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While Kickstarter is a popular crowdfunding platform, it doesn't work for everyone. Whether you're a nonprofit, creative, or innovator, there's an alternative platform that may be a better match.
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Anyone considering crowdfunding for business funding has almost certainly looked into Kickstarter. And why not? Kickstarter has come to dominate the conversation when it comes to tapping the internet to fund creative projects.
However, some of the restrictions of Kickstarter may drive you to find another crowdfunding platform. Whether you don’t have a product to offer or you didn’t pass the prescreening process, here are some alternatives to Kickstarter that may be a better fit for your fundraising needs.
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| Company | Summary | Next StepsSummary |
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Wefunder
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Indiegogo
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Patreon
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Fundable
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GoFundMe
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Kiva U.S.
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Read more below to learn why we chose these options.
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Table of Contents
Picking the best crowdfunding platform isn’t an easy task. You have to consider why you need funds, what you have to offer, and what structure works best for your situation (i.e., debt crowdfunding, equity crowdfunding, etc.) That’s why we’ve chosen these alternatives to Kickstarter to cover nearly any situation.
| Platform Fees | Processing Fees | Crowdfunding Type | Model | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wefunder | 7.9%+ | N/A | Equity | All-or-Nothing |
| Indiegogo | 5% | 3% + $0.20 | Rewards & Equity | Keep-It-All & All-or-Nothing |
| Patreon | 8%-12% | Varies | Continuous Rewards | Monthly payments |
| Fundable | Starts at $179/month | Not disclosed | Rewards & Equity | All-or-Nothing |
| GoFundMe | None | 2.9% + $0.30 | Donation-Based | Keep-It-All |
| Kiva U.S. | None | None | Debt | All-Or-Nothing |
Pros
Cons
Wefunder is an equity crowdfunding platform that lets businesses raise money from anybody who wants to invest, not just accredited investors. And when it comes to equity crowdfunding for non-accredited investors -- sometimes referred to as Regulation Crowdfunding -- Wefunder is the market leader with a track record of success. Wefunder is most suitable for businesses with exponential growth potential.
Wefunder doesn't curate the companies on its platform the way many equity crowdfunders do. You'll be allowed onto the platform so long as you don't violate the rules. You can set up a Wefunder profile for your company for free. However, if you meet your funding goal by the end of your campaign, you must pay a fee. You won't have to pay payment processing fees on top of that -- the investor bears those fees.
Pros
Cons
Indiegogo shares a lot in common with Kickstarter. Both platforms have become a haven for fundraising campaigns relating to tech/gadgets and creative works, such as board games, art, music, and cinema. Both platforms facilitate gift-giving between campaigners and backers to motivate potential backers to get involved.
However, the two platforms differ in some significant respects as well. Indiegogo enables you to choose between launching an all-or-nothing campaign a la Kickstarter or a keep-whatever-you-raise campaign. Unlike Kickstarter, Indiegogo does not require you to offer physical rewards to your backers.
Another point of departure from Kickstarter is that Indiegogo does not pre-screen projects before letting them onto the platform the way Kickstarter does. With Indiegogo, you can also continue to raise funds after your initial campaign with its InDemand program.
Pros
Cons
Creators and entertainers of all varieties have found Patreon's particular model of ongoing rewards crowdfunding to be a good fit. With Patreon, backers don't just support you with a one-time payment. They sign up to support you on a recurring basis, either per month or per creation, with the expectation that you will release content continuously. That makes Patreon an ideal platform for artists, musicians, and podcasters who seek to monetize their audience.
Unlike Kickstarter, Patreon doesn't require you to provide exclusive content to your backers (or "patrons," as Patreon refers to them), though Patreon highly recommends it. Also note that unlike Indiegogo's InDemand, Patreon does not require that campaigners have any history of success with crowdfunding.
Pros
Cons
Fundable is strictly for businesses looking to raise capital. Think of it as a more buttoned-down crowdfunding platform than Patreon, and its funding model is more akin to that of Kickstarter. Like Kickstarter, Fundable requires pre-approval before your business can launch a campaign. Fundable also follows the Kickstarter all-or-nothing funding model.
However, there's one major point of departure from Kickstarter. Along with rewards-based funding campaigns, Fundable lets you launch equity-based campaigns in which investors send you funds in exchange for an ownership stake in your company. Equity crowdfunding is a more difficult prospect than rewards crowdfunding, and only accredited investors can contribute. But for entrepreneurs and businessfolk prepared to deal with the complexities of equity crowdfunding, it's an option that Fundable provides.
Pros
Cons
GoFundMe has grown to become a crowdfunding behemoth, and it's the only crowdfunding platform that has raised more money than Kickstarter. Although known more for its charitable crowdfunding campaigns, GoFundMe can work for business-related projects if they can be framed in an uplifting way, or if it has some kind of social justice message to emphasize.
A GoFundMe crowdfunding campaign does bear some similarities to a Kickstarter campaign. GoFundMe gives you the tools and the bandwidth to launch a crowdfunding campaign and take it viral with social media connectivity. Unlike Kickstarter, you are not allowed to offer rewards to your backers, as this is a donation-based platform.
Pros
Cons
Kiva U.S. is a crowdfunding service that fundamentally differs from both Kickstarter-esque rewards crowdfunding sites and equity crowdfunding sites. Kiva U.S. is a debt crowdfunding site, which means you solicit a loan from a crowd of lenders. You can receive up to $15,000 through Kiva U.S.
What makes Kiva U.S. distinct from other "crowdlending" sites, however, is the fact that Kiva's loans are interest-free. Though you'll still have to pay back the loan, it's just about the closest thing to free money as you're ever likely to encounter in the business world. Kiva's goal is to extend lending to businesses that would otherwise struggle to qualify for traditional loans.
We spend hours researching and evaluating each crowdfunding platform that we review at Merchant Maverick, placing emphasis on key characteristics to generate our product ratings.
When rating crowdfunding platforms, we use a rubric that looks at terms and fees, project qualifications, application process, sales and advertising transparency, customer service, and user reviews. We weigh each section differently to calculate the total star rating.
Each section is further broken down into granular, weighted subsections, in which we look at specific attributes, such as campaign durations, supported project types, time to funding, application processing times, and platform fees. Learn more about how we rate crowdfunding platforms.
Kickstarter gets a lot of media attention for the innovative, wacky, and sometimes downright bizarre crowdfunding campaigns it has spawned. However, as we’ve established, Kickstarter is more exclusive than many of its competitors. Simply put, it’s not for everybody.
Fortunately, you have many options when looking for a crowdfunding platform. The options here are all solid alternatives, whether you want to peddle your creative wares or raise money for your startup business.
We invite you to check out our comprehensive reviews, read user reviews, and do more research before picking the platform that’s best for your project. Good luck!
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The vendors that appear on this list were chosen by subject matter experts on the basis of product quality, wide usage and availability, and positive reputation.
Merchant Maverick’s ratings are editorial in nature, and are not aggregated from user reviews. Each staff reviewer at Merchant Maverick is a subject matter expert with experience researching, testing, and evaluating small business software and services. The rating of this company or service is based on the author’s expert opinion and analysis of the product, and assessed and seconded by another subject matter expert on staff before publication. Merchant Maverick’s ratings are not influenced by affiliate partnerships.
Our unbiased reviews and content are supported in part by affiliate partnerships, and we adhere to strict guidelines to preserve editorial integrity. The editorial content on this page is not provided by any of the companies mentioned and has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities. Opinions expressed here are author’s alone.
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