Vanco vs Tap.Giving: 5-Year Cost Compared (2026)
Vanco has been processing church donations since 1984. Tap.Giving sells NFC tap plates that open a phone to whatever giving page your church already uses. Here is the 5-year math for a 200-seat church, and why most churches end up running plates on top of Vanco rather than choosing between them.
$800 once
What a 200-seat church spends, total, to add tap to give on top of Vanco. No new monthly bill, no second processor, no donor data migration.
The Short Answer (Read This First)
Vanco and Tap.Giving are not the same kind of product, and the comparison only matters if you understand that. Vanco is a giving platform: it processes credit card and ACH donations, tracks recurring schedules, generates contribution statements, and deposits money into your bank account. Tap.Giving sells NFC tap plates, which are round printed discs with a small chip inside. A member taps a phone on the plate and the phone opens your giving page. We are hardware, not a processor.
A 200-seat church running Vanco on its entry tier with Tap.Giving plates spends $800 once for hardware plus Vanco's normal per-transaction fees on every gift. The plates add tap to give, tap to donate, and contactless giving in service without adding a monthly bill. The real question is not "Vanco or Tap.Giving?" but "which giving platform should I run my plates through, and what does each charge me?" This post answers that for Vanco.
Vanco Pricing in 2026
Vanco publishes its 2026 Vanco Giving plans in three tiers. The shape of the offer is familiar: a free entry tier paid for entirely by per-transaction fees, plus paid tiers that trade a monthly subscription for extras like text to give, premium reporting, and event registrations. The figures below pull from Vanco's public pricing page. Confirm current numbers before signing, because Vanco has rebranded its product line a few times since 2023.
| Vanco Plan | Monthly Subscription | Card / Debit Fee | ACH Fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic (free entry) | $0 | ~2.75% + $0.45 | ~1% + $0.45 |
| Plus | starting ~$10 | Reduced rate | Reduced rate |
| Premium | starting ~$30 | Lowest published rate | Lowest published rate |
Source: Vanco public pricing page, 2026. Confirm current rates with Vanco before purchase. For neighboring comparisons, see our Tithely pricing breakdown, our SecureGive pricing explainer, and our EasyTithe vs Tap.Giving comparison.
A long-running quirk of Vanco's pricing: a "free" entry plan still pulls fees out of every donation. The percentage just moves from a monthly invoice line to a deduction on each gift. Tap plates do not change any of that. The plate opens the same Vanco giving page, and Vanco charges the same rate whether the giver arrived by tap, scan, app, or typed URL.
Tap.Giving Pricing in 2026
Our pricing has one shape: per plate, one time, with free shipping. No setup fee, no monthly fee, no transaction fee from us. Quantity drives the price.
| Quantity | Per Plate | Example Total |
|---|---|---|
| 100 to 199 | $4.50 | $450 (100 plates) |
| 200 to 399 | $4.00 | $800 (200 plates) |
| 400+ | $3.50 | $1,400 (400 plates) |
Promo code WELCOME10 takes 10% off the first order. Plates ship with adhesive backing, pre-drilled screw holes, and a QR code printed on the front for any phone that cannot read NFC. Full breakdown lives on our pricing page, and the order flow is on our order page.
Need plates for your church?
100 plates from $450, free shipping, works with Vanco and every other major giving platform.
5-Year Total Cost: A 200-Seat Church
Here is the dollar math for a 200-seat church running 200 plates and around $150,000 a year in digital giving, with a 75/25 split between card and ACH gifts. Transaction fees are pulled from Vanco's publicly listed Basic plan rates as of 2026 and applied conservatively.
| Line Item | Vanco Basic (no plates) | Vanco Basic + Tap.Giving Plates |
|---|---|---|
| Plate hardware (one-time) | $0 | $800 (200 plates @ $4.00) |
| Vanco monthly subscription (5 yr) | $0 | $0 |
| Vanco card fees (~2.75% on 75%) | ~$15,470 | ~$15,470 |
| Vanco ACH fees (~1% on 25%) | ~$1,875 | ~$1,875 |
| 5-year total | ~$17,345 | ~$18,145 |
The plates add about $800 to a five-year window, or roughly $160 a year, in exchange for moving in-service giving from cash and check toward mobile gifts. Churches running NFC tap plates have reported in-service donation lift of 300% or more, with 81% of attendees willing to give in service when a tap option is available versus 24% who actually give without one. Tap to give is about 42 times more engaging than printed QR codes. If even a small share of seated givers shifts from cash to a mobile gift, $800 of hardware pays for itself well inside year one.
Nothing about adding plates changes the Vanco bill. Vanco still charges its normal per-gift rate. The plates just open the same giving page faster, and for the 53% of NFC givers who are first-time givers, that friction drop is the whole game. For a longer view on the math behind in-service giving lift, see our NFC giving ROI numbers post.
