Making the work
Growing an audience
Running the business
Both cover crowdfunding and monetization & payments. Here is what separates them on price, billing, what you can take with you, and coverage.
Crowdfunding built to leave creators the money
Donation forms with the fee written down
Crowdfundr | Donately | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | Free | From $99 |
| Pricing model (they differ) | Free | Free plan, paid tiers |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Billing (they differ) | Usage-based | Monthly or annual |
| Free trial | Not stated | Not stated |
| API | Not stated | Yes |
| Data export | Not stated | Everything, in an open format |
| Their cut | 5% of what you earn | Not stated |
| Runs on | Web | Web |
| Covers |
Shaded rows are where the two answers disagree and both listings have answered. A row where one side has not stated a fact is left plain, because silence is not a difference.
Crowdfunding built to leave creators the money
Crowdfundr runs reward and donation campaigns with the platform fee presented as optional to the supporter rather than deducted from the creator, and the company publishes what that works out to in practice. Campaigns are free to start and there is no all-or-nothing rule forcing a goal. The comparison table on its own pricing page names Kickstarter and BackerKit and states their fees beside its own. Discovery is thin, so bring your own audience.
Our note
Compare this against Kickstarter on the assumption that nobody covers your fees, and then treat anything supporters do cover as upside. The absence of an all-or-nothing rule is the bigger practical difference for a creator funding a project that can ship at a smaller scale.
Donation forms with the fee written down
Donately puts donation forms and recurring giving on a site you already have, and states its own cut on the pricing page rather than after signup. Every plan carries every feature, so what the money buys is a lower fee rather than more product. It argues openly against the platforms that call themselves free and then take a fifth through donor-paid fees.
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.
| Crowdfunding, Monetization & Payments |
| Tips & Donations, Crowdfunding, Monetization & Payments |
| 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 |
|---|
Our note
The arithmetic is straightforward: below about $60,000 raised a year the free plan is cheaper, and above it the monthly plan starts winning. Ask what the $99 plan's fee actually is before you sign, because the page never says.
Only on this side