Leetchi
French-speaking fundraisers, group collections among friends, and EU nonprofits comfortable with a longer-established platform.
A French-origin platform offering both free group-pot collections and a separate donation-crowdfunding product, popular across France, Belgium, and the broader EU.
- Founded
- 2009
- Headquartered in
- FR
- Audience
- Individuals, Groups, Nonprofits, Events
- Funding model
- Keep What You Raise
- Platform fee
- 0%
- Payment processing fee
- 2.9% + £0.25
- Recipient gets
- £96.85 / £100
- Data residency
- EEA
- Countries
- 36
- Languages
- 4
- Trustpilot
- 4.2 / 5
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Our overall editorial assessment. Full weights are published in the methodology.
The review
Leetchi is one of the oldest European crowdfunding platforms, founded in 2009 in Paris. It is best known for its group-pot product (a "cagnotte en ligne"), which lets friends, colleagues, or club members pool money for a gift, an event, or a shared expense, and a separate donation-crowdfunding product aimed at nonprofits and public-cause campaigns.
The platform is owned by Mangopay, itself part of the Crédit Mutuel Arkéa banking group, which gives Leetchi access to established European payment infrastructure and regulatory standing. Data residency is in the EEA, which matters for European organizations subject to GDPR.
Leetchi's strongest position is in France and Belgium, where the "cagnotte Leetchi" has become a generic term for online group collection in everyday speech. The platform's English-language presence is functional but less polished than competitors built for international audiences from the ground up.
The two-product structure is both a strength and a weakness: the free group-pot product is excellent for small, social, ad-hoc collections, while the donation-crowdfunding product carries fees more in line with the rest of the market. New users should be careful to choose the right product for their use case, since the fee implications diverge significantly between the two.
What’s good, what’s not.
- ✓Established European brand with strong recognition in France and Belgium
- ✓Free group-pot product for personal collections (gifts, group events, shared expenses)
- ✓EEA data residency
- ✓High Trustpilot rating across 50,000+ reviews
- ✓Owned by Mangopay (Crédit Mutuel Arkéa group) with established payment infrastructure
- −Two-product structure (group-pot vs donation crowdfunding) can confuse first-time users
- −Less optimized for cross-border English-language fundraising than competitors
- −Smaller country coverage outside continental Europe
- −Fees on the donation-crowdfunding product are non-trivial
- −Withdrawal and KYC processes can be slower than newer competitors
Where each £100 actually goes.
Fees vary by payment method. We default to Credit card because that’s the dominant method in the United Kingdom.
| Payment method | Per transaction | Of £100, recipient gets | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Credit card | 2.9% + £0.25 | £96.85 | Card processing on the donation product; 0% platform fee. |
36 countries · 4 languages · 3 payment methods.
Better-fit alternatives to Leetchi.
Our curated shortlist — the platforms we’d actively recommend instead of Leetchi for fundraising in the United Kingdom, with the figures behind the call. For the full, neutral index of every side-by-side, see Compare with below.
WhyDonate lets more of each donation through than Leetchi — £97.85 reaches the recipient per 100, against £96.85.
Zeffy lets more of each donation through than Leetchi — £100.00 reaches the recipient per 100, against £96.85.
JustGiving lets more of each donation through than Leetchi — £97.80 reaches the recipient per 100, against £96.85.
See how Leetchi stacks up head-to-head.
Frequently asked questions
What does Leetchi charge?
Leetchi charges a 0% platform fee and 2.9% + £0.25 in payment processing per donation.
Where is Leetchi based?
Leetchi was founded in 2009 and is headquartered in FR. Data residency is EEA.
Which countries does Leetchi operate in?
Leetchi operates in 36 countries including major European markets and English-speaking markets.
Is Leetchi suitable for nonprofits?
Yes. Leetchi explicitly targets nonprofit organizations and offers verified-status workflows.
Rankings are produced by a public editorial methodology — open to peer review. We disclose ownership, scoring weights, and every change.