How much does Kickstarter take?
Kickstarter charges two fees, and only if a campaign meets its funding goal: a flat 5% platform fee on the total raised, plus a per-pledge processing fee that is charged once per pledge, not once per dollar — and the processing rate itself changes below a $10 pledge. A flat “8-10%” summary misses both of those, and can be wrong in either direction.
Worked example 1: a $50 pledge
| Line | Amount |
|---|---|
| Pledge amount | $50.00 |
| Platform fee (5%) | $2.50 |
| Processing fee (3% + $0.20) | $1.70 |
| Total fee | $4.20 |
| Creator keeps | $45.80 (91.6%) |
Worked example 2: a $5 micro-pledge pays a higher rate
Pledges under $10 fall into the micro-pledge processing tier — 5% + $0.05 instead of 3% + $0.20 — on top of the same 5% platform fee.
| Line | Amount |
|---|---|
| Pledge amount | $5.00 |
| Platform fee (5%) | $0.25 |
| Processing fee, micro tier (5% + $0.05) | $0.30 |
| Total fee | $0.55 |
| Creator keeps | $4.45 (89%) |
89% kept versus 91.6% on the $50 example — a smaller pledge pays a higher effective rate, because the flat $0.05 (or $0.20) processing charge is a bigger share of a smaller number, and the percentage itself is higher below $10.
Worked example 3: more backers, same raise, less kept
The per-pledge flat charge means a campaign's effective rate depends on how many pledges it took to reach the total, not just the total itself.
| Campaign | Total raised | Backers | Avg. pledge | Total fee | Effective rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | $10,000 | 500 | $20.00 | $900 | 9% |
| B | $10,000 | 1,000 | $10.00 | $1,000 | 10% |
Same $10,000 raised. Campaign B's fee is $100 higher, purely because twice as many pledges means twice as many flat per-pledge processing charges spread across the same total.
Do this with your own numbers
The Kickstarter fee calculator runs this same arithmetic on a single pledge or a whole campaign's totals, flags which processing tier applies, and shows the effective rate. Nothing you type leaves your browser.
Common questions
How much does Kickstarter take on a $50 pledge?
A 5% platform fee ($2.50) plus a standard-tier processing fee of 3% + $0.20 ($1.70), for a total fee of $4.20 -- the creator keeps $45.80, or 91.6% of the pledge.
Why does a $5 pledge pay a higher rate than a $50 pledge?
Pledges under $10 fall into Kickstarter's micro-pledge processing tier: 5% + $0.05, instead of the standard 3% + $0.20. On a $5 pledge that is a $0.25 platform fee plus a $0.30 processing fee, $0.55 total -- 11% of the pledge, versus 8.4% on the $50 example. The flat per-pledge component is a bigger share of a smaller pledge, and the percentage itself is higher below $10.
Does a campaign keep less if it has more backers, even raising the same total?
Yes. A $10,000 campaign funded by 500 backers (a $20 average pledge) pays about $900 in total fees, a 9% effective rate. The same $10,000 funded by 1,000 backers (a $10 average pledge) pays about $1,000, a 10% effective rate -- $100 more, from the same raise, because the flat per-pledge processing charge is spread across twice as many transactions.