Kickstarter’s headline fee is a simple 5%, but it is only part of what comes out of your funding total. Payment processing is charged on every pledge as a percentage plus a fixed amount, so the real cost depends on how many backers you have and how much each one pledged, and pledges under $10 follow a different rate altogether. The calculator above takes your total and your backer count, applies each fee to the base Kickstarter names, and shows what reaches your bank.
Every Kickstarter fee at a glance
These are the fees for a project based in the United States. Pick another country in the calculator to see its rates.
| Fee | Amount | Charged on | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kickstarter fee | 5% | Total funds raised: every collected pledge, incl. shipping and add-ons | Only if the project reaches its goalsource |
| Payment processing | 3% + $0.30 | Each pledge | Pledges of $10 or moresource |
| Micropledge processing | 5% + $0.08 | Each pledge | Pledges under $10source |
| Late pledges | Same 5% + processing | Each late pledge | Pledges after the campaign endssource |
| Pledge Over Time | No extra fee; $0.30 on each of 3 charges | Each of the 3 payments | Pledges of $125 or more, if you enable itsource |
| Pledge Manager: Kickstarter fee | 5% | New money only (shipping, Pledge Manager add-ons, upgrades), not tax | Payments in Kickstarter’s Pledge Managersource |
| Pledge Manager: processing | 3% + $0.30 | The whole payment, tax included | Payments in Kickstarter’s Pledge Managersource |
| Pledge Manager access | Free | — | Alwayssource |
| Unsuccessful project or dropped pledge | No fees | — | Goal not reached, or a pledge that fails to collectsource |
Four things catch creators out:
- Shipping pays fees too. Shipping charged with the pledge is part of your funding total, so Kickstarter takes 5% of it and processing takes its share. It doesn’t pass through untouched.
- The fixed fee is per pledge. $0.30 is charged on every pledge, so on $10,000 the fixed part is $60 from 200 backers but $300 from 1,000.
- There’s a cliff at $10. Pledges under $10 pay 5% + $0.08; at exactly $10 the fee becomes 3% + $0.30. A $9.99 pledge leaves you $8.91, a $10 pledge $8.90. Kickstarter’s own 2024 fee guide still lists the micropledge fee as 5% + $0.05; the fee page now says $0.08.
- The page total isn’t your payout. The amount on your project page is locked when the campaign ends. Pledges that then fail to collect are dropped: they cost no fees, but they never reach you either. Enter the collected total from your backer report.
What you keep at common funding totals
Each row assumes a US project with 200 backers, so the average pledge grows from $5 to $250 down the table.
| Funding total | Total fees | Fee rate | You keep |
|---|---|---|---|
| $1,000.00 | $116.00 | 11.6% | $884.00 |
| $2,000.00 | $220.00 | 11.0% | $1,780.00 |
| $5,000.00 | $460.00 | 9.20% | $4,540.00 |
| $10,000.00 | $860.00 | 8.60% | $9,140.00 |
| $20,000.00 | $1,660.00 | 8.30% | $18,340.00 |
| $50,000.00 | $4,060.00 | 8.12% | $45,940.00 |
With the same backers, the fee rate falls from 11.6% at a $5 average pledge to 8.1% at $250, because the fixed fee per pledge is spread over more money.
How the fees add up on one campaign
A US campaign raises $15,000 from 300 backers. Thirty of them chose a $5 digital tier, and 20 of the larger pledges used Pledge Over Time:
- Buyer pays$15,000.00
- Kickstarter fee5% × $15,000.00−$750.00
- Payment processing3% × $14,850.00 + $0.30 × 270 pledges−$526.50
- Payment processing: micropledges5% × $150.00 + $0.08 × 30 pledges−$9.90
- Pledge Over Time: extra fixed fees$0.30 × 2 more charges × 20 backers−$12.00
- You keep$13,701.60
Kickstarter’s 5% comes to $750 on the full $15,000. The 270 regular pledges add up to $14,850 and pay 3% plus $0.30 each, $526.50 in all. The 30 micropledges pay 5% + $0.08 each, $9.90 together. The 20 Pledge Over Time backers each add two more $0.30 charges, $12 in total. The campaign pays $1,298.40 in fees, or 8.7%, and $13,701.60 is paid out. The main payout starts 14 days after the deadline and can take another 3–14 business days to reach your bank; the later Pledge Over Time installments follow about 8 and 12 weeks after the deadline.
