15 Great Kickstarter Website Alternatives For Crowdfunding Projects

Crowdfunding is just that - a crowd of people who are willing to fund initiatives like charities, small businesses, art installations, new technology, community projects and more. A request for funding is made by companies or individuals who are in need of money. Users will start by creating a profile, outlining their project, and even posting a video describing the details. Some websites require projects to be fully funded before any money is distributed to the project.

Why do people give money to these projects? For the greater good, to help budding entrepreneurs, and maybe even to better their karma. You can pledge as little as $1, which can make a huge difference to many people. Some of the project coordinators will even offer a reward to people who pledge a higher amount. The creativity that comes out of crowdfunding is truly amazing.

Kickstarter is undoubtedly the most popular crowdfunding website available, but it is restricted to the USA. Here are some great kickstarter websites from all around the world.

Kickstarter Comparison

Alexa Global Rating: 939

Available To: USA

Supported Projects: Creative projects for artists, designers, curators and performers

Fees: 5% of the funded amount

All Or Nothing: Yes, must be fully funded in order to receive money

Details: Kickstarter provides a very user-friendly platform for crowdfunding. You can filter projects by location, popularity, or category. All of Kickstarter payments are made through Amazon, so you'll need an account to start a project with them.

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• Offering ownership or equity
• Revenue sharing and investments
• Lotteries or raffles

WATCH OUT!

Be aware that in some countries, you may need to declare your pledges or donations on your taxes.

Appsfunder

Alexa Global Rating: 270,869

Available To: Worldwide (website is in EUR, GBP and USD)

Supported Projects: Apps

Fees: Not Available

All Or Nothing: Yes, project must be fully funded in order to receive money

Details: This crowdfunding website is solely dedicated to phone apps. What's awesome about this site - people who donate will get a cut of the proceeds made from the app that they pledged. You can also embed your project on your website via AppsFunder, which helps to gain traffic and awareness of your project and their site. This crowdfunding website has lot of potential with apps becoming more and more used around the world.

Babeldoor

Alexa Global Rating: 1,041,867

Available To: Worldwide, but the site is in French

Supported Projects: Art, sustainable developments, education, youth projects, technology and more

Fees: 5% of final amount raised

All Or Nothing: Yes, project must be fully funded in order to receive money

Details: Babeldoor is completely in French, but that's nothing Google translate can't fix. You can, however, filter projects by location like North America, Europe, India, etc. This is a great site if you live in a French speaking region and need to raise funds from the community around you.

Buzzbnk

Alexa Global Rating: 1,253,652

Available To: UK

Supported Projects: Charity, community, co-operatives and not-for-profit companies

Fees: 5% of final amount raised, plus £25 registration fee

All Or Nothing: Yes, project must be fully funded in order to receive money

Details: Buzzbnk is a combination of profit and not-for-profit companies. They donate over 63% of their profits to charity, which is great. They're looking for projects with aim for social benefit, which they analyse before posting on their website.

Funded By Me

Alexa Global Rating: 547,670

Available To: Worldwide

Supported Projects: Art, community projects, technology, business start-ups and more

Fees: 6% of final amount raised

All Or Nothing: Yes, project must be fully funded in order to receive money

Details: Swedish crowdfunding website Funded By Me does a good job of keeping up with some of the USA's top websites. The site is in both English and Swedish, which gives a wider range of visitors to the site. If your project is technology based and you can raise 50% of the amount through the website, you can apply for the other 50% through their Internet Fund scheme.

GoFundMe

Alexa Global Rating: 17,639

Available To: USA, UK, Australia, Canada and the EU

Supported Projects: Creative, charity, medical expenses, religious groups and more

Fees: 5% from each donation

All Or Nothing: No, payments are made in real time, so you can start your project asap

Details: GoFundMe is one of the best alternatives to Kickstarter that is out there. They have the best platform and countries available for crowdfunding. GoFundMe deducts the 5% fee in real time, so you can see how much is owing right away. The site has some great features like a wedding registry and donation widgets for your website or blog. There's also an affiliate network available, which will help to get the word out about the website and help to grow its traffic.

Go Get Funding

Alexa Global Rating: 421,043

Available To: Worldwide

Supported Projects: Charity, community projects, education, family affairs, travel, weddings and more

Fees: 2% of final amount raised

All Or Nothing: No, partial funds will be distributed

Details: Go Get Funding has fundraisers that are a little less artsy than the other crowdfunding websites. Many of the projects are aimed towards helping those in need from providing resources to third world countries to helping people with medical expenses. They have the lowest fees of all the crowdfunding websites, which can really make a difference to a worthwhile cause.

