TidyHQ vs 99Pledges
Last reviewed August 2026
99Pledges does one thing: pledge-based a-thons. Jog-a-thons, read-a-thons, hit-a-thons, dance-a-thons — every participant gets their own page, donations come in against it, and the organiser doesn't chase paper forms. There is no platform fee, only card processing. It is a single-purpose tool and it is honest about that: no memberships, no renewals, no finances beyond the fundraiser, no committee minutes. If your club runs an annual a-thon, this is a comparison about what happens the other fifty-one weeks.
Where TidyHQ wins
Everything outside the a-thon. Membership records with tiers, renewal dates and payment history, with automated renewal reminders so nobody chases subs by text. Financial reporting across subs, gate, canteen, events, grants and sponsorship — with Xero sync coming soon. Governance: agendas, minutes with action items, committee tasks by role, 25 GB of document storage. Email and SMS to your member list. Event ticketing with automatic member pricing. An online shop. Unlimited admin seats on every plan, including the free one.
Where 99Pledges wins
99Pledges is well-shaped for its one job and it costs nothing to run — no platform fee, no subscription, no minimum, with card processing at 3.49% + 49c and cash or cheque donations free. Individual participant pages, automatic donor tracking and prompted sharing are exactly what a pledge drive needs, and setup takes minutes. For a school or youth sports a-thon, TidyHQ has no equivalent and isn't claiming one.
Best for
Clubs and associations that need a year-round system of record — members, subs, finances, governance and events — with a-thon fundraising handled alongside it rather than instead of it.
Feature comparison
Membership management & renewals
TidyHQ
Tiers, auto-renewals, family99Pledges
A-thon & pledge fundraising
TidyHQ
99Pledges
(purpose-built)Individual participant pages
TidyHQ
99Pledges
Subscription cost
TidyHQ
$890 AUD/year flat (free plan available)99Pledges
$0Platform fee
TidyHQ
1% + 20c99Pledges
0% — optional donor tips go to 99PledgesProcessing fee
TidyHQ
Stripe (1.75% + 30c AU)99Pledges
3.49% + 49cSubs & invoicing
TidyHQ
Automated reminders99Pledges
Financial reporting by income category
TidyHQ
Subs, events, shop, gate, grants99Pledges
Per-fundraiser totalsAccounting integration (Xero)
TidyHQ
Coming soon99Pledges
Meeting minutes & governance
TidyHQ
Agendas, minutes, action items99Pledges
Task management
TidyHQ
Assigned to committee roles99Pledges
Document storage
TidyHQ
25 GB99Pledges
Event ticketing with member pricing
TidyHQ
Members see their price99Pledges
Online shop
TidyHQ
With member pricing99Pledges
Email & SMS communications
TidyHQ
email; SMS available AU/NZ/UK (credit packs)99Pledges
Fundraiser emails onlyFree tier
TidyHQ
Free forever, unlimited contacts99Pledges
Free*Approximate conversion: 1 AUD ≈ 0.65 USD ≈ 0.50 GBP. Actual rates may vary.
Key differences
The a-thon is one weekend a year
99Pledges is built around a single event with a start and an end date. Registrations, subs, committee meetings, the canteen float and the AGM run all year. TidyHQ is the record that carries across seasons — 99Pledges is a very good tool for one weekend of it.
Nobody chases subs on a Sunday
A pledge drive collects money once. Membership subs come due every year, from a list that changes, and someone has to chase the ones that don't arrive. TidyHQ tracks renewal dates and sends the reminders automatically, which is usually the thing that made the secretary go looking for software in the first place.
One set of books for the treasurer
The a-thon total is one line in a club's accounts. TidyHQ categorises income across subs, gate, canteen, events, grants and sponsorship with Xero sync coming soon — so the fundraiser sits inside the accounts rather than in a separate export nobody reconciles until June.
Governance has to live somewhere
Agendas, minutes with action items, committee tasks by role, and 25 GB of document storage for the constitution and AGM records. 99Pledges doesn't attempt any of it, and for an incorporated association those obligations don't go away.
