Kickstarter

Givebutter vs Kickstarter

Compare Givebutter's top-rated services, pricing, and support to Kickstarter and see why Givebutter is the most-loved fundraising platform by nonprofits.

We know every nonprofit is different, so we’ve done the heavy lifting when it comes to research. Compare Givebutter to Kickstarter to discover which has everything you need to raise more and make your funds go further.

3 reasons nonprofits choose Givebutter over Kickstarter

Raise more

Kickstarter donations are great for crowdfunding a creative project, but it’s a non-starter if you want to raise general funds for your nonprofit. With Givebutter, organizations can fundraise for specific projects, host fundraising events, and solicit donations with modern, donor-friendly tools—all for free.

Pay less

With its all-or-nothing approach, Kickstarter fees (and payouts) only apply if you hit your funding goal. With Givebutter, you always get exactly what you raise when you raise it—no penalties for not hitting your goal or hidden fees.

Give better

Givebutter’s mission is to empower the changemaker in all of us, and its award-winning support team boasts industry-high ratings and live chat support with real humans—a feature Kickstarter does not provide.

Raise more

Givebutter vs Kickstarter nonprofit features—there’s no comparison

Built for creatives and faithful to its mission, Kickstarter campaigns may work well for some creative nonprofit projects. But Givebutter offers so many more fundraising tools than Kickstarter for nonprofits. With Givebutter’s all-in-one fundraising solution, organizations have everything they need to fund their mission in one convenient place: fundraising pages, robust email marketing, donor management (CRM), text-to-donate, peer-to-peer fundraising, embeddable donation forms, event management tools, and auctions at no additional cost.

Ease of use

Ease of setup

Quality of support

Embeddable forms & donate buttons

Custom branding

Custom donation amounts & labels

Custom fields

Donation dedications

Fund designations

Matching gifts

Giving hub

Personalized pages

Public donor messages

Peer-to-peer fundraising

Team fundraising

Leaderboards

Goal bar

Countdown

Virtual, in-person, & hybrid events

Unlimited ticket types & quantities

Ticket scanning & check-in

Card reader for in-person payments

Livestream

Live display

Automatic event reminders

Mobile bidding

Automated bidding

Bid notifications

QR codes for auction items

Self-service registration & checkout

Auto-charge winners

Payment requests & reminders

Unlimited contacts

Detailed contact profiles

Donor activity tracking & history

Custom donor segments & filters

Self-service importing & migration

Reports & analytics

End-of-year reports

Automatic receipts

Outbound email blasts

Outbound text blasts

Merge fields

Custom domains for emails

Peer-to-peer texting

Text-to-donate

Scan-to-donate

Message analytics & ROI

Social sharing

Major debit/credit card donations

Venmo donations

PayPal donations

Apple Pay & Google Pay donations

Donor-advised fund donations

ACH donations

Optional mail a check

Recurring donations

Record offline donations

Import transactions

Automated payouts

Payout reconciliation reports

Live chat support

Email support

Help center

Live workshops & product training

Live fundraising webinars

Platform fee

Payment processor fee

Can donors cover fees?

