💰 5 best plugins for accepting donations with WordPress in 2026

A "Donate" button on WordPress without a plugin looks like an alien iframe from someone else's domain. You lose control over the design, don't collect donor data in your own database, and every attempt to add recurring payments turns into manual wrangling with the Stripe or PayPal API.

Plugins for accepting donations close this gap. They embed the form directly in the site, set up a donor CRM inside WordPress and automate receipts. All you need to do is choose the tool for your scenario.

We've selected 5 plugins that cover the spectrum from a simple button to a fundraising platform with peer-to-peer. All work with the current version of WordPress, update regularly and require no programming to start.

💡 Quick overview:

• What matters in a donation plugin: payment gateways, recurring payments, fees, depth of integration with WordPress
• Paymattic (formerly WPPayForm), best choice for accepting one-time and recurring payments via Stripe and PayPal on one form
• GiveWP, the most feature-rich: campaigns, donor CRM, peer-to-peer, 100,000+ active installs
• Donorbox, launch in 15 minutes, UltraSwift checkout, Text-to-Give, 50,000+ organizations
• Charitable, opensource campaigns with goals, deadlines and offline payments, deploy in 5 minutes
• Donation Thermometer, lightweight SVG thermometer for visualizing fundraising progress

Comparison table

1. Paymattic

Paymattic (previously WPPayForm), payment form builder from WPManageNinja. Main feature: drag-and-drop form assembly, where the donor chooses the amount, frequency and payment gateway on one screen.

The free version accepts cards via Stripe. Pro for $49/year adds PayPal, Square, Authorize.Net and 10 more gateways, recurring charges, donor CRM and leaderboard. Price is fixed, no percentage on transactions.

In practice, the form is assembled by dragging fields in 20 minutes. WPManageNinja's documentation is detailed, tech support responds quickly. The plugin is built for simplicity: no bulky campaigns and settings, just a form and accepting money.

Pros:

• Drag-and-drop without code
• Stripe and PayPal on one form (Pro)
• Recurring payments out of the box (Pro)
• Fixed price $49/year, no percentage on transactions

Cons:

• Free version accepts only Stripe
• No built-in donor CRM in free version
• Fewer integrations than GiveWP

Price: free (Stripe) / Pro from $49/year

🔗 Paymattic on WordPress.org🔗 Official site

2. GiveWP

GiveWP, the most popular donation plugin for WordPress: 100,000+ active installs and $350 million raised through the platform. Under the hood is a full fundraising ecosystem: campaigns, donor database, automatic receipts, recurring payments and peer-to-peer.

A campaign is created in the WordPress block editor. The form is configured in three layouts: classic, multi-step or two-panel. The free version provides Stripe, PayPal, Square and offline payments. Pro adds Authorize.net, Mollie and 15 more international gateways.

Donor data stays in your WordPress database, not locked in on a third-party platform. This is a key advantage of GiveWP over cloud solutions. Plus built-in CRM with tags, segmentation and history for each donor.

Pros:

• Full donor CRM and campaign management inside WordPress
• Recurring payments, fee recovery, Text-to-Give
• Peer-to-peer fundraising (Elite plan)
• PDF receipts, annual reports for donors

Cons:

• Price: Essentials $199/year, Pro $399/year, Elite $599/year
• Learning curve higher than simple form-based plugins
• Key features (peer-to-peer, custom fields) only on Elite

Price: free (Stripe, PayPal, Offline) / Essentials $199/year, Pro $399/year, Elite $599/year

🔗 GiveWP on WordPress.org🔗 Official site

3. Donorbox

Donorbox, hybrid platform: the WordPress plugin connects to a cloud account. Form setup takes 15 minutes. The result, a form with UltraSwift checkout that, according to vendor data, works 4 times faster than traditional donor forms.

The platform accepts Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal, Stripe and bank transfers. Recurring payments, multi-currency and matching donations are available immediately. Unique feature, Text-to-Give: donor sends SMS and donates in 60 seconds. Plus built-in CRM.

Downside, 1.5% platform fee on top of payment gateway processing. For small fundraising amounts this is pennies, for large ones, noticeable. Another nuance: donor data lives partially in Donorbox cloud, not fully in your WordPress.

Pros:

• Launch in 15 minutes to first form
• UltraSwift checkout reduces donor drop-off
• Text-to-Give, peer-to-peer, kiosk mode (Donorbox Live)
• 50,000+ nonprofit organizations

Cons:

• 1.5% platform fee, significant for large fundraising amounts
• Form lives on Donorbox cloud, not fully on your server
• Donor data partially outside WordPress

Price: free plugin + 1.5% platform fee per donation

🔗 Donorbox on WordPress.org🔗 Official site

4. Charitable

Charitable, opensource plugin from WP Charitable, allowing you to launch a fundraising campaign in less than 5 minutes. Unlike Donorbox, everything lives on your server: campaigns, forms, donors and reports.

