How much does Kickstarter take from a $100 pledge?

$8.00, leaving $92.00: a $5.00 platform fee and $3.00 of payment processing. The processing figure is the low end of the roughly 3-5% Kickstarter publishes, so treat $92.00 as the most you would keep rather than the exact amount.

Does Kickstarter charge anything if the project is not funded?

No. A project that misses its goal collects no pledges and pays no fees at all, which is what the funding toggle switches off.

What is the Kickstarter micropledge fee?

5% + $0.05 on a pledge under $10, charged instead of the platform fee and payment processing rather than on top of them. A $5 pledge therefore costs $0.30 and leaves $4.70; a $9.99 pledge leaves $9.44 while a $10.00 pledge leaves $9.20.

How much do I need to raise to keep $100?

$108.69, of which $8.69 is fees. Because processing is stored at the low end of the range Kickstarter publishes, treat that as the least you should raise rather than an exact target.

Does the calculator price one pledge or the whole project?

One pledge. Percentages make the two identical for standard pledges — 5% of the total is 5% of every pledge — but the micropledge tier is charged per pledge, so a project funded by a thousand $5 pledges pays it a thousand times.

Are these Kickstarter fees up to date?

They were verified on 5 September 2026 and are re-checked every 60 days. Confidence is medium: Kickstarter's canonical fee table could not be captured, so the rules come from two other Kickstarter-owned pages that agree word for word, and the processing rate is the low end of the range Kickstarter states.

Kickstarter fee calculator

As of 5 September 2026, Kickstarter charges a 5% platform fee plus payment processing of roughly 3-5% on a funded project, and nothing at all on a project that misses its goal.

Verified 5 September 2026 against Kickstarter’s official fee page. Effective from 4 September 2026. ChangelogSingle source

Your country

Kickstarter charges in USD; your bank’s conversion is not included.

The project reached its funding goal

Kickstarter collects nothing from a project that misses its goal. A funded project pays the platform fee plus Stripe's processing, which Kickstarter publishes only as a rough range — this calculator uses the bottom of it, 3%, so the processing line is a floor on what a pledge costs and not a quote.

You keep

$92.00

You charge

$100.00

Kickstarter platform fee: $5.00
Payment processing (Stripe): $3.00
Total fees: $8.00
Effective rate: 8%

Kickstarter fees by country

Every rule on Kickstarter’s official schedule for United States, the market this calculator covers, as of 5 September 2026. Every fee here applies only if the project reaches its goal; an unfunded project pays nothing, which is what the funding toggle switches off. The micropledge rate replaces the platform fee and payment processing for a pledge under $10 rather than adding to them, so a $9.99 pledge leaves the creator more than a $10.00 one. Kickstarter publishes payment processing only as roughly 3-5% and this schedule holds the low end of that range, so a standard pledge's fees are a floor rather than a quote. The canonical fee table could not be captured, so these rules come from two other Kickstarter-owned pages that agree word for word, which is why confidence is medium.

United States

Kickstarter fees for United States, effective 4 September 2026. Amounts in USD.
Fee	Applies to	Rate
Kickstarter platform feeCharged only if the project reaches its funding goal; nothing is collected on an unfunded project.	All payments	5%
Payment processing (Stripe)Indicative only: Kickstarter states this as a range ('roughly 3-5%') and does not publish one fixed percentage or a per-pledge dollar amount on the pages captured for this verification (see fee_verifications notes for the pages that could not be captured). This component uses the low end of the stated range; the true processing fee for a given pledge may be higher. Charged only if the project reaches its funding goal.	All payments	3%
Optional and sender-paid fees (not deducted unless selected)
Micropledge fee (pledges under $10)Replaces the standard platform fee and payment-processing fee for an individual pledge under $10. Charged only if the project reaches its funding goal.	All payments	5% + $0.05

Source: www.kickstarter.com/help/fees?country=US, verified 5 September 2026.

How much does Kickstarter take from a $100.00 pledge?