Users

9.4

9.5

Offered completely in free plan

Always transparent
Free forever thanks to optional donor tips

2.9% + 30¢

Unlimited

8.9

8.6

9.5

Offered for paid plans only

Additional fees apply for advanced customization

Offered for paid plans only

Not offered at all

For select paid plans

Offered for paid plans only

For select paid plans

Offered for paid plans only

For select paid plans

Offered for paid plans only

For select paid plans

Offered for paid plans only

Paid plans only
Pricing not listed publicly

Up to
‍4.35% + 35¢

Unlimited for paid plans

8.8

8.7

8.9

Offered for paid plans only

Donation forms only

Offered for paid plans only

Must request access through Classy API

Offered for paid plans only

Available upon request for paid plans only

Offered for paid plans only

For live events only through paid Classy Live plan

Offered for paid plans only

Paid plans only
Pricing not listed publicly

2.2%

Up to
‍3.2% + 30¢

Early access only

Unlimited for paid plans

9.2

9.1

7.8

Offered partially in free plan

Additional fees apply for advanced customization

Offered partially in free plan

Subject to higher platform & payment processor fees

Offered partially in free plan

Not offered at all

Offered partially in free plan

$195+ transfer fee

$35+/month

Offered partially in free plan

$19/month for standard
$50/month for custom keyword

Offered partially in free plan

Must create a business PayPal Checkout account

Depends on payment processor

Offered partially in free plan

For premium plans only

$0–$139+
/month

Plus additional monthly fees for more feature

Up to
2.95%

Up to
2.2% + 49¢

Additional fees apply

8.2

7.1

Offered partially in free plan

Not offered at all

Available upon request

Offered partially in free plan

For verified charity fundraisers only

Offered partially in free plan

Donors can't cover processing fees
Users are required to ask for donor tips

Up to
2.9% + 30¢

Unlimited

9.1

9.0

9.3

Offered for paid plans only

Donate buttons only

Offered for paid plans only

Paid plans only
Pricing depends on number of annual donors

Not listed publicly

Up to
5%

Unlimited for paid plans

8.6

7.7

Offered for paid plans only

Paid plans only
Pricing not listed publicly

Not listed publicly

Up to
3.5% + 30¢

Unlimited for paid plans

8.6

7.7

Not offered at all

Offered partially in free plan

Not offered at all

Offered partially in free plan

Only pay if you meet your fundraising goal

Up to
5% + 0.20¢

Not listed publicly

9.1

8.9

9.7

Offered partially in free plan

Offered for paid plans only

Offered partially in free plan

Offered for paid plans only

Offered partially in free plan

$0 - $700+
/month

Plus additional fees
for addon features/integrations

Depends on plan

Up to
4.95% + 0.95¢

Unlimited

9.1

9.0

9.6

Offered for paid plans only

Mobile app only

Not offered at all

Offered for paid plans only

Recorded videos only

$125 - $200 /month

Pricing based on nonprofit's annual revenue

Up to
6.9% + 0.30¢

Unlimited

9.8

9.4

9.7

Offered completely in free plan

Offered partially in free plan

Not offered at all

Offered partially in free plan

Nonprofits must apply & be accepted

Up to
3.49% + $5

Early access only

Unlimited

8.8

8.5

9.0

Offered partially in free plan

For select paid plans

Offered partially in free plan

For paid plans only

Offered partially in free plan

For paid plans only

Not offered at all

Offered partially in free plan

For select paid plans

Offered partially in free plan

Welcome email only

Offered partially in free plan

For select paid plans

$0 - $315 /month

Free plan comes with limited features, integrations, and support

Up to
4.25%

Up to
2.2% + 30¢

Paid plans only

Unlimited for paid plans

8.7

8.5

9.4

Offered for paid plans only

Virtual events only

Not offered at all

Offered for paid plans only

Paid plans only
Pricing not listed publicly

Not listed publicly

8.4

8.3

9.2

Offered for paid plans only

$199 - $999 /month

Plus additional monthly fees
for addon features/support

Not listed publicly

Up to
3%

Donors can only cover 3% of fees

Unlimited for paid plans

Offered for paid plans only

Not offered at all

Offered for paid plans only

$1,000+
/year

Additional fees apply for advanced features, integrations, and custom branding

Not listed publicly

9.0

8.9

8.5

Not offered at all

Offered partially in free plan

Not offered at all

Offered partially in free plan

For select paid plans

Professional plan is free
Premium requires custom quote

3.7% + $1.79

2.9%

Not listed publicly

9.0

8.4

8.3

Offered partially in free plan

Not offered at all

Offered partially in free plan

Additional fees apply for international donations

Up to
2.89% + $0.49

Not listed publicly

7.1

6.9

8.1

Offered for paid plans only

Not offered at all

Offered for paid plans only

Paid plans only
Pricing not listed publicly

Not listed publicly

9.3

8.7

9.6

Offered for paid plans only

Not offered at all

Offered for paid plans only

Recorded only

$79–$1299+ /month

Plus additional monthly fees for add-on features/support

Up to
2.2% + 30¢

Unlimited

8.5

8.3

9.1

Offered for paid plans only

Limit of 9 per event

Not offered at all

Offered for paid plans only

$79–$1299+ /month

Plus additional monthly fees for add-on features/support

Up to
2.2% + 30¢

Unlimited

7.3

6.2

7.4

Not offered at all

Offered for paid plans only

Not offered at all

Offered for paid plans only

$60–$100
/user/month

