GiveWP
Long-running WordPress donation plugin with campaigns, a visual form builder, donor dashboard and donor wall; paid plans add recurring, P2P and tributes.
97
Seamless Donations
Free, commission-free PayPal and Stripe donation plugin with recurring gifts, tributes, funds and Gift Aid; discontinued since 2024, so not for new sites.
Free installs2K+WordPress.org, active
Rating4.1/570 reviews
Price fromFreeFree
Last updated22 Mar 2024Version 5.3
Overview
Seamless Donations is a free donation plugin written by David Gewirtz (ZATZ Labs). It adds a shortcode-based donation form that sends gifts to PayPal or Stripe and records donors, donations and designated funds as WordPress custom post types.
Status: discontinued
In February 2024 the author announced that the plugin was sunsetting. Version 5.3 (tested up to WordPress 6.4) is the final release, it is no longer maintained or supported, and the add-on store closed. Existing extension licences keep working only until they expire. The GiveWP team agreed to help users migrate, and the WordPress.org listing now points users to GiveWP.
What it does
- PayPal Checkout and Stripe Checkout donations in 26 currencies (134 with an extended Stripe option).
- A repeat-donation checkbox for recurring gifts on both gateways, free.
- Tribute gifts in honour or memory of someone, with optional notification to a named contact.
- Designated funds with fund pages listing donations and totals.
- Donor and donation records you can mark public, private or password protected, plus anonymity, employer and occupation fields.
- A UK Gift Aid checkbox when the country is set to the United Kingdom.
- Customisable thank-you and notification emails with developer filters.
The plugin never charged a commission, so donations only incur PayPal or Stripe fees. There are no campaign goals, donor dashboards, PDF receipts or marketing integrations, and offline gifts cannot be entered manually.
Should you use it?
Not for a new site. Without security or compatibility updates since 2024, it is a risk on current WordPress versions. Existing users should plan a move to an actively maintained plugin such as GiveWP or Charitable.
Best for: Only existing users who need to keep an old setup running briefly while migrating to a maintained plugin.
Seamless Donations was a capable, commission-free option for PayPal and Stripe donations with tributes, funds and Gift Aid. It is now abandoned by its author, so new sites should choose GiveWP or Charitable and existing sites should migrate.
Pros
- Free, with no commission on donations
- Free recurring donations for both PayPal and Stripe
- Tribute gifts and designated funds included
- UK Gift Aid checkbox built in
- Donor and donation data stored as WordPress post types
Cons
- Discontinued: no updates or support since February 2024
- Last tested with WordPress 6.4
- No campaign goals, donor dashboard or PDF receipts
- No offline/manual donation entry
- Add-on store closed and licences lapse
Key features
What Seamless Donations highlights on its WordPress.org page and its own website, split by version.
Free version WordPress.org
- PayPal Checkout and Stripe Checkout
- Free recurring donation checkbox
- Tribute gifts in honour or memory
- Designated funds with fund pages
- Donor and donation records as post types
- Anonymous donor option
- UK Gift Aid checkbox
- Customisable thank-you emails
- 26 currencies, 134 via Stripe
- No commission on donations
Feature checklist
12 of 19 features we track in Donations & Fundraising, feature score 61/100
Donation forms 4/5
Donation forms Key
Customisable donation forms you can embed anywhere.
Shortcode-based responsive form; extra style packs were paid.
Included
Recurring donations Key
Monthly or yearly giving.
Repeat-donation checkbox for PayPal and Stripe, free.
Included
Preset & custom amounts
Suggested amounts plus a custom amount field.
Choose which suggested amounts show, plus an 'Other' amount.
Included
Fee recovery Key
Donors can cover the processing fee.
A paid Donors Pay Fees extension existed, but the store closed in Feb 2024.
Not included
Tribute & dedication gifts
Donate in honour or memory of someone.
In honour or in memory gifts with optional notification email.
Included
Payments 3/5
Stripe
Card payments through Stripe.
Stripe Checkout, including recurring gifts.
Included
PayPal
Donations through PayPal.
PayPal Checkout required for new installs (v5.2).
Included
Apple Pay, Google Pay & bank payments
Wallets, ACH or direct debit.
Not documented; depends on what Stripe/PayPal Checkout show.
Not verified
Offline donations
Record cheque, cash or bank transfer gifts.
Readme says donations can only be added through the shortcode form.
Not included
No platform fee Key
No extra percentage taken by the plugin on donations.
Free and charges no commission or percentage fee.
