Cheddar Up vs Zeffy: Fees, Features and CRM Compared

What is Cheddar Up, and how is it different from Zeffy?

Zeffy is a free all-in-one fundraising platform with a full donor CRM that every donation, ticket and membership writes into: donations, monthly giving, peer-to-peer, tickets, auctions, raffles, a store and memberships in one plan. Zeffy also covers card processing, so no card fee is charged to your nonprofit or the payer. Cheddar Up describes itself as "a platform designed to easily help groups collect payments and information": an organizer shares a collection page and payments come in. Its Free Forever plan charges 3.95% + $0.95 per card payment. Who covers it is configurable, and payers cover it by default. Tax receipts, extra managers and integrations sit on its Team plan at $35/month. Both include recurring payments and peer-to-peer fundraising on their free plans.

What are Cheddar Up's fees, and who pays them?

Cheddar Up charges a fee on each card or wallet payment. Who covers it is configurable in its fee settings, and payers cover it by default. From its pricing page:

• Free Forever: 3.95% + $0.95 per card payment.
• Pro, Team and Partner: 3.59% + $0.59 per card payment.
• eCheck: not on Free, 1.59% (minimum $1) on Pro, a flat $0.95 on Team and Partner.
• Instant bank withdrawal: 1.95% (minimum $1). Standard withdrawals are free.
• No separate platform fee.
• Plans: Pro $15/month and Team $35/month billed annually ($20 and $48 monthly), Partner custom-priced.

With Zeffy, no fee is charged on any payment, to your nonprofit or to the payer. Donors can add an optional contribution to Zeffy. Figures read on Cheddar Up's pricing page in October 2026.

Is Cheddar Up free?

Its Free Forever plan costs $0 a month, with no setup fee. Each card payment still carries a fee of 3.95% + $0.95. By default the payer covers it, so the organizer receives the full amount, and the organizer can choose to cover it instead. Paid plans start at $15/month billed annually. Zeffy has no plan to pay for and no card fee on any payment.

What does Cheddar Up's free plan leave out?

For a nonprofit, the biggest gap is tax-deductible receipts: on Cheddar Up they need the Team plan at $35/month. Plan by plan:

• Free Forever: up to 5 items and 1 form or sign up per page, account owner only, no eCheck.
• Pro ($15/month billed annually): more items and forms per page, eCheck, waivers, and selling features such as shipping, taxes and discount codes.
• Team ($35/month billed annually): tax-deductible receipts and the verified non-profit badge, multiple managers, QR code ticketing, the group website and integrations.

Receipts, managers and integrations together mean Team: $420 a year billed annually, or $576 billed monthly. On Zeffy, tax receipts, team access, QR check-in and integrations are in the free plan.

Is there a free alternative to Cheddar Up?

Yes. Zeffy is free for nonprofits, with no paid tier and no card fee on any payment. Tax receipts, team members, an organization page and integrations come in the same plan, not as an upgrade. Zeffy also runs auctions, raffles and a donor CRM, which are not listed among Cheddar Up's published features. Zeffy is for registered nonprofits; Cheddar Up also serves groups such as PTAs, teams and clubs.

Should we choose Cheddar Up or Zeffy?

Choose Zeffy if you are a registered nonprofit and want donations, tickets, auctions, memberships and tax receipts in one free plan, with a full donor CRM that every gift writes into.

Choose Cheddar Up if your group mostly runs sign ups, forms and payment collections, and having payers cover a per-payment fee works for you. Its live chat and learning sessions come with every plan.

Is Cheddar Up legit and safe to use?

Yes. Cheddar Up says it is "trusted by 100,000+ groups and non-profits". It publishes its plans and fees on a labeled pricing page, and card data goes to Stripe, its PCI-compliant partner, so Cheddar Up never sees or stores it. Priority support seven days a week and live chat come with every plan, the free one included. Its terms limit accounts to residents of the United States and its territories. Zeffy processes payments on Stripe too, and charges nonprofits nothing.

Is Zeffy really free?

Yes. Zeffy charges no card fee, no platform fee and no subscription, to the nonprofit or to the person paying. Where Cheddar Up's free plan charges 3.95% + $0.95 per card payment, paid by the payer unless the organizer changes the setting, a $50 payment on Zeffy stays $50. Donors may add an optional contribution to Zeffy at checkout, which is how Zeffy stays free, and your nonprofit receives the full amount either way. See how Zeffy is free.