Crowdfunding Fees Compared: Which Platform Has the Lowest Cost?

The platform you choose can quietly decide how much money reaches your cause. Crowdfunding fees vary widely, platform percentages, payment processing charges, and per-donation costs stack up fast, and most fundraisers don’t notice until the money lands short.

This guide breaks down the real fees of Tiing, GoFundMe, Kickstarter, Indiegogo, and Donorbox, shows exactly how much you keep on a real campaign, and explains how to pay less on any platform. The short version: Tiing consistently ranks among the lowest-fee platforms in North America, helping Canadian and American fundraisers raise more and keep more.

Crowdfunding fee comparison table

Figures verified July 2026. Processing fees are charged by Stripe, PayPal, or Adyen and apply on every platform.

What are crowdfunding fees and why do they matter?

Crowdfunding fees are the costs pulled from donations before the money reaches your account. Knowing them up front lets you set a realistic goal and avoid an unpleasant surprise at payout.

There are three pieces to watch. Platform fees are the percentage the crowdfunding website itself keeps, anywhere from 0% to 5% or more. Payment processing fees cover the cost of accepting cards and digital payments; processors like Stripe and PayPal charge roughly 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction, and you can’t avoid them. Transaction fees are those small fixed amounts, often $0.20 to $0.30 per gift, that add up quickly across many small donations. Some platforms also charge a success fee that applies only when a campaign hits its goal.

Here’s why it matters. On a single $50 donation, a 2.9% + $0.30 fee leaves you $48.25, $1.75 gone. Multiply that across hundreds of gifts and the gap between keeping 92% and keeping 97% can mean hundreds or thousands of dollars. Small campaigns feel it most, because fixed per-donation fees eat a bigger share of every gift.

Full comparison of crowdfunding fees

Tiing: the lowest-fee platform in Canada and the US

• Platform fee: 4%, charged only when you withdraw
• Processing: $1 per contribution
• Success fee: none
• Currencies: CAD & USD

Tiing keeps pricing simple. Nothing to launch, nothing to run, the 4% applies only when you close your campaign and request a transfer, and each contribution carries a flat $1. Because it processes CAD and USD natively, Canadian campaigns skip the currency-conversion losses that US-only platforms create, and American fundraisers get the same clear, predictable pricing. It fits personal causes, education funding, nonprofits, and community projects equally well.

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GoFundMe: no platform fee, higher processing

• Platform fee: 0%
• Processing: 2.9% + $0.30 (2.2% + $0.30 for verified charities)
• Success fee: none

GoFundMe dropped platform fees in 2017 and now relies on optional donor tips. The 2.9% + $0.30 processing charge still applies to every gift. Its huge audience makes it hard to beat for personal and emergency fundraising, though it isn’t built for business or reward-based campaigns.

Kickstarter: high fees plus all-or-nothing

• Platform fee: 5% (funded campaigns only)
• Processing: ~3% + $0.20 per pledge
• Success fee: yes, only if the goal is met

Kickstarter’s all-or-nothing model means you collect nothing if you miss your goal. When you do succeed, the combined ~8% total cost makes it one of the pricier options: a $10,000 project pays about $500 to Kickstarter plus roughly $320 in processing, keeping around $9,180. It remains the home of creative and product launches, but its rules make it a poor fit for causes or community funding.

Indiegogo: flexible funding, similar cost

• Platform fee: 5%
• Processing: ~3% + $0.30
• Success fee: none

Indiegogo lets you keep what you raise even if you fall short, but charges the same 5% platform fee as Kickstarter plus processing, about 8% total, or roughly $9,170 kept on $10,000. Its InDemand feature keeps funded campaigns selling after they end. Good for startups and hardware; expensive for personal causes.

Donorbox: low platform fee, watch the add-ons

• Platform fee: 1.6%–2.95% (by plan)
• Processing: Stripe/PayPal, ~2.2% + $0.30 for nonprofits
• Success fee: none

Donorbox targets nonprofits. Its free Standard plan charges 2.95% per transaction; Premium drops that to 1.6% but adds a monthly subscription (around $195). Combined with processing, real costs land near 4–5%. Great for high-volume, recurring fundraising; less so for a one-time campaign.

