Comparison · Updated October 26, 2026
Givelify vs Tithe.ly for church giving
Givelify
B
Givelify is a mobile and online giving app for US churches and nonprofits, run by Givelify LLC from Indianapolis. Donors give by card through a free app or a web giving page. The organization pays nothing to sign up, no monthly fee and no contract. As of October 2026 Givelify takes 2.9% + $0.30 from each Visa, Mastercard and Discover gift and 3.5% + $0.30 from each American Express gift. The rest is deposited the next business day for gifts made before 9 p.m. Eastern. Givelify's terms describe it as a payment facilitator: each organization is a sub-merchant on Givelify's account with Worldpay, and only organizations expected to take more than $1 million a year in card gifts sign Worldpay's sub-merchant agreement directly. The price is simple but card-only. Givelify publishes no bank-transfer (ACH) giving option, so every gift pays the card rate, and a fee-cover option exists in the terms but is off by default. Ratings are strong: 4.9 stars from about 101,800 ratings on the App Store and about 44,100 on Google Play, and an A+ from the BBB with no complaints in three years. In 2016 Pennsylvania's banking regulator fined Givelify $176,000 for unlicensed money transmission. A state appeals court reversed that order in 2019.
Tithe.ly
B
Tithe.ly (now styled Tithely) is a US church giving and church software company run from Nashville, Tennessee. Its giving product is free to set up, with no monthly fee or contract. As of September 2026 you pay 2.9% + $0.30 on each card gift, 3.5% + $0.30 on American Express and 1% + $0.30 on ACH bank gifts. Donors can choose to add the fee to their gift. Payments run on Stripe: each church signs Stripe's connected-account agreement and gets a sub-merchant account under Tithe.ly's platform, so approval is quick but the account relationship sits with Stripe and Tithe.ly. Deposits go out weekly on Wednesdays by default, card gifts become available after two business days, and ACH gifts can take up to ten. Tithe.ly also sells church management, apps, websites, messaging and worship planning. It lists these at $19 to $89 a month each, or $119 a month for everything in its All Access bundle. The company grew through mergers: it combined with Australian church-software firm Elvanto in 2018, bought Breeze ChMS in 2021, and has had private equity investment from Accel-KKR since 2022. Reviews on Capterra and Trustpilot are strongly positive. However, the BBB rates it F, largely for leaving complaints unanswered, and recent complaints focus on subscription billing after cancellation.
VS
Overview
We compare the two for a US church or faith-based nonprofit choosing an online and mobile giving platform. We use each provider's published US pricing as of October 2026 and assume the church absorbs the fees. Neither platform charges a monthly fee or a setup fee for giving, and neither has a contract. On a card gift the price is the same: both take 2.9% + $0.30 on Visa, Mastercard and Discover and 3.5% + $0.30 on American Express, so a $100 card gift deposits $96.80 on either. The two differ in what they offer beyond that. Givelify is card-only, and its giving runs through a single donor app that people use to give to any organization on it. Its help centre says gifts made before 9pm Eastern are deposited the next business day, weekends included, so a Sunday gift arrives on Monday. Tithe.ly also takes bank (ACH) gifts at 1% + $0.30. It offers text-to-give for $19 a month (included in its $119-a-month All Access bundle), a free kiosk mode, and its own church management, app and website products. Its default deposit is weekly on Wednesdays, and ACH gifts can take up to ten business days to clear. Givelify has an A+ from the BBB with no complaints in three years. Tithe.ly is rated F, mainly for leaving two of its three complaints unanswered. Payment Review grades both B.
Key Takeaways
- ✓It depends on what you need. Givelify is the simpler choice and pays out faster. Tithe.ly costs less on large gifts because donors can pay by bank transfer, and it offers more ways to give and more church software.
- ✓Card gifts cost the same on both: 2.9% + $0.30, or 3.5% + $0.30 on American Express, with no monthly fee for giving and no contract. Givelify has no bank-transfer option, so a $1,000 gift costs $29.30 on a card. On Tithe.ly the same gift costs $10.30 by ACH.
- ✓Givelify deposits the next business day for gifts made before 9pm Eastern, so a Sunday gift arrives on Monday. Tithe.ly's default is a weekly Wednesday deposit, ACH gifts can take up to ten business days to clear, and a church's first gift takes ten business days.
- ✓Tithe.ly offers text-to-give ($19 a month, or included in the $119 All Access bundle), a free kiosk mode for tablets, and its own church management, app and website products. Givelify has no text giving, no kiosk mode and no church software of its own. It relies on its donor app, rated 4.9 on the App Store from about 102,000 ratings, and on exports to church management systems.
