# Alvarum vs Pledge

## What the data says.

Paying by Credit card, Alvarum delivers about 1.05 more of every 100 donated than Pledge (€97.85 vs $96.80 per 100). On the headline numbers, Alvarum and Pledge are closely matched — the better pick comes down to Credit card availability, language coverage, and where your donors are.

## Side-by-side.

| Metric | Alvarum | Pledge |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Recipient gets | €97.85 | $96.80 |
| Platform fee | 0% | 0% |
| Payment processing fee | 1.9% + €0.25 | 2.9% + $0.30 |
| Trustpilot | — (0) | — (0) |
| Domain Rating (by Ahrefs — https://ahrefs.com/) | 69 | 76 |
| Country coverage | 0 | 1 |
| Data residency | France | US |
| Languages | 2 | 1 |
| Payment methods supported | 1 | 10 |

## Choose Alvarum if

> 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.


## Choose Pledge if

> US-based individuals, nonprofits and purpose-driven companies that want a free-to-start fundraiser with a wide range of giving methods - cards, ACH, PayPal, Venmo, stock, donor-advised funds and crypto - plus Shopify and API-based embedded giving.

- No mandatory platform fee - funded by optional donor tipping, with most donors choosing to cover the fees.
- Exceptionally broad giving methods: cards, ACH, PayPal, Venmo, Apple Pay, Google Pay, stock, donor-advised funds and cryptocurrency.
- Donations are regranted through the Pledgeling Foundation, a registered 501(c)(3) public charity, with multi-state US fundraising compliance.
- Shopify "Give & Grow" app and embedded-giving APIs and widgets for e-commerce and product integrations.