Plus additional monthly fees for add-on features/support

N/A

Additional monthly fees apply per user

7.3

6.9

7.6

Offered for paid plans only

Not offered at all

Offered for paid plans only

Paid plans only through Blackbaud
Pricing not listed publicly

Monthly payment enablement & gateway fees, invoiced annually

Up to
3.5% + 30¢

Payment processing fees only

Unlimited for some plans

Offered partially in free plan

Not offered at all

Offered partially in free plan

Zeffy relies entirely on contributions from donors

Not listed publicly

9.5

9.0

9.4

Offered completely in free plan

Offered partially in free plan

For select paid plans

Offered partially in free plan

Not offered at all

Offered partially in free plan

For select paid plans

Offered partially in free plan

For select paid plans

Offered partially in free plan

For select paid plans

Offered partially in free plan

Offered for paid plans only

Pricing not listed publicly
Limited free plan available

2.9% + 30¢

Not listed publicly

8.5

8.7

9.3

Offered for paid plans only

Not offered at all

Offered for paid plans only

Paid plans only
Pricing not listed publicly

Not listed publicly

9.5

8.6

9.8

Offered completely in free plan

Offered partially in free plan

Not offered at all

Offered partially in free plan

Custom pricing

Based on annual donation volume
Pricing not listed publicly

Starting at 4%

Depends on payment method

Not listed publicly

9.0

8.8

9.6

Offered partially in free plan

Offered completely in free plan

Offered partially in free plan

For premium plans only

Not offered at all

Offered for paid plans only

For premium plans only

Offered partially in free plan

For premium plans only

Offered partially in free plan

$0–$179+
/month

Custom pricing available for additional features & integrations

2.9% + 30¢

Payment processing fees only

Unlimited

8.1

8.0

8.6

Offered for paid plans only

Not offered at all

Offered for paid plans only

Paid plans only
Additional fees apply for premium support & features

Depends on payment method

Must be a Neon Pay client

9.2

9.0

9.5

Not offered at all

Offered for paid plans only

Not offered at all

Offered for paid plans only

Paid plans only
Pricing not listed publicly

Not listed publicly

3.5% + 30¢

Not listed publicly

8.9

8.8

9.2

Not offered at all

Offered partially in free plan

Not offered at all

Offered for paid plans only

Additional fees may apply

Offered partially in free plan

Offered for paid plans only

For paid plans only

$0–$700
/year

Based on annual revenue
Additional fees apply for premium support & features

Combined with processing fees

Up to
3.9% + 30¢

Up to 99 for premium plans

Not offered at all

Offered for paid plans only

For premium plans only

Offered for paid plans only

Not offered at all

Offered for paid plans only

For premium plans only

Offered for paid plans only

$795–$2,295 /year

Clickbid pricing is based on feature access

Up to
3.5%

Not listed publicly

Not offered at all

Offered for paid plans only

Notifications only

Offered partially in free plan

$0–$580+ /auction

Pricing based on number of auction items and features needed

Up to
2.9% + 40¢

Up to
3.49% + 49¢

Unlimited

Not offered at all

Offered for paid plans only

Not offered at all

Offered for paid plans only

Not offered at all

Offered for paid plans only

Paid plans only
Pricing not listed publicly

Not listed publicly

9.5

9.3

9.4

Not offered at all

Offered partially in free plan

Not offered at all

Offered partially in free plan

Up to
5%

2.9% + 30¢

Not listed publicly

Unlimited

See all Givebutter features

Pay less

More value for less money than Kickstarter pricing

Both Givebutter and Kickstarter are free to use, but Kickstarter fees mean you end up with less money in your bank account. Thanks to optional donor tips, Givebutter has no platform fees. Plus, 95% of donors opt to cover the standard fees for payment processing, so more money goes right to your cause.

Ease of use

Ease of setup

Quality of support

Embeddable forms & donate buttons

Custom branding

Custom donation amounts & labels

Custom fields

Donation dedications

Fund designations

Matching gifts

Giving hub

Personalized pages

Public donor messages

Peer-to-peer fundraising

Team fundraising

Leaderboards

Goal bar

Countdown

Virtual, in-person, & hybrid events

Unlimited ticket types & quantities

Ticket scanning & check-in

Card reader for in-person payments

Livestream

Live display

Automatic event reminders

Mobile bidding

Automated bidding

Bid notifications

QR codes for auction items

Self-service registration & checkout

Auto-charge winners

Payment requests & reminders

Unlimited contacts

Detailed contact profiles

Donor activity tracking & history

Custom donor segments & filters

Self-service importing & migration

Reports & analytics

End-of-year reports

Automatic receipts

Outbound email blasts

Outbound text blasts

Merge fields

Custom domains for emails

Peer-to-peer texting

Text-to-donate

Scan-to-donate

Message analytics & ROI

Social sharing

Major debit/credit card donations

Venmo donations

PayPal donations

Apple Pay & Google Pay donations

Donor-advised fund donations

ACH donations

Optional mail a check

Recurring donations

Record offline donations

Import transactions

Automated payouts

Payout reconciliation reports

Live chat support

Email support

Help center

Live workshops & product training

Live fundraising webinars

Platform fee

Payment processor fee

Can donors cover fees?

