Worried that crowdfunding platform fees will eat your funding goal? For rewards campaigns, plan on about 5% to the platform plus roughly 3% plus a fixed charge per pledge for payment processing.
If you are new to the topic, our overview of crowdfunding for creators explains how fees fit alongside goals, rewards and promotion.
| Platform | Published creator cost |
|---|---|
| Kickstarter (US projects) | 5% of successfully collected funds plus 3% + $0.30 per pledge |
| Indiegogo | 5% plus 3% + $0.20 per transaction |
| GoFundMe | 0% platform fee plus US transaction fee of 2.9% + $0.30 |
| Patreon | Standard 10% platform plan for pages published after August 4, 2025, plus processing |
| Crowd Supply | Typically 12% plus 3.75% processing and item fees |
These figures come from Scaleup Lab’s 2026 comparison, which lists published platform terms available on September 1, 2026. Fees can change, so check each platform’s current terms and calculator before you rely on them.
The layers inside every fee
A platform’s headline percentage is only one piece of what leaves your campaign. According to Tiing’s fee comparison, crowdfunding fees are the costs deducted from donations before funds reach your account. They usually come in four layers.
- Platform fee: a percentage taken by the crowdfunding website itself.
- Payment processing: the cost of accepting cards and digital payments, handled by third-party processors such as Stripe or PayPal.
- Fixed transaction fee: a small flat amount per donation, often $0.20 to $0.30.
- Success fee: charged only when a campaign reaches its funding goal.
The same source notes that you can’t avoid the processing layer, because it is part of online payment infrastructure. What you can do is choose a platform whose other layers suit your campaign.
How the main platforms compare
Most rewards platforms charge a platform fee of about 5%, then add payment processing on top. Donation platforms tend to flip that: a low or zero platform fee, with processing doing most of the work. The table below uses the same Scaleup Lab snapshot from September 1, 2026.
| Platform | Funding model | Published creator cost |
|---|---|---|
| Kickstarter | Rewards, all-or-nothing | 5% plus 3% + $0.30 per pledge (US) |
| Indiegogo | Rewards, fixed funding | 5% plus 3% + $0.20 per transaction |
| GoFundMe | Donations, keep funds raised | 0% platform fee plus 2.9% + $0.30 |
| Crowdfundr | Rewards or support | Optional Tips can mean 0% platform fee; processing typically 2.9% + $0.30 |
| Seed&Spark | Rewards for storytelling, funds kept after reaching 80% | 0% platform fee plus average US processing of 2.9% + $0.30 |
Two details are worth knowing. Kickstarter discounts processing for pledges under $10, and it collects no fee if a project misses its goal, according to Scaleup Lab. Indiegogo retired Flexible Funding for new campaigns on October 16, 2025, according to BoostYourCampaign, so its new campaigns now follow the same all-or-nothing logic.
Sources do not always agree on the small print. Tiing’s table lists Kickstarter at about 3% + $0.20 and Indiegogo at about 3% + $0.30, the reverse of the Scaleup Lab figures. Treat the fixed part of the processing fee as approximate until you check the platform’s own calculator.
GoFundMe’s zero platform fee comes with a catch: it relies on optional donor tips to support operations, and Tiing says those tips don’t reduce what organizers receive. Supporters may see a tip prompt at checkout, so expect that to shape the donor experience.
What platform fees leave your campaign
Percentages are easy to wave away until you apply them to real pledges. On a single $50 donation with a 2.9% processing fee plus $0.30, you receive $48.25, so $1.75 is gone before you see it.
Scale that up using Tiing’s worked example: a $10,000 campaign with 200 donations of $50 each loses about $290 to percentage fees plus $60 in fixed charges. The organizer receives around $9,650.
A rewards platform changes the picture. Kickstarter’s US structure adds a 5% platform fee on successfully collected funds to a similar processing charge, so the same pledges would leave you with less than the GoFundMe-style figure above.
Small pledges hurt most. A campaign with 100 donations of $50 each pays the same fixed fee 100 times, and Tiing points out that small fundraisers feel this more because a fixed fee is a larger share of each gift.
Costs that sit outside the headline fee
Scaleup Lab warns that payment processing, currency conversion, taxes, wire fees, refunds, marketing, pledge management and fulfillment can all add costs. Some of these never show up on a platform’s pricing page, so build them into your budget early.
- Wire fees: TCF’s platform guide says Indiegogo adds a $25 fee if you transfer funds to a non-US bank account.
- Pledge management: the same guide says Indiegogo’s Pledge Manager charges 5% + 3% + 0.20 per transaction, with no setup fee.
- Fulfillment and rewards: printing, packaging and shipping are your own costs, whatever the platform charges.
- Taxes and currency conversion: these depend on where you and your supporters live.
How do you choose when the fees look alike?
BoostYourCampaign argues that fees are roughly the same across Kickstarter, Indiegogo and GoFundMe, so fees should not be your deciding factor. Its view is that the funding model and the audience matter more: Kickstarter and Indiegogo are rewards platforms, and GoFundMe is a donation platform.
A practical order of decisions:
- Decide what supporters receive: a product or reward, a donation receipt, or ongoing membership.
- Pick the funding rule you can live with. Scaleup Lab notes that all-or-nothing suits projects where a minimum order quantity or tooling bill makes partial funding unsafe.
- Estimate your typical pledge size and run the arithmetic above for each shortlisted platform.
- Check the platform’s current fee page before you launch.
Once you know your costs, work out how to set a crowdfunding goal that covers them with room to spare. Rewards also cost money to produce, so browse crowdfunding reward ideas with your margins in mind.
Frequently asked questions
Which crowdfunding platform has the lowest fees?
Show answer
On the published terms in Scaleup Lab’s September 1, 2026 snapshot, GoFundMe and Seed&Spark list a 0% platform fee, and Crowdfundr can reach 0% with Optional Tips. They serve different jobs, though, and processing of about 2.9% + $0.30 still applies, so match the platform to your funding model first.
Do you pay anything if your campaign misses its goal?
Show answer
On Kickstarter, backers are not charged and no fee is collected if the project misses its goal, per Scaleup Lab. TCF says the same applies on Indiegogo. GoFundMe works differently: it lets you keep funds raised, so processing fees apply to each donation.
Can you avoid payment processing fees?
Show answer
Not really. Tiing explains that third-party processors charge fees on each donation and that these charges are part of online payment infrastructure. You can only reduce their impact, for example by encouraging larger pledges so fixed fees take a smaller share.
How often do crowdfunding fees change?
Show answer
They can change at any time. Scaleup Lab advises verifying a platform’s current calculator and contract immediately before launch, and the Indiegogo funding change of October 16, 2025 shows how quickly terms can shift.
