DonatoTomato vs WP Charitable
WP Charitable is a self-hosted WordPress plugin: a free Lite version on WordPress.org that adds a platform fee, and paid annual Pro licenses that remove it and open up features by tier.
Charitable is a plugin you install on your own WordPress site; DonatoTomato is a hosted widget that works on WordPress or anywhere else. On price a Charitable Pro license can beat us: as of September 2026, Basic is $69 for the first year and renews at its regular $149 with no platform percentage, so it costs less than our flat 1% once you raise more than about $6,900 online in that first year, or about $14,900 a year at renewal, and the FAQ below shows the arithmetic, including the Plus plan that recurring giving and donor fee cover need. Charitable Lite, the free plugin, adds a 3% platform fee on Stripe transactions, above our 1% at every size. What a license does not cover is the work: installing the plugin, keeping it and WordPress current, renewing every year, and owning the security of the site your form lives on. DonatoTomato hosts the giving platform, donor records and receipts, with monthly giving and donation accounting included. You maintain your website and any plugin updates.
DonatoTomato is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by WP Charitable. Product names and trademarks are the property of their respective owners and are used here only for comparison and identification. Comparisons reflect publicly available information as of September 2026 and may change, please verify current pricing and details on each provider's website.
Updated October 1, 2026.
| Feature | DonatoTomato | WP Charitable |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Flat 1% platform fee per donation, on top of Stripe processing fees. No monthly fee or setup fee from DonatoTomato. A monthly gift also carries Stripe's own fee for running the repeating charge, billed to your Stripe account. | Lite is free plus a 3% platform fee on Stripe transactions; Pro licenses carry no platform fee, $69 to $299 for the first year and $149 to $599 at renewal (as of September 2026) |
| Hosting | Hosted donation platform; optional WordPress plugin or embed | A self-hosted WordPress plugin you install, update and keep secure on your own site |
| Recurring donations | Included in our flat 1% platform fee, with a donor self-service portal reached from an email link | Available with Charitable Pro; the pricing table lists Recurring Donations from the Plus plan, $99 a year (as of September 2026) |
| Donor processing contribution | Included (opt-in, clearly labeled) | The Fee Relief extension lets donors voluntarily cover gateway processing fees, and is listed from the Plus plan |
| Tax receipts | Branded receipts after gifts complete; tax acknowledgment for eligible gifts and organizations | Customizable email receipts are automatic; downloadable tax-compliant PDF receipts are a premium extension, and Annual Receipts is listed from Plus |
| Where donors give | On your own site, in an embedded widget or a site-wide floating button; Stripe bank verification when needed | On your site with the Stripe extension, or on a payment page hosted by Stripe, whichever you configure |
| Where donations go | Straight into your own Stripe account, you are the merchant of record | Into your own gateway account, with the payment provider collecting its transaction fee directly |
| Setup | Connect Stripe, create a campaign, then add the form | Install the plugin on WordPress, connect a gateway, and add whichever extensions your plan includes |
| WordPress | WordPress plugin, site-wide floating button or inline form, and one line of embed code anywhere else | WordPress-native |
| Donor management | Profiles, giving history and CSV export | Not assessed here |
| Annual giving statements | Generate from donor records | Not assessed here |
| Donation accounting | Monthly and campaign reports, fee and net records, CSV export | Not assessed here |
Pricing and assessed feature details reflect each provider's published information as of September 2026 and can change, please verify current pricing on WP Charitable's site. “Not assessed here” means this comparison has not evaluated that capability; it does not mean the provider lacks it.
Accept one-time and monthly gifts on your website. Manage donor profiles and giving history, review donation accounting, and create annual giving statements in the same platform.
Explore sample dashboardWe host the giving form and donor records. Choose the WordPress plugin or an embed on Squarespace, Wix, Webflow or another site that accepts HTML.
Monthly giving with a donor self-service portal, and the optional line that lets a donor add an estimated processing contribution, are both part of our flat 1% platform fee. There is no tier to move up to for either one.
The plugin embeds the giving form. Payment logic, donor records and receipts run on DonatoTomato, with payment fields handled by Stripe. You maintain your WordPress site and plugin.
Starting new gifts on DonatoTomato and moving an existing recurring-giving program are separate steps. Existing recurring gifts do not automatically transfer. Confirm how current gifts will continue, how donors will manage them, and what your old provider requires before retiring the old form or plugin. Email us to discuss the transition.
Plan your transitionAbove roughly $6,900 raised online in the first year, and above about $14,900 a year after that. As of September 2026, Charitable Pro Basic is $69 for the first year and renews at its regular $149, with no platform percentage; $69 divided by our 1% is $6,900 and $149 divided by it is $14,900, so past those points our fee is the larger number. Recurring donations and the Fee Relief extension that lets donors cover processing fees both start at the Plus plan, $99 for the first year and $199 after, which moves the lines to about $9,900 and $19,900. Charitable Lite, the free version, adds a 3% platform fee on Stripe transactions, which is above our 1% at any size. The licenses renew every year and the lower plans cover a single site, and none of them cover the hours you spend installing, updating and securing the plugin.
No. One line of embed code works on Squarespace, Wix, Webflow or a plain HTML page. The WordPress plugin is an optional shortcut that adds a site-wide floating Donate button in about a minute.
Nothing. The widget is hosted by us and loaded from one line of code, so a WordPress core, theme or plugin update does not touch it, and there is no donation plugin version to keep in step with your site.
Directly into your own Stripe account. You are the merchant of record, and funds pay out to your bank on Stripe's normal schedule. DonatoTomato never holds your money.
No. The only optional add-on at checkout is clearly labeled as an estimated processing contribution, and it is never framed as a tip. There is no separate ask that funds DonatoTomato.
Yes. DonatoTomato supports US bank account gifts (ACH), both one-time and new monthly gifts. Email hello@donatotomato.com to enable bank gifts for your organization. We will help you confirm the required Stripe bank-email setting before switching them on. Existing recurring gifts are not automatically moved to a bank account.