Add to Chrome
Add to Edge
Add to Firefox
Add to Opera
Add to Brave
Add to SafariWhen comparing Kickstarter vs Patreon, the Slant community recommends Kickstarter for most people. In the question“What are the best ways to fund development of an independent game?” Kickstarter is ranked 1st while Patreon is ranked 2nd. The most important reason people chose Kickstarter is:
Knowing that there is enough funding will allow long-term budget planning. Knowing that there's *not* funding allows users to move on.
Question Ranking
Pros
Pro All-or-nothing model allows commitment with certainty
Knowing that there is enough funding will allow long-term budget planning. Knowing that there's not funding allows users to move on.
Pro Helps to promote projects
Potential pledgers are encouraged to browse Kickstarter much like Pinterest. While most of the funds will be generated by personal effort, Kickstarted certainly offers a good boost for those who need it.
Pro Popular site
Kickstarter is one of the most well known crowdfunding site. Over $1.2 billion has been pledged so far, with 10 million monthly visitors to the site.
Pro Great for influencers with unique contributions
Rewards artists developing unique content very well. No other platforms compare as of now.
Pro Low risk to patrons
Campaigns are ongoing and funded based on observable work, so the potential patron doesn't have to worry about the project dying after payments are collected.
Pro Projects can change and adapt over time
Without the advance payment of a large lump sum of donations, creators are free from the associated commitment to the specific goals those donations were based on. This also reduces the need for exhaustive time and budget estimates, which can be daunting for new and inexperienced developers.
Pro No need for reward schemes
The deliverable is the reward; so you can focus all your attention on developing an awesome game, rather than posting and packaging.
Cons
Con 5% fee is applied to successful funding
Any successful crowdfunding operation run on Kickstarter will have a 5% fee. The payment processor will take an additional 3-5%.
Con Unproven model for game funding
Patreon is one of the newest crowdfunding sites, and its unique model makes comparison to other sites difficult. As of August 2014, no high-profile developers have chosen Patreon for funding.
Con Difficult to make long-term projections
Because patrons can pull out at any time, you can't necessarily rely on a certain rate of pledges even if you maintain consistent work.
Con Potentially inappropriate for commercial products
Patreon's structure and culture assume free distribution of the creators' output. Collecting secondary revenue (e.g. unit sales, in-game ads) is not strictly prohibited, but may be seen as a violation of trust if not handled carefully.
