‍PayBee vs Donately: Donation Forms vs Full-Service Galas — Which Fits Your Nonprofit? (2026)

Donately and PayBee are both software platform solutions specifically built for the nonprofit sector, but they solve fundamentally very different fundraising problems.

Donately is an online giving platform specializing in embeddable donation forms, recurring giving, peer-to-peer campaigns and a developer-friendly API and offers a ‘free platform’ plan that charges a 4% fee only on donations collected, or two other monthly subscriptions depending on your needs.

PayBee is a much more robust platform that works as a gala and auction software designed for live and silent auctions, fund-a-need paddle raises, event check-in, tap-to-pay and livestreaming to allow for virtual or hybrid auctions all while charging a flat 2% platform fee.

So which is better? Choose Donately if your priority is embedding custom donation forms into your website using robust developer tools. Choose PayBee if you are running a gala or auction event that requires bidding, event-night logistics and interactive fundraising tools to increase participation all without needing a dedicated tech team to manage. 

At a Glance: Key Differences

When evaluating Donately versus PayBee, basically it comes down to what sort of tools your charity needs. If you simply need a donation form builder that can collect donations for your organization or want to incorporate simple ticket sales for a small fundraiser, Donately is a solid solution. If you do need an event and auction engine with specialized tools to increase engagement and donations, the Paybee is the wiser choice. 

• Choose Donately if you need drop-in donation widgets, a flexible REST API for custom website integrations, simple peer-to-peer fundraising or basic ticket sales for small gatherings. 
• Choose PayBee if you are hosting a gala, silent or live auction or virtual/hybrid fundraiser that demands real time mobile bidding, fund-a-need paddle raises, rapid check-in/checkout, tap-to-pay, or livestreaming. 

Quick Glance Comparison Table

The side-by-side comparison below highlights how PayBee and Donately stack up across fees, core capabilities, support models and target use cases so you can quickly scan for the differences most important for your own organization’s needs.

What is PayBee?

PayBee is a comprehensive fundraising platform created from the ground up to specifically help organizations in the nonprofit sector to be able to hold different types of events while also offering the tools necessary for charities to run their daily operations. So while many giving tools focus solely on static website forms, PayBee has been designed around the fast paced logistics of fundraising events combining live bidding, guest management and donation processing into a single workflow using a mobile friendly architecture that doesn’t require any additional hardware in order to run your entire event flawlessly.

Built for the Event Night (and Beyond)

PayBee was created to solve far more than accepting donations, it was created from the ground up to give nonprofits all the tools and solutions they’d need in order to not only run most of their daily busienss, but also equip event teams with software that manages every touchpoint of a major fundraiser: 

Silent & Live Auctions

One of the best solutions for fundraising, their automated outbid notifications, real-time leaderboards and instant mobile bidding allow guests to participate directly from their smartphone browsers from anywhere in the world giving you the opportunity to be completely inclusive without mandatory app downloads. 

Fund-a-Need & Paddle Raises

The company offers interactive appeal tools that display live donation meters on screen during a gala’s fund-a-need and paddle raises so your guests can see how close you are to your goals in real time, often spiking donation in the last minutes as people unite to get your cause over the finish line. 

Seamless On-Site Logistics

Built-in guest check-in, table assignment tracking, fast card pre-authorization and rapid end-of-night checkout settlement completely eliminates long lines and frustration while also saving you and your staff countless hours doing things by hand.  

In-Person Payments & Tap-to-Pay

Event staff and volunteers can collect point-of-sale donations using tap to pay on mobile devices or card readers from anywhere in the room and all without any additional hardware.  

Virtual & Hybrid Galas

Native livestreaming tools embedded directly onto event landing pages give people from all over the world with an internet connection the same real time data and experience of the people who are physically in the room.

Simple, Transparent Pricing Model

PayBee has a straightforward pricing structure designed to eliminate surprise monthly fees and charges. Nonprofits pay a flat 2% platform fee on electronic payment, while cash and check transactions are completely free to process. There is also no mandatory subscription required to unlock additional features or to lock in the 2% rate. 