- ✓Givelify holds an A+ from the BBB with no complaints in three years. Tithe.ly is rated F for leaving two of three complaints unanswered, but it has 4.1 stars from 1,176 Trustpilot reviews, where Givelify has none.
Givelify
Choose Givelify if your members mostly give by card on their phones and you want a free, no-contract app with next-business-day deposits. It also helps if your donors already use Givelify for other causes. Check that it exports to your church management system, and remember that every gift, however large, pays the card rate.
Tithe.ly
Choose Tithe.ly if you want donors to be able to give by bank transfer at 1% + $0.30, or you want text-to-give, a lobby kiosk, or church management, an app and a website from the same vendor. Budget for weekly Wednesday deposits unless Tithe.ly approves a daily schedule, and choose monthly billing for any paid plan unless you are sure you will stay a year.
The Verdict
It Depends on Your Needs
Why?
Payment Review grades both B, and neither is better for every church. Card gifts cost the same on both, 2.9% + $0.30, with no monthly fee for giving and no contract. Givelify is the better fit for a church whose members give by card on their phones and that wants Sunday's gifts in the bank on Monday. It also has a large donor network and a clean BBB record. Tithe.ly is the better fit for a church that receives large regular gifts, because donors can give by bank transfer at 1% + $0.30. It also suits a church that wants text-to-give, a lobby kiosk, or church management, an app and a website from one vendor. In return, a Tithe.ly church accepts weekly deposits by default and a BBB F for unanswered complaints.
Feature by feature
Detailed Comparison
Filter Options
Giving fees (US, church absorbs fees, as of October 2026)
| Feature | Givelify | Tithe.ly |
|---|---|---|
| Visa, Mastercard, Discover gift | 2.9% + $0.30 | 2.9% + $0.30 |
| Both platforms publish one rate for every card gift, with no volume or nonprofit discount. A $100 card gift deposits $96.80 on either. The 30-cent fixed fee weighs most on small gifts, where a $10 card gift costs $0.59, or 5.9%, on both. | ||
| American Express gift | 3.5% + $0.30 | 3.5% + $0.30 |
| Bank (ACH) gift | Not offered (cards only) | 1% + $0.30 Winner |
| Givelify accepts credit and debit cards only. Its pricing page lists Visa, Mastercard, Discover and American Express, and one help-centre article (updated 25 October 2026) also lists Diners Club. It publishes no bank-transfer option, so every gift pays a card rate. A $1,000 gift costs $29.30 on a Givelify card and $10.30 by ACH on Tithe.ly. Tithe.ly's text-to-give cannot take ACH. | ||
| Monthly or setup fee for giving | $0 | $0 |
| Givelify's help centre lists no contract, sign-up, monthly or cancellation fees, and says there is no separate merchant account fee. Tithe.ly's free Giving plan has no setup or monthly fee. Its paid add-ons are listed under software below. | ||
| Donor can cover the fee | Opt-in option in the terms; not on recurring gifts | Yes (Cover the Fees) |
| Givelify's Terms of Use (updated 18 November 2025) let an organization offer a 'Voluntary Platform Cost Donation'. It must not be pre-selected, must be offered to every donor whatever their payment method and cannot be charged on recurring gifts. Givelify's pricing page does not mention it. Tithe.ly includes Cover the Fees in free Giving and says about 60% of donors choose it, which is the company's own figure. | ||
Visa, Mastercard, Discover gift
Givelify
2.9% + $0.30
Tithe.ly
2.9% + $0.30
Both platforms publish one rate for every card gift, with no volume or nonprofit discount. A $100 card gift deposits $96.80 on either. The 30-cent fixed fee weighs most on small gifts, where a $10 card gift costs $0.59, or 5.9%, on both.
American Express gift
Givelify
3.5% + $0.30
Tithe.ly
3.5% + $0.30
Bank (ACH) gift
Givelify
Not offered (cards only)
Tithe.ly
1% + $0.30
Winner
Givelify accepts credit and debit cards only. Its pricing page lists Visa, Mastercard, Discover and American Express, and one help-centre article (updated 25 October 2026) also lists Diners Club. It publishes no bank-transfer option, so every gift pays a card rate. A $1,000 gift costs $29.30 on a Givelify card and $10.30 by ACH on Tithe.ly. Tithe.ly's text-to-give cannot take ACH.
Monthly or setup fee for giving
Givelify
$0
Tithe.ly
$0
Givelify's help centre lists no contract, sign-up, monthly or cancellation fees, and says there is no separate merchant account fee. Tithe.ly's free Giving plan has no setup or monthly fee. Its paid add-ons are listed under software below.