The free version accepts Stripe and PayPal, supports unlimited campaigns with goals and deadlines. Pro for $69/year adds recurring payments, 12 more gateways and email marketing. Pro for $199/year opens peer-to-peer and automations via Zapier.

The plugin integrates easily with any WordPress theme, code is open. For nonprofits with zero budget this is the strongest option: full campaigns without a penny for the plugin.

Pros:

• Free version with unlimited campaigns and Stripe + PayPal
• Campaign ready in 5 minutes
• Visual Campaign Builder, several layouts
• Pro from $69/year, more affordable than GiveWP

Cons:

• Fewer payment gateways in base than GiveWP
• Peer-to-peer only on Pro ($199/year)
• Addon ecosystem narrower than GiveWP

Price: free (Stripe, PayPal) / Basic $69/year, Plus $99/year, Pro $199/year

🔗 Charitable on WordPress.org🔗 Official site

5. Donation Thermometer

Donation Thermometer, highly specialized tool. It doesn't accept payments. It shows fundraising progress as a classic SVG thermometer on a page or in a sidebar.

You insert the shortcode [thermometer raised=1500 target=5000], and visitors see how much has been raised and how much is left to the goal. The plugin is free, renders vector graphics without external requests and doesn't slow down the site.

Customization is deep: vertical or horizontal orientation, fill color (solid or gradient), shadow, size. The raised and target values are pulled dynamically from other plugins via nested shortcodes. Donation Thermometer doesn't replace GiveWP or Charitable, but complements them, visualizes the number on the page.

Pros:

• SVG rendering without external requests, fast
• Deep customization: colors, gradients, shadows, orientation
• Dynamic values from other plugins via shortcodes
• Free, no ads

Cons:

• Doesn't accept payments, only visualization
• Requires separate plugin for fundraising
• Minimalist functionality: only thermometer

Price: free

🔗 Donation Thermometer on WordPress.org

If you want to see what a fundraising platform looks like in action, watch the official GiveWP overview from the development team. The video covers basic setup, form templates and working with campaigns, what every fundraising project on WordPress starts with.

⁉️🤔 Frequently asked questions

Why a plugin at all, can't I just insert a PayPal button?

A simple PayPal button doesn't give form customization for your brand, collecting donor data in WordPress, automatic receipts and recurring payments. A plugin turns a one-time transaction into a channel for donor relationships, with history, reports and segmentation.

Are recurring payments needed if the fundraising is targeted?

Yes. According to GiveWP data, recurring donors give on average 30% more per year than one-time donors. Even for a targeted campaign, a recurring option allows supporters to split a large sum into comfortable monthly charges and not lose connection with the organization after closing the fundraising.

Which plugin to choose if the organization's budget is zero?

Charitable, best option: free version accepts Stripe and PayPal, creates unlimited campaigns with goals and deadlines. If you only need a simple form with two gateways, Paymattic (free gives Stripe, Pro adds PayPal for $49/year). Donorbox, free plugin, but the platform takes 1.5% from each donation: plus for small fundraising, minus for large.

Does the donor have to have a PayPal account?

No. All plugins in the selection work with Stripe, which accepts cards directly (Visa, MasterCard, Google Pay, Apple Pay). PayPal, just one of the optional gateways.

Can you use Donation Thermometer without other plugins?

Donation Thermometer, purely visual tool. It shows progress as a thermometer, but doesn't accept payments. To make it work, you need either manual input of raised/target numbers via shortcode, or dynamic connection with Charitable, GiveWP or Paymattic via their API.

What to install in 2026: final breakdown by scenario

There's no universal "best" plugin, the choice depends on what exactly you're fundraising for and how deeply you're ready to integrate fundraising into the site.

If you need a simple payment form with Stripe and PayPal, take Paymattic. Fast, cheap, without extra. You assemble the form by dragging and launch in an hour.

If you're a nonprofit that plans to grow, GiveWP. This is an investment in a platform: today a form, tomorrow recurring payments, in a year peer-to-peer campaigns. Donor data stays yours forever.

If time is critical and you need to launch today, Donorbox. 15 minutes to set up, form ready, all gateways out of the box. Downside, 1.5% fee, which becomes noticeable at large volumes.

If budget is limited but campaign functionality is needed, Charitable. Free version handles unlimited campaigns with goals and deadlines. Pro for $69/year adds recurring payments and new gateways.

And when a payment solution already exists and only public fundraising progress is missing, add Donation Thermometer. It won't replace a payment plugin, but will give exactly that visual motivation missing from the campaign page.

Choose for your task, not for someone else's rating. And try free versions before buying, each plugin in the selection has them.