The best donation platforms, according to hackers
5 donation platforms were recommended on Hacker News between November 2025 and November 2026. We rank them by how many separate people recommend each one, and 2 earn the Hacker Approved badge.
Top picks
The two most recommended donation platforms with the badge. Each figure is 2 people. RecommendsCriticizes One comment
Steady, sustainable team work
People recommend Watsi for funding medical care for patients in need, with small donations going far and a long track record. Critics note it refused BBB evaluation.
No fees for donors or recipients
Lets people sponsor open source developers directly, with no fees for donors or recipients. Critics mainly cite heavy administrative overhead and fear Microsoft could raise its cut.
All 5 donation platforms, ranked
Select a column heading to sort. Approval share is recommenders out of everyone who gave an opinion; the tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs. Months counts the months, out of 13, in which someone recommended it.
| Rank | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Patreon | 55 | 37 | 60% | 12 | — | — |
| 2 | Watsi | 29 | 1 | 97% | 4 | 12 yrs4 owners | Approved |
| 3 | GitHub Sponsors | 10 | 4 | 71% | 7 | — | Approved |
| 4 | Ko-fi | 8 | 1 | 89% | 5 | — | — |
| 5 | Buy Me a Coffee | 7 | 5 | 58% | 6 | — | — |
How we rank
Rank is the number of separate people who recommend a product in a Hacker News comment over the past year. Someone who praises the same donation platform in five threads counts once.
The badge goes to donation platforms that at least 10 people recommend, with recommenders outnumbering critics at least 2 to 1, recommended in at least 4 of the 13 months.
Rankings are never for sale. We may earn a commission when you buy through our links. It never changes the order.