Best Free Fundraising Platforms for UK Charities in 2026

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In the UK, the fee comparison has one additional dimension that US comparisons miss entirely: Gift Aid. A £100 donation from a UK taxpayer with a valid declaration becomes £125 to the charity, and platforms differ on whether they automate that claim for free, charge a percentage to process it, or leave you to handle it yourself. JustGiving and Enthuse both charge 5% of the Gift Aid value as a handling fee. Zeffy, Wonderful and GivenGain include Gift Aid processing at no extra cost. As one UK charity supporter put it: "every pound that you donate, we get twenty-five pence back, charities survive on that." The fee table and platform entries below include Gift Aid handling in the true-cost calculation. (Gift Aid guidance, HMRC)

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In this article:

• Quick comparison: true costs on £10,000 raised

• The 9 best free fundraising platforms for UK charities

• What 'free' really means in fundraising software

• How to calculate your true fundraising costs

• How we evaluated these platforms

• Best free fundraising platforms by use case

• What to look for beyond fees

• The bottom line

• Frequently asked questions

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Quick comparison: true costs on £10,000 raised

The 'cost on £10,000 raised' column below assumes the most common scenario for each platform's intended user: charity rate where applicable, default plan, donors do not tip or opt in to cover fees. Fees pulled from the live Zeffy UK compare pages (verified 2026-06-19). Gift Aid handling fee included where applicable.

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Sources: zeffy-vs-justgiving, zeffy-vs-enthuse, zeffy-vs-cafdonate, zeffy-vs-wonderful, zeffy-vs-crowdfunder, zeffy-vs-givengain, zeffy-vs-gofundme, zeffy-vs-paypal. All fees re-verify before publishing; UK pricing changes frequently.

For a small UK charity: the only row where the cost on £10,000 raised stays at £0 regardless of whether donors tip is Zeffy's. Every other platform's true cost depends on a donor behaviour you cannot control, or on a Gift Aid handling fee you absorb on top.

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The 9 best free fundraising platforms for UK charities

1. Zeffy: the only platform where £0 means £0

Zeffy is built around one unconditional promise: no platform fee, no transaction fee, no card fee. Ever. There is no Free, Pro or Premium tier. Every feature, including donation forms, recurring giving, peer-to-peer campaigns, event ticketing, raffles, silent auctions, an online shop, memberships, supporter management and Tap to Pay, is on the single free plan.

The mechanism matters. Most 'free' platforms zero out the platform fee but still hand charities or donors a 1.9 to 2.9% processing bill. Zeffy absorbs the payment-processing and card-network costs itself. Donors see an optional voluntary contribution to Zeffy at checkout, but the charity keeps 100% of every donation whether the donor contributes or not. That is the standard the rest of this comparison is measured against.

A small UK charity running a £15 fete ticket sale, an autumn appeal, a Christmas raffle and a sponsored 5K currently means Ticket Tailor plus JustGiving plus Crowdfunder UK plus a CRM. Zeffy consolidates that entire stack, free, in one place. On top of that, Zeffy captures Gift Aid declarations at checkout so your charity can submit claims to HMRC. 100,000+ charities and not-for-profits have raised the equivalent of over £2 billion on Zeffy without paying a single fee.

Zeffy also handles charity raffles. Most UK charity raffles are small society lotteries under the Gambling Act 2005, registered with the local licensing authority rather than the Gambling Commission. Zeffy runs both incidental non-commercial lotteries (drawn at an event, no registration needed) and small society lottery campaigns for free. (Small society lotteries, Gambling Commission)

For a small UK charity: on £10,000 raised, the cost is £0. It stays £0 whether or not donors leave a voluntary contribution. If you are currently losing 1.9% or more to a platform that calls itself free, switching closes that leak entirely.

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2. JustGiving: the household name with a widely criticised tip prompt

JustGiving is the UK's dominant donation and peer-to-peer fundraising platform, and for cold donors its URL is genuinely reassuring. That brand recognition is the reason most small charities default to it.

The fee structure is where the trust begins to fray. JustGiving's headline 0% platform fee obscures a processing cost of 1.9% plus 20p per donation and a 5% handling fee on the Gift Aid value. The suggested donor tip, reported in UK fundraising press as roughly 17%, has been the single most-criticised pattern in UK online fundraising, with donors on Trustpilot and in Money Saving Expert coverage noting it felt added "without their knowledge". JustGiving is owned by Blackbaud and some charities pay a monthly subscription of £15 to £39 plus VAT on top. (See the Zeffy vs JustGiving comparison)

For a small UK charity: on £10,000 raised, expect roughly £210 in processing plus a 5% Gift Aid handling fee on your reclaimed amount. Brand recognition still helps with cold donors; smaller charities are increasingly moving to lower-cost alternatives as the tip-prompt controversy grows.

