Comparison
CoFunders vs Kickstarter
Kickstarter is far larger and will put your project in front of more people. CoFunders costs less above about $30 a pledge and enforces its refund in a program rather than a policy.
Fees, side by side
- Kickstarter
- 5% platform fee plus 3–5% + $0.20 payment processing, roughly 8–10% in total
- CoFunders
- 1.5% + $0.99 per pledge on the free plan (2.49% on a $100 pledge), down to 0.5% on the top plan
Their published rate, read on 2026-09-04. Check it yourself
What they do better
- Audience. Kickstarter has an established base of people who browse it looking for things to back, and that is the single hardest thing for any competitor to replicate.
- Track record. It has run since 2009 and creators know what to expect from it.
- Category depth. Games and hardware in particular have communities that live there.
What we do differently
- Fees. 1.5% plus $0.99 per pledge on the free plan, falling to 0.5% on the top plan, against their combined 8–10%.
- The refund is enforced by the contract, not promised by the policy. Pledges sit in an on-chain escrow, and the program will not release them to the creator unless the goal is met. Anyone can read the balance without asking us.
- You can withdraw a pledge at any point before the campaign reaches its goal. Once it funds you cannot, and we say so everywhere rather than in a help page.
- Payouts are same-day when a campaign funds, rather than a two-week settlement.
Where we are the worse choice
- Our flat $0.99 means small pledges cost proportionally more here. At the $10 minimum a backer pays 11.4% — worse than Kickstarter's roughly 5.5% on a pledge that size. We become cheaper at around $30 and much cheaper above $100, where we take 2.49% against their 8–10%.
- Discovery. We are new. A campaign that would find its backers on Kickstarter's front page will not find them here yet, and no fee saving compensates for an audience that does not exist.
- If your project is a video game or a tabletop title, Kickstarter's community for those is a real asset and we do not have an equivalent.
Which to pick
Pick Kickstarter if you are relying on the platform to find your backers, or if most of your pledges will be under $30. Pick CoFunders if you are bringing your own audience, your pledges are larger, and you would rather the refund guarantee be something a backer can verify than something they have to trust.