Tips and digital tip jars
TipsMe and GigTag: a tip service and a page for your act
A live act needs a reason for the audience to get their phones out, and money is only one of them. They also want to ask for a song, find out when you play next and enquire about booking you. GigTag gives you one printed code for all of it. TipsMe, which you were looking at, is a tipping service.
- No app for your audience
- Free to start
- One code that never changes
Why GigTag
Why performers choose GigTag over TipsMe alone
TipsMe describes itself as a way to tip without cash. GigTag is a whole page for a live act, and it takes tips as well: by card or Apple Pay, into your own Ziina or Stripe account, with 0% kept by GigTag. One code covers the tip and everything around it.
- 1
Tips, with 0% kept by GigTag
A guest scans your tag and tips by card or Apple Pay in the browser. The money goes into your own Ziina account in the UAE, or your own Stripe account elsewhere, and GigTag takes 0%. Tips are part of Pro and work in every country.
- 2
Song requests give people a reason
A request is a reason to scan. On GigTag a guest can ask for a song from your list, or anything if you open requests, and it appears in a live queue on your phone. It draws the room in, and it sits on the same page as everything else.
- 3
Your residency, in their calendar
Hotel and restaurant musicians live by regulars. Your page shows your weekly residencies and one-off gigs, and a guest can add them to their calendar. Every gig and residency is on the free plan. The tag stays on your stand night after night with the same code.
- 4
Enquiries and invoices together
A guest planning a dinner or a wedding can send a booking enquiry from your page. You handle it on the website or the GigTag app, and on Pro you send an invoice in your own design for the client to pay online. GigTag takes no commission on bookings.
- 5
A camera and a browser are enough
The audience uses a phone camera and a browser. Nothing is downloaded and nobody signs up. You carry one small tag for the mic stand, designed by you, with a code that never changes even if the act is renamed.
In short
TipsMe and GigTag, in four lines
- TipsMe is a cashless tipping service: people tip by QR code, by NFC card or through an online profile.
- GigTag puts requests, your next gig, links and booking enquiries behind one permanent code.
- GigTag takes tips into your own Ziina account in the UAE or your own Stripe account elsewhere, and keeps 0%.
- Our recommendation: choose GigTag for the act and its tips, and keep a tipping service only if you need one.
Side by side
GigTag vs TipsMe, topic by topic
How a tip is given
Tips to your own Ziina or Stripe, 0% taken
A fan tips by card or Apple Pay on your page. The money goes to your own Stripe account, or your own Ziina account in the UAE, and GigTag takes 0%.
TipsMeTipsMe names three ways: scanning a QR code, tapping an NFC card with a phone, or visiting the person's online profile.
What you show people
One permanent code in your own design
One permanent QR code on a small custom tag for your mic stand, designed by you and printed to order or at home.
TipsMeA QR code for people to scan or an NFC card for them to tap, according to its own description of the service.
People who are not there
A page that opens in any browser
Your page opens in any phone browser, and its links, gig dates and booking enquiry form are there for whoever opens it.
TipsMeAn online profile is the third route, which lets someone tip without being in front of the code or the card.
Beyond the tip
Requests, gig dates, links and booking enquiries
Song requests into a live queue, your next gig and weekly residencies, your socials and music links, and a booking enquiry form.
TipsMeTipsMe describes itself as a cashless tipping service, so the tip itself is the job it sets out to do for you.
Countries it covers
Works everywhere, tips included
The page, requests, gigs, links, enquiries, invoices and tips work in every country.
TipsMeSee its site for how it handles this.
The quick view
| GigTag | TipsMe | |
|---|---|---|
| A QR code your audience scans | Yes, one that never changes | Yes |
| Song requests from the crowd | Yes, on Pro | – |
| Tips by card or Apple Pay | Yes, on Pro, into your own Ziina or Stripe. GigTag takes 0% | Yes |
| Booking enquiries | Yes, on the free plan | – |
| Your gigs and weekly residencies | Yes, on the free plan | – |
| Invoices for bookings | Yes, on Pro | – |
| A printed tag for your mic stand | Yes, in your own design | – |
| Works without an app for the audience | Yes, it opens in the browser | – |
A dash means we did not confirm it for TipsMe, not that it is missing: see what TipsMe offers above, or ask on its site.
