Kickstarter vs. Indiegogo: 14 Things You Should Know

Almost everyone has heard of Kickstarter by now. But did you know there’s another crowdfunding site called Indiegogo? Both sites are great ways to get your project or idea off the ground, but each site offers different features and benefits. Let’s take a look at Kickstarter vs. Indiegogo to see how they’re similar and how they’re different.

Kickstarter vs. Indiegogo: Pricing

Both Kickstarter and Indiegogo offer two types of crowdfunding: All-or-nothing and keep-what-you-raise. The all-or-nothing option means that if you don’t reach your fundraising goal, you get nothing and backers will not be charged for their pledges. The keep-what-you-raise option means that you collect all the funds pledged to you even if you don’t meet your funding goal.

Kickstarter and Indiegogo offer two pricing models: a 5% fee with Amazon payments and a 4% fee with PayPal. This is an advantage for Kickstarter, which has lower fees than Indiegogo.

Kickstarter vs. Indiegogo: Categories

One of the best Kickstarter vs. Indiegogo differences is in their categories. Kickstarter offers 11 choices, including Art, Comics, Dance, Design, Fashion, Film & Video, Food, Games, Music and Theater. Indiegogo offers 18 different categories to choose from with some overlap with Kickstarter, including Art, Comics and Theater. Indiegogo also offers a broader category called Technology.

Kickstarter vs. Indiegogo: Country Availability

Both Kickstarter and Indiegogo offer individual projects from just about any country in the world. But there are some restrictions if you want to run a Kickstarter campaign from another country besides the U.S. You must have a social security number, U.S. bank account and mailing address in the United States. For individual projects on Kickstarter, a U.S. citizen must be listed as either the creator or one of the major collaborators on the project being submitted to Kickstarter for approval. Overall, Indiegogo is more lax about accepting international startups and entrepreneurs.

Kickstarter vs. Indiegogo: Funding Duration

Another difference between the two crowdfunding sites is the length of time you have to raise funds — campaign duration, as it’s called on Kickstarter. Kickstarter projects must be fully funded within 60 days or less, but there are some exceptions that allow you more time. If you’re creating a product, you have 40 days to reach your funding goal. If your project is art-related, you have 60 days. If it’s film-related, you have 75 days.

Indiegogo lets you choose between flexible or fixed funding options for your campaign duration. With the flexible option, Indiegogo keeps all funds pledged to your campaign even if you don’t reach your funding goal. With fixed funding, Indiegogo only keeps the funds you raise if you meet or exceed your goal.

Kickstarter vs. Indiegogo: Fees

The Kickstarter vs. Indiegogo fee structure is one of the biggest differences between the two crowdfunding sites. If your project is successful, Kickstarter charges a 5% fee. If you don’t succeed, you don’t pay anything. That’s an advantage for crowd funders on Kickstarter.

Indiegogo takes a different approach to their fees with two options: Flexible and Fixed Funding. With the flexible option, Indiegogo charges a 9% fee — 4% for the transaction and 5% for using their payment processor. With the fixed option, Indiegogo charges a successful campaign a 9% fee plus a 4% processing fee.

Kickstarter vs. Indiegogo: Verification of Projects

To get your project approved by Kickstarter, you need to prove that you have legal rights to any artwork or media you display on your Kickstarter project page. If you’re raising money for a video game, for example, and want to include images and artwork on your Kickstarter project page you’ll need written permission from the developer or rights owner giving you those assets. You may also need explicit legal rights to any music or other media that shows up on your campaign page.

Indiegogo doesn’t require any verification or proof that they’re legal rights to artwork, music or other media. However, Indiegogo does include a disclaimer on their site that states you must have all permissions and releases for any content posted on your campaign page. So it’s up to the crowdfunder to get those permissions in writing.

Kickstarter vs. Indiegogo: Financial Restrictions

With Kickstarter, you must be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident to start a campaign on their site. A U.S. bank account is also required for Kickstarter transactions and pledge payments. It’s also worth noting that some countries have outlawed some types of crowdfunding activity, so you will not be able to run a campaign from those countries.