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3. Enthuse: mandatory if you have London Marathon or Great Run places

Enthuse is a branded fundraising and event registration platform with one defining characteristic: it is the official online fundraising partner for TCS London Marathon Events and the Great Run series, under an exclusive contract running to 2034. If your charity has places in those events, Enthuse is essentially mandatory.

Outside that flagship integration the value case is harder to make. The fee structure runs 0% platform fee on donations (with a tipping default), 1.9% plus 30p card processing, a 5% Gift Aid handling fee, and an optional Enthuse Fundraising and Events subscription at £29.99 plus VAT per month. Event ticketing carries an additional 3.5% plus 75p per ticket. (See the Zeffy vs Enthuse comparison)

For a small UK charity: on £10,000 raised, expect roughly £220 in processing plus the Gift Aid handling fee. If you have LME or Great Run places, Enthuse is the right tool. If you do not, the subscription cost and per-ticket fee make it harder to justify than simpler free alternatives.

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4. CAF Donate: trust-first, built by a registered charity, used by 8,000 small-to-mid charities

CAF Donate is built and operated by the Charities Aid Foundation, itself a registered charity. That provenance matters to trustees. With over 8,000 UK charities using the platform, it is a known and respected name in the sector.

There is no monthly subscription. Fees are staggered by donation type (card, Direct Debit, and so on) and are generally lower than commercial competitors. Reporting is more basic than the commercial platforms, and the interface is functional rather than slick. Gift Aid processing is included. (See the Zeffy vs CAF Donate comparison)

For a small UK charity: CAF Donate is a solid, low-cost option if you want a trusted name your trustees will recognise, and you can accept basic reporting. If you need ticketing, raffles or an all-in-one stack, you will still need additional tools alongside it.

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5. Wonderful.org: genuinely 0% via Open Banking, narrower reach

Wonderful.org takes a different approach to the free promise. Rather than zeroing the platform fee and passing processing to the charity, it uses Open Banking (Pay by Bank) to eliminate card-network costs entirely. The result: 0% platform fee, 0% Gift Aid handling fee, 0% card processing fee on Open Banking donations. A genuine 0%. (See the Zeffy vs Wonderful comparison)

The trade-off is reach and friction. The Pay by Bank journey requires donors to authenticate with their bank app, which converts well with younger banked donors and less well with older donors who are uncomfortable with the flow. Wonderful's discovery network is smaller than JustGiving's, so it works best when you already have an audience rather than seeking cold donors.

For a small UK charity: on £10,000 raised via Open Banking, the cost is £0. A technically excellent option if your donor base is digitally confident; less reliable if your supporters skew older or prefer card payments.

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6. Crowdfunder UK: 0% for charities, but the real value is match funding

Crowdfunder UK is the UK's largest crowdfunding platform. For registered charities, the platform fee is 0%. Card processing applies, typically adding 1.4 to 2% depending on the payment method. (See the Zeffy vs Crowdfunder comparison)

The headline feature is not the fee structure but the match-funding partnerships. Crowdfunder works with the National Lottery Community Fund, local authorities and other funders to match donations during campaign windows, effectively doubling or trebling what you raise. That is the genuine reason to choose Crowdfunder over a steady-state donation button. It is less suited to ongoing monthly giving or event ticketing.

For a small UK charity: on £10,000 raised, expect 1.4 to 2% in card processing. The real maths improves dramatically if you can secure a match-funding partner, which can add thousands on top at no extra cost to the donor.

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7. GivenGain: subscription-free P2P with free automated Gift Aid

GivenGain is an international not-for-profit fundraising platform that launched in the UK in 2022. There is no subscription fee. Gift Aid processing is free and automated. Donors see an optional tip at checkout; when they tip, the charity pays nothing; when they decline, GivenGain's model means the charity absorbs minimal cost. (See the Zeffy vs GivenGain comparison)

The platform has a growing UK footprint (partners include Swimathon and the British Heart Foundation) but less brand recognition than JustGiving for cold donors. Its champion-page model works well for peer-to-peer and community fundraising rather than a one-off campaign donate button.

For a small UK charity: a strong peer-to-peer and community fundraising option if you do not need London Marathon or Great Run integration. Budget nothing for the platform itself; plan to do more warm-audience work because cold donors may need additional reassurance before giving.

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8. GoFundMe (UK): individual fundraising, trust mismatch for registered charities

GoFundMe is the UK's dominant personal and emergency fundraising platform. Registered UK charities pay 1.9% plus 20p per donation, with Gift Aid passed through free. (See the Zeffy vs GoFundMe comparison)

The structural issue for registered charities is trust. Cold donors encountering a GoFundMe URL expect to find an individual, not a registered charity. The branding mismatch, GoFundMe's colours rather than yours, undermines the trust signals (Charity Commission registration number, Fundraising Regulator badge) that UK donors look for before giving.

