How to Crowdfund a Software Product (Kickstarter and More)

Short answer: You can crowdfund a software product on Kickstarter or Indiegogo, as long as you are building something new and offer rewards (early access, licences, credits) rather than shares or returns. Both platforms take a 5% platform fee plus payment processing, and both only pay out when you reach your goal. For most solo software makers, the deciding factor is not the platform. It is whether you have an audience that will pledge in the first 48 hours.

Every fee, rule and limit below comes from the platform's own help pages or pricing page, checked on 9 Nov 2026. The campaign plan and the advice in between are ours and are marked as such.

TL;DR#

• Kickstarter is all-or-nothing. If you miss the goal, "Backers are not charged, and the creator receives no funds." If you hit it, Kickstarter takes 5% and Stripe takes "roughly 3-5%" (Kickstarter fees).
• Indiegogo is now fixed funding too. "Flexible Funding is no longer available for new campaigns" since its 16 October 2025 upgrade. Fees are 5% plus 3% and 0.20 per transaction (Indiegogo platform upgrade).
• No equity, no returns. "Kickstarter cannot be used to offer equity, financial returns, or to solicit loans" (Kickstarter rewards).
• Pre-orders on your own site are cheaper per sale (Stripe 2.9% + 30¢ for US domestic cards) but you bring every buyer yourself.
• Open source has its own route. GitHub Sponsors charges no fees on sponsorships from personal accounts.

Disclosure: ZeroRaised publishes this guide and is a launch site for bootstrapped products. ZeroRaised has no commercial relationship with Kickstarter, Indiegogo, Stripe, Gumroad, Lemon Squeezy, Patreon, Open Collective or GitHub and earns nothing if you use them. This is not legal or tax advice.

Does crowdfunding work for software?#

It can, with caveats. Our overview of ways to fund a product without venture capital covers reward crowdfunding next to grants, revenue and sponsorship, so we will not repeat it here. This post is the practical version for an app, game, developer tool or SaaS.

The best-known software example is Ghost. Its funding page says "Ghost started with a $350,000 Kickstarter campaign in 2013 and has been profitable every single year since the beginning", and that it has made "over $8M from customers in return for 0% equity" (Ghost funding). Notice what made it work: an open-source publishing tool with a clear demo and a community that wanted it to exist.

Our read: crowdfunding suits software people can picture and want to own, such as games, creative tools, open-source projects and developer tools with a vocal niche. It suits B2B SaaS poorly: companies rarely back a campaign page. If your buyer is a business, pre-sales to five named customers will usually beat a public campaign.

Kickstarter's stats page now redirects to a 2025 year-in-review post with no category success rates, so we are not quoting any.

Kickstarter rules that matter for software#

Kickstarter's help center sets out what a project has to be. Projects exist "to create something new" that "will be shared with others", and "we don't permit offering something that's already available somewhere else as a project's end goal" (Can Kickstarter be used to fund anything?). It also prohibits projects that are "illegal, heavily regulated, or potentially dangerous for backers, as well as rewards that the creator did not make."

For software, that means:

1. The product cannot already be on sale. A campaign for version 2, a new platform port or a new major feature set is fine in our reading. A campaign to fund a SaaS you already sell on your site is not.
2. Rewards must be things you make. Licences, early access, in-game items, credits in the app and physical merch you produce are rewards. "Offering a return on investment, or a monetary reward of any kind, is prohibited."
3. No equity. "Kickstarter cannot be used to offer equity, financial returns, or to solicit loans", and "Project creators keep 100% ownership of their work" (Kickstarter rewards).

On prototypes, Kickstarter's strictest rule is written for physical products: "hardware and product design creators are required to show working prototypes of their projects" and "We do not allow photorealistic renderings" (Kickstarter hardware rules). That article does not mention software. Our read: treat it as the standard anyway. A screen recording of a real build is the single most persuasive asset a software campaign has, and a mock-up invites the question "does this exist?"

Fees and funding models compared#

Sources: Kickstarter fees, Kickstarter all-or-nothing, Indiegogo fees, Indiegogo platform upgrade, Indiegogo Express crowdfunding.

