# Betterplace

> 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.

A German donation crowdfunding platform run by the charitable betterplace.org gGmbH, serving Germany and Austria on a transaction-fee model that passes the bulk of each donation to the project.

## Editorial score: 7.0 / 10

## The review

betterplace.org is Germany's best-known donation crowdfunding platform, founded in 2007 and operated by the charitable betterplace.org gGmbH. It connects donors with nonprofit projects and social causes, primarily across Germany and Austria, and is built around organisations and individual project owners collecting for public-benefit causes.

The platform is free for organisations to use: betterplace.org retains roughly 2.8% of each donation to cover payment-provider and technical processing costs, passing the remaining share directly to the supported project. Its own operating costs are funded separately through voluntary additional donor contributions, corporate partnerships, and private funding rather than from that transaction share. Supported payment methods include credit card, PayPal, SEPA Direct Debit, and bank wire transfer.

betterplace.org's strength is its standing as a trusted, nonprofit-run platform in the German-speaking market, where charitable status and German data handling matter to donors and organisations. The trade-offs are a narrow geographic footprint and limited language coverage: it centres on Germany and Austria with a German and English interface, which makes it less suited to cross-border or multilingual fundraising than internationally focused competitors.

For German and Austrian nonprofits that want a recognised, charitable platform with low pass-through costs, betterplace.org is a natural fit; organisations fundraising across multiple European countries or in additional languages may find its coverage limiting. Donations flow to projects on a keep-what-is-raised basis rather than an all-or-nothing model.

## What’s good

- 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.
- Established, widely recognised platform in the German-speaking donation market.

## What’s not

- Narrow geographic footprint — focused on Germany and Austria rather than pan-European coverage.
- Limited interface language coverage (German and English) for cross-border fundraising.
- Single-currency (EUR) settlement may not suit organisations collecting in other currencies.

## Fees

|  |  |
| --- | --- |
| Founded | 2007 |
| Headquartered in | DE |
| Funding model | Keep What You Raise |
| Platform fee | 0% |
| Payment processing fee | 2.8% + €0.00 |
| Recipient gets | €97.20 / €100 |
| Data residency | — |
| Countries | 2 |
| Languages | 2 |
| Trustpilot | 4.8 / 5 (851) |
| Last updated | 2026-06-02 |

### Fees — per method

| Method | € / €100 | Note |
| --- | --- | --- |
| SEPA Direct Debit | €97.20 | Flat 2.8% retained across all methods to cover processing. |
| Credit card | €97.20 | Flat 2.8% retained across all methods to cover processing. |


## Coverage

**Countries:** DE, AT

**Languages:** DE, EN

**Payment methods supported:** Card, Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal, SEPA, Bank Transfer

**Website:** https://www.betterplace.org


## FAQ

### What does Betterplace charge?

Betterplace charges a 0% platform fee and 2.8% + €0.00 in payment processing per donation.

### Where is Betterplace based?

Betterplace was founded in 2007 and is headquartered in DE. Data residency is unspecified.

### Which countries does Betterplace operate in?

Betterplace operates in 2 countries including major European markets and English-speaking markets.

### Is Betterplace suitable for nonprofits?

Betterplace’s primary audience is individual fundraisers and groups; nonprofits can use the platform but may find specialized alternatives better suited.