, Virtual Terminal - plus text-to-give and QR codes |
| Continue To Give | 3.6 ★ | Free on Silver, then $29/mo on Gold | Yes | Web · iOS (listed as "Givers App") |
SecureGive
Founded in 2004 by a pastor who put the first giving kiosk in an American church, and still selling to churches on a published rate card rather than a sales call - with a transaction cap on both priced tiers that decides whether it fits you.
Overflow
The one giving platform built around the gifts most churches quietly turn away - appreciated stock, crypto and donor-advised funds - sold on an annual subscription whose real price is published nowhere.
Zeffy
The only platform in this category that charges a church nothing whatsoever - no monthly fee, no transaction fee, no card fee - and pays for itself by asking your donors for a tip instead, which makes this a pastoral decision rather than a financial one.
Anedot
The only platform here that processes its own payments rather than reselling somebody else's - no monthly fee, no contract, and a card rate that quietly pays for both.
Continue To Give
A modular all-in-one for small churches and missionaries - seven giving methods, a member database, real fund accounting - built by a missionary who could not afford the alternatives, and undermined by three contradictory published fee schedules.
Frequently asked questions
What is the cheapest church giving platform?
Zeffy charges churches nothing at all - no platform fee and no processing fee - funding itself through an optional contribution donors can add at checkout. That makes it the cheapest by a wide margin on paper. The trade-off is that your donors see a prompt to tip Zeffy alongside their gift to you, which some churches consider a poor fit for an offering. Everything else in this category charges roughly 2-3% per card transaction plus, in many cases, a monthly platform fee.
What are typical church giving transaction fees?
Card processing generally lands around 2.2-3% plus a fixed amount per transaction, with ACH bank transfers considerably cheaper - often under 1% - which is why platforms push recurring donors toward bank draft. Many platforms also add their own software fee, either as a monthly subscription or a slice of each gift. Always ask for the all-in figure on a $100 card gift and on a $100 ACH gift; that single comparison sorts the field faster than any feature matrix.
Can donors cover the processing fee?
On nearly every platform here, yes, and it is usually a checkbox at checkout. When churches enable it, a substantial share of donors opt in, which effectively removes processing cost from the church. It is the single highest-return setting in this category and it is frequently left switched off.
How do churches accept stock or crypto donations?
Through a platform built for it - Overflow is the specialist, handling appreciated stock, crypto and donor-advised funds, and SecureGive offers non-cash giving through a partnership with Engiven. It matters more than it sounds: donating appreciated stock directly avoids capital-gains tax, so it is often the most tax-efficient way for a wealthier member to give, and a church that cannot accept it will simply receive less.
Should a church use its ChMS for giving, or a separate platform?
A single system means one donor record and one set of statements, which is a real administrative saving. A specialist platform usually means lower fees, better non-cash support and faster product development. The deciding question is volume: below a few hundred thousand a year the convenience of one system generally wins; above that, a percentage point of fee difference outgrows the admin saving.