Ideame

Alexa Global Rating: 62,642

Available To: Latin America

Supported Projects: Art, social, technology, education and more

Fees: Not Available

All Or Nothing: Yes, project must be fully funded in order to receive money

Details: Ideame says, "With a lack of capital funding and restrictive access, Ideame helps thousands of developers take action and give life to their projects". I love that this website is dedicated solely to Latin America, which allows a platform for thousands of great artists and entrepreneurs in these areas.

IndieGoGo

Alexa Global Rating: 5,460

Available To: Worldwide

Supported Projects: Creative, cause, entrepreneurial

Fees: 4% if you meet your goal, 9% if you don't meet your goal

All Or Nothing: No, partial funds will be distributed

Details: Unlike Kickstarter, IndieGoGo allows you to keep all the money pledged, regardless if you hit your goal or not. Payments can be made with Paypal, which is handy for many people. They also have a partner program, which enables a company to have various campaigns at one time.

Investedin

Alexa Global Rating: 321,879

Available To: Worldwide

Supported Projects: Art, community, entertainment, medical fees, science and more

Fees: 3% of money that is withdrawn from the site

All or Nothing: Not Available

Details: Although the website name suggests this is an investment site, Investedin denies this by stating "We ask that users do not give back money in return for investment. This is not a bank. These are not loans." The site offers a unique opportunity for pledges to be transferred between projects if you no longer want to pledge a particular project.

PleaseFund.Us

Alexa Global Rating: 531,661

Available To: UK (Site is in £, but I believe it's open to worldwide projects)

Supported Projects: Art, Food, Music, Technology, and more

Fees: 5% on successful projects

All or Nothing: Yes, project must be fully funded in order to receive money

Details: PleaseFund.Us says that as long as your project is street legal, it's ok by them. Projects must be approved by the PleaseFund.Us team in order to be posted on the website.

Pozible

Alexa Global Rating: 179,075

Available To: Australia (Site is in AUD, but I believe it's open to worldwide projects)

Supported Projects: Art, community, performance, technology and more

Fees: From 5-7.5%

All Or Nothing: Yes, project must be fully funded in order to receive money

Details: The fees for Pozible are based on different factors - if you've received an invitation from a successful collaborator or if you're a member of a network, you'll pay 5%. If you join just out of the blue and don't belong to a network, you'll pay 7.5% in fees. They have a great section which is dedicated to artists whose work is under the creative commons license.

Rice Bowl Project

Alexa Global Rating: 3,301,531

Available To: USA only

Supported Projects: Art, classes, legal fees, rehabilitation, technology, small business start-ups and more

Fees: 5% of final amount raised

All Or Nothing: Yes, project must be fully funded in order to receive money

Details: This is another all-or-nothing website that won't give up the cash until you've raised all of the money. Their slogan "Crowdfunding for Community Benefit" says it all about the Rice Bowl Project. They tend to sway towards the community projects. 1% of all money raised will go to their For the Planet charity for The Oceanic Preservation Society.

RocketHub

Alexa Global Rating: 60,702

Available To: Worldwide

Supported Projects: Art, Food, Music, Technology, and more

Fees: 4% fee for successful projects or 8% for unsuccessful projects, plus 4% credit card processing fee

All Or Nothing: No, partial funds will be distributed, but with a higher fee deducted

Details: RocketHub uses different terminology than the other crowdfunding websites. Fuelers are people who donate or pledge money, and fuel is money. They also award badges for tasks you complete, making the projects look more credible. RocketHub provides very detailed instructions and ideas for making your project a success, reward ideas for your Fuelers.

Verkami

Alexa Global Rating: 80,663

Available To: Worldwide

Supported Projects: Art, events, documentaries, free licensing and more

Fees: 5% of final amount raised

All Or Nothing: Yes, project must be fully funded in order to receive money

Details: Barcelona based Verkami provides a crowdfunding platform for Spanish and English speakers. The site has a set time of 40 days allotted for fund projects. If they're not funded within that time, all money is sent back. In case you were wondering, verkami is a neologism in Esperanto meaning "creation lover".

WeFund

Alexa Global Rating: 230,038

Available To: Worldwide

Supported Projects: Art, community, technology, charity and more

Fees: 5% of final amount raised, plus 5 pence for each pledge

All Or Nothing: Yes, project must be fully funded in order to receive money

Details: WeFund has a cool map of where the projects are taking place, so you can find something locally or otherwise. The site is mostly used within the UK where the developers are located. The site boasts helping projects earn more than £350,000 thus far.