Free Christian Fundraising Platforms (Ergatas, Outpour) vs Devotion Fund: What "0% Fees" Really Means

I run Devotion Fund, and we charge 5% on bank transfers, 7% on card. So when a missionary tells me they're looking at a platform that charges 0%, the honest response isn't a sales pitch — it's to actually check whether that's true, and tell you what "free" requires of you in return. I did that this week for the two genuinely free platforms missionaries ask me about most: Ergatas and Outpour. Neither is a scam or a gimmick. Both are real, and for some missionaries, either one is the better answer than paying us anything at all.

Ergatas: free, but routed through your sending organization

Ergatas's own site is direct about the fee: 0% platform fee, no cut of donations. The line that matters more than the headline is how the money actually moves: "When a supporter gives, we collect the funds and pass them to your sending organization... Ergatas keeps nothing." Some bank/processing fees apply on the transfer, and donors can choose to cover them so the full gift reaches your organization.

That routing detail is the whole story. Ergatas isn't a direct-to-missionary payout platform — it's built to move money through a sending organization that already exists. If you're serving under an agency or church that has (or is willing to set up) an Ergatas relationship, this is as close to a free lunch as this category gets. If you're raising support independently, with no sending org in the loop, Ergatas isn't built for your situation — there's no organization on the other end to receive the funds.

Outpour: free, but the numbers aren't published

Outpour's own site says plainly: "Outpour is a free and secure platform." It supports one-time and recurring gifts, and its main selling point isn't fee-cutting — it's a combined newsletter, prayer-request, and giving-tracker tool for ministry teams, described as "the centralized fundraising and media platform" for ministry, with a mobile app on both iOS and Android.

What Outpour doesn't publish, at least anywhere I could find, is a processing-fee breakdown. Moving a card payment always costs someone something — usually 2.5–3% plus a small fixed fee, paid to whichever processor sits underneath the platform. "Free" almost certainly means Outpour doesn't add its own cut on top, not that card processing itself is free. Before you build a support base on it, it's worth asking Outpour directly, in writing, exactly what a donor's card payment nets you after processing — the same question I'd want you to ask us.

What "free" is actually trading away

Neither Ergatas nor Outpour is hiding a tip jar or a surprise percentage the way some "0%" campaign platforms do. The trade isn't a hidden fee — it's fit. Ergatas trades directness (you need a sending org between you and the money). Outpour trades platform maturity and specialization — it's newer and smaller than the giving-focused platforms in this category, built around a broader ministry-communication use case rather than being purpose-built for a single missionary's recurring-support page.

Here's the same framing I use in our full seven-platform cost comparison: the fee you pay isn't the only cost. Recurring-by-default design, a donor relationship you can see and act on, and direct payouts to your own bank are worth something too — sometimes more than a fee point, sometimes less. On raw price, both Ergatas and Outpour can genuinely beat our 5-7%. I'm not going to argue otherwise.

Where Ergatas or Outpour is the right call

• You already have a sending organization that can receive funds through Ergatas — take the free option.
• Your bigger need is ministry communication — newsletters, prayer requests, threaded messages with supporters — with giving as one feature among several, and Outpour's bundle fits.
• You're early-stage and cost-sensitive above everything else, and you're comfortable with a smaller, newer platform.

Where Devotion Fund is the right call

• You're raising support independently, with no sending organization positioned to receive funds — Ergatas isn't built for this.
• You want direct payouts to your own bank, not routed through an intermediary organization.
• Recurring monthly partnership is the whole product you need — donor accounts, an AI-assisted prayer-letter draft, and a donor CRM built specifically for support-raising, not bundled alongside broader ministry-team tools.
• You want one published, all-in number — 5%, card processing absorbed, nothing else to ask about later.

If either free platform fits your situation, go use it — I'd rather you keep more of what your supporters give. If you're independent, need direct payouts, and want the support-raising relationship built into the platform itself, start a page on Devotion Fund.

Frequently asked questions

Is Ergatas really free for missionaries?
Ergatas charges 0% platform fee and states it keeps none of the money moved. But it collects funds and passes them to your sending organization, not directly to you — so it's built for missionaries who already have a sending org relationship, not for a fully independent missionary raising support on their own.

Is Outpour really free?
Outpour describes itself on its own site as "a free and secure platform" and supports one-time and recurring gifts. It doesn't publish a processing-fee breakdown, so it's worth asking Outpour directly whether card processing (which always costs something, somewhere) is absorbed or passed through before you commit.

Should I choose a free platform over Devotion Fund?
If you already have a sending organization that works with Ergatas, or you mainly need newsletters and prayer-request tools alongside occasional giving, the free option is a legitimate choice and you should take it. Devotion Fund is built for independent, recurring-first support raising with direct bank payouts, a donor CRM, and AI-assisted updates — worth the 5% specifically when those are the things you need.

Fee claims checked against Ergatas's and Outpour's own public pages in August 2026. Neither platform's processing-fee math is fully published, so where a number isn't public, we've said so rather than guessed. We update this post if either platform changes its pricing or publishes more detail.

About the author

I'm Jussi, the founder of Devotion Fund — a recurring-first giving platform built for missionaries and ministry workers.

Last updated: 2026-08-12.