Kickstarter Reviews

by FluidlyNeon

I’ve backed a few projects through this app and others like it. The refund rules are clear for the project managers and I’ve been waiting two years to get a product that was fully funded and, at this point, the company has the product in retail locations. They have yet to deliver my product, along with several hundred other backers, and this app doesn’t seem to care about enforcing their own rules. I can’t trust them to back the backers on their platform. Very disappointed and I don’t recommend anyone use their platform. It’s really too bad because there are lots of great ideas that need a little funding to get off the ground and then there are lots of products that are scams from the start. Be very wary.

In response to the developer response…the creator has been contacted by the vast majority of backers. They don’t respond. The project was successfully funded so no one needs to hear this crap about “projects not coming in as planned.” We all understand the risks when funding goes but projects don’t play out. The problem is when the projects do come in but backers still haven’t received our items. Good try “developer” but wrong response to a separate issue altogether.

by Dntslp

A couple of years ago Kickstarter was cool and fun to browse. Ever since Covid hit in 2020, project creators based out of China have figured out ways to deceive and scam backers of projects with fake campaigns. These campaigns look and seem real but are not intended to be fulfilled by their creators. I’ve been scammed twice for sure this year and am dealing with 2 more potential scam campaigns that I’ve already funded. Basically the creators “ghost” the backers, no questions answered for months, no updates posted by the creators, company websites deleted from the internet, you name it. The one thing in common, these are fake companies located in China, most with US addresses too. You can always tell by their responses in the comments threads though. They creators of these fake campaigns respond promptly until the money for their campaigns is collected, then poof, they disappear!! This happens to more than half of the campaigns nowadays so once I’ve collected my remaining few rewards, I’m deleting Kickstarter . Oh, did I mention, this app does ABSOLUTELY nothing to aid or even prevent this from happening, as long as they collect their 5% or so from the project creators, they are fine with this happening.

by DistraughtSim

With the last update to the mobile app (which had already seen a lot of terrible decisions - like not having your pledge at the top of the list), now you cannot even see the other pledges if you want to change your level. This is important in campaigns that may add on new tiers to accommodate backer choices, and also important for backers who start at one tier and want/need to change (particularly the infamous $1 tier). Additionally, having the list reload whenever you favorite/unfavorite a campaign is a serious pain - if you have more than 20 campaigns in your history (as a super backer, this has always been a thorn in my side since I primarily manage my campaigns via my mobile device).

Finally, do better for your backers! This platform does not exist without them and the increasing number of campaigns that ARE scams (I.e. projects that fund, sometimes massively, and the creators fail on all points). As backers we do sleuth things out when something isn’t adding up but the frank zero protection and accountability from KS itself is appalling. Figure it out or you will have people stop crowd funding. Which would see a lot of great things never come to fruition.

by KevinPurcell

There’s no possible way that Kickstarter should have a 4.8 rating when you look at all of the recent reviews very few are above a 1, 2 or 3 star review.
Here’s the problem with this app. When you make a pledge on a product I get that they give you the warning saying you may never get your product. The problem is none of the people offering products that have delays are honest with their customers. There’s very little communication. Right after they get all the money they’re excited and you get a lot of updates. But then things start slowing down. Deadlines get missed and the project managers stop communicating with their backers. this app doesn’t really do anything about this. When you report a project nothing happens. As a result this app is 100% behind the project managers, and does nothing to support the backers. I have backed a number of projects and often receive them eventually. You never get your product on time and most of the time it’s at least six months to a year late.A number of the project at bat I’ve been more than two years late like a current one but I’m still waiting on. Once I get the last two that I have back I will never again you this app to back any projects.

by NotDaStig

There are a couple of creators I’ve backed in the past who continue to spam my Activity feed with multiple plugs for new things of theirs on long dead project updates. They have nothing whatsoever to do with the projects I’ve backed (not talking about things like v4 of this and previous backers get a discount; this is more like “you backed a pen, now back our solar farm!” followed by “it’s been 48 hours since our last solar farm update, only 26 days to go!” Repeat ad nauseum), and they send out multiple updates. Creators can block troublesome patrons; patrons should be able to block troublesome creators. Couple times a year my activity feed gets totally clogged up with their crap making it really hard to keep track of my non-zombie projects. Feedback to KS has indicated that they don’t really care and we should just turn off email updates. That’s fine for email, but the Activity Feed in Kickstarter is still a mess with this crap.

by JustinStronk

So, first let me say, that this review isn’t based on Kickstarter itself. It’s fine. Best grade I can give it. But... for anyone planning on investing any $$ in a project.... BUYER BEWARE. I’ve used this app on and off for 4+ years. It is a total grab bag of if you wind up w/ anything at all. Some smaller projects are low risk. You invest, the project gets funded and your reward comes. Sometimes it’s way outside of the forecasted timeline, but these things happen. But... in the event you invest in a project and it reaches it’s funding goal and you NEVER receive your reward... too bad for you. this app will do NOTHING to assist. Nothing. The only guidance they give is to address it with the Creator. And good luck with that. They already have your money (or “donation” as it’s sometimes called). So buyer beware. You have zero recourse if you fund a project that decides never to deliver. So, small projects that you want to toss a little cash at... fine, but I would only advise going into it if you are 100% ok with never seeing any payoff for that money.

by Rick G

Kickstarter works fine with better experience than using web interface.

