7 Crucial Differences Between Kickstarter & Indiegogo (in 2019)

by | Jan 2, 2019

Is Kickstarter better than Indiegogo in 2019?

The short answer is yes.

(Most of the time.)

Here’s why.

 

1. Kickstarter has a better reputation than Indiegogo

 

Kickstarter vs Indiegogo 2019

 

Kickstarter has higher project standards than Indiegogo.

That’s a fact.

Their review process is much more stringent.

You have to have a working prototype to launch a Kickstarter project.

And that’s not the case with Indiegogo.

At the end of the day, Kickstarter doesn’t care how much money your project has raised.

If they think you’re trying to scam backers, they’ll shut your project down.

Which is good news for backers and bad news for con artists.

 

2. Indiegogo’s newsletter is exceptionally powerful

 

Kickstarter vs Indiegogo 2019

 

Kickstarter can’t touch Indiegogo’s newsletter.

Whenever someone makes an Indiegogo account, they get signed up for a daily newsletter.

So their list is huge.

Product sales from their newsletter can top $10K per feature.

And if you’re a top project, they’ll include you multiple times.

Securing this newsletter placement will make or break your Indiegogo campaign.

But be careful.

Not all placements are the same.

There are A TON of products in each newsletter.

So if they stick you at the bottom, you’ll struggle to get sales.

 

3. Kickstarter has a bigger, better organic following

 

Kickstarter vs Indiegogo 2019

 

If you want your Kickstarter project to take off, you have to convince Kickstarter fans to back your project.

60-70% of your funding will come from this organic community.

These are people who are browsing Kickstarter already and simply stumble upon your project.

This community is far larger than Indiegogo’s.

 

4. Indiegogo offers flexible funding

Kickstarter vs Indiegogo 2019

We’ve written before that your Kickstarter public funding goal should be as low as possible.

Indiegogo offers some nice flexibility, letting you set a flexible goal.

There’s a few issues with flexible funding, though.

  1. It looks a little odd. If you “need” a certain amount of money to manufacture your product, why is your goal flexible?
  2. It confuses people. For sort of the same reasons as above.

If you do choose to go with Indiegogo, stick to fixed funding.

 

5. Kickstarter doesn’t charge a backer’s credit card until after a project funds

Kickstarter vs Indiegogo 2019

Nobody talks about this crucial difference between Kickstarter and Indiegogo, but it may be the biggest difference between the two platforms in 2019.

You can back a Kickstarter project risk-free.

Just cancel your pledge before the project funds and it’s like it never even happened.

Indiegogo charges your credit card right away.

I’m no doctor, but physiologically that makes people less likely to back your project because they feel the sting of the purchase right away.

Which is probably why conversion rates on Indiegogo are lower than they are on Kickstarter.

 

6. Indiegogo offers stronger re-marketing tools

 

Kickstarter vs Indiegogo 2019

 

If you want your crowdfunding project to really take off, you’re going to have to promote it.

Usually that means Facebook ads.

Indiegogo allows a tracking pixel to be placed on campaign pages while Kickstarter doesn’t.

With that pixel in place, you can re-target visitors to your campaign page, which can lead to additional conversions you wouldn’t have on Kickstarter.

Indiegogo also gives you access to backer’s email addresses while you’re live, letting you make lookalikes of these backers and target them via Facebook ads.

In a post-Cambridge Analytica world, consumer privacy is a big deal.

Kickstarter’s decision to keep backers’ info private until after a project funds does a better job of safeguarding people’s info.

But Indiegogo’s more lax policy does help with marketing efforts.

 

7. If you have a legit product, your chances of success are higher on Kickstarter

 

Kickstarter vs Indiegogo 2019

 

Simply put, Kickstarter’s brand name and reputation are better than that of Indiegogo.

Indiegogo’s newsletter is powerful, but Kickstarter’s larger organic community usually outweighs that benefit.

If I were launching a new product in 2018, there is not a doubt in my mind that I would pick Kickstarter.

 

Bonus: Helpful resources for crowdfunding creators

 

– 5 super simple reasons why Kickstarter projects fail

11 proven tips for launching a successful Kickstarter in 2019

 


 

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