Alvarum vs Donorbox
French and European charities and associations running cause-based or sports-challenge fundraising who want donations paid directly to the beneficiary and support for European local payment methods.
Small-to-medium nonprofits across verticals like churches, healthcare, education, and animal welfare that want recurring-donation tooling, donor fee-cover, and a managed donation-form product without a CRM-scale platform commitment.
Of every 100 donated, Alvarum delivers 3.30 more per 100 to the recipient than Donorbox.
Each platform is priced in its own currency: Alvarum in EUR, Donorbox in GBP.
What the data says.
Paying by Credit card, Alvarum delivers about 3.30 more of every 100 donated than Donorbox (€97.85 vs £94.55 per 100).
On the headline numbers, Alvarum and Donorbox are closely matched — the better pick comes down to Credit card availability, language coverage, and where your donors are.
Side-by-side.
| Metric | Alvarum | Donorbox |
|---|---|---|
| Recipient gets (per 100) | €97.85★ winner | £94.55 |
| Platform fee | 0%★ winner | 2.95% |
| Payment processing fee | 1.9% + €0.25★ winner | 2.2% + £0.30 |
| Trustpilot | — (0) | 3.9 (53)★ winner |
| Country coverage | 0 countries | 23 countries★ winner |
| Data residency | France | US |
| Languages | 2 | 12★ winner |
| Payment methods supported | 1 | 19★ winner |
Winner by category.
€97.85 vs £94.55 reaches the recipient.
— vs 3.9 on Trustpilot.
23 vs 0 countries.
Both share the same residency posture.
Choose based on who you are.
French and European charities and associations running cause-based or sports-challenge fundraising who want donations paid directly to the beneficiary and support for European local payment methods.
- ✓Donations are routed directly to the beneficiary charity and settled on an automated monthly cycle rather than held by the platform.
- ✓Strong fit for sports-challenge and participatory event fundraising such as marathons and cycling events.
- ✓European local payment methods - iDEAL, Bancontact, Sofort, and SEPA direct debit - alongside Visa and Mastercard cards.
- ✓Payments handled by HiPay, a payment institution authorised by France's ACPR; Alvarum registered with ORIAS as a donation crowdfunding intermediary.
Small-to-medium nonprofits across verticals like churches, healthcare, education, and animal welfare that want recurring-donation tooling, donor fee-cover, and a managed donation-form product without a CRM-scale platform commitment.
- ✓Donor-cover-fees option at checkout — Donorbox frames opt-in as the default, so the recipient can receive the full donation amount.
- ✓Broad payment-rail support: iDEAL, Bancontact, SEPA, BACS, Klarna, PayPal, Venmo, Cash App, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Amazon Pay, and Link by Stripe.
- ✓Standard plan has no monthly subscription — just per-transaction fees on the 2.95% / 3.95% tier.
- ✓First-class recurring-donation tooling with upsell prompts and donor-management features on the Pro tier.
A third option.
Dutch and other social-impact initiators running Global-Goals-aligned campaigns who value personal coaching and community-building over a high-volume, self-serve crowdfunding marketplace.
Other comparisons.
Frequently asked questions
Which is cheaper, Alvarum or Donorbox?
Of every 100 donated, Alvarum delivers approximately €97.85 to the recipient and Donorbox delivers approximately £94.55. Real costs depend on the payment method donors choose.
Which is better for European nonprofits?
Both platforms operate inside the EEA framework. Choose based on local payment-method coverage and language support.
Which platform has more country coverage?
Alvarum operates in 0 countries; Donorbox operates in 23.
Rankings are produced by a public editorial methodology — open to peer review. We disclose ownership, scoring weights, and every change.