For a small UK charity: on £10,000 raised, expect roughly £210 in processing. The right tool for a one-off campaign when you are not yet a registered charity or when the personal-story angle genuinely matters; for a registered charity running ongoing fundraising, the trust mismatch costs more than the fee savings gain.

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9. PayPal (Giving Fund / donate button): a payment method, not a fundraising platform

PayPal offers a reduced transaction rate for verified UK charities via PayPal Giving Fund, and the donate button is a familiar checkout that reduces donor friction. (See the Zeffy vs PayPal comparison)

What PayPal does not offer: donation forms, peer-to-peer, event ticketing, recurring giving management, Gift Aid declaration capture or supporter management. It is a payment method embedded on your existing site, not a fundraising platform. Everything else, you build or buy elsewhere.

For a small UK charity: useful as a complementary checkout option for donors who prefer PayPal alongside a real fundraising platform. Not enough on its own. Without Gift Aid automation, you will be handling declarations manually, which adds work at the end of every financial year.

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What 'free' really means in fundraising software

Every fundraising platform has a cost. The question is who pays it and whether it is named honestly. Five categories of cost appear even on platforms that advertise 'no platform fee.'

• Payment processing fees. Cards, bank transfers and digital wallets all carry a per-transaction charge, typically 1.4% to 1.9% plus 20p to 30p. Most 'free' platforms pass this to the charity or ask donors to opt in to cover it. Zeffy's payment processing is the exception: Zeffy absorbs it.

• Platform fees. A percentage taken on every donation, usually 1% to 5%, that funds the platform's operations. Some platforms embed this inside a voluntary contribution prompt shown to donors.

• Donor-shifted opt-in fees. The donor sees a prompt to 'cover the fee' and most do, but when they decline, the charity absorbs it. JustGiving's suggested tip of around 17%, widely reported in UK fundraising press including Money Saving Expert, is the UK's most-criticised example of this pattern. Donors have described feeling the amount was "added without their knowledge." JustGiving, Enthuse, Crowdfunder and Localgiving all use variants of this structure.

• Paywalled features. The free tier covers a donation button and not much else. Recurring giving management, peer-to-peer, event ticketing, auctions and supporter management sit in paid tiers.

• Eligibility gates. Some free tiers cap eligibility by revenue, vetted membership or geography. The free price only applies if you qualify.

The honest test is not whether the platform advertises free. It is: on £10,000 raised, how much does the charity actually keep, with no donor opt-in assumed?

For a small UK charity: the five categories above are where the leak happens. Map your current platform to each one before you decide whether 'free' is actually free.

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How to calculate your true fundraising costs

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The arithmetic is straightforward. For any platform, the true cost on a given amount raised equals platform fee plus processing fee plus any subscription, with realistic donor opt-in assumptions.

Use this formula:

True cost = (platform fee % x amount raised) + (processing fee % x amount raised) + (processing flat fee x number of transactions) + (monthly subscription x 12)

Work through a quick example with the JustGiving rates above: 0% platform + 1.9% of £10,000 + 20p x 100 transactions + £0 subscription = £190 + £20 = £210. Add 5% of the Gift Aid value reclaimed (say £625 on a 25% uplift of £2,500 Gift Aid donations): total approaches £241. On Zeffy: £0 at every line.

The calculator below shows this for comparison across platforms. Note: the embedded calculator uses US platform rates displayed in US dollars, the £-denominated comparison for UK platforms is in the table above.

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How we evaluated these platforms

For each platform in this guide, we verified fees against the live Zeffy UK compare pages (verified 2026-06-19), cross-referenced Capterra for review signal and translated each fee structure into a pound cost on £10,000 raised using each platform's intended-user scenario (charity rate where applicable, default plan, no donor opt-in to cover fees). Regulatory framing sourced from HMRC Gift Aid guidance, the Fundraising Regulator Code of Fundraising Practice and the Gambling Commission's small society lotteries guidance. We excluded platforms whose UK pricing is unverifiable or whose tools are primarily US-facing and outside the UK consideration set. Capterra ratings are referenced qualitatively because specific scores shift between publish and read.

For a small UK charity: this is a fee audit and UK regulatory framing exercise, not a generic feature roundup. The maths is what the article is set up to answer.

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Best free fundraising platforms by use case

For almost every job a small UK charity needs to do, the zero-fee answer is the same platform. The honest exceptions are narrow, and we name them.