And for the organizations that need special attention, Paybee offers an optional Premium Plan for $599 covering two full years, which includes dedicated campaign setup assistance and world class live support, this is completely optional and is not required to use their platform. You can even go with their in person live support for large galas so you can have a trained support staff available while your team works on the most important part of your night, building relationships with your supporters. 

The company also gives you the solution necessary for proper donor records and financial reporting, but its true focus is donation collection and event execution rather than serving as a cumbersome enterprise level CRM which makes it ideal for founders that are looking for an intuitive and high converting event platform.

What is Donately?

Donately is an online giving platform that gives its users the ability to collect individual and recurring contributions online and is often used by churches, schools and other types of smaller online fundraisers that are straightforward and don’t need a lot of bells and whistles.

Originally built out of a creative agency to solve the need for clean, modern donation forms, the platform has grown into a widely used tool for digital fundraising and peer-to-peer (P2P) campaigns and other online campaigns and offers developers with friendly API’s alongside embeddable UI components. This gives nonprofits the freedom to build customized drop-in donation forms, embed campaign pages directly into custom websites and construct multi touchpoint donor experiences via its public REST API. 

The company also offers recurring giving controls, peer-to-peer campaign creation, text-to-give options and even basic event ticketing for in person events. It also integrates across 40+ popular platforms, including Salesforce, HubSpot, Mailchimp, QuickBooks, Zapier, and WordPress which makes it competitive for organizations that have a solid tech team. 

Who Donately is Best For:

• Digital-first nonprofits and churches looking for simple, clean embeddable donation forms and recurring giving options directly on their existing websites, especially Wordpress sites. 
• Agencies, developers and tech forward teams who want a flexible API to build fully custom online donation experiences quickly and easily. 
• Organizations running peer-to-peer campaigns or light online ticket sales that do not require gala or auction solutions as well. 

(Note: Donately carries a solid reputation, with user ratings averaging roughly 4.4 out of 5 across G2 and Capterra’s pooled Gartner review base.) 

Fees & Pricing Compared

Obviously pricing is always going to be a serious concern for any nonprofit, so understanding how each company’s platform fees and subscriptions compete is important. And while Donately offers a free tier to get you started, its platform fee structure means that lowering your transaction fees requires subscribing or paying upfront in order to secure the lower processing fees on donations coming in. PayBee, by contrast, provides a low, predictable flat rate without forcing an ongoing software subscription in order to lock in your savings. 

PayBee’s Pricing Structure

PayBee keeps its pricing simple and transparent across all fundraising activities: 

• Platform Fee: A simple, publicly stated flat 2% platform fee on electronic payments with no upsells required.
• Cash & Check Transactions: 0% (Free).
• Subscription Required: None. Nonprofits can run auctions, galas, ticketers and online forms on a pay-as-you-go basis so you’re never locked into a contract.
• Optional Premium Plan: An optional $599 plan for two full years (covering 24 months of access), which includes dedicated, world class account support and guidance.
• Payment Processing: Standard credit card/processing fees apply separately. 

Donately’s Pricing Structure (as of 2026)

Donately’s plans balance upfront subscription costs against transaction percentage fees and tiers are categorized by fee reductions or plan names: 

• Free / Standard Plan: $0/month, but carries a 4% platform fee on all donations raised vs Paybee’s standard 2%. 
• Lower Fees / Growth Plan: $99/month (or $999/year), which drops the platform fee to 2%. 
• No Fees / Scale Plan: A $5,000 upfront commitment (covering up to $1M raised), which reduces the platform fee to 0%. 
• Payment Processing: Processing fees are separate from Donately's platform fees across all tiers. Processing rates (typically processed via Stripe or PayPal) generally range around 2.2% to 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction (with non-profit verification), while ACH processing runs approximately 0.8% capped at $5. (Note: Be sure to verify current processing rates with payment providers upon signup). 

