PledgeBox
Free to Use. Only 3% Platform Fee of Upsell Sales
3% of Upsell sales generated during the survey. Totally free if you do not
have any add-on upsell for
your campaign survey.
Leading Campaigns Trust PledgeBox
Included Features
Basic Feature
Shipping Address
Shipping Address Verification
Product Variants
Product Variant Combinations
Product Variant Inventory Management
Product Bundle
Product Photo Display
Marketing Question
Advanced Marketing Question
Gift Product
Payment Collection
Recover Dropped Backers
Capture Late Backers
Upsell Add-on Products in Survey
Shipping Fee Collection
Reward Upgrade
Taxes Collection
Auto Invoice Generation
Backer Coupon
Advanced Features
Digital Download Delivery
Allow Backer Upload Files
Advanced Survey Report
Lock Survey Records
Multiple Backer Survey Sends
Shipping Notification
Integration with Shipping Vendors
Integration with Shopify
Understanding PledgeBox Pricing
Post-campaign fulfillment is one of the largest hidden costs in crowdfunding. Between platform fees, payment processing charges, and setup costs, creators can lose a significant portion of their raised funds before a single reward ships. Understanding how pledge manager pricing works is essential for protecting your campaign budget.
PledgeBox uses a transparent pricing model designed to keep costs low for creators. There is no campaign fee — PledgeBox never charges anything on your original Kickstarter or Indiegogo funds. The only platform fee is 3% of the revenue collected through backer surveys (including shipping fees, taxes/VAT, and add-on products).
This means that if the survey generates any additional revenue, we charge 3% on it. If not, the platform is completely free.
For creators who set up a pre-order store to accept late backers and new customers after the campaign ends, the platform fee is 5% on pre-order store revenue. This covers the hosted storefront, payment processing integration, and order management tools.
Stripe and PayPal processing fees are billed separately at their standard rates and go directly to those payment providers — not to PledgeBox. Because PledgeBox uses instant payouts, funds from backer payments go straight to your connected Stripe or PayPal account. There is no waiting period and no intermediary holding your money.
This pricing structure means most creators use PledgeBox at near-zero cost. Campaigns that only need to collect shipping addresses and product preferences — without selling add-ons — pay nothing. Even campaigns with active add-on sales benefit from the industry's lowest platform fee at 3%, significantly less than BackerKit's tiered fees or the 5% charged by Kickstarter's built-in pledge manager and Gamefound.
Platform Fee Overview
See how PledgeBox's pricing stacks up against other crowdfunding pledge managers.
- $0 on original KS/IGG funds
- 3% upsell fee
- Instant payouts via Stripe / PayPal
- Fee on original KS funds
- 3.5% upsell fee
- Additional setup fee
- $0.25 per backer setup fee
- 5% upsell fee
- Shipping & tax in fee base
- No startup cost
- 5% upsell fee
- +$0.20 per transaction
How PledgeBox Saves Creators Money
Drag to your campaign size — every line item recalculates.
Estimates assume upsell sales are 20% of funds raised. BackerKit and Kickstarter charge their upsell fee on the displayed upsell amount; their fee also applies to shipping and taxes when collected. PledgeBox charges 3% on all upsell sales, including add-ons, shipping, and taxes, with no fee on original campaign funds. BackerKit's campaign fee is charged per funding band on the portion of funds inside it — 2% on the first $50k, then 1.85%, 1.7%, 1.55%, 1.4%, 1.25% and 1.1% above $2.5M — capped at $5 per backer once the average pledge passes $250. Backer count is derived from your average pledge, and drives both that cap and Kickstarter's $0.25 / backer setup fee. Payment processing fees apply on every platform and are excluded.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is PledgeBox really free to use?
Yes. PledgeBox charges no setup fees and no campaign fee on your original Kickstarter or Indiegogo funds. You only pay the 3% platform fee on upsell sales collected through the survey, including add-ons, shipping, and taxes. If your campaign has no upsell sales, PledgeBox is completely free.
What is the 3% platform fee charged on?
The 3% platform fee applies to all upsell sales collected during the survey process, including add-ons, shipping fees, and tax amounts. It does not apply to your original campaign funds. For pre-order store transactions, the rate is 5%.
How does PledgeBox pricing compare to BackerKit?
PledgeBox is significantly more affordable. BackerKit charges a tiered campaign fee of roughly 1% to 2% on your total raised funds, plus 3.5% on every dollar processed through the pledge manager — add-ons, shipping, and taxes included. PledgeBox charges 0% on original funds and 3% on all upsell sales, including add-ons, shipping, and taxes, with no setup fee.
For a $100K campaign with $20K in upsell sales, PledgeBox costs $600 while BackerKit costs $2,625 — a saving of $2,025.
Are there any hidden fees with PledgeBox?
No. PledgeBox pricing is transparent: 0% on original campaign funds, 3% on survey upsell sales including add-ons, shipping, and taxes, and 5% on pre-order store sales. Stripe and PayPal processing fees are billed separately by those providers at their standard rates. There are no setup fees, monthly fees, or minimum commitments.
What does the 5% pre-order store fee cover?
The 5% fee on pre-order store sales covers the hosted storefront that allows you to accept new customers and late backers after your campaign ends. This includes the store page, payment processing integration, order management, and all the same fulfillment tools available for campaign backers.
Do I need to pay for Stripe or PayPal separately?
Yes. Stripe and PayPal charge their own standard processing fees (typically around 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction for Stripe). These fees are billed directly by the payment provider to your account, not through PledgeBox. PledgeBox uses instant payouts, so funds go directly to your Stripe or PayPal account after each backer payment.