Are you hoping to raise funds from your customers, friends, or fans? Although you can use existing platforms like Kickstarter or GoFundMe, you might encounter steep listing fees on these sites. Plus, with limited control over your content, it can be difficult to make changes to campaigns or facilitate custom prices.
Instead, you can install a crowdfunding plugin on WordPress to collect donations on your own website. This way, you can easily manage donors, support recurring payments, accept offline payments, and publish new updates (like funding goals and end dates).
In this post, Ie’ll look at five of the top crowdfunding plugins on the market, discussing the key features of each option. I picked those based on their popularity among users, their reviews, and overall feature set that they offer. Let’s get started!
A comparison of the best WordPress crowdfunding plugins
Before we get to the main section of this post, here’s a quick overview of each crowdfunding plugin so that you can compare them easily:
| Custom amounts | Donor receipts | Recurring payments | User registration | Donor management tools | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WP Crowdfunding | ✅ | ✅ (with Pro version) | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ |
| GiveWP | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Buy Me a Coffee | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ |
| Donorbox | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Charitable | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ (with Pro version) | ✅ | ✅ |
Best crowdfunding plugins in detail
Now, let’s take a deeper dive into each of these plugins:
1. WP Crowdfunding: Best for beginners
WP Crowdfunding is a beginner-friendly tool that enables you to launch a crowdfunding platform for free. What’s more, it integrates seamlessly with WooCommerce, so that you can create a site like Kickstarter.
For example, you can define your project’s start and end dates, set multiple pricing options, publish updates, and configure a reward system with delivery dates. If you upgrade to the premium version, you’ll get access to advanced features like analytical reports, email notifications, and social sharing.
Key features
- Dedicated user registration
- Pricing recommendations
- Reward system
- Donor management dashboard
- Project start and end dates
- Stripe connect or native wallet system (Pro feature)
- Email notifications (Pro feature)
- Reports (Pro feature)
Price
You can use WP Crowdfunding for free, or upgrade to the premium plugin from $149 per year.
2. GiveWP: Best for recurring donations
GiveWP offers several payment gateways and plenty of add-ons (like Mailchimp and Zapier). So, while you can use this plugin to create a single donation button, you can also set up a comprehensive donation-based crowdfunding platform (and accept recurring donations).
You’ll get access to highly customizable forms that enable you to receive gifts and other charitable donations. Better yet, you can easily keep track of donors and contributions, and generate tax receipts. Plus, donors can log into their accounts and view their donation history.
Key features
- Visual donation form builder
- Customizable templates
- Donor management tools
- Custom pricing options
- Actionable fundraising reports
- Recurring donations
- Donation receipts
- PayPal and Stripe support
Price
You can use GiveWP for free, or extend the plugin’s functionality using paid add-ons. For instance, the recurring donations add-on costs $149 per year.
3. Buy Me a Coffee: Best for content creators
If you’re a podcaster, YouTuber, or affiliate marketer, Buy Me a Coffee might be the best crowdfunding plugin for you. While it provides limited customization options, it makes it easy to create a donation button on your website.
With this plugin, you can accept donations from your most loyal listeners or subscribers. Better yet, people can choose between one-time payments or recurrent pledges. You can even sell memberships on your BMC page and configure rules to protect premium content.
Key features
- Buy Me a Coffee buttons that lead straight to your BMC page
- Buy Me a Coffee widgets that enable visitors to make payments directly on your site
- Stripe support (as well as Apple Pay and Google Pay)
- Option to sell extras (like memberships)
- Paywalls for premium content
Price
Buy Me a Coffee is a completely free crowdfunding plugin.
4. Donorbox: Best for global websites
If you’re looking for a powerful, secure, and free donation management plugin, Donorbox is worth a shot. It’s jam-packed with helpful features like donation pop-up forms (with custom input fields), custom donation amounts, one-click monthly recurring donations, personalized receipts, and more.
You can brand your donation page with your own color scheme, styling, and logo. Additionally, Donorbox supports multiple currencies, and the forms are localized in six different languages (which you can set manually or let the plugin auto-detect).
You’ll also find that Donorbox facilitates easy donor management with the ability to resend receipts, refund donations, add offline donations, and export donation details. Plus, recurring donors can log into the dashboard to manage their details.
Key features
- Customizable donation forms
- Embeddable forms (or popups)
- Custom input fields (and donation amounts)
- Multiple currencies
- Stripe, PayPal, and Venmo support (and Google Pay and Apple Pay)
- Employer donation matching feature (to help you double donations)
- Support for six languages (with auto-detect feature)
- Recurring donations
- Personalized email receipts
- Donor management features
Price
You can use Donorbox for free, or upgrade to the Pro version for $139 per month.
5. Charitable: Best for managing multiple campaigns
Although it’s not a dedicated WordPress crowdfunding plugin, Charitable enables you to fund projects and accept donations. You can create simple donation forms using the free plugin, but you’ll need the premium option to accept recurring payments and facilitate peer-to-peer fundraising.
Charitable is an excellent option if you’re looking to run multiple campaigns. The setup procedure is super simple, and it only takes minutes to customize your form, select a payment gateway, set a goal, define a timeframe, and adjust the visual settings.
Key features
- Unlimited fundraising campaigns
- Time-sensitive campaigns (with automatic endings)
- Seamless theme integration
- Suggested donation amounts
- Different loading options for forms (short forms, separate pages, embedded forms)
- Stripe and PayPal support
- Donation management dashboard
- Donation receipts
Price
Charitable is a free plugin, but to access more payment gateways and features, you’ll need the premium version (prices start at $69 per year).
Conclusion
If you’re looking for a way to fund your next project, raise money for non-profits, or collect donations to maintain your online presence, you might need a crowdfunding plugin. This way, you can run campaigns on your own website and avoid the fees associated with platforms like Kickstarter.
WP Crowdfunding is ideal for beginners who want to run simple campaigns. But if you want to target a wider audience or manage multiple campaigns, you’ll need to opt for a more powerful plugin, like Donorbox or Charitable.
Do you have any questions about how to choose a crowdfunding plugin? Let us know in the comments section below!
Or start the conversation in our Facebook group for WordPress professionals. Find answers, share tips, and get help from other WordPress experts. Join now (it’s free)!