Kickstarter#

Kickstarter explains all-or-nothing as protection for both sides: "Backers are not making a guaranteed purchase. They are funding a creative process, with the built-in assurance that if the campaign falls short, no one is charged" (Kickstarter all-or-nothing). Campaigns "can run anywhere from one day to 60, though 30 days tends to work best."

If you are funded, Kickstarter's Late Pledges feature lets you "collect pledges to their project, after their campaign has ended successfully", with payment "taken immediately" (Kickstarter Late Pledges). For software, that matters: people who discover the campaign late can still buy the founder licence.

Indiegogo#

Indiegogo changed a lot in late 2025. Its help center says: "On October 16th 2025, Indiegogo migrated to a new version of the platform powered by Gamefound technology." Flexible Funding was discontinued for new campaigns, live flexible campaigns were converted to fixed funding, and "InDemand is now 'Late Pledge'" (Indiegogo platform upgrade). Older guides that recommend Indiegogo for "keep what you raise" funding are out of date.

The new option is Express crowdfunding, which "exists for creators who want confirmed orders faster". Backers pay at checkout, there is no campaign goal, and payouts start during the campaign (Indiegogo Express). Our read: Express behaves more like a pre-order store with Indiegogo's audience attached. It gives up the all-or-nothing safety net, so only use it if you are sure you can ship at whatever amount you raise.

Alternatives to Kickstarter for software#

Pre-orders on your own site#

You can run a pre-sale without a platform at all: a landing page, a price, a ship date and a checkout. Current per-transaction prices checked today:

One technical trap: you cannot hold a card for a whole month the way an all-or-nothing campaign implies. Stripe says an authorisation is "typically on hold for 7 days for online payments" (Stripe holds). So a self-run pre-sale normally charges up front and promises a refund if you do not ship. Our read: write that refund promise on the checkout page, with a date.

Lifetime deal pre-sales#

A limited run of lifetime licences sold before launch is a pre-order with a cap. Our read: cap the number, exclude future products by name, and price it at roughly two to three years of the planned subscription. Every lifetime buyer is a support cost forever.

Sponsorships for open source#

If your software is open source, recurring sponsorship often fits better than a one-off campaign.

• GitHub Sponsors: "GitHub Sponsors does not charge any fees for sponsorships from personal accounts." Sponsorships from organisation accounts carry a fee of up to 6% (3% card processing and 3% GitHub service fee), and organisations can avoid the card part with invoiced billing (GitHub Sponsors fees).
• Open Collective: collectives are free to use, with optional platform tips or "a simple 5% Crowdfunding Fee instead of tips" (Open Collective pricing). If you use Open Source Collective as your fiscal host, it "charges a fixed 10% host fee on incoming funds", with payment processor fees on top (OSC fees).

Patreon for ongoing development#

Patreon suits makers who ship continuously, such as game modders, plugin authors and creative-tool developers. It charges 10% "of the income you earn on Patreon", "Plus payment processing, currency conversion, and payout fees, and applicable taxes" (Patreon pricing).

Equity crowdfunding, as a contrast#

Wefunder, Republic and Crowdcube use the word crowdfunding, but they sell shares in your company. In the US this runs under Regulation Crowdfunding, which caps a company at "a maximum aggregate amount of $5 million through crowdfunding offerings in a 12-month period" and requires transactions to go through "an SEC-registered intermediary" (SEC Regulation Crowdfunding). That is raising from investors. It is a legitimate choice, but it ends full owner funding, so it is outside the bootstrapped playbook.

Worked example: what you keep from $20,000#

Illustrative only: 400 backers paying $50 each, US cards, no taxes, refunds or reward costs.

Our read: the fee gap between a platform and your own checkout is about $1,000 on $20,000. That is cheap if the platform brings even 20 backers you would not have found yourself, and expensive if every backer came from your own list.

