Three routes, three different kinds of ownership. Here is how they compare on the things that actually matter once you are running a platform: cost, speed, control and what happens as you grow.
You sign up, pick a plan and you are live in days. The catch is ownership: monthly fees plus, commonly, a percentage of what your campaigns raise, forever. The branding is limited to what the vendor allows, the data sits on their system, and if their pricing or terms change you have little leverage.
A custom platform is built to your exact specification and owned outright. It also typically costs $30,000 to $150,000+ and takes months, and every change afterwards is another invoice. It is the right call for regulated models and unusual requirements, and overkill for most reward and donation platforms. We cover the details in script vs. custom build.
A white label crowdfunding platform is existing software you rebrand as your own. Done properly, nothing of the vendor's shows: your name, logo, colors, domain, legal pages and fees. Because the platform is already built and tested, you skip the months and the six-figure bill of a custom build, while keeping control that SaaS does not give you.
Our answers: your domain, no vendor branding, the complete source code, your own fees, and hosting either on your own server or managed by us with Launch + Managed.
If you are testing an idea cheaply, SaaS is fine. If you are building something truly unique or regulated, go custom. If you want your own branded platform, on your domain, with your own fees, without a development team, white label is the route most founders end up wanting. Before deciding, our guide to starting a crowdfunding website covers the rest of the decisions.
*The 10 business day clock starts once we have your domain, hosting access and logo, and pauses while we wait on details from you or on Stripe’s review.
We install it, brand it and connect payments on your domain, so you can focus on growing your community. See the launch packages, or try the live demo first.
See launch packages →Keep reading: What it costs to build oneHow a launch works, day by day