A TipsMe alternative
Where GigTag is different from TipsMe
Three ways to tip, one tag to scan
TipsMe offers a code, a card to tap and a profile. GigTag keeps to one thing in the room: a permanent QR code on a small custom tag for your mic stand. A fan scans it and your page opens in the browser, with no app, no account and nothing to download. You design the tag yourself, then order it printed or print your own for free.
A tip, or a reason to scan
A tipping service is there for the moment someone wants to give. A GigTag page gives the audience other reasons to scan first: asking for a song from your list, seeing your next gig and weekly residencies, following your socials, or sending a booking enquiry. Requests appear in a live queue on your phone during the set, so the scan becomes part of the night.
GigTag tips work everywhere
This matters before you choose. GigTag tips work in every country. A fan tips by card or Apple Pay on your page, the money goes into your own Stripe account, or your own Ziina account in the UAE, and GigTag takes 0%. So the GigTag page can take the tip as well as everything around it.
A night with GigTag
A hotel lounge residency in Dubai
You play piano in a hotel lounge four evenings a week. The GigTag tag hangs from your mic stand beside the piano, and guests notice it when they sit down. A couple scan it with a phone camera. Your page opens in the browser, with no app to install, and they request a song from your list. You see it in the live queue on your phone, on the music desk, and play it after the piece you are on.
The same page lets them leave a tip by card or Apple Pay. Here in the UAE it goes into your own Ziina account and GigTag takes 0%. Before they leave they look at your residencies, see which nights you are here, and add one to their calendar. Later a guest planning an anniversary dinner sends a booking enquiry from the page. You reply from the GigTag app, agree the evening, and send an invoice in your own design for the client to pay online.
About TipsMe
What is TipsMe?
TipsMe is a cashless tipping service. By its own description, people can tip in three ways: by scanning a QR code, by tapping a phone on an NFC card, or by visiting an online profile. That covers tips given in person and tips sent from somewhere else. The description is about tipping in general, so a performer would use it as anyone else who is tipped would. For prices and countries, see its site.
In practice that means three ways in. A code can be printed and left where the audience will see it. A card with an NFC chip can be tapped with a phone. A profile link can be shared online, for people who were not in the room. We have kept this description short on purpose: it covers only what TipsMe says about itself.
- Where
- Worldwide
- Website
- tips.me
How TipsMe works
- 1
Pick a way to be tipped. TipsMe describes three routes: a QR code, an NFC card and an online profile. Which you use depends on where the people tipping you will be.
- 2
Put it in front of people. In person, that means showing the code or holding out the card. Online, it means sharing the address of your profile with the people who follow you.
- 3
The tip is given. Someone scans the code, taps the card with their phone or opens the profile, and tips without needing cash. For everything beyond that, see its site.
Who TipsMe is for
Tipping by scanning. The QR code is for the person standing in front of you with a phone in their hand. They point the camera at the code and are taken to where they can tip, which makes it a route for tips given face to face.
Tipping by tapping. The NFC card is the second in-person route. In place of scanning, the person tipping holds their phone against the card. Anyone the card is held out to can tip in that way, without pointing a camera at anything.
Tipping from elsewhere. The online profile covers people who are not in the room. It gives you an address to share, so someone who heard about you later, or wants to tip after they have gone home, has a place to go.
The verdict
GigTag or TipsMe: which should you choose?
The bottom line
For a performer, GigTag is the stronger choice, because the code on your stand does more than collect money: it brings song requests, saves your next date in a guest's calendar and passes on booking enquiries. It also takes tips into your own Ziina or Stripe account with 0% taken by GigTag, so one tag can do the whole job. If your crowd already uses a tipping service such as TipsMe, the two can be linked.
You can: a tipping service such as TipsMe for the money, and GigTag for requests, gigs, links and booking enquiries. Your GigTag page can link to your tip profile, so the audience scans one tag. Or let GigTag's own tips, into your own Stripe or Ziina account, sit on the same page as everything else.
- Step 1
Decide where tips go
GigTag can take tips itself, through your own Ziina account in the UAE or your own Stripe account elsewhere. Keep a tipping service such as TipsMe only if your crowd already uses it.
- Step 2
Make the GigTag page
Add your song list, your gigs and residencies and your links, then design your tag. The page and the tag design are on the free plan.
- Step 3
Link the tip profile
If you use TipsMe, add your profile address to the links on your GigTag page, so the audience has one code to scan for everything.
