5 Best Crowdfunding Sites for Filmmakers in 2026

After you decide which crowdfunding model will work best for you, it’s time to think about how much money you are going to raise. It’s difficult to give complete advice on this without understanding the specifics behind your project, but there are some universal considerations for a fundraising campaign.

• How much capital will your project require? Create an idealized version, a bare-bones version, and a happy medium. Don’t forget to consider post-production expenses.
• Figure out how much funding you, and/or your team, can contribute before the campaign.
• Find a goal allows you to fulfill an ambitious yet still plausible interpretation of your project. Rewards based crowdfunding is worth considering.

Crowdfunding Success & Failure Rates · Best crowdfunding sites for startups

Far and away, Kickstarter is the most popular crowdfunding website of choice. It’s well established due to multiple celebrities who have run major campaigns, and it has a fantastically designed interface that allows for plenty of creativity. The types of crowdfunding they engage in are listed below. 

• Kickstarter is all or nothing: if you do not reach your goal, you receive $0. If you do reach your goal the website takes a 5% cut – be sure to factor that into your budget.
• The all-or-nothing factor may seem intimidating, but the result benefits both donors and creators. For donors, if you want to support a project, you want it to be what you’re signing up for: a $300 short film looks very different from a $30,000 short.
• For creators, this assures you will only be making the project if you have the financial and community support for it.
• Having the necessity to reach a goal can motivate the entire team to make it happen.

If there’s a Coke vs. Pepsi rivalry in the crowdfunding film world, it would be Kickstarter vs. Indiegogo. The counter argument that Indiegogo brings is that you do not have to meet your goal in order to keep your raised amount of money. That may sound immediately appealing save for one caveat: the site takes 9% of your earnings if your goal isn’t met, but will only take 4% if it is. You'll have to think in terms of your own bank account for this one. 

• If you meet your goal, you will save 1% more than you did on Kickstarter. Indiegogo therefore inspires creators to aim for loftier goals with the understanding that they don’t “need” to reach their goal.
• Indiegogo makes for a more relaxed campaign, knowing that the goal isn’t as critical. This can be both a positive and a negative trait. Just don’t forget that 9% is a major cut of your hard earned crowdfunding.
• Statistically, only 13% of Indiegogo projects are successful.

A newer alternative that is designed specifically for film related projects is Seed&Spark. They're one of the best crowdfunding sites when it comes to being hands on with helping each project. They require every user to go through a greenlight process to make sure they have the means to make their projects successful and raise funds right.

• The layout is in the same line as a wedding registry, where donors can give more specific donations for specific items.
• Donors can give out units to help pay for a part of your project, such as camera, gear, catering, you name it.
• They take 5% only if your campaign is successful.
• Donors can include 5% extra to cover this charge! 
• 84% of campaigns have been successful (source: Indiewire)

All that said, this one still does not have the brand recognition that the other two have. So, it is still very much worth your time to weigh your options depending on what may be best for your funding goal.

The popular fundraising site, Patreon is unique in this list. Rather than backing a one-off project, Patreon wants patrons to back the content creator as a sustainable form of income. The service has attracted many Youtubers and web series content creators who need a recurring source of revenue to support their ongoing work. So if you have an ongoing series or Youtube channel in the works, and are looking for recurring capital, check out Patreon to raise money over time.

• Backers select how much they want to fund a creator on a monthly basis, and Patreon takes 5%. Note that there are additional credit card fees that range from 2-4%.
• In exchange for the ongoing financial support, creators provide their backers with updates and exclusive “rewards” such as bonus content.
• Creators are encouraged to galvanize support by creating goals so backers can see exactly where their capital is going.

Slated is different than most crowdfunding platforms. According to their site, the platform attracts high net-worth investors and experienced industry professionals in their network.

• Rather than creating campaigns with strict deadlines to raise a specific amount of capital, Slated requires you to create a profile for your project so their community of investors can discover your project. If potential investors like your project, the system encourages them to reach out to you personally. Here, investors find you.
• Investors are recommended projects to fund based on their taste profiles. Investors can track and follow projects.
• If the investor is not tracking you, you can also be ‘introduced’ via a mutual contact.
• No funding is actually transacted though Slated. The goal is to create deeper relationships so the conversation can be taken offline where negotiations continue. 
• Slated is intended for feature films with budgets of $500,000+ and documentaries with budgets from $250,000 to $2,000,000.
• In order to become an investor, you need to be accredited by the SEC as an investor, referred by other members and be approved by the Slated team.

Best Crowdfunding Sites - Crowdfunding Cheatsheet