Feature Comparison
Because Vanco and Tap.Giving sit at different layers of the church stack, the comparison is less "winner take all" and more "what each one does." The row that matters most is the in-service tap to give row.
| Capability | Vanco | Tap.Giving |
|---|---|---|
| Processes donations | Yes | No (hardware only) |
| Recurring giving and donor records | Yes | No (handled by your platform) |
| In-service tap to give / NFC giving | Not native | Yes (core product) |
| Works with Apple Pay and Google Pay | Yes (on giving page) | Yes (via your page) |
| Monthly fee | $0 (Basic) to ~$30+ (paid) | None, ever |
| Per-transaction fee from this provider | ~2.75% + $0.45 (Basic) | $0 |
| Lock-in / platform migration | Switching platforms moves donor data | Platform agnostic |
For a side-by-side against more giving platforms, see our 2026 guide to the best online giving platforms for churches or our tap-to-give platform comparison. For independent context on how mobile giving keeps growing in U.S. congregations, see the Lifeway Research giving studies.
Why Most Churches Use Both Together
A pastor walks in on Monday and asks two questions: "Where did Sunday's gifts come from?" and "How do we make giving easier next Sunday?" Vanco answers the first. Tap.Giving answers the second. Vanco owns donor records, recurring schedules, contribution statements, ACH withdrawals, and the bank deposit. NFC tap plates own the in-service moment: an 8-second tap, no app to install, no scan, no URL to type.
This is the same pattern we recommend with Tithely, Pushpay, Subsplash, Donorbox, Givelify, Anedot, Planning Center Giving, and Nucleus Giving. NFC tap plates and church NFC tags do not care which giving platform sits on the other side of the URL. That is also the reason platform-agnostic tap technology for churches keeps winning: you do not have to bet the parish on one vendor.
When to Pick Vanco Anyway
Honest carve-out: situations where Vanco is the clear back-end choice.
- You already use Vanco and have years of donor history you do not want to migrate.
- You belong to a denomination that has standardized on Vanco at the diocese, conference, or synod level.
- You need text to give plus event registration plus member self-service portal under one vendor.
- Your treasurer is comfortable with Vanco reporting and you do not want to retrain a volunteer.
Even then, plates still make sense the moment the offering window opens. A $800 one-time hardware add-on is a low-stakes upgrade to a 30-year-old back end. The plates do not compete with Vanco. They put a tap on top of it. For more on contactless church collection plate options, see our contactless collection plate guide.
Add tap to give to Vanco without changing platforms
One-time hardware. No monthly fee. Works with Vanco, Tithely, Pushpay, Subsplash, Donorbox, Givelify, Anedot, Planning Center Giving, and Nucleus Giving. Free shipping on every order.
Use code WELCOME10 for 10% off your first order
FAQ: Vanco and Tap.Giving Questions
Does Tap.Giving replace Vanco?
No. Tap.Giving sells NFC tap plates, not a giving platform. The plates open your existing Vanco giving page when a member taps a phone, so you keep your donor records, reporting, and bank deposits. The hardware adds an in-service tap to give option without forcing a platform migration. See how it works for the full walkthrough.
How much does Vanco cost in 2026?
Based on Vanco's published rates as of 2026, the Basic plan applies a transaction fee around 2.75% plus $0.45 per credit or debit gift and roughly 1% plus $0.45 per ACH gift, with no monthly subscription. Paid tiers (Plus and Premium) trade a monthly fee, commonly starting near $10 and $30 per month respectively, for reduced rates and added features. Confirm current rates on Vanco's pricing page before signing.
What does Tap.Giving cost in 2026?
Plates are a one-time purchase: $4.50 each for 100 to 199, $4.00 for 200 to 399, and $3.50 for 400 or more. Free shipping, no monthly fees, no transaction fees from us. A 200-seat church spends $800 once. Promo code WELCOME10 takes 10% off your first order. See our pricing page.
Do NFC tap plates work with Vanco?
Yes. NFC tap plates work with any giving platform that publishes a mobile-friendly URL, and Vanco qualifies. We encode the plate with your Vanco giving page link, so the tap runs through Vanco exactly as if the giver had typed the URL. Same fees, same records, same deposit.
Is Vanco the same as GivePlus?
GivePlus Mobile was Vanco's branded donor app for years and has been folded into the broader Vanco experience as the product line modernized. The underlying processing is still Vanco. If your bulletin lists GivePlus, your giving page is most likely a Vanco URL, and NFC tap plates will open it without any changes on your end.
Will I save money by adding NFC giving plates to Vanco?
Most churches see a return inside the first quarter, because tap to give shifts in-service donors from cash to mobile gifts. Reported lifts of 300% or more in service are common, and 81% of attendees will give in service when a tap option is available versus 24% without one. Even a modest lift covers $800 of hardware quickly.
When should a church pick Vanco over Tap.Giving plates?
Pick Vanco when you need a back-end giving platform: recurring giving, donor management, contribution statements, text to give, and bank deposits. Pick Tap.Giving plates when you want an in-service NFC giving option. Most churches need both. The pairing is the point.
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