For goods and services in United States, Kickstarter charges 5% of the amount (kickstarter platform fee) plus 3% of the amount (payment processing (Stripe)). Each fee line is rounded half-up to the nearest cent, as the platform bills it, and what you keep is the amount minus the sum of those lines.

A $100 pledge to a funded project: on $100.00 you pay $5.00 (kickstarter platform fee) and $3.00 (payment processing (Stripe)), $8.00 in total, and keep $92.00, an effective rate of 8%.

The same $100 pledge if the project misses its goal: on $100.00 you pay , and keep $100.00, an effective rate of 0%.

A $25 pledge, the commonest reward tier: on $25.00 you pay $1.25 (kickstarter platform fee) and $0.75 (payment processing (Stripe)), $2.00 in total, and keep $23.00, an effective rate of 8%.

A $5 micropledge, charged 5% + $0.05 instead: on $5.00 you pay $0.30 (micropledge fee (pledges under $10)), and keep $4.70, an effective rate of 6%.

Frequently asked questions

How much does Kickstarter take from a $100 pledge?: $8.00, leaving $92.00: a $5.00 platform fee and $3.00 of payment processing. The processing figure is the low end of the roughly 3-5% Kickstarter publishes, so treat $92.00 as the most you would keep rather than the exact amount.
Does Kickstarter charge anything if the project is not funded?: No. A project that misses its goal collects no pledges and pays no fees at all, which is what the funding toggle switches off.
What is the Kickstarter micropledge fee?: 5% + $0.05 on a pledge under $10, charged instead of the platform fee and payment processing rather than on top of them. A $5 pledge therefore costs $0.30 and leaves $4.70; a $9.99 pledge leaves $9.44 while a $10.00 pledge leaves $9.20.
How much do I need to raise to keep $100?: $108.69, of which $8.69 is fees. Because processing is stored at the low end of the range Kickstarter publishes, treat that as the least you should raise rather than an exact target.
Does the calculator price one pledge or the whole project?: One pledge. Percentages make the two identical for standard pledges — 5% of the total is 5% of every pledge — but the micropledge tier is charged per pledge, so a project funded by a thousand $5 pledges pays it a thousand times.
Are these Kickstarter fees up to date?: They were verified on 5 September 2026 and are re-checked every 60 days. Confidence is medium: Kickstarter's canonical fee table could not be captured, so the rules come from two other Kickstarter-owned pages that agree word for word, and the processing rate is the low end of the range Kickstarter states.

Sources and last verified

Every rate above is quoted from Kickstarter’s official fee page and checked by a person on 5 September 2026. Kickstarter's canonical fee table at kickstarter.com/help/fees (with the exact per-pledge fixed-fee breakdown docs/02 calls for) could not be captured: both the ?country=US and bare URL variants were tried via the HTTP strategy and a JS-rendered stealth browser (two attempts each) and returned either thin/empty content or a 403; both are recorded as manual_only. Rules instead trace to two Kickstarter-owned pages that captured cleanly and agree word-for-word on the 5% platform fee and the 'roughly 3-5%' Stripe processing language: help.kickstarter.com's 'What are the fees?' article (promoted to primary) and the updates.kickstarter.com creator guide (secondary). Neither states a fixed per-pledge dollar amount for standard pledges, so the payment-processing component is the low end of the stated range, flagged indicative in its notes; only the micropledge tier (pledges under $10) has a confirmed fixed amount ($0.05). at updates.kickstarter.com/kickstarter-fees-a-comprehensive-guide-for-creators/. Single source: not every rate is restated by a second official page, so some rest on the official page alone.

Standard published rates only. Your account may have negotiated, promotional or legacy pricing, and the platform can change fees at any time. Confirm figures that matter with Kickstarter before relying on them. See the methodology and disclaimer.

Cite this page

Fees.tools. "Kickstarter fee calculator". https://fees.tools/kickstarter-fee-calculator. Fee data verified 2026-09-05.

APA: Fees.tools. (2026). Kickstarter fee calculator. Retrieved 2026-09-05, from https://fees.tools/kickstarter-fee-calculator