The really disappointing aspect of this app is that they don’t provide any organized framework for backers to publicly report their satisfactory receipt of rewards. About 50% of the projects I have backed get significantly behind schedule with reward delivery. It is important to be able to see what fraction of backers have actually received their rewards. For 20% of projects I have received nothing. this app don’t want to know this and they don’t want you to know this.

It is particularly frustrating when the this app creator claims they have started shipping but it is very difficult to tell what fraction of people are actually receiving items. this app should track that percentage and make the statistic publicly available on all projects.

by Truvein

In the past, I would use Kickstarter daily to check out the latest creative projects looking for funding. Having the ability to search and sort from a variety of options was great, and that I didn’t have to use the clunky webpage on my phone was a huge boon.
Lately, Kickstarter has been extremely laggy, often crashing while I’m waiting for it to load up the front page, and many of the features that users requested via their feedback program years ago have still never been implemented. Surveys now will open in Kickstarter if you are clicking an email link, but you still cannot submit them on mobile.
It’s a bit disappointing that Kickstarter has gone downhill so badly since I really did enjoy the convenience, but at least my wallet will probably be happier since I haven’t backed nearly as many projects since these issues (lag/crashes) started (bye-bye Superbacker status).

by JoeCool157

Even though my profile states I’ve backed 9 campaigns, I’ve actually backed 10 campaigns but it seems as my 1st backing isn’t on my profile (not sure why that’s the case) & now is 1 of 2 campaigns that have left a sour taste in my mouth that now after my last backing I will not use this app anymore. The Seedolab campaign was the one that introduced me to this app. Paid close to $3000 for a device that never really worked as portrayed & customer service on both ends (Seedolab & this app) are non responsive. I guess that’s the risk of dealing with startups but this app should be held accountable for marketing these types of companies. The 2nd was the Fairy Drone. Contacted the creator to no avail because it’s a non working device since Kickstarter is no longer working. So how long are these companies being held responsible after their campaigns are successfully funded?

by Gollnick

First of all, let me say that life as a this app backer can be very rewarding. On most weekends here in my city, there are lots of artists performing, all genre of music, several theaters... and somewhere amidst it all is a Flamenco Dance Troupe. It’s just part of a rich culture fabric. And when that Troupe dances, they are pleased to have a nice, portable, professional-style dance floor. On the back of that floor are written a bunch of names, mine included. Those are the this app backers who pledged to buy that floor and keep great Flamenco dance alive I our city. I’m not a huge Flamenco fan; it’s nice, but not my favorite. However I am glad that we have it.

A group of college students studying engineering got to send an experiment into space on a satellite. That’s not cheap, even at “student rates.” The world is better off now. The experiment explores a new technique for cooling electrics in the vacuum of space. But the world is mostly better off because five young engineers learned to work together to solve real problems.

And so many more rewarding projects.

Kickstarter itself is stable and reasonably designed.

Here is one thing I hate: to send a creator a message, Kickstarter bails you out to a website which requires that you enter your password. Because Kickstarter itself keep you logged in, I don’t know my this app password off the top of my head.

by MsreviewsRUs

Great app overall. I enjoy browsing the projects, but the following updates/additional features need to be added for everyone's enjoyment and ease:

1. More search options such as keyword search, search via Voice without having to find our microphone on our keyboard, and subcategory search. Another search feature would be to be able to add search exceptions (minus keywords).

2. The ability to view updates only on a project's page versus having to scroll through an entire page again. This is assuming one is logged in.

3. ADA Accessibility options for Kickstarter , such as font size, boldness, and font type is available. I don't always have my reading glasses handy amd/or care to wear them for a quick KS browse, so it would be helpful to be able to choose my font size at least on your app.

4. It would be helpful to know under what circumstances one's credit card would have a hold put on it, when one is considering backing a project. That can make a difference between how soon one backs a possible project. After all, no one likes surprises to their finances - unless positive financial and/or FICO gain.

Additional app review very likely at the end of 2019 after maybe possibly experience having backed my first chosen project or two.

by Create Nickname. Okay.

