Coindrop vs. Buy Me A Coffee

Accepting donations has never been easier. Both Coindrop and Buy Me A Coffee offer a fast, streamlined experience.

In this article we compare the two apps to help decide which is more appropriate for you.

TL;DR

Coindrop is best if you want to accept zero-fee one-time donations, don't have a need for paywalled content, or want to manage many donation pages under one account.

Buy Me A Coffee is best if you want to accept recurring donations, publish members-only content, or sell products on your donation page. Note there is a 5% transaction fee on all donations.

Keep in mind these platforms are not mutually exclusive. If you want to take advantage of the unique features of both, you can display both Coindrop and Buy Me A Coffee as options to your potential donors.

Rating Categories

Thankfully, donation apps are not rocket science. We simply select a winner in each of the following key categories:

• Ease of use
• Recurring donations & memberships
• Product sales
• Managing multiple donation pages
• Sharing options
• Fees

Ease of use

Simplicity is one area where both apps shine. They have essentially the same setup process:

1. Pick your username/URL e.g. coindrop.to/mark or buymeacoff.ee/markjackson
2. Add your payment account(s) where donations will be sent
3. Customize your page / bio

That's it! Getting a basic donation page up and running on both platforms is a breeze.

Winner: Tie 🤷

Recurring donations & memberships

Buy Me A Coffee allows donors to make a recurring donation, and if the amount meets a set value, enables them to receive membership-only content.

Coindrop does not support recurring donations or memberships at this time.

Winner: Buy Me A Coffee ☕

Product sales

Buy Me A Coffee allows users to sell "Extras" on their page. For example, you could allow users to purchase a 1-on-1 video call.

Coindrop does not support sales of products at this time.

Winner: Buy Me A Coffee ☕

Managing multiple donation pages

Coindrop users can create unlimited Coindrop pages under a single account.

Buy Me A Coffee users must create a separate account (using a separate e-mail) for every donation page.

Winner: Coindrop 🐖

Sharing options

Both Coindrop and Buy Me A Coffee provide users:

• A pretty URL for your page e.g. coindrop.to/markjackson or buymeacoffee.com/markjackson
• An embeddable button for your website:

Coindrop additionally provides the donation page's QR Code which can be saved or printed, allowing donors to scan it with their smartphone camera. Most smartphone cameras automatically detect QR codes and will navigate to the donation page.

Winner: Tie 🤷

Fees

This is the area where Coindrop really shines. Coindrop has zero fees while Buy Me A Coffee charges 5% on every transaction.

Coindrop encourages users to list a variety of payment methods. This ensures donors can choose one with a low transaction fee.

Many apps these days charge no fees if it's user-to-user and not a business transaction. PayPal, Venmo, CashApp, and Zelle are all on that list. There are also cryptocurrencies that provide very low transaction fees e.g. Bitcoin Cash.

Winner: Coindrop 🐖

Final Score

• 🐖 Coindrop: 2
• ☕ Buy Me A Coffee: 2
• 🤷 Tie: 2

How fitting... it really depends on your needs!

The Verdict

Coindrop is best if you don't need membership features or want to supplement your other platforms with a zero-fee donations option.

If you need basic membership features, Buy Me A Coffee is a great platform.

If you need advanced membership features, Patreon might suit your needs.