All comparisons
Zeffy is free for nonprofits, but not for their donors. Instead of charging your organization, Zeffy adds a contribution to Zeffy at each donor’s checkout, its source of revenue. The contribution is pre-selected, so donors who don’t want to pay it have to change it themselves, and your organization can’t change the wording, the amount, or turn it off.
GalaBid is built for auctions, raffles and fundraising events, with 100+ features on every plan. Its Free plan works on a similar model, supported by optional supporter tips, but GalaBid shares 10% of tips with your cause. It also offers a Pro plan at 4.9% and a $1,250 flat fee per campaign, both with no tip prompt at all.
If you're reading Zeffy reviews to decide, this guide covers whether Zeffy is really free, what users say about it, where it falls short, and when one of the Zeffy alternatives, like GalaBid, may be the better fit.
Note: Details about Zeffy were last checked October 2026.
What it is: an all-in-one fundraising platform for nonprofits and charities, with donation forms, events and ticketing, auctions, raffles and sweepstakes, memberships, online stores, peer-to-peer, a donor CRM and email tools.
Who it suits: small and mid-sized nonprofits in the US, Canada, the UK, Ireland, Australia and Germany that want to pay nothing for their fundraising tools.
Zeffy asks donors for a contribution twice: when they start filling out the form, and again at the payment confirmation step. The suggested percentage falls as the payment gets larger, and Zeffy says around 60% of donors choose to contribute. Nonprofits can't change the wording or the suggested amounts, though they can add their own explanation elsewhere on the form.
So Zeffy is genuinely free for the nonprofit. Donors who don't notice the contribution, or don't change it, pay more than the amount they set out to give, and that's the most common criticism in reviews from donors.
Zeffy also says that in rare cases, if a nonprofit raises very large amounts by card with little or no donor contribution, it would reach out and may suggest a temporary card payment limit.
Zeffy’s tipping dropdown doesn’t include any amounts lower than the default tip. Donors who want to tip less, or not tip at all, have to choose “Other” and type in their own amount. With default tips reported at around 15% to 17% on most gifts, that extra step makes it harder for donors to leave a smaller tip than Zeffy suggests.
Zeffy checkout on a $50 donation, October 2026.
GalaBid's Free plan is also supported by optional supporter tips, but GalaBid shares 10% of each tip with your cause, so some of what supporters give the platform comes back to you. If you'd rather not ask supporters for a tip at all, you can choose GalaBid's Pro plan at 4.9% or its $1,250 flat fee per campaign, neither of which shows a tip prompt. Zeffy has no equivalent option.
What reviewers like: ease of setup; quick, helpful support; having donations, events, email and donor management in one place; and automatic payouts and tax receipts. Many say they switched from PayPal, Square or other platforms to avoid fees.
Where reviewers are critical: some features are hard to find, the email builder and templates feel basic, and customization is limited in places. The contribution prompt is the most common complaint: one Capterra reviewer collecting $30 membership dues said the default contribution was relatively high and led to member complaints. On Trustpilot, around 8% of reviews are one star, and these mainly come from donors unhappy about the contribution rather than from the nonprofits using Zeffy.
Sharlene, who volunteers with Partners with Paws, started looking for an online fundraising platform for the charity during the pandemic. It needed a way to reach more people while keeping social distancing, and since the charity has no staff, Sharlene offered to build the fundraiser herself.
She needed something she could run without coding or complicated setup. Many platforms she looked at weren't drag and drop, and some only allowed registered charities, which mattered to her: her very first fundraiser had been for her sister's service dog, when she wasn't a charity herself.
Sharlene found GalaBid the most comprehensive and user-friendly option. The how-to videos made sense to her almost immediately, setting up items with a starting bid and bid increment didn't take hours, and connecting Stripe was straightforward. She liked that fees were low, with supporters given the option to add a thank-you tip to keep GalaBid running.
She made the charity's fundraising book the very first item, so nobody scrolling the page would miss it, and added $25 and $5 Buy It Now donations so supporters could give at different levels. She also listed items in alphabetical order, which made handing out prizes far quicker. The charity shared how-to videos with its followers showing them how to bid.
The first two fundraisers ran entirely online. In the fourth year, the charity paired its online auction with an in-person event, handing out printed QR codes linking to the GalaBid auction so guests could bid too.
Zeffy may be the best fit if:
GalaBid may be the best fit if:
Yes. Zeffy is a Canadian company based in Montreal that has supported nonprofits for about seven years, says over 100,000 nonprofits have raised $2B+ on it, and processes payments through Stripe. It's rated 4.8 out of 5 on Capterra and 4.7 on Trustpilot.
Nonprofits rate Zeffy very highly: 4.8 out of 5 from 512 Capterra reviews, with 4.9 for customer service. They praise zero fees, ease of use and support. The main criticism, mostly from donors, is the contribution prompt at checkout.
For the nonprofit, yes: Zeffy charges no platform fees and covers card processing, so you receive 100% of each payment. Zeffy adds a preselected tip at checkout. The dropdown only offers higher amounts. To tip less, donors must choose “Other” and type in a new amount, or enter 0 to opt out
Through optional contributions donors can add at checkout. Zeffy says this is its only source of revenue, and that around 60% of donors contribute.
No. Zeffy says the wording and suggested amounts can't be customized, and there's no plan without the prompt. On GalaBid, the Pro plan and flat fee remove the tip prompt entirely.
No. Zeffy says it doesn't have the license to be an electronic raffle system with a drawing tool, so organizations export their entries and draw the winner outside Zeffy. GalaBid includes a certified random number generator and a live drawing display.
Not currently. Zeffy says raffles aren't available to Australian organizations, and sweepstakes are only available in the US and UK.
Nonprofits and charities in the US, Canada, the UK, Ireland, Australia and Germany, with a bank account in the organization's name. Individuals and for-profit businesses can't fundraise on Zeffy directly.
Weekly on Mondays by default, or monthly; eligible organizations can get next-day payouts. Payments first go through a 1 to 3 business day anti-fraud review, and payouts can't be triggered manually.
Yes. Bidders enter their payment details when they bid, and the winning bid is charged automatically when the auction closes. On GalaBid, card pre-authorization is optional.
GalaBid is built for auctions, raffles and events, with a certified raffle draw and live display, sealed bids, automatic overtime and no-risk consignment items. Its Free plan shares 10% of tips with your cause, and its Pro plan and flat fee have no tip prompt.
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