Included
Campaigns 2/4
Goals & progress bars Key
Campaign goals with live progress.
No goals or progress bars documented.
Not included
Campaign pages
Dedicated pages for each fundraising campaign.
No campaigns; designated fund pages list donations and totals.
Partial
Peer-to-peer fundraising Key
Supporters create their own fundraising pages.
Not offered.
Not included
Donor wall
Public list of supporters.
Donors can be made public as a post type list; no dedicated wall.
Partial
Donors & compliance 3/5
Donor management Key
Donor records, history and notes.
Donors and donations stored as post types with export and reports.
Included
Donor dashboard
Donors manage their giving and receipts.
No front-end donor account area documented.
Not included
Tax receipts & annual statements Key
Automatic receipts and yearly statements.
Customisable thank-you emails only; no PDF or yearly receipts.
Partial
UK Gift Aid
Collects Gift Aid declarations for UK charities.
Gift Aid checkbox shown when the country is set to the UK.
Included
CRM & email integrations
Mailchimp, Salesforce, Zapier and similar.
No built-in Mailchimp, Zapier or CRM integrations.
Not included
Pricing
Free
$0On WordPress.org
Free
Freeper yearUnlimited
Free on WordPress.org. Paid style packs and extensions were sold until February 2024, when the store closed.
Prices are list prices from the vendor's site, checked 14 Oct 2026. Many vendors discount the first year.
How many sites use Seamless Donations?
Free installs from WordPress.org, the vendor's own claim, and our estimate of paid installs.
Free version (WordPress.org)
2K+
Active installations reported by WordPress.org.
Vendor claim
—
The vendor does not publish a total.
Estimated Pro / paid installs
n/a
There is no paid version.
Stats & health
Weekly downloads
157 downloads last week, 478.8K all time
Rating breakdown
| Version | 5.3 |
|---|---|
| Last updated | 22 Mar 2024 (956 days ago) |
| Tested up to | WordPress 6.4.14 |
| Requires | WordPress 4.0+ |
| Support threads (2 months) | 0 of 0 resolved |
| On WordPress.org since | 12 Sep 2012 |
Seamless Donations compared
Alternatives to Seamless Donations
WP Charitable
Self-hosted donation and fundraising plugin with unlimited campaigns, goals and a drag-and-drop builder; paid plans add recurring, Gift Aid and P2P.
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Donorbox
Hosted fundraising platform whose free WordPress plugin embeds Donorbox forms; no monthly fee on Standard but a 2.95% platform fee on donations.
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Paymattic
Payment and donation form builder from WPManageNinja. Free includes Stripe with no added fees; Pro adds 14 gateways, subscriptions, coupons and tax.
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Donation Platform for WooCommerce
Free, open-source plugin that turns WooCommerce into a donation platform with goals, donor wall, fee recovery and 100+ gateways, with no platform…
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WP Simple Pay
Stripe payment-form plugin for one-off and recurring payments without a cart. The free version adds a 3% fee; paid plans remove it.
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FAQ
Is Seamless Donations free?
Yes. Seamless Donations has a free version on WordPress.org.
How many sites use Seamless Donations?
WordPress.org reports 2K+ active installations of the free version.
Does Seamless Donations have donation forms?
Yes: included. Shortcode-based responsive form; extra style packs were paid.
Does Seamless Donations have recurring donations?
Yes: included. Repeat-donation checkbox for PayPal and Stripe, free.
Does Seamless Donations have fee recovery?
No: not included. A paid Donors Pay Fees extension existed, but the store closed in Feb 2024.
Does Seamless Donations have no platform fee?
Yes: included. Free and charges no commission or percentage fee.
Does Seamless Donations have goals & progress bars?
No: not included. No goals or progress bars documented.
Does Seamless Donations have peer-to-peer fundraising?
No: not included. Not offered.
Does Seamless Donations have donor management?
Yes: included. Donors and donations stored as post types with export and reports.
Does Seamless Donations have tax receipts & annual statements?
Yes: partial. Customisable thank-you emails only; no PDF or yearly receipts.
Is Seamless Donations still maintained?
No. The author announced in February 2024 that it would no longer be updated or supported; version 5.3 is the last release.
What should existing users do?
Plan a migration. The author arranged for the GiveWP team to help Seamless Donations users move to GiveWP.
Did Seamless Donations take a fee?
No. The plugin never charged a commission; only PayPal or Stripe processing fees applied.
Last updated 13 Oct 2026. Spotted something wrong? Suggest an edit.