Shipping, tax and the Pledge Manager
Where you collect shipping changes the fees less than most creators expect. Charged with the pledge, it is simply part of the funding total: $2,000 of shipping on top of a $10,000 campaign with 200 backers adds $160 in fees. Collected later in Kickstarter’s Pledge Manager, the same $2,000 pays the 5% ($100) and processing on each whole payment, including any sales tax, plus $0.30 for each backer who pays:
- Buyer pays$12,160.00
- Kickstarter fee5% × $10,000.00−$500.00
- Payment processing3% × $10,000.00 + $0.30 × 200 pledges−$360.00
- Kickstarter fee: Pledge Manager5% × $2,000.00−$100.00
- Payment processing: Pledge Manager3% × $2,160.00 + $0.30 × 200 payments−$124.80
- You keep$10,915.20
With $160 of sales tax, the Pledge Manager route costs $224.80 in fees against $160 at pledge: $60 of extra fixed fees and $4.80 of processing on the tax. Kickstarter collects and remits the tax on US and Canadian orders, and on UK and EU orders where it is the deemed supplier, so that tax never reaches you. There is no fee for using the Pledge Manager, and rewards backers already pledged aren’t charged 5% again. Third-party pledge managers set their own fees, which come on top and aren’t part of this calculator.
Pledge Over Time, late pledges and refunds
Pledge Over Time lets backers split a pledge of at least $125 into 3 monthly payments. There is no added fee, but fees are applied per charge, so each split pledge pays the $0.30 fixed fee three times. On a $150 pledge you keep $137.10 instead of $137.70. The first payment is paid out around the time of your main payout; the other two follow about 8 and 12 weeks after the deadline, which matters if you’re paying a factory deposit.
Late pledges pay exactly the same 5% and processing as campaign pledges. They are paid out every 7 days, starting 21 days after the deadline. Kickstarter recommends pricing late-pledge rewards 10% higher than during the campaign.
Refunds cost you nothing in fees if you issue them before your payout: Kickstarter returns its 5% and the processing fee to the backer. After the payout you refund the full amount yourself and the fees stay spent. Pledge Manager refunds always count as after payout.
Fees outside the United States
The 5% Kickstarter fee is the same in every country. Processing depends on where the project is based:
| Project country | Processing per pledge | Micropledges |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | 3% + £0.30 | 5% + £0.08 under £10 |
| Euro countries | 3% + €0.30 | 5% + €0.08 under €10 |
| Canada | 3% + CA$0.40 | 5% + CA$0.10 under CA$10 |
| Australia | 3% + AU$0.45 | 5% + AU$0.12 under AU$10 |
| New Zealand | 3% + NZ$0.50 | 5% + NZ$0.12 under NZ$10 |
| Switzerland | 3% + CHF 0.30 | 5% + CHF 0.08 under CHF 10 |
| Denmark, Norway, Sweden | 3% + 3.50 kr | 5% + 1.50 kr under 100 kr |
| Poland | 3% + 1.20 zł | 5% + 0.40 zł under 30 zł |
| Mexico | 4% + MX$6.50 | 5% + MX$3.50 under MX$100 |
| Hong Kong | 4% + HK$2.50 | 5% + HK$1.25 under HK$100 |
| Singapore | 4% + S$0.40 | 5% + S$0.10 under S$10 |
| Japan | 4.5% of the total | None |
The euro countries are Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Spain. Creators in Switzerland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Poland can choose to run their project in euros instead, and then pay only the euro fees, never both. The calculator covers every country in the table except Hong Kong and Singapore.
Ways to keep more of what you raise
- Make each pledge count. The fixed fee is charged once per pledge, so add-ons bought in the same pledge cost only the percentage. $0.30 is 3% of a $10 pledge but 0.3% of a $100 one.
- Mind the $10 edge. A $10 tier keeps a cent less per backer than a $9.99 one, because pledges from $10 up pay 3% + $0.30, which only beats the micropledge rate above $11.
- Charge shipping with the pledge when your rates are known. It skips the extra fixed fee and the processing on tax that a Pledge Manager payment adds.
- Refund before the payout, not after, so Kickstarter’s fees go back to the backer instead of coming out of your pocket.
- Set your goal from what you need to receive. Enter your costs, switch to “What to charge” and choose “Profit” to find the funding total that covers them after every fee.
Raising donations rather than pre-selling rewards? Our GoFundMe fee calculator shows how that model compares.
Recent Kickstarter fee changes
- May 28, 2025Pledge Over Time launched: backers can split pledges into 3 payments. No added fee, but fees are applied per charge, so each such pledge pays the fixed processing fee 3 times instead of once.source
- May 8, 2025Kickstarter’s Pledge Manager opened to all creators with no access fee: 5% only on new money (Pledge Manager-only add-ons, shipping, upgrades), not on tax, and processing on the whole payment including tax.source
- February 11, 2025New Terms of Use: Kickstarter’s 5% and the processor’s fee are taken from each collected pledge, late pledges included. The April 2024 terms said only “our 5% fee” plus “any fees from our payment partners”.source
We re-check Kickstarter’s fee pages and update this calculator when they change. If your payout summary shows something different, use the “Something’s off” button under the result.