Donation button vs. donation widget vs. hosted page

A donation button: a link that sends people somewhere

At its simplest, a donation button is a link styled to look like a button. A visitor clicks it and gets taken somewhere else — a checkout page, a hosted donation page, a payment link — to actually give. The button itself doesn't process anything; it's a doorway.

The advantage is that a button works almost anywhere, because a link is just text. Even a site that blocks custom code will usually let you add a link or a button that points outward. The downside is the handoff: the giving happens on whatever page the button leads to, not on your page, so the visitor leaves your site to complete the donation, and a few will drop off in the jump.

A donation widget: giving that happens inside your page

A widget is a block of giving functionality embedded directly into one of your own pages. The donation form appears inline, the visitor gives without leaving your site, and the money goes to your payment processor. Where a button sends people away, a widget keeps them where they are.

The advantage is that nothing breaks the flow — the visitor reads your page, decides to give, and gives, all in one place, under your brand. The cost is technical: a widget is custom code, and your site has to be able to run it. Many builders allow that on a paid plan and block it on the free tier, and a few editors don't allow custom scripts at all. So a widget is the best experience where your site supports it, and impossible where it doesn't.

A hosted page: a standalone page you link to

A hosted donation page is a complete giving page that a tool hosts for you, branded to you, living at its own URL. You don't build it and your site doesn't have to run any code — you just point a button or a link at it. In effect it's the destination a donation button leads to, provided for you rather than built by you.

The advantage is that it works regardless of your site's limits, or with no site at all — anywhere you can share a link, you can collect donations. The trade-off against a widget is the same handoff a plain button has: the giving happens on a page that lives on the tool's domain, not inside your own site. For most people that's a minor distinction; for some, having the donation happen literally on their own page is worth the extra setup a widget requires.

Which one fits which site

The deciding factor is almost always what your website allows. If your site runs custom code — most builders on a paid plan, a self-hosted site, plain HTML — a widget gives the smoothest experience and is usually the right call. If your site can't run code — a free builder tier, or an editor like Substack or the new Google Sites that strips scripts entirely — a hosted page is the answer, reached by a button or link.

If you don't have a website at all, a hosted page is also the simplest possible setup: you share its link by email, on social, or in a message, and people give there. A plain button, meanwhile, is rarely a destination on its own — it's the entry point that leads to either a hosted page or an embedded checkout. So in practice the real choice for most people is widget versus hosted page, decided by whether the site will run the widget's code.

• Site runs custom code (paid builder plan, self-hosted, plain HTML) → a widget is usually the best fit.
• Site blocks custom code (free tiers, Substack, new Google Sites) → use a hosted page, linked from a button.
• No website at all → use a hosted page and share the link directly.

Where CrowdCreate fits

CrowdCreate gives you both the widget and the hosted page from one account, so the choice isn't locked in up front. Where your site runs custom code, you paste one snippet and the widget renders inline on your page. Where it doesn't — a free tier, or an editor that blocks scripts — every account also gets a hosted page at crowdcreate.app/c/your-name that works anywhere, and you link to it with a button.

Either way, the money goes straight to your own Stripe account; we never hold it and we take no cut. The price is a flat $20 a month, and we add nothing on top of Stripe's standard processing fee (2.9% + 30¢ per successful card payment, paid to Stripe). So you can start with whichever form your current site supports and switch later without changing tools.

Common questions

How CrowdCreate works

1. 1

   Sign up free and connect Stripe

   Create your account and link your own Stripe account. It takes about ten minutes.

2. 2

   Paste the snippet on your site

   Drop one line of code onto your own page — or share your hosted CrowdCreate page if you don't have a site.

3. 3

   Funders pledge

   Money lands in your own Stripe account. We take no cut of what your funders give.

Your money goes straight to your own Stripe account — CrowdCreate never holds it, and takes no cut of donations.