Our Big Yes

Comparison

Our Big Yes vs Zola

Neither Zola nor Our Big Yes takes a percentage of your cash gifts. The real difference is who can be paid. Zola transfers only to a United States checking account with a United States address, and adds a 2.5% card handling fee that guests pay by default. Our Big Yes pays through your own gateway, in any currency Stripe supports.

Every Zola figure on this page comes from zola.com, checked 2 August 2026.

At a glance.

  • Cost of the wedding website

    Our Big Yes: Free to build. $29 once when you publish, or R399 in South Africa.

    Zola: Free to create and publish.

  • Custom domain

    Our Big Yes: Connect your own domain, no extra platform charge. Or use join.ourbigyes.com/your-names free.

    Zola: Sold separately. Zola says prices start at $17.99.

  • Platform cut of your cash gifts

    Our Big Yes: 0%. We take nothing from a gift, ever.

    Zola: No percentage taken as platform revenue.

  • Card fee on cash gifts

    Our Big Yes: Your own gateway charges its standard processing fee on the gift.

    Zola: 2.5% card handling fee on cash funds.

  • Who pays that fee

    Our Big Yes: You do, out of the gift. Your guest is never shown a surcharge.

    Zola: Guests, by default. A couple can choose to absorb it instead, paid on transfer.

  • Where card gifts sit before they reach you

    Our Big Yes: Never with us. They land in your own gateway account.

    Zola: Held by Zola until the couple requests a transfer.

  • Where the money can be paid out

    Our Big Yes: Your own gateway account, in any currency Stripe supports.

    Zola: A United States checking account with a United States address.

  • International bank accounts

    Our Big Yes: Supported through your own gateway.

    Zola: Zola: "We currently do not support transfers to international bank accounts."

  • Fee-free route for guests

    Our Big Yes: Every route is fee-free for guests. There is no platform surcharge to avoid.

    Zola: Guests can contribute through the couple’s Venmo username instead of a card.

Zola figures as published on zola.com, checked 2 August 2026. Where Zola does not publish a figure, we say so rather than estimating.

Who can actually receive the money.

This is the one that decides the choice for most couples. Zola pays cash gifts out by transfer, and the transfer needs a United States checking account with a United States address. Zola states it directly: "We currently do not support transfers to international bank accounts." So if the account you actually bank with is in Cape Town, Lisbon or Auckland, Zola cannot send your gift money to it.

Our Big Yes never sends you money, because it was never ours to send. You connect your own payment gateway and the gift is paid into that account. Almost anywhere, that means your own Stripe account, receiving in any currency Stripe supports. In South Africa you can connect Paystack, Yoco, PayFast or iKhokha instead and be paid in rand.

The practical effect: a couple outside the United States can run a cash registry on Our Big Yes and see the money land in their normal bank account.

What your guest pays.

On Zola, cash funds carry a 2.5% card handling fee, and by default that fee is charged to the guest at checkout. A guest sending $200 is asked for $205. A couple can choose to absorb the fee instead, in which case it is paid on transfer rather than by the guest.

On Our Big Yes, the guest is charged the gift amount and nothing else. There is no platform surcharge, because there is no platform in the payment. Your own gateway then takes its standard processing fee out of the gift, the same fee it charges any business that uses it, and the balance is yours.

Both models cost somebody money. The difference is that ours is invisible to the person giving you a gift, and it is charged by your gateway, not by us.

Where the money sits before it reaches you.

Zola holds cash gift funds until the couple requests a transfer. That is a real convenience for some people: everything is pooled in one place, and you draw it down when you want it.

Our Big Yes is not in that chain at all. Gifts are processed by your own gateway, under your own merchant account, and they are paid out on that gateway's normal schedule. We never hold, route or process gift money, so there is nothing for us to release, delay or set a minimum on.

Worth being straight about: Zola also offers a route that avoids the hold entirely. Guests can contribute through your Venmo username, which goes to you and carries no card handling fee.