Donor can cover the fee
Givelify
Opt-in option in the terms; not on recurring gifts
Tithe.ly
Yes (Cover the Fees)
Givelify's Terms of Use (updated 18 November 2025) let an organization offer a 'Voluntary Platform Cost Donation'. It must not be pre-selected, must be offered to every donor whatever their payment method and cannot be charged on recurring gifts. Givelify's pricing page does not mention it. Tithe.ly includes Cover the Fees in free Giving and says about 60% of donors choose it, which is the company's own figure.
Best For Your Business
Recommendations based on your business type
Church whose members give mostly by card on their phones
Recommended
Givelify
Givelify's donor app is rated 4.9 from about 102,000 App Store ratings. Donors keep one account for every organization on it, and gifts made before 9pm Eastern are deposited the next business day. The card rate is the same as Tithe.ly's.
Church with large regular gifts it would rather take by bank transfer
Recommended
Tithe.ly
Tithe.ly charges 1% + $0.30 on ACH gifts, so a $1,000 gift costs $10.30. Givelify is card-only, so the same gift costs $29.30.
Church that needs Sunday's gifts in the bank early in the week
Recommended
Givelify
Givelify deposits a Sunday card gift on Monday as standard. Tithe.ly deposits weekly on Wednesdays by default, and daily deposits, which land a Sunday gift on Tuesday, need approval and are listed as a paid-plan feature.
Church that wants text-to-give or a giving kiosk in the lobby
Recommended
Tithe.ly
Tithe.ly offers text-to-give for $19 a month, or within All Access, and a free kiosk mode for iPads and Android tablets. Givelify has no text giving and no kiosk mode.
Church that wants giving, church management, an app and a website from one vendor
Recommended
Tithe.ly
Tithe.ly's All Access bundles all of it for $119 a month, with no contract on giving. Givelify sells giving only and exports donation data to Planning Center, Shelby, PowerChurch, Servant Keeper, ACS and QuickBooks.
Ministry outside the United States
Recommended
Tithe.ly
Givelify accepts only US-based organizations. Tithe.ly supports churches in Canada, the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan, at its own rates for each country.
Givelify: Best for 2 use cases
Tithe.ly: Best for 4 use cases
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about this comparison
On card gifts they cost the same. As of October 2026, both charge 2.9% + $0.30 on Visa, Mastercard and Discover and 3.5% + $0.30 on American Express, with no monthly fee for giving. Tithe.ly is cheaper when donors give by bank transfer, at 1% + $0.30 per ACH gift, because Givelify does not accept bank transfers. Tithe.ly's text-to-give, church management, app and website cost extra: $19 a month for text giving or a website, $72 for church management and $89 for an app, or $119 a month for all of them in All Access.
No. Givelify's pricing page and help centre list no sign-up, monthly, maintenance or cancellation fees and no contract. It takes 2.9% + $0.30 from each card gift, or 3.5% + $0.30 on American Express, before depositing the rest.
No. As of October 2026 Givelify accepts credit and debit cards only: Visa, Mastercard, Discover and American Express, plus Diners Club according to one help-centre article. Tithe.ly accepts ACH bank gifts at 1% + $0.30, though ACH gifts can take up to ten business days to clear before they are deposited.
Givelify deposits gifts made before 9pm Eastern the next business day, so a Sunday gift arrives on Monday. Tithe.ly deposits weekly on Wednesdays by default, after card gifts clear in two business days. Daily deposits need approval and are listed as a paid-plan feature, including in All Access. On either platform, a new account takes longer at first: Givelify pays by manual ACH in three to five business days while it verifies the bank account, and Tithe.ly's first gift takes ten business days.
No. Givelify's help centre presents its app as the alternative to text giving, and it has no kiosk mode. Every Givelify gift needs a donor account. Tithe.ly offers text-to-give for $19 a month, included in All Access, and a free kiosk mode that runs its giving page on a tablet.
On Tithe.ly, yes: Cover the Fees is part of free Giving, and Tithe.ly says about 60% of donors use it. Givelify's terms let an organization offer an opt-in 'Voluntary Platform Cost Donation', but it cannot be pre-selected or used on recurring gifts, and the pricing page does not mention it. Ask Givelify whether it can be turned on for your account.
No. Givelify serves places of worship and charitable nonprofits, but only in the US. Its terms require organizations described in Internal Revenue Code section 170(c), and nonprofits other than places of worship with $5,000 or more in annual receipts need 501(c)(3) status. Churches need an EIN.
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