Accept donations or tips on a Carrd site: Stripe, PayPal and plan requirements

Three documented ways to take a donation on Carrd

Carrd does not process money itself. Every option below hands the payment to Stripe or PayPal, so you need an account with one of them before the button does anything. What changes between options is how much of the flow lives on your Carrd page and which Carrd plan you need.

Carrd's plan documentation lists widgets from Stripe, PayPal, Gumroad, Typeform and Facebook under Pro Standard, and advanced forms that can take payments through Stripe Checkout under Pro Plus. [1] The payment-form article states that payment-enabled forms require Pro Plus or higher and names Stripe Checkout as the processor; PayPal is not mentioned there. [3]

What the processors take, from their own pricing pages

Stripe's pricing page lists 2.9% plus 30 cents per successful transaction for domestic cards, plus 1.5% for international cards and 1% if currency conversion is required. [4] PayPal's US fee page lists a Donate Button rate and a PayPal Checkout for Donations rate of 2.89% plus a fixed fee, with the fixed fee for donations in US dollars shown as $0.49. Its standard PayPal Checkout rate for commercial payments is 3.49% plus a fixed fee, also $0.49 in US dollars. [5]

Carrd's payment-form article does not mention any Carrd fee on top of Stripe's; the cost on the Carrd side is the yearly plan. [3] Figures below are our arithmetic from those published rates, rounded to the cent; your processor statement is the final word.

Worked example: a $10 tip, start to finish

Hypothetical: a podcaster on Carrd Pro Standard adds a Stripe widget labelled "Buy me a coffee" and a supporter in the US pays $10 by card. Stripe keeps 2.9% of $10 (29 cents) plus 30 cents, so 59 cents, and $9.41 reaches the balance. [4] If the supporter's card is issued abroad, add 1.5% (15 cents) for a 74-cent fee. [4]

The same $10 through a PayPal Donate button at 2.89% plus $0.49 costs about 78 cents, leaving roughly $9.22. [5] PayPal's 49-cent fixed fee outweighs its slightly lower donation percentage, so Stripe's domestic-card rate leaves more at every gift size in the table above; the gap stays at about 19 cents per gift.

Over a year, 100 such tips through Stripe cost about $59 in processing on top of the $19 Carrd plan. If tips are your only reason to upgrade, compare that $19 with simply linking a free Carrd button to a hosted payment page.

Before you call it a donation

The word matters to the processors. Stripe's support page says you may not accept donations on behalf of someone other than yourself, that a donation must be tied to a specific charitable purpose you are committing to accomplish, and that donations must be used for that purpose. It also says Stripe does not support personal or peer-to-peer money transmission. [8] The same page permits a tip only as payment for goods or services already provided, such as content you have delivered. [8] If you are a creator taking thank-you payments for work you publish, "tip" or "support" describes it more accurately than "donation".

Stripe's page does not address tax deductibility, and nothing in Carrd's docs does either. [8] Do not tell supporters a gift is tax-deductible unless you are a registered organisation and have confirmed it with your own adviser.

• Personal creator or freelancer: label the button as a tip or support payment.
• Fundraiser for a named project you run: state the purpose on the page, since Stripe ties donations to a described charitable purpose. [8]
• Collecting for someone else: Stripe's page says you may not accept donations on their behalf; point visitors to the beneficiary's own page instead. [8]

Letting the donor choose the amount

On a Pro Plus custom form, Carrd lets a variable amount be selected before submission using a Number or Select field with the ID amount. A Select field with $5, $10 and $25 options keeps choices simple; a Number field allows any figure. [3]

If you build the payment page at Stripe instead, Stripe documents a "Customer chooses price" pricing model for tips and donations, with an optional suggested amount and optional limits. Its listed limitations: no other line items, quantity fixed at 1, no promotion codes, and no recurring payments. [9] Carrd's docs do not say whether a Stripe price set this way works inside a Carrd payment form, so check it in a sandbox before launch.

Receipt and sandbox checklist

• Run every flow in Stripe's sandbox first. Stripe describes it as an isolated environment where test transactions do not move funds; use test API keys and the test card 4242 4242 4242 4242 with any future expiry and any CVC. [10]
• Use your Stripe test keys in Carrd's payment form while testing, then swap to live keys. Carrd's setup asks for your Stripe API keys. [3]
• Turn on automatic receipts in Stripe under Settings, Business, Customer emails, Successful payments. Stripe sends receipts only when a payment succeeds. [11]
• For a test payment, Stripe says to send a manual receipt if you need to see one. [11]
• Fill in your public business details. Stripe says receipts always need a legal business name, support address, support email and privacy policy URL. [11]
• After going live, make one small real payment from a phone, confirm the receipt arrives, then refund it.

Who should use which option, and who should skip Carrd for this

Choose a widget on Pro Standard if you want a tip button on your own domain and nothing else. Choose Pro Plus only if you need the donor's message, dedication or a chosen amount captured in a Carrd form, or you already need Pro Plus for password protection or redirects. [2] [1]

Skip building a donation flow on Carrd if you need recurring monthly support: Stripe's pay-what-you-want model does not support recurring payments, and Carrd's payment-form article does not mention recurring payments. [9] [3] A membership or subscription tool is a better fit for that. We have not run a live donation through Carrd; this guide reads Carrd, Stripe and PayPal documentation.

Sources & verification

Product details and prices can change. Check the linked provider before buying.

1. Carrd docs: Pro plans Accessed 30 Oct 2026
2. Carrd Pro plan comparison Accessed 30 Oct 2026
3. Carrd docs: setting up a payment-enabled form Accessed 30 Oct 2026
4. Stripe pricing Accessed 30 Oct 2026
5. PayPal US merchant fees Accessed 30 Oct 2026
6. Carrd docs: URL types Accessed 30 Oct 2026
7. Carrd docs: adding widgets Accessed 30 Oct 2026
8. Stripe support: requirements for accepting tips or donations Accessed 30 Oct 2026
9. Stripe docs: let customers decide what to pay Accessed 30 Oct 2026
10. Stripe docs: testing Accessed 30 Oct 2026
11. Stripe docs: receipts and paid invoices Accessed 30 Oct 2026