Indiegogo has no restrictions on who can start a campaign, where it’s located or what type of funding is allowed. Anyone in any country worldwide is welcome. Indiegogo also supports payments through PayPal and Amazon for all its campaigns.

Kickstarter vs. Indiegogo: Funding Restrictions

Kickstarter has some guidelines for what types of projects you can and can’t launch on their site. First off, you’re not allowed to offer equity in your start-up company on Kickstarter. On Indiegogo, anyone who wants to raise funds for a business or other commercial enterprise is welcome to do so by offering equity in their company.

Kickstarter’s policy is to not allow personal fundraisers for charities or medical expenses on their site. Indiegogo allows both, with specific guidelines that depend on the type of campaign you’re running. For example, with a charity fundraiser you must state exactly how your funds will be distributed and provide proof of your organization’s non-profit status. If you’re raising money to cover medical expenses, you must submit a detailed and itemized list of those costs.

Kickstarter vs. Indiegogo: Nonprofit Fundraising

Just as with personal campaigns, some types of nonprofit fundraisers are allowed on Kickstarter and others aren’t. For example, you can raise funds to publish a book, but not to help pay for medical expenses. It all depends on what you’re fundraising for.

On Indiegogo, anyone can raise funds to cover any legal event that’s non-profit in nature. For example, if your goal is to go on an archaeological dig trip and you need funds to do so, it would be a perfect fit for an Indiegogo campaign.

Kickstarter vs. Indiegogo: What is Allowed?

Kickstarter doesn’t allow any type of charity fundraisers on their site, even if the person raising funds isn’t profiting from it. On Indiegogo, anyone can raise money to cover non-profit legal expenses surrounding any type of event, with some guidelines in place.

Kickstarter vs. Indiegogo: How Much Money Can I Raise?

For Kickstarter, the sky’s the limit on how much money you can raise for your project (provided it falls within their funding guidelines). You set your goal amount and backers can pledge funds to that campaign. If you don’t reach your goal amount, no money exchanges hands, and backers are never charged.

On Indiegogo, there’s no limit to how much money you can raise on their site. The only restriction is that the total funds raised must be used for a specific non-profit event or cause. You also have to state exactly where funds will be distributed once you reach your fundraising goal.

Kickstarter vs. Indiegogo: What If I Fail to Reach My Goal Amount?

If you don’t meet your funding goal of $1,000 on Kickstarter, all money is returned to backers and the creator never receives any of it. With an Indiegogo campaign, however, an unsuccessful campaign will result in the creator receiving all funds raised minus a 9 percent fee.

Kickstarter vs. Indiegogo: Fees and Payment

Kickstarter has fees associated with every campaign, but they only apply if you reach or exceed your fundraising goal amount. For any dollar pledged above $1,000, Kickstarter takes 5 percent of the total amount and the payment processing fees are 3 to 5 percent. If you don’t meet your goal amount, Kickstarter doesn’t take any of the pledges.

Indiegogo has a 9 percent fee that applies whether or not you reach your fundraising goal. The only advantage in reaching your goal early (within 15 days) is that Indiegogo doesn’t take their fee out of your total funds raised until the goal is reached.

Kickstarter vs. Indiegogo: Is It Easier to Succeed?

All things being equal, it’s more likely that you’ll get funding for a Kickstarter campaign than an Indiegogo campaign because there are no limits on how much money can be raised. However, it’s not impossible to get funded on Indiegogo, so there’s no disadvantage in using this platform if you feel strongly about your cause or personal fundraiser.

The success of either site depends entirely on the strength of your idea and the way you promote your project or campaign. Using social media channels is vital for promoting any type of campaign.

The takeaway here is that it doesn’t really matter which crowdfunding platform you select, as long as your idea is a clear winner. Even if you’ve done a poor job of promoting your campaign, a strong idea can meet with wild success on either side.

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