Fee Comparison Breakdown

The Honest Pricing Takeaway

If you’re a newer nonprofit starting out with little capital, both Donately and Paybee offer a free tier to get started with no upfront commitments. Donately’s Free Tier does require you to pay 4% on any incoming donations while Paybee offers charities a basic 2% platform fee even on their free tier, already saving you 2% in fees over Donately right from day one.

So with PayBee, you receive that 2% platform fee out of the box with zero monthly or annual subscription requirements while also gaining access to full gala and auction execution tools like live bidding, paddle raises, event check-ins and live streaming your event worldwide that Donately does not offer.

Feature-by-Feature Comparison

While both platforms can easily process online donations, they operate on completely different architectural principles. Donately is built as a modular online giving tool for digital first fundraising requiring high tech manipulation, while PayBee is an end-to-end event execution engine that works out of the box and doesn’t require a team to manage.

Donation Forms & Embeds

• Donately: This is Donately’s primary focus and they execute this well. The platform provides highly customizable, embeddable donation forms that can be dropped directly onto any site builder (WordPress, Webflow, Squarespace) using their script tags or inline frames. These forms support multi-step checkout, custom fields, preset giving tiers and branded styles that blend into your existing website’s marketing.
• PayBee: PayBee also offers clean, embeddable online donation forms, popup buttons and standalone campaign landing pages that handle one-time and recurring gifts that can be shared on social media and on your own sites as well. Where they go a step beyond is that PayBee’s forms are designed to tie directly into broader campaign dashboards, donor profiles and event ticketing workflows rather than acting solely as a isolated web element creating en entire donation machine.

Developer API & Customization

• Donately: A standout strength for Donately is its developer friendly architecture. It provides a public REST/JSON API along with an embeddable UI components library that allows agencies and technical web teams to build fully custom front end donation experiences that trigger custom webhooks for real-time donor data syncs and integrate giving flows natively into complex web apps for full control of the donor expereice.
• PayBee: PayBee is built to be a no-code, plug-and-play platform that non-technical founders, board members and volunteers can manage out of the box with minimal training or expertise. While PayBee connects seamlessly with major third-party systems and CRM platforms via integrations, it does not prioritize open developer API endpoints or custom component code libraries so it’s far more intuitive and easy to use for those with limited budgets for tech hires.

Recurring Giving & Peer-to-Peer

• Donately: Supports recurring donations either weekly, monthly or annually with automated donor account management to update card details and keep your entity compliant while its peer-to-peer (P2P) features allow your supporters to build individual or team fundraising pages under a primary campaign all with complete with custom progress bars and personal goal tracking to encourage donations further.
• PayBee: Native recurring giving options are integrated into PayBee’s general donation forms and campaign pages automatically so you always have the option with no coding required. And Paybee also  offers peer-to-peer and team fundraising capabilities so your supporters can launch their own campaigns that automatically feed into a master event or campaign total.

Text-to-Give & Tap-to-Pay

• Donately: Features built-in Text-to-Give functionality that allows your donors to text a specific keyword to a designated phone number and receive a direct link to a mobile optimized donation form. Donately does not offer native point-of-sale hardware or tap-to-pay phone features for live events.
• PayBee: Includes built-in Text-to-Give functionality just like Donately but pushes their technology much further by synching this to a simple Tap-to-Pay option that let’s supporters pay on the spot with a contactless credit card, Apple Pay, and Google Pay payments right from their phones so you won’t need any additional hardware for processing payments. 

Event Management & Ticketing

• Donately: The company does offer lightweight event ticketing as an extension of its online forms product so organizations can send  set ticket prices, collect attendee details, and sell tickets online, but it lacks specialized event infrastructure like seating charts, table management, paddle assignments, or live check-in workflows as the software was never intentionally built for these types of services.
• PayBee: The company built their software platform specifically to excel at event management and so it can handle complex ticketing tiers, promo codes, sponsor ticket allocations, meal preference tracking, automated guest registration transfers, table management, digital ticket delivery and a whole lot more. You can check out the free demo here to see just how powerful this platform really is. 

