PayPal Donations vs WP Simple Pay
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| Feature | PayPal Donations v1.9.11 · checked 23 Oct 2026 Free · ★ 4.7/5 Visit Details | WP Simple Pay v4.17.5 · checked 23 Oct 2026 Free + paid · ★ 4.4/5 Visit Details |
|---|---|---|
| At a glance | ||
| Active installs | 20,000+ | 8,000+ |
| Last updated | August 17, 2026 | October 19, 2026 |
| Editions | Donations via PayPal | WP Simple Pay Lite · WP Simple Pay Pro ($) |
| Pros | Donate button through a shortcode or widget; Choose standard or custom button images; Sandbox mode for testing | Payment form block and shortcode for Stripe card payments; Subscriptions available in the free version; Optional hCaptcha or Cloudflare Turnstile on payment forms |
| Cons | Donations go straight to PayPal with no on-site records; Shows admin notices when PHP or WordPress is too old; Only a donate button, no recurring or tiered donations | Lite adds a 3% application fee to each transaction; Custom fields, coupons and on-site overlay forms need Pro; Sends usage data only if the site opts in, and loads Stripe and captcha scripts |
| Mentioned in our posts | 1 | 2 |
| More features | ||
| Other features | Donate button shortcode, Sidebar donate widget, Standard or custom button image, PayPal sandbox switch for testing, Return page and purpose defaults | Payment form block for the block editor, Payment form shortcode, Stripe.js loaded on payment pages, hCaptcha or Cloudflare Turnstile on payment forms, Recurring subscriptions in Lite, 3% application fee on Lite transactions, Custom fields on payment forms ($), No application fee ($) |
| Integrations | ||
| Payment | PayPal | Stripe |
| Other | — | hCaptcha, Cloudflare Turnstile |
| Requires WordPress | 5.5 | 5.9 |
| Requires PHP | — | 7.4 |
| Tested up to | 7.1 | 7.1 |
| Phones home | No | Only if you agree |
| External services | www.paypalobjects.com | wpsimplepay.com, api.stripe.com, translations.wpsimplepay.com, connect.wpsimplepay.com, telemetry.wpsimplepay.com, www.google.com, hcaptcha.com, challenges.cloudflare.com, requests.wpsimplepay.com, plugins.svn.wordpress.org, js.stripe.com, js.hcaptcha.com |
| Blocks | — | 2 |
| Shortcodes | 1 | 5 |