• Donation forms, recurring giving and supporter management: Zeffy. All free, on one plan, with £0 passed to the charity and no donor tip required. Supporter/donor management included at no extra cost.

• Events, ticketing and silent auctions: Zeffy. Ticketing, door check-in and bid tracking are included at £0. For charities routinely selling tickets above £10 and comfortable with a per-ticket cost, Ticket Tailor (UK-founded, B Corp, flat-fee model) is the honest paid alternative.

• Peer-to-peer for TCS London Marathon or Great Run places: Enthuse. It is the exclusive official partner for those events to 2034; for those participants, it is not optional. For all other sponsored fundraising and peer-to-peer campaigns: Zeffy or GivenGain.

• UK raffles and small society lotteries: Zeffy. Most charity raffles in the UK are small society lotteries under the Gambling Act 2005: register with your local licensing authority (£40 initial, £20 annual renewal), draw cap of £20,000 per lottery, £250,000 annual aggregate, at least 20% of proceeds to the cause and a maximum single prize of £25,000. Incidental non-commercial lotteries drawn at an event need no registration. Zeffy runs both for free. Note: Gift Aid does not apply to raffle ticket purchases. (Small society lotteries, Gambling Commission)

• Match-funding campaigns: Crowdfunder UK (National Lottery, local authority match partnerships) or The Big Give Christmas Challenge. These are the right tools when match funding is the primary mechanic.

• Open Banking / lowest per-donation cost when you already have the audience: Wonderful.org.

• Familiar checkout alongside your platform: PayPal donate button or Apple Pay / Google Pay.

• Personal or individual fundraising (not a registered charity): GoFundMe UK. Its personal-campaign flow and discovery network are the genuine edge here.

• Legacy fundraising CRM with detailed reporting: Beacon (rated the number-one UK fundraising CRM six years running) or Donorfy (cheaper entry, broader integrations). Both are paid subscriptions that sit alongside a fundraising platform, not instead of one; they are out of scope for a 'free platform' comparison but worth naming for completeness.

For a small UK charity: the pattern is straightforward. Zeffy covers the fundraising, ticketing and raffle stack at £0. The short list above is the handful of cases where a specific, usually paid, tool earns a place alongside it, not instead of it.

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What to look for beyond fees

Fees are the most quantifiable variable, but they are not the only one that decides whether a platform serves your charity. Six non-fee factors matter as much as the rate card.

Ease of use. If staff or volunteers cannot launch a campaign without two weeks of training, the platform costs you in time even when the rate is zero.

Donor experience. A checkout that takes 30 seconds on mobile converts. One that takes 90 seconds loses gifts.

Supporter management. A platform with free supporter management included saves you from buying a second system. Without it, you are stitching together a donation tool and a separate CRM.

Gift Aid automation and data protection. Look for platforms that capture the Gift Aid declaration at checkout, store it for the required 6-year retention window and support claim submission to HMRC via Charities Online. Beyond Gift Aid, confirm the platform is UK GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018 compliant. UK charities routinely ask 'Are you GDPR compliant?' before adopting a new tool, and rightly so. The Fundraising Regulator's Code of Fundraising Practice (Section 9, effective 1 November 2025) also applies to online fundraising platforms and covers how they handle donor data and communicate fees. (Fundraising Regulator Code of Fundraising Practice)

Support quality. When a donor reports a failed transaction during a campaign, response time decides whether you recover the gift.

Payout speed and Gift Aid record-keeping. Same-week payouts and Gift Aid declarations that are captured automatically at the point of donation are the difference between a clean financial year-end and a manual scramble in April. The claim window for Gift Aid is four years; declarations must be retained for six years. (Gift Aid, HMRC)

For a small UK charity: if you are a one- or two-person team, ease of use and Gift Aid automation save more hours than any feature on the rate card. Do not optimise fees so hard that you take on extra administrative work in return.

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The bottom line

'Free' in fundraising software is almost always conditional. Free monthly subscription but transaction fees still apply. Free platform fee but donors have to tip to cover it. Free entry plan but the features that actually matter sit behind a paid subscription.

The honest test is the £10,000 maths with no donor tip assumed. By that test, eight of the nine platforms on this list cost the charity something between roughly £140 and £220 in processing fees on that level of fundraising, before Gift Aid handling fees are added on top. One costs £0. That is the comparison.

The stack-consolidation angle makes the maths even clearer for most small UK charities. Running donation forms, event ticketing, a Christmas raffle and a sponsored-event P2P campaign across four separate tools means four sets of fees, four sets of data to reconcile and four sets of Gift Aid records to manage. Zeffy consolidates that entire stack, free, with Gift Aid capture at checkout and no donor opt-in dependency.

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Frequently asked questions

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