Real examples: how much you actually keep

$5,000 personal fundraiser (100 gifts of $50)

• Tiing: ~$4,700 after 4% + $1 per donation
• GoFundMe: ~$4,625 after 2.9% + $0.30 per donation
• Donorbox: ~$4,530 (Standard plan + processing)
• Kickstarter: not applicable (no personal causes)

$20,000 creative project (400 pledges of $50)

• Tiing: ~$18,800
• Kickstarter: ~$17,800 after 5% + ~3% + $0.20 per pledge
• Indiegogo: ~$18,140 after 5% + ~3% + $0.30 per pledge

Kickstarter’s success fee and per-pledge cost make it the most expensive here, even though Tiing wasn’t designed specifically for creative projects, it leaves the creator with more.

$8,000 nonprofit event (160 gifts of $50)

• Tiing: ~$7,520
• GoFundMe: ~$7,420
• Donorbox: ~$7,340 (Standard plan)

What percentage does GoFundMe take?

GoFundMe charges no platform fee, it takes 0% of the funds you raise. What it does deduct is the payment processing fee of 2.9% + $0.30 per donation (or 2.2% + $0.30 for verified nonprofits). So on a $100 gift, roughly $3.20 goes to processing and you keep about $96.80. The optional “tip” GoFundMe asks donors to add supports the company and doesn’t reduce what you receive.

How much does GoFundMe take out of $20,000?

If your $20,000 comes in as 400 donations of $50, you’d lose about $580 in percentage fees (2.9%) plus $120 in fixed $0.30 charges, roughly $700 total, leaving around $19,300. Fewer, larger gifts cost less because the fixed $0.30 applies once per donation: the same $20,000 raised in 100 gifts of $200 would keep closer to $19,400.

Is there a fee for crowdfunding? (And the downside)

Yes, some fee is unavoidable, because payment processing always has a cost, even on “free” platforms. The real question is how much. That’s the main downside of crowdfunding: between platform percentages, processing, and per-donation charges, 3% to 10% of what you raise can disappear before it reaches your cause. Choosing a transparent, low-fee platform, and encouraging larger individual gifts, is the simplest way to shrink that gap.

Crowdfunding vs. GoFundMe: which is better?

GoFundMe is a crowdfunding platform, the real comparison is GoFundMe versus other crowdfunding sites. GoFundMe wins on brand recognition and reach for urgent personal causes. But for Canadian campaigns, or for anyone who wants native CAD/USD payouts and a fixed, predictable cost, Tiing typically leaves you with more: no currency conversion, no donor-tip prompts, and a flat $1 + 4% you can calculate before you launch.

How to choose a crowdfunding platform

Fees are the biggest lever, but not the only one. Before you launch, weigh four things together:

• Total cost, not headline fee. A “0% platform” still charges ~3% in processing. Add platform fee, processing, per-donation charges, and any currency conversion to get your true cost.
• Funding model. All-or-nothing (Kickstarter) versus keep-what-you-raise (Tiing, GoFundMe, Indiegogo flexible). Pick based on whether a partial raise is still useful to you.
• Cause fit and rules. Kickstarter blocks personal causes; GoFundMe isn’t built for products; nonprofits get better rates on Donorbox and GoFundMe Charity. Match the platform to your campaign type.
• Support and payout. Responsive support, fast payouts, and native currency matter once money starts moving. For a successful campaign, reliability beats flashy features.

How to reduce crowdfunding fees on any platform

• Encourage larger gifts. One $100 donation costs far less in fixed fees than ten $10 gifts. Offer meaningful recognition tiers.
• Pick transparent pricing. Avoid platforms with hidden tiers or optional tips that muddy your math.
• Use native currency. Canadian campaigns should raise in CAD to skip 2–3% conversion costs that never show up in advertised fees.
• Share updates often. More engagement means more (and bigger) donations, so fees become a smaller share of your total.
• Keep donations local where possible to avoid cross-border transaction charges.

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FAQ: Crowdfunding fees