Donum vs Honeyfund
Honeyfund made
cash gifts normal.
PayPal made them
expensive.
Honeyfund popularized the idea that a wedding registry could be cash. Then it built the rails on PayPal, where every gift loses 2.9% + 30¢ before it reaches the couple. We rebuilt those rails with no platform fee on top.
What “free”
means, decoded.
On Honeyfund
- SetupFree.
- Listing itemsFree.
- Receiving cash by PayPal2.9% + 30¢ per gift.
- Receiving cash by card2.4% to 3.5% per gift, depending on tier.
- Cash by check0%, because Honeyfund is not moving the money.
On Donum
- SetupFree.
- Listing itemsFree, from any store.
- Receiving cash by card0% platform fee. Stripe’s processing cost is offered to the guest at checkout, default-on.
- Donum’s revenueAffiliate commission when guests buy items through retailer links.
- Cut of cash gifts0%. Forever.
Both platforms call themselves free. Only one of them stays free once a guest sends money.
The honeymoon,
minus the fee.
Three wedding sizes, all cash by PayPal (the dominant path on Honeyfund). Same gifts, two outcomes.
| Cash gifts received | Honeyfund / PayPal takes | Couple receives on Donum |
|---|---|---|
| $4,000 | ~$124 | $4,000 |
| $8,000 | ~$244 | $8,000 |
| $20,000 | ~$604 | $20,000 |
Honeyfund column assumes the dominant PayPal path at 2.9% + 30¢ with realistic guest-mix average gift sizes ($160 to $250). Donum column assumes default-on guest fee coverage at industry-typical 80% adoption.
What Honeyfund did first
- Made honeymoon funds and cash gifts socially acceptable in the US wedding category.
- Twenty years of brand recognition with relatives who remember the name.
- A simple cash-only flow that does not require a registry of items.
- An option for guests who already use PayPal and prefer it.
What Donum does next
- 0% platform fee. Card processing only, optionally covered by the guest.
- Cash funds and items from any store on one registry, one link.
- Net-to-couple amount visible on every transaction. No hidden fee on a separate PayPal receipt.
- Stripe rails, not PayPal. Payouts to a real bank account.
Common
questions.
- Is Honeyfund actually free?
- Setup is free. Receiving money is not. The dominant Honeyfund payment path runs through PayPal at 2.9% + 30¢ per transaction, and Honeyfund's own card rail charges 2.4% to 3.5% depending on tier. Donum's platform fee is 0%.
- Why does Honeyfund's website say no fees?
- Honeyfund's homepage refers to setup and listing. The PayPal fee is described as a payment-processor fee, not a Honeyfund fee, even though the rail is what determines the take. Plain framing would be: free to set up, not free to receive money.
- Does Donum work for honeymoon-only registries?
- Yes. You can run a Donum registry with cash funds only, including a honeymoon fund, a house-down-payment fund, or a charity fund. Or mix in items from any store. The 0% platform fee applies the same way.
- What about Honeyfund Plus?
- Honeyfund Plus is a paid premium tier that lowers the credit-card rate from about 3.5% to 2.4% and unlocks site customization. It moves fees from high to less-high. It does not move them to zero.
Free,
the whole way down.
Setup, listing, and receiving. No PayPal layer. No platform cut.