Users

9.4

9.5

Offered completely in free plan

Always transparent
Free forever thanks to optional donor tips

2.9% + 30¢

Unlimited

8.9

8.6

9.5

Offered for paid plans only

Additional fees apply for advanced customization

Offered for paid plans only

Not offered at all

For select paid plans

Offered for paid plans only

For select paid plans

Offered for paid plans only

For select paid plans

Offered for paid plans only

For select paid plans

Offered for paid plans only

Paid plans only
Pricing not listed publicly

Up to
‍4.35% + 35¢

Unlimited for paid plans

8.8

8.7

8.9

Offered for paid plans only

Donation forms only

Offered for paid plans only

Must request access through Classy API

Offered for paid plans only

Available upon request for paid plans only

Offered for paid plans only

For live events only through paid Classy Live plan

Offered for paid plans only

Paid plans only
Pricing not listed publicly

2.2%

Up to
‍3.2% + 30¢

Early access only

Unlimited for paid plans

9.2

9.1

7.8

Offered partially in free plan

Additional fees apply for advanced customization

Offered partially in free plan

Subject to higher platform & payment processor fees

Offered partially in free plan

Not offered at all

Offered partially in free plan

$195+ transfer fee

$35+/month

Offered partially in free plan

$19/month for standard
$50/month for custom keyword

Offered partially in free plan

Must create a business PayPal Checkout account

Depends on payment processor

Offered partially in free plan

For premium plans only

$0–$139+
/month

Plus additional monthly fees for more feature

Up to
2.95%

Up to
2.2% + 49¢

Additional fees apply

8.2

7.1

Offered partially in free plan

Not offered at all

Available upon request

Offered partially in free plan

For verified charity fundraisers only

Offered partially in free plan

Donors can't cover processing fees
Users are required to ask for donor tips

Up to
2.9% + 30¢

Unlimited

9.1

9.0

9.3

Offered for paid plans only

Donate buttons only

Offered for paid plans only

Paid plans only
Pricing depends on number of annual donors

Not listed publicly

Up to
5%

Unlimited for paid plans

8.6

7.7

Offered for paid plans only

Paid plans only
Pricing not listed publicly

Not listed publicly

Up to
3.5% + 30¢

Unlimited for paid plans

8.6

7.7

Not offered at all

Offered partially in free plan

Not offered at all

Offered partially in free plan

Only pay if you meet your fundraising goal

Up to
5% + 0.20¢

Not listed publicly

9.1

8.9

9.7

Offered partially in free plan

Offered for paid plans only

Offered partially in free plan

Offered for paid plans only

Offered partially in free plan

$0 - $700+
/month

Plus additional fees
for addon features/integrations

Depends on plan

Up to
4.95% + 0.95¢

Unlimited

9.1

9.0

9.6

Offered for paid plans only

Mobile app only

Not offered at all

Offered for paid plans only

Recorded videos only

$125 - $200 /month

Pricing based on nonprofit's annual revenue

Up to
6.9% + 0.30¢

Unlimited

9.8

9.4

9.7

Offered completely in free plan

Offered partially in free plan

Not offered at all

Offered partially in free plan

Nonprofits must apply & be accepted

Up to
3.49% + $5

Early access only

Unlimited

8.8

8.5

9.0

Offered partially in free plan

For select paid plans

Offered partially in free plan

For paid plans only

Offered partially in free plan

For paid plans only

Not offered at all

Offered partially in free plan

For select paid plans

Offered partially in free plan

Welcome email only

Offered partially in free plan

For select paid plans

$0 - $315 /month

Free plan comes with limited features, integrations, and support

Up to
4.25%

Up to
2.2% + 30¢

Paid plans only

Unlimited for paid plans

8.7

8.5

9.4

Offered for paid plans only

Virtual events only

Not offered at all

Offered for paid plans only

Paid plans only
Pricing not listed publicly

Not listed publicly

8.4

8.3

9.2

Offered for paid plans only

$199 - $999 /month

Plus additional monthly fees
for addon features/support

Not listed publicly

Up to
3%

Donors can only cover 3% of fees

Unlimited for paid plans

Offered for paid plans only

Not offered at all

Offered for paid plans only

$1,000+
/year

