Kickstarter Vs Indiegogo: Which One To Choose?

Kick starter

So chances are you’ve heard of Kickstarter. You probably also have a good handle on the basic pros and cons of this platform, but for the sake of being comprehensive, let’s cover our bases and start at the beginning.

Today, crowdfunding is primarily synonymous with Kickstarter. It is the largest crowdfunding platform that exists. You also have a ton of metrics that are happy to sing your praises – Kickstarter campaigns have already raised over $ 2 billion. It has hosted 95,000 successful projects, has a total of 9.7 million backers, of which a third support multiple campaigns. More than 100 (132 actually) have passed the $ 1 million mark. Another 2,355 campaigns have raised more than US $ 100k. Do I need to continue?

This crowdfunding Goliath has 15 campaign categories. The film and video, music, and publishing categories are the most popular (you’ll find most of the campaigns registered in one of these), but it’s the games, tech, and design categories that really get backers excited. These last three are the most funded groups on the site (as a side note, Wednesday afternoon is the time most sponsors put their hands in their pockets).

Still impressed? Well, it might be a little less so when you know that all those impressive stats only account for 36.69% of Kickstarter activists. The rest (more than 60%) do not achieve their objectives.

But don’t be discouraged, Kickstarter still has a few tricks up its sleeve. With a reputation for throwing out wacky, innovative, and wonderful ideas, Kickstarter gets quite a bit of coverage from the media and bloggers. A well-placed article could earn you a spot in that top 37%.

Indiegogo

Initially focused exclusively on independent films (hence the name), Indiegogo began accepting projects of any category a year after its launch. Established to provide more opportunities for backers than Kickstarter, Indiegogo is generally perceived as a less strict platform. It is available in more than 200 countries and offers more categories (24 vs 15 on Kickstarter). It also gives backers control over whether they want fixed models (all or nothing) or flexible (the creator gets the amount they collect).

It may not be winning on the PR stakes, but Indiegogo certainly has more campaigns than Kickstarter. At any given time, it has around 10,000 live campaigns (Kickstarter has 6,000) and hosts an average of 260 new campaigns every day. You’re not that concerned with metrics either (you’ll have a hard time finding the kind of statistical data Kickstarter is happy to publish), but you will come across an odd estimate or three.

If Kickstarter estimates that around 37% of its activists are successful, then the digital world places Indiegogo’s success rate somewhere between 8 and 9%. It sounds terrible, but it has a few other things going for it. Its flexible financing scheme allows you to obtain financing without necessarily hitting your goals, plus our successful Indiegogo activists also tell us that customer support is second to none (not something that Kickstarter activists tend to agree with) . Add to that the fact that the pledges are non-refundable, so the creator knows exactly how much they’ve raised (Kickstarter campaigns tend to cut 5-7% from backers – more on that later), and Indiegogo is starting to look like an attractive option.

It’s also worth noting that the culture of different crowdfunding platforms varies a bit, so it’s important to clearly understand your audience. If they are more likely to opt for one platform over another, then you need to take that into account. Familiarity builds trust and makes visitors more open to promises.

So how can you find out which platform is best suited for your audience? Generally speaking, you will tend to find more artists, musicians, filmmakers, geeks, and tech gadget makers on Kickstarter. You’ll see more small businesses, controversial ideas, NGOs, and mass manufacturing on Indiegogo.

The demographics between platforms also vary. Indiegogo has a more female-friendly audience and receives more traffic from Facebook than from Kickstarter.

Therefore, before deciding which platform to choose, carefully examine your project category, marketing strategy, costs, appropriate financing schemes, and objectives.

Important to know

Remember that the platform will not do the job alone and you will have to work hard if you want to be successful. Explore our Blog to find out how.