Feature Comparison Overview

Auctions & Event Night Mechanics: The Decisive Difference

The biggest structural difference between Donately and PayBee is how they each handle an actual fundraising event. While Donately is designed to collect digital contributions on a web page, PayBee is engineered to drive the live mechanics of an auction or gala night in ways that increase engagement and donations.

This means if your fundraising strategies rely on live guest engagement, silent bidding, or a stage-led appeal, Paybee handles the entire cycle on one easy to use platform whereas Donately simply lacks the capabilities to run any sort of high engagement event.

1. Silent & Live Auctions

• Donately: Has no built in auction capabilities. To run a silent or live auction using Donately your nonprofit would need to purchase and integrate a separate third party auction software platform while using Donately itself to collect standalone website gifts and nothing more. 
• PayBee: Includes a full auction management suite that can do everything from manage item procurement, build physical or digital auction catalogs, set starting bids and minimum bid increments, define buy-it-now options or auto-generate printable bid sheets or digital display screens all from an intuitive and easy to use backend making your entire night seamless for your attendees.

2. Mobile Bidding (Browser-Based & Optional App)

• Donately: Does not support mobile bidding.
• PayBee: Turns every attendee’s smartphone into an interactive bidding paddle so your guests can browse auction catalogs, place bids, set maximum automated bids and receive instant outbid push/SMS notifications that we have found greatly increase your revenues for the night. And one important note, your donors can participate directly inside any phone web browser without the need of downloading the Paybee app, although they can do that as well. 

3. Fund-a-Need / Live Paddle Raise

• Donately: Offers no native display or real time capture tools for live stage appeals.
• PayBee: Features a dedicated Fund-a-Need (paddle raise) module that is perfect for live auctioneers and emcees since pledges are made from phones or called out from the floor during your event and PayBee’s platform updates a visual thermometer display on screen in real time driving crowd momentum and gamifying the appeal all at the same time.

4. On-site Check-in & Rapid Checkout / Settlement

• Donately: Does not provide event night logistics, pre-registered card vaulting at the door or multi-item guest settlement.
• PayBee: Streamlines the entire event night entry and departure logistics with needing any special equipment. Volunteers can check in guests in seconds via QR code scanning that pre-registers your supporter’s credit cards when they arrive and auto-assign bidder paddle numbers so every bid is recorded and can be analyzed later. After the event the system automatically aggregates ticket balances, winning auction items, and paddle raise pledges into a single electronic cart that allows your guests to review their invoice and pay in seconds on their own phones via tap-to-pay or their preapproved saved cards saving hours of check out time and long lines.

5. Hybrid & Livestreamed Events

• Donately: Has no integrated virtual gala or video streaming tools.
• PayBee: Built with native virtual and hybrid gala solutions from the very start, Paybee give your organization the ability to embed live video streams from platforms such as YouTube, Vimeo and Twitch directly alongside real-time bidding feeds, live chats and instant donation buttons giving even remote donors anywhere in the world the ability to to participate in your silent auctions and paddle raises in real time alongside in-person attendees.

Developer & Web Integration Focus

The main reason digital marketers, web agencies and in-house technical teams choose Donately is its developer-first architecture that allows tech developers the ability to create front-end flexibility through lightweight embeddable UI components, customizable script tags and a public REST API v2 for their customers. This can be a real positive for organizations that only need to gather donations and want to use their own coders for projects. 

Where Donately Shines for Technical Teams:

• Drop-in UI Components: Developers can quickly embed clean, mobile responsive donation forms directly into custom CMS builds using WordPress, Webflow, Squarespace or custom React/Vue applications without broken layouts or jarring iframe redirects.
• Public REST API & Webhooks: Donately exposes well-documented REST endpoints for accounts, campaigns, donors, and subscriptions while its webhook management engine allows developers to listen for real-time events (donation.created, recurring_donation.failed) to trigger custom internal automation workflows outside of basic Zapier integrations.
• Custom Styling & Data Attributes: Front-end teams can pass custom metadata parameters through donation forms to map contributions cleanly back into proprietary databases, custom CRMs or analytics dashboards.