Additional fees apply for advanced features, integrations, and custom branding

Not listed publicly

9.0

8.9

8.5

Not offered at all

Offered partially in free plan

Not offered at all

Offered partially in free plan

For select paid plans

Professional plan is free
Premium requires custom quote

3.7% + $1.79

2.9%

Not listed publicly

9.0

8.4

8.3

Offered partially in free plan

Not offered at all

Offered partially in free plan

Additional fees apply for international donations

Up to
2.89% + $0.49

Not listed publicly

7.1

6.9

8.1

Offered for paid plans only

Not offered at all

Offered for paid plans only

Paid plans only
Pricing not listed publicly

Not listed publicly

9.3

8.7

9.6

Offered for paid plans only

Not offered at all

Offered for paid plans only

Recorded only

$79–$1299+ /month

Plus additional monthly fees for add-on features/support

Up to
2.2% + 30¢

Unlimited

8.5

8.3

9.1

Offered for paid plans only

Limit of 9 per event

Not offered at all

Offered for paid plans only

$79–$1299+ /month

Plus additional monthly fees for add-on features/support

Up to
2.2% + 30¢

Unlimited

7.3

6.2

7.4

Not offered at all

Offered for paid plans only

Not offered at all

Offered for paid plans only

$60–$100
/user/month

Plus additional monthly fees for add-on features/support

N/A

Additional monthly fees apply per user

7.3

6.9

7.6

Offered for paid plans only

Not offered at all

Offered for paid plans only

Paid plans only through Blackbaud
Pricing not listed publicly

Monthly payment enablement & gateway fees, invoiced annually

Up to
3.5% + 30¢

Payment processing fees only

Unlimited for some plans

Offered partially in free plan

Not offered at all

Offered partially in free plan

Zeffy relies entirely on contributions from donors

Not listed publicly

9.5

9.0

9.4

Offered completely in free plan

Offered partially in free plan

For select paid plans

Offered partially in free plan

Not offered at all

Offered partially in free plan

For select paid plans

Offered partially in free plan

For select paid plans

Offered partially in free plan

For select paid plans

Offered partially in free plan

Offered for paid plans only

Pricing not listed publicly
Limited free plan available

2.9% + 30¢

Not listed publicly

8.5

8.7

9.3

Offered for paid plans only

Not offered at all

Offered for paid plans only

Paid plans only
Pricing not listed publicly

Not listed publicly

9.5

8.6

9.8

Offered completely in free plan

Offered partially in free plan

Not offered at all

Offered partially in free plan

Custom pricing

Based on annual donation volume
Pricing not listed publicly

Starting at 4%

Depends on payment method

Not listed publicly

9.0

8.8

9.6

Offered partially in free plan

Offered completely in free plan

Offered partially in free plan

For premium plans only

Not offered at all

Offered for paid plans only

For premium plans only

Offered partially in free plan

For premium plans only

Offered partially in free plan

$0–$179+
/month

Custom pricing available for additional features & integrations

2.9% + 30¢

Payment processing fees only

Unlimited

8.1

8.0

8.6

Offered for paid plans only

Not offered at all

Offered for paid plans only

Paid plans only
Additional fees apply for premium support & features

Depends on payment method

Must be a Neon Pay client

9.2

9.0

9.5

Not offered at all

Offered for paid plans only

Not offered at all

Offered for paid plans only

Paid plans only
Pricing not listed publicly

Not listed publicly

3.5% + 30¢

Not listed publicly

8.9

8.8

9.2

Not offered at all

Offered partially in free plan

Not offered at all

Offered for paid plans only

Additional fees may apply

Offered partially in free plan

Offered for paid plans only

For paid plans only

$0–$700
/year

Based on annual revenue
Additional fees apply for premium support & features

Combined with processing fees

Up to
3.9% + 30¢

Up to 99 for premium plans

Not offered at all

Offered for paid plans only

For premium plans only

Offered for paid plans only

Not offered at all

Offered for paid plans only

For premium plans only

Offered for paid plans only

$795–$2,295 /year

Clickbid pricing is based on feature access

Up to
3.5%

Not listed publicly