Compare

Crowdfunding platform fees, side by side

Every platform publishes a percentage and none of them publishes what you actually pay. This is what reaches the campaign from four pledge sizes on seven platforms, using each one's own published rate on the date it was read.

How much do crowdfunding platforms charge?

Most take between 5% and 9% of what a campaign raises once the platform fee and the payment processing are added together. The headline number on a crowdfunding site is rarely the number a creator pays: the familiar 5% platform fee is usually quoted before processing, which adds roughly 3% plus a fixed amount per transaction. Both numbers are honest on their own, and only one of them goes in the marketing.

Ours is 1.5% of each pledge plus a flat $0.99, and there is no second cut from a card scheme because the money moves on a public network. The minimum pledge is $10.

The flat fee is the part worth understanding, because it is what makes a bare percentage misleading at small amounts. From a $100 pledge the campaign receives $97.51, which is 2.49% taken rather than the 1.5% you would get by subtracting the rate alone. At the $10 minimum the same fee is 11.4%. We would rather write that down than let somebody discover it in a payout.

The percentage fee on a pledge follows the plan of the account making the pledge and is taken when the pledge is made, so it is not returned if the campaign misses. Paid plans are not on sale today, so the published rate is the free-plan rate.

The published rate falls to 0.5% on the highest plan. Separately, a creator can choose to pay a share of a pledge to whoever brought it in, up to 18.5%. That is the creator's money and their decision rather than a platform charge, and the ceiling is enforced by the contract rather than by a policy page.

What reaches the campaign from one pledge, before anything the creator chooses to pay out of it. Competitor rates are their own published figures, read on the date shown.
Platform	What they charge	From $10	From $30	From $100	From $500	Rate read on
CoFunders	1.5% plus $0.99 per pledge on the free plan	$8.86	$28.56	$97.51	$491.51	Pricing
Kickstarter	5% platform fee plus payment processing of about 3% and $0.20 per pledge, roughly 8% plus $0.20 in total	$9.00	$27.40	$91.80	$459.80	4 September 2026 Source
Indiegogo	5% platform fee plus payment processing of about 3% and $0.30 per contribution, with a $25 charge on bank transfers outside the United States	$8.90	$27.30	$91.70	$459.70	4 September 2026 Source
Ulule	6.67% commission before VAT on funds received by card, which is about 8% with VAT added, plus a backer service fee of 2.2% and €0.10 per contribution introduced in April 2025The 2.2% and the €0.10 are charged to the contributor rather than to the creator. Both are counted in the figures here, because what a reader is comparing is what a pledge costs and what arrives.	$8.88	$26.84	$89.70	$448.90	20 September 2026 Source
PPL	5% of the amount raised plus a further 2% to cover payment costs, both plus VAT, charged only on a campaign that reaches its target	$9.14	$27.42	$91.39	$456.95	19 September 2026 Source
GoFundMe	no platform fee; 2.9% plus $0.30 per donation in the United States and 2.9% plus €0.25 in most of the EU, plus an optional donor tip	$9.41	$28.83	$96.80	$485.20	19 September 2026 Source
Patreon	10% of what you earn on Patreon, plus payment processing, currency conversion and payout fees	Not comparable per pledge: a share of monthly earnings rather than a fee on one pledge.				19 September 2026 Source

Where the cheaper option changes

A flat fee and a percentage cross somewhere, and that point is the only honest answer to which platform is cheaper. Below it a percentage-only platform wins; above it we do. These are computed from the rates in the table rather than estimated.

Against Ulule the crossing point is about $10. Below it their rate is the cheaper one: at the $10 minimum a pledge carries 11.4% here against 11.2% there. Above it ours is: at $500 it is 1.7% against 10.22%.
Against Indiegogo the crossing point is about $11. Below it their rate is the cheaper one: at the $10 minimum a pledge carries 11.4% here against 11% there. Above it ours is: at $500 it is 1.7% against 8.06%.
Against Kickstarter the crossing point is about $12. Below it their rate is the cheaper one: at the $10 minimum a pledge carries 11.4% here against 10% there. Above it ours is: at $500 it is 1.7% against 8.04%.
Against PPL the crossing point is about $14. Below it their rate is the cheaper one: at the $10 minimum a pledge carries 11.4% here against 8.61% there. Above it ours is: at $500 it is 1.7% against 8.61%.
Against GoFundMe the crossing point is about $49. Below it their rate is the cheaper one: at the $10 minimum a pledge carries 11.4% here against 5.9% there. Above it ours is: at $500 it is 1.7% against 2.96%.

If the campaign fails

The row no fee table shows, and the one most worth reading before you pledge. On most of these platforms a backer on a campaign that misses its goal pays nothing at all. Here the fees come off when the pledge is made, so they are not part of what comes back.

CoFunders: If the goal is not met by the deadline, you take your pledge back from escrow with one tap, and nobody has to approve it. What comes back is the amount held for you: your pledge minus the fees taken when you backed (the platform fee, the flat fee, any tip and any share reward the campaign pays).
Kickstarter: Nobody is charged. Kickstarter's own help pages state that no one is charged for a pledge towards a project unless it reaches its funding goal, so a backer on a failed campaign pays nothing at all.
Indiegogo: It depends which model the campaign chose. Fixed funding returns contributions when the goal is missed; flexible funding lets the campaign keep what it raised, which moves the risk of a half-funded project onto the backer.
Ulule: All or nothing, as here: a campaign that misses its goal is not funded and contributions go back to the people who made them.
PPL: Their own pricing answer states that if the goal is not reached and there are no unconditional donations there are no costs, and the money is sent back to the supporters.
GoFundMe: There is no goal to miss. Donations are released as they arrive, so a fundraiser that collects a fraction of what it asked for keeps that fraction and nothing goes back.
Patreon: There is no campaign and no goal, so there is nothing to miss. Patrons are charged each billing period for as long as they stay, whether or not the work they were funding arrives.

The comparisons in full

CoFunders vs Kickstarter
Kickstarter is far larger and will put your project in front of more people. CoFunders costs less per pledge above about $12 and settles its refund rule in a program rather than in a policy.
CoFunders vs Indiegogo
Indiegogo lets a campaign keep what it raises even when it misses its goal. CoFunders does not, on purpose, and that single difference is most of the reason to choose one over the other.
CoFunders vs Ulule
Ulule is the established European option and supports far more languages than we do. CoFunders is cheaper on larger pledges and publishes the rule that releases the money rather than describing it.
CoFunders vs PPL
PPL is Portugal's own crowdfunding platform and has been part of the Portuguese cultural scene for years. CoFunders is newer, bilingual by default, and settles on a public ledger anyone can read.
CoFunders vs GoFundMe
These are different tools rather than competing versions of one. GoFundMe is for donations to a cause and releases money as it arrives; CoFunders funds something that gets built, holds pledges until the goal is met, and gives backers a reward.
CoFunders vs Patreon
Patreon funds a person continuously; CoFunders funds one thing once. If you want monthly income from an audience that already follows you, Patreon is the right product and this page will not talk you out of it.

Updated on 20 September 2026

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