Growing an audience
Running the business
Both cover monetization & payments. Here is what separates them on price, billing, what you can take with you, and coverage.
| BackerKit | Paddle | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | Free | Free |
| Pricing model | Free | Free |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Billing | Usage-based | Usage-based |
| Free trial | Not stated | Not stated |
| API | Not stated | Yes |
| Data export | Not stated | Not stated |
| Their cut | 5% of what you earn | Not stated |
| Runs on | Web | Web |
| Covers | Crowdfunding, Monetization & Payments | Monetization & Payments, Digital Products & Storefronts |
| Works with | Nothing in particular | Nothing in particular |
| Founded | Not listed | Not listed |
| Reader rating | No reviews yet | No reviews yet |
| Live deals | None right now | None right now |
Crowdfunding with the pledge manager attached
BackerKit started as the thing campaigns moved to after Kickstarter closed, to collect addresses and sell add-ons, and now runs the campaign itself as well. Keeping both halves in one place removes the export and re-import that loses backers. It leans heavily toward tabletop games, which shows in the templates and in who is browsing.
Our note
The reason to launch here rather than on Kickstarter is the second half of the job. If the project is a straightforward one-reward campaign with no add-ons and no shipping tiers, Kickstarter's larger browsing audience is worth more than the pledge manager.
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Merchant of record for digital products
Paddle acts as the merchant of record, meaning it sells your product to the customer and then pays you, taking sales tax registration and remittance off your desk entirely. That is the whole difference between it and a plain card processor, and it is why software sellers outside the United States end up here. One rate covers payments, billing and tax. Products under ten dollars are quoted separately.
Our note
The extra two points over Stripe buys you out of tax registration, which is worth it the moment you sell across borders. Lemon Squeezy is the same company at the same headline rate with a lighter setup, so pick that one unless you need Paddle's billing depth.
Ratings are the average of reviews readers left. The facts are stated by each tool’s own listing and are not verified by CloutStack. How we make money.
Only on this side