Alvarum vs Betterplace
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.
German and Austrian nonprofits and social-cause project owners that want a trusted, charitable, German-run donation platform with low pass-through costs and local data handling.
On a €100 donation, Alvarum delivers €0.65 more to the recipient than Betterplace.
Alvarum & Betterplace don’t process payments in AUD — pricing shown in EUR.
Side-by-side.
| Metric | Alvarum | Betterplace |
|---|---|---|
| Recipient gets (€100) | €97.85★ winner | €97.20 |
| Platform fee | 0% | 0% |
| Payment processing fee | 1.9% + €0.25★ winner | 2.8% + €0.00 |
| Trustpilot | — (0) | 4.8 (851)★ winner |
| Country coverage | 0 countries | 2 countries★ winner |
| Data residency | France | — |
| Languages | 2 | 2 |
| Payment methods supported | 1 | 6★ winner |
Winner by category.
€97.85 vs €97.20 reaches the recipient.
— vs 4.8 on Trustpilot.
2 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.
German and Austrian nonprofits and social-cause project owners that want a trusted, charitable, German-run donation platform with low pass-through costs and local data handling.
- ✓Operated by the charitable betterplace.org gGmbH — a nonprofit, mission-aligned platform.
- ✓Roughly 2.8% transaction fee, with the large majority of each donation passing to the project.
- ✓Free for organisations to set up and run campaigns.
- ✓Supports credit card, PayPal, SEPA Direct Debit, and bank wire transfer.
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 Betterplace?
On a €100 donation, Alvarum delivers approximately €97.85 to the recipient and Betterplace delivers approximately €97.20. 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; Betterplace operates in 2.
Rankings are produced by a public editorial methodology — open to peer review. We disclose ownership, scoring weights, and every change.