PayBee’s No-Code Event Approach:

While Donately’s solution is often great for developers or organizations with dedicated technology teams, for many today, their flexibility is simply no longer necessary when many platforms simply give the same tools right out the box without needing a development team.

Paybee’s no code platform is designed for non technical founders, board members and executive directors that want a plug and play option that bypasses any software development issues entirely. So while PayBee does offer native integrations with major CRMs and accounting software like Salesforce, Bloomerang, and QuickBooks, it does not position itself as a developer framework nor offers specific APIs as everything is already included within it own software so it requires zero coding knowledge to deploy.

Ease of Use and On-Site Support & Service

Both platforms have earned high praises from their users for user experience and customer service, but their support models reflect their distinct operational priorities and how they go about assisting their  nonprofit clients.

Donately: Fast Self Serve Setup & Personal Digital Support

Donately’s clean interface allows small organizations to register, connect a processor like Stripe or PayPal, build an embeddable form and start accepting online contributions in under an hour. Across review platforms like G2 (~4.4/5 stars) and Capterra (~4.4/5 stars), their users consistently praise Donately’s fast, friendly and accessible email support which even includes teams operating on its free subscription tier. But the support is not instant. The only way to get support is either through online via ticketing or their help documentation which means there will be a time lag getting the assistance you need. 

PayBee: Full Event Night Security & Available On Site Staffing

PayBee also offers a help center and documentation to help their clients solve issues on their own. They also offer a live support chat option if you need a quick fix for something. But since live galas and high stakes auctions leave zero room for technical failure, PayBee also offers expanded service tiers:

• 2-Year Premium Support Plan ($599): This option provides organizations with dedicated 1-on-1 account management that offers strategic campaign walkthroughs and live support during active fundraising campaigns so you always have  a real person making sure everything is clear and is working properly when it really counts.
• Optional On-Site Event Staffing: For major in-person galas PayBee goes beyond simple tech support and can offer your charity paid on site event staff and technical specialists to oversee check-in desks, manage bidder registration, train volunteers and make sure live paddle raises run smoothly giving your own team the freedom to do what they should be, creating deeper relationships with your guests! (note: The cost for this service is $899 plus travel, meal, and hotel expenses if applicable and to inquire you’ll need to email support at contact@paybee.io.)

"Choose Donately If..." vs. "Choose PayBee If..."

Choose Donately If:

• Your primary goal is embedded website giving: You need clean, customizable donation forms that match your brand identity and live natively inside your existing website builder and allows you full control.
• You have a web developer or agency partner: You want to leverage a public REST API, embeddable UI components, and webhook triggers to build bespoke digital giving flows and have the necessary tech support to pull it all off.
• You want a free entry plan for year-round digital giving: You prefer a $0/month plan with no upfront subscription fees to handle basic online gifts, recurring donations, or peer-to-peer campaigns and are willing to accept the 4% platform fee.

Choose PayBee If:

• You host live, silent, or hybrid auction events: You need integrated mobile bidding, digital auction catalogs, outbid alerts, item procurement tracking and instant checkout as well as many other features.
• You run galas, golf tournaments, or stage appeals: You require paddle raise/fund-a-need screens, seating chart management, ticket sales, QR check-in and phone native tap-to-pay options for your guests to keep the event running smoothly.
• You want predictable flat pricing without subscriptions: You want a flat 2% platform fee on electronic payments out of the box with no required monthly or annual contracts and free fees on cash and check dontions.

Coexistence & Migration Strategies

Choosing between PayBee and Donately does not have to be an all-or-nothing decision since both platforms serve very distinctly different roles. And since many mid-sized and large nonprofits use a hybrid workflow or execute a seamless transition as their event needs scale, it may be best to just use the two platforms for what they each do best.