What the couple pays.

Zola's wedding websites are free to create and publish. A custom domain is sold separately, and Zola says prices start at $17.99.

Our Big Yes charges one once-off publish fee: $29 internationally, or R399 in South Africa. Signing up, building the site, loading guests and setting up your registry are free. You pay only at the moment you publish. Connecting your own custom domain carries no extra platform charge, and if you would rather not buy one, join.ourbigyes.com/your-names is free.

So on the sticker price Zola wins, and we are not going to pretend otherwise. What you are buying with our fee is a payment path that ends in your own bank account and a checkout that does not ask your guests for extra.

What you get besides the registry.

The publish fee covers the whole product, not a registry with a website bolted on. Ten themes you can switch between at any point, right up to the day. Household RSVPs, where each household gets its own secure personal link, so nobody has to create an account or remember a password to tell you they are coming.

Your site lives at join.ourbigyes.com/your-names, or at your own domain if you prefer, and it is one address to share by WhatsApp, email or on the invitation itself.

When Zola is the better choice, honestly.

If you are getting married in the United States and you have a United States checking account, Zola is a genuinely strong option and it may well beat us on cost. The website is free to create and publish, no percentage of your cash gifts goes to Zola, and if you and your guests are relaxed about the 2.5% card handling fee appearing at checkout, your total platform spend can be nothing at all.

And if that 2.5% does bother you, Zola gives you a way out that costs neither side anything: guests can contribute through your Venmo username instead of paying by card. For a couple whose friends already send money on Venmo without thinking about it, that is a clean, fee-free path to a funded honeymoon, and we would be dishonest to pretend our $29 is a better deal than free.

Pick Zola if you are US-based, US-banked, and you would rather spend nothing on the website than have the gift checkout look a particular way.

The verdict.

Choose Zola if you bank in the United States, want to spend nothing on the website, and are happy either to pass the 2.5% card handling fee to guests or to route gifts through Venmo.

Choose Our Big Yes if you bank anywhere else and need gifts to reach that account, if you want your guests to be charged the gift amount and nothing more, or if you would rather the money never sat with a platform in the first place. One payment of $29, or R399 in South Africa, and the gifts are yours.

Common questions.

Does Zola take a percentage of our cash gifts?

No percentage goes to Zola as platform revenue. What Zola does charge is a 2.5% card handling fee on cash funds, and by default that fee is charged to your guests at checkout. A couple can choose to absorb it instead, in which case it is paid on transfer. Checked on zola.com, 2 August 2026.

Can we use Zola without a United States bank account?

Not for receiving cash gifts. Zola requires a United States checking account with a United States address to transfer funds, and states plainly: "We currently do not support transfers to international bank accounts." Checked on zola.com, 2 August 2026.

How does Our Big Yes get money to a couple outside the United States?

We do not move it at all. You connect your own payment gateway, which means your own Stripe account almost anywhere, or Paystack, Yoco, PayFast or iKhokha if you are in South Africa. Gifts are paid into that account in any currency Stripe supports, and your gateway pays you out on its normal schedule.

Do our guests pay extra when they give through Our Big Yes?

No. A guest giving R1 000 or $100 pays exactly that. Your gateway then deducts its standard processing fee, the same fee it charges any business, before the balance settles to you. There is no line on the checkout that adds a platform surcharge to the guest.

Is there a way to avoid the 2.5% on Zola?

Yes, two ways. Guests can contribute through your Venmo username instead of paying by card, which removes the handling fee, or you can choose to absorb the 2.5% yourself so guests are not asked to cover it. Checked on zola.com, 2 August 2026.

What does Our Big Yes cost in total?

One once-off publish fee: $29 internationally, or R399 in South Africa. Signing up, building the whole site, loading your guest list and setting up your registry are all free. You pay only when you publish, and there is no subscription and no platform fee on gifts.

Sources.

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