Zeffy ($0, funded by optional donor tips) wins for small US or Canadian nonprofits whose needs are donation forms, event tickets, raffles and simple memberships, and who accept a tip ask at every checkout.
Communal ($75/mo flat to 250 members) wins when you run programs with waitlists, book courts or rooms, schedule volunteer shifts, or operate chapters, and want payments in your own Stripe account. Communal is the author's product.
Membership, programs, facility rentals, donations, volunteers and point of sale in one member database, priced flat by member count.
Free fundraising and membership forms funded by optional donor tips.
| Feature | Communal | Zeffy |
|---|---|---|
| Membership management | IncludedTiers, custom fields, segments | Included |
| Automated renewals | IncludedReminders and auto-renew | Included |
| Digital membership cards (Apple / Google Wallet) | IncludedIncluded in every plan | Included |
| Event registration & ticketing | Add-onPrograms & events, +$50/mo | Included |
| Program & class registration | Add-onWaitlists, capacity, attendance, rosters | Not listed |
| Facility booking & rentals | Add-onFrom +$50/mo; approvals, invoices, agreements, iCal | Not offered |
| Volunteer shifts & hour tracking | IncludedShifts, hours, auto volunteer discounts | Partial |
| Donations & fundraising | IncludedIncluded; donor covers fees option | Included |
| Automatic tax receipts | IncludedAutomatic | Included |
| Member self-service portal | Included | Partial |
| Email campaigns | IncludedCampaigns and segments | Partial |
| Website builder | Not offeredWorks beside your site | Not offered |
| Public API | IncludedREST API, Zapier webhooks, MCP server | Partial |
| Detail | Communal | Zeffy |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | $75/mo | $0 (donor tips) |
| Pricing model | Flat, by member band (to 250 members at the floor) | Free; funded by optional donor tips |
| Contract | No contracts, prorated billing, cancel any module any time | none |
| Payment fees | Card-processing application fee set in your agreement, often 2%; no monthly minimums | 0% platform fee and 0% processing fee to the nonprofit;DetailsZeffy covers Stripe costs from optional donor tips |
| Free trial | Free trial, no credit card | Free plan (entire product is free) |
Zeffy costs you nothing and covers a surprising amount of fundraising ground. If your organization is a small charity that collects donations, sells event tickets and runs a simple membership, use it and keep the money. Communal costs $75/mo and earns that fee only if your week includes things Zeffy does not do: program sessions with waitlists, court and room bookings, volunteer shifts with hours, resident pricing, or a federation of chapters. The honest test is your calendar, not your budget.
On Zeffy the nonprofit pays nothing and the donor is asked for an optional tip at checkout. Your cost is indirect: some supporters dislike the ask, and you are limited to US and Canadian entities. On Communal a 250-member organization pays $75/mo ($900/yr) with volunteers, donations and POS included, $125/mo with programs, and from $175/mo with programs and 2 bookable spaces, plus a card fee often about 2% that donors can cover. If your only activity is fundraising, Zeffy's $0 wins outright. If you would otherwise pay a second vendor for registration, bookings or volunteer scheduling, Communal's flat price usually replaces that bill.
| If you are... | Lean towards |
|---|---|
| A small charity running donation forms, galas, raffles or auctions | Zeffy (free) |
| A nonprofit with a simple membership and no programs or spaces | Zeffy |
| A group that needs peer-to-peer or team fundraising pages | Zeffy |
| A community league or association running seasonal programs | Communal (programs +$50/mo) |
| A community or recreation center booking rooms and courts | Communal (facilities from +$50/mo) |
| An organization scheduling volunteer shifts and tracking hours | Communal |
| A federation of chapters, or a group outside the US and Canada | Communal |
Migration is free and scoped with you, there is no contract, and the 30-day trial needs no credit card, so the import can be tested before you commit.
Short answers, with the numbers where they exist.
Yes, to the nonprofit. Zeffy charges no subscription, no platform fee and no processing fee, and you receive 100% of each donation. It covers Stripe costs from an optional contribution shown to donors at checkout, which Zeffy says roughly 2 in 3 donors pay. It is available to US and Canadian nonprofits only. Communal charges $75/mo to 250 members plus a card-processing application fee, often about 2%.
Yes, at a basic level: membership forms with auto-renewal and free scannable digital membership cards emailed on signup. It does not have household memberships, resident vs non-resident pricing, member-only program prices, facility booking or volunteer shifts, which is where Communal's membership tooling is deeper.
There is no platform fee on donations. Payments settle to your own Stripe Connect account with a card-processing application fee set in your agreement, often about 2%, no monthly minimums and weekly deposits. Donors can choose to cover the fee at checkout. Automatic numbered tax receipts use separate Canadian (CRA) and US templates.
No. Zeffy's own help center routes volunteer signups through its Event form type and recommends POINT or SignUpGenius for shifts; it has no facility or room booking. Communal includes volunteer opportunities, shifts, clock in/out hours and automatic volunteer discounts at $75/mo, and adds facility booking with approvals and invoices from +$50/mo.
Zeffy covers ticketed events, raffles, auctions and peer-to-peer pages well, all free. Communal's programs and events add-on (+$50/mo) is built for recurring sessions: parent programs with sessions, capacity, age gates, priority waitlists with auto backfill, attendance sheets, registration transfers and member, public and volunteer price tiers. Zeffy wins for one-off fundraising events; Communal wins for a season of classes.
Yes. Export members and donors from Zeffy to CSV, and Communal's importer maps fields, validates rows and runs a dry run before writing. Migration is free and scoped with you, there is no contract, and the 30-day trial needs no credit card.