1. The Coexistence Strategy (Best for Teams with Custom Web Builds)

If your agency partner has already built customized donation flows on your website using Donately’s API, you do not need to dismantle your existing setup:

• Everyday Online Giving: Continue using Donately on your homepage and general donation pages for monthly recurring gifts and digital peer-to-peer campaigns without making any changes at all.
• Event & Gala Execution: Use PayBee specifically for your annual gala, silent auction or golf tournament to create the most successful campaign possible. You can embed PayBee’s event ticketing widget on a dedicated event subpage and run live auction bidding through PayBee’s mobile web engine, then sync your attendee payment data back into your primary CRM post-event to get a clearer picture on what each platform brought in.

2. The Consolidation / Migration Strategy (Best for Streamlining Tech Stacks)

Since many organizations began using Donately years ago when a solution like Paybee simply didn’t exist, or the start up nonprofit opting for their free tier and trying to get all the tech to work, the best solution might just be to migrate your entire tech stack over to our platform and reduce software costs and eliminate fragmented donor data across multiple systems.

• Step 1: Export Donor & Recurring Profiles: Export all your historical donor records and active recurring subscription details from Donately into CSV files and download them onto your computer’s hardrive.
• Step 2: Re-embed Forms & Landing Pages: Replace Donately script tags on your website with PayBee’s embeddable donation forms and pop-up buttons to instantly drop your base platform fee from 4% down to PayBee’s flat 2% without paying a $99/month Donately subscription while adding a massive software solution suite for the same cost.
• Step 3: Centralize Gala & Annual Giving: Manage your year-round online donations, peer-to-peer campaigns, event ticketing, and auction night mechanics within a single, unified PayBee dashboard.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Is Donately free?

Donately does offer a free tier with no monthly subscription fees but this tier also comes with a 4% platform fee attached in addition to separate payment processing charges (typically ~2.2%–2.9% + $0.30 for credit cards). The 4% fee can be lowered to 2%, but this requires you to upgrade to a $99/month ($999/year) subscription.

Does Donately support silent or live auctions?

No. Donately does not offer native silent auction management, live bidding, mobile bidding, paddle raises/fund-a-need tools or item checkout. Nonprofits using Donately for general giving must integrate a separate third-party software vendor to run auctions often opting for Paybee’s platform solution.

Which platform is overall more cost-effective?

Paybee is far more cost effective over Donately in just about every way. First, both platforms offer a free tier so organizations can collect donations on day one, Donately charges a 4% fee for this while Paybee only charges 2%. In order to lower your costs at Donately, you’ll be required to sign up for their second tier that requires a $99/month plan. This does not take into account that Paybee’s solution is plug and play, while Donately’s solution requires serious tech knowledge or a dedicated tech staff to use their solution correctly. 

What is Donately best used for?

Donately is best used for embeddable website donation forms, recurring giving campaigns, peer-to-peer fundraising and custom web builds that require a developer-friendly API and custom webhooks.

What is the best Donately alternative for auctions and galas?

PayBee is widely recognized as the best alternative to Donately for organizations running galas, auctions or interactive events that need a complete solution that combines complete silent and live auction management with mobile bidding, live streaming, ticketing and check-in under one flat 2% platform fee.

Wrapping Up and Getting Started

Both Donately and PayBee represent high-quality fundraising tools, but they are engineered for fundamentally different operational goals. Donately remains an excellent, developer-centric choice for organizations that want simple, elegant, embeddable online donation forms to collect recurring gifts on their website and have the time, financial and technological resources to make it happen.

However, if your nonprofit is looking for a complete solution that does all that without needing a tech degree, plus a whole lot more like running galas, silent or live auctions, fund-a-need paddle raises and live guest engagement just to name a few, then Paybee is the clear winner, not to mention their standard 2% platform fee vs Donately’s 4% fee.

Simply put, Paybee gives its clients the ability to not just collect donations, but the ability to run their entire organization on one easy to use platform and implement Paybee’s tools and feature in such a way that allows them to grow from a small charity today, into a powerful force for good tomorrow without ever needing to pay for extra solutions or adding unneeded complications to their fundraising processes.

Ready to elevate your next gala or auction? Schedule a live PayBee demo today to see how our mobile-first auction and event platform can simplify your event management and maximize your fundraising revenue.