Choose GigTag if
You want the scan to do more than collect a tip: song requests, your next gig, your links and booking enquiries. You also want tips that reach your own Stripe or Ziina account with 0% taken by GigTag.
Start freeTipsMe may still suit you if
You want tips and nothing else, and you like the idea of an NFC card people can tap as well as a code to scan.
GigTag FreeYour page, your tag design, every gig and residency, a booking form. One act.
GigTag ProSong requests, tips, invoices, more than one act. AED 30, £11.99 or $15.99 a month.
GigTag Printed tagFrom AED 100 in the UAE, £24.99 in the UK or €28.99 in the EU, delivered free, with a large size for more; $32.99 elsewhere, plus postage from the UK. Or print your own, anywhere, for free.
Is GigTag better than TipsMe for a musician in the UAE?
For a musician, GigTag covers more. In the UAE it takes tips by card or Apple Pay into your own Ziina account, with 0% taken by GigTag, and the same page handles song requests, your residencies, your links and booking enquiries. TipsMe is a tipping service. If tipping is all you want, compare the two on their own sites.
Why would a performer pick GigTag instead of a tipping service like TipsMe?
Because a performance is more than a payment. GigTag lets the audience request songs into a live queue, save your next gig, follow your links and enquire about booking you, from one scan with no app. Tips through GigTag work in every country too, so one tag can cover the act and the tip.
What is TipsMe?
TipsMe is a cashless tipping service. People can tip by scanning a QR code, by tapping an NFC card, or through an online profile. This page keeps to that description, because it is what TipsMe says about itself. For prices, supported countries and how to sign up, go to its own site.
Is GigTag the same kind of service as TipsMe?
Not quite. TipsMe is about tipping. GigTag is a page for a live act, opened from a QR code on your mic stand: song requests, gigs and residencies, links and booking enquiries, with invoices on Pro. Tips are one part of it, and they work in every country.
Can a solo musician or a band use GigTag alongside TipsMe?
Yes. GigTag is made for solo acts, duos and bands, and band members can join a band. Use it for requests, dates and booking enquiries, and keep TipsMe for tips if you like, or take them through GigTag. Add your tip profile to the links on your GigTag page.
I searched for TipsMe to take tips at gigs in the UAE. Does GigTag do that?
Yes. In the UAE a fan can tip by card or Apple Pay from your GigTag page. The money goes into your own Ziina account and GigTag takes 0%. Tips are part of GigTag Pro, and in other countries they go into your own Stripe account.
Can guests tip a musician by card without an app?
With GigTag, yes. A guest scans the tag, your page opens in the browser, and they tip by card or Apple Pay with no app and no account. The tip lands in your own Ziina account in the UAE, or your own Stripe account elsewhere, and GigTag keeps 0% of it.
Do I need a Ziina account to use GigTag?
Only for tips in the UAE. There, GigTag tips are paid into the performer's own Ziina account, and everywhere else into their own Stripe account. The page, the tag, your links, your gigs and residencies and the booking enquiry form are on the free plan and work in every country.
Can a hotel or restaurant musician use GigTag for a weekly residency?
Yes. Weekly residencies have their own place on a GigTag page, next to one-off gigs, and guests can add them to their calendar. A resident musician can leave the same tag on the mic stand every night, because the code never changes. Residencies are on the free plan.
What is the difference between TipsMe and a musician's QR page?
TipsMe is a tipping service, with a QR code, an NFC card and an online profile as ways to tip. A musician's page such as GigTag is built around the act: song requests, gigs and residencies, links and booking enquiries, with tips added on Pro. One is about the payment, the other about the performance.
Looking for TipsMe itself?
This page is GigTag's. TipsMe's sign-in, prices, reviews and support are on its own site.
Apps like TipsMe: more tips and digital tip jars compared
- Venmovs GigTag
- The Busking Projectvs GigTag
- Buy Me a Coffeevs GigTag
- Cash Appvs GigTag
- EZTiprvs GigTag
- Ko-fivs GigTag
TipsMe is the name of its owner's product; GigTag is not connected with it. What is said about TipsMe here comes from its own public website, checked on 7 October 2026. Products change: if something here is out of date, tell us and we will correct it.
For musicians
One code on your stand. Requests, tips and the next gig behind it.
No app for your audience, nothing to download. Free to start.