What 99Pledges does well
99Pledges is well-shaped for its one job and it costs nothing to run — no platform fee, no subscription, no minimum, with card processing at 3.49% + 49c and cash or cheque donations free. Individual participant pages, automatic donor tracking and prompted sharing are exactly what a pledge drive needs, and setup takes minutes. For a school or youth sports a-thon, TidyHQ has no equivalent and isn't claiming one.
We think honest comparisons build more trust than pretending competitors don’t exist. Try both and see which one your committee actually uses.
Ongoing development
We have shipped every month since 2008.
The software you pick now is a bet on where it will be in three years, and no feature table tells you that. We have been building TidyHQ for eighteen years, across more than 30,000 commits. The public record is dated and checkable: 15 new features and 52 updates since November 2025 alone, the most recent on 24 July 2026.
Some of what landed
We have not tried to summarise 99Pledges’s release history here, because we do not have reliable data on it and would rather not guess. Go and look for their changelog too. If a vendor cannot show you what they shipped last quarter, that is worth knowing before you sign anything.
Is TidyHQ right for you?
TidyHQ is the better choice if…
- You need membership records, subs collection and renewal reminders
- You need financial reporting across every income source, not one fundraiser
- You need governance — meeting minutes, committee tasks, document storage
- You want event ticketing with automatic member pricing
- You need a system that runs all year, not per campaign
99Pledges might be better if…
- •You run pledge-based a-thons and want a tool built precisely for that
- •You need individual participant fundraising pages with no setup cost
- •Your fundraiser is a one-off and you don't need a member database behind it
- •Zero platform fee on the fundraiser is the deciding factor
Frequently asked questions
Common questions about using 99Pledges vs TidyHQ for membership organisations.
No. 99Pledges is built for pledge-based a-thon fundraisers — participant pages, donation collection and donor tracking for a single campaign. There is no membership record, no renewal date, no subs collection and no financial-member status. TidyHQ handles all of that year-round.
99Pledges has no subscription, no setup cost and no platform fee. Card donations are charged 3.49% + 49c in processing, and cash or cheque donations carry no fee. The platform is funded by an optional tip donors can add at checkout, which goes to 99Pledges rather than your organisation. TidyHQ Pro is $890 AUD/year flat with a 1% + 20c service fee and a permanent free plan.
That is the usual answer for a club running an annual a-thon. TidyHQ as the system of record for members, subs, events, finances and governance; 99Pledges for the jog-a-thon itself, where individual participant pages are what makes it work. There is no direct integration, so the fundraiser total comes into TidyHQ as a categorised income entry.
It reports on the fundraiser — donations, participants and totals. There is no reporting across other income, no accounting integration, and no agendas, minutes, committee tasks or document storage. TidyHQ categorises income by source with Xero sync coming soon, and includes governance tools on every paid plan.
Memberships with tiers and automated renewals, subs collection and invoicing, event ticketing with member pricing, an online shop, financial reporting across every income source, email and SMS to your member list, meeting agendas and minutes with action items, committee tasks, and 25 GB of document storage. 99Pledges does a-thons; TidyHQ runs the organisation.
For a-thons specifically, RallyUp runs the same format with more campaign tooling (at a 4.9% platform fee), and Snap! Raise will run the whole drive for you in exchange for a share of what you raise. For broader peer-to-peer fundraising, Givebutter and Zeffy both cost nothing to run. If the gap you are feeling is that the fundraiser ends and the club keeps going — subs, renewals, finances, meeting minutes — that is TidyHQ, and it sits alongside 99Pledges rather than replacing it.
Sources
Claims in this comparison are based on publicly available information. Verify current pricing and features directly with each provider.
- 199Pledges pricing— Zero platform fee, 3.49% + 49c processing, optional donor tip model
- 299Pledges FAQs— How fundraisers are set up, participant pages and payout handling
- 399Pledges for schools— Target audience: schools, youth sports teams and nonprofits
Related comparisons
Other Fundraising Platforms alternatives we’ve written about.