A campaign plan for a software product (ours)#

1. Build the audience before the page#

Kickstarter says 30-day campaigns tend to work best, which is a short window to find strangers. Spend the two to three months before launch collecting emails from people who want the product. Our guide on how to build a waitlist before launch covers the landing page, the incentive and the follow-up emails. Our rule of thumb: do not launch until your list could plausibly fund a third of the goal in the first two days.

2. Set a goal you can ship on#

All-or-nothing protects you only if the goal covers the real cost of finishing. Add up contractor time, assets, app store and hosting costs for the first year, then add the fees from the table above and a buffer for refunds. If that number is far above what your list can fund, cut scope rather than inflate hope.

3. Design software reward tiers#

Keep physical rewards to a minimum. Shipping T-shirts can cost more than building the app.

4. Make a short video of the real thing#

Show the actual build working within the first 20 seconds, then explain who it is for and when it ships. Our read: honesty about what is unfinished builds more trust than polish.

5. Plan fulfilment and support#

Licence keys, downloads and accounts for hundreds of backers arrive at once. Decide before launch how you will deliver them, where support questions go, and what happens if you slip the ship date. Post updates once a week during development, even when there is little news.

6. Treat launch day as a launch#

A campaign is a product launch with a countdown. Work through our product launch checklist for bootstrapped makers: press list, community posts, emails ready to send, and someone to answer comments on day one.

7. Talk to an accountant about tax#

How pledges are taxed, and whether sales tax or VAT applies to digital rewards, depends on your country, your structure and where backers live. We have not cited tax rules for that reason. Get local advice before you launch, not after the money lands.

Frequently asked questions#

Can you put a software product or app on Kickstarter?#

Yes, as long as the project creates something new that will be shared with others, is not already available elsewhere, and offers rewards rather than equity, financial returns or loans. Kickstarter's strict working-prototype rule is written for hardware and product design projects, but showing a working build is still the best way to earn trust for software.

How much does Kickstarter take from a software campaign?#

If the campaign is funded, Kickstarter collects 5% of the funds collected, and Stripe charges a payment processing fee that Kickstarter describes as roughly 3-5%. If the campaign misses its goal, no fees are collected and backers are not charged.

Does Indiegogo still offer flexible funding?#

Not for new campaigns. Indiegogo's help center says that on 16 October 2025 it moved to a new platform powered by Gamefound technology and that Flexible Funding is no longer available for new campaigns. It also offers Express crowdfunding, where backers pay at checkout and payouts start during the campaign.

Is it better to crowdfund or take pre-orders on my own site?#

Crowdfunding platforms add discovery, a deadline and an all-or-nothing safety net, for about 8-10% in total fees. Pre-orders on your own site cost less per sale and keep the customer relationship with you, but you have to bring every buyer yourself. If you already have a waitlist that converts, pre-orders are usually the cheaper test.

Is equity crowdfunding the same as Kickstarter?#

No. Kickstarter backers get rewards and you keep 100% ownership. Equity crowdfunding sells shares in your company through an SEC-registered intermediary, capped at $5 million in a 12-month period under Regulation Crowdfunding. It is fundraising from investors, so it changes your bootstrapped status.

Launch it where bootstrappers look#

Funded campaign or pre-sale, the product still needs a launch. Submit it to ZeroRaised for free, the launch directory for products built without institutional VC. For more guides on funding and growing without investors, join the ZeroRaised newsletter.

Sources#

All last checked 9 Nov 2026.

• Kickstarter: What are the fees?
• Kickstarter: Why is funding all-or-nothing?
• Kickstarter: Can Kickstarter be used to fund anything?
• Kickstarter: What do backers get in return?
• Kickstarter: Rules for hardware and product design projects
• Kickstarter: Late Pledges common questions
• Kickstarter: A year in review 2025
• Indiegogo: Fees
• Indiegogo: What changed with the platform upgrade?
• Indiegogo: Express crowdfunding
• Ghost: Funding
• Stripe US pricing
• Stripe: Place a hold on a payment method
• Lemon Squeezy pricing
• Gumroad pricing
• GitHub Sponsors: fees and taxes
• Open Collective pricing
• Open Source Collective fees
• Patreon pricing
• SEC: Regulation Crowdfunding