I got Kickstarter so I could get notifications on projects I’ve backed without getting emails, but I really wish I could also sign up for updates from projects I haven’t backed on this app. There are several projects I didn’t back until the late pledge timeframe, which was on some other platform, but I would prefer to still get all their updates in one place, and not have to sign up for email updates from pledge manager and gamefound and a few other sites. I can “save” completed projects, so they are easy to find again, but I can’t subscribe to their updates.

At least using Kickstarter means I don’t have to go to the this app home page on my laptop browser anymore, so that’s something, but I imagine I’m also giving away a bunch of advertising info just by having Kickstarter on my phone.

by 01101111000111

When you go to the website there’s alerts at the top of the screen that lets you know if you need to fill out surveys and Kickstarter needs the same feature. I’ve backed a lot of projects and it’s a pain trying to make sure that I don’t miss surveys. I’ve missed two. One item I was still able to get. I have alerts turned on but if they come through while I’m working sometimes I accidentally clear them. I also search my email but since I back a lot of projects I get quite a few. A highly visible reminder when using Kickstarter would be super nice. I’ve always used Kickstarter and didn’t realize the website had this feature until I had a problem submitting a survey and tried the website. The survey I was filling out today wouldn’t submit because it didn’t like my address because I my apartment number was on the second address line. My address was already filled in but for some reason it wouldn’t go through today and there was no indication of what the problem was.

by SnaketheJake33

I really enjoy Kickstarter , it’s very easy to use and search and I haven’t had any issues on that front! One thing I would like to see is more project categories in the Profile tab... right now we have Backed and Saved... it becomes difficult and very frustrating to track projects this way, especially when you have a large number of projects in flux. I currently have 48 projects in my Backed category and trying to filter and keep track on Kickstarter is tough. I’ve added a separate spreadsheet function to try and help. I feel it could be better organized, as follows (for example, to keep labels concise and one word):

*Backed (overall summary of all backed projects, left as is)
*Live (still active in their campaign)
*Successful (Between being successfully funded and received, so in flux)
*Received (Projects that have been marked as received)
*Unsuccessful (these still linger in Backed and can be misleading, and there isn’t a way to remove them)
*Liked (this category is pretty awesome as is)

The Successful and Received categories I feel would be most useful as a way to keep track of what you are waiting for.

Just my two cents, really the only issue I have. And I’d rather come with a potential solution than complain and offer nothing.

by Sisyphus1967

this app is awesome. I’ve backed over 160 projects and had a 90% positive return. It’s crowdfunding so 100% is really unlikely. Kickstarter could use some work. Being able to sort campaigns by whether they have fulfilled or not ill be hugely useful. Some sort of better organization/optimization of comments would be very nice. Improving the search mechanism would be great, maybe adding filters or something to allow refinement without scrolling through tons of projects that aren’t what you’re looking for. A way of tagging comments so you could potentially exclude all the ones on a given topic and see the rest would be good. More insight into creator activity (last presence, most recent comment, etc) would be great as well. It would be nice if comments from “super” backers could be identified. Many projects have delays and backers who haven’t backed many projects tend to freak out while those with more experience have a better eye towards behavior that indicates fraud rather than that which indicates inexperience.

by DrSemprini

I love this app and Kickstarter works well. I’ve backed numerous projects of different types, and I’ve generally had good experiences.

However, I’d really like Kickstarter to include two improvements:
1. There is currently no way to tell when a commenter is replying to a previous comment. I’d like to be able to see/find the original comment when a reply is posted.
2. In my profile, there are only two categories: “Backed” and “Saved”. I’d like a third category of “Completed/Reward Received”. Now that my “Backed” list is getting longer, I’d love to be able to move the old ones to a different list so I can easily see which ones are still active/outstanding. There is a slider button for “Reward Received” but it doesn’t seem to really do anything.

by Llamadrew

As a regular backer, Kickstarter is invaluable to helping track the various projects I am supporting, watching or discovering. It’s generally quick and intuitive without a lot of feature bloat. That being said there are a few things I would love:
1. The ability to filter backed projects to only see those that haven’t been marked “received”.
2. A better messaging system. Current one isn’t easy to find and doesn’t always properly show or notify you of unread messages
3. Several projects will update their page after the campaign for late pledges through another service. But these links/notices aren’t able to be seen on mobile. KS could create its own “late pledge” option for successful projects, or make these new banners viewable to app users.

by RedAvalanche

I’ve learned from experience from backing numerous projects that it can be a BUYER BEWARE gamble to put your money up while trusting in creators/artists and scammers! I rate the this app APP as 5 stars because it works perfectly and lets me keep track of all the projects I back without having to get on a computer-CONVENIENT
I can track projects that I’ve received rewards from and keep updated on what’s going on with each project and leave comments. I can search for new projects and it has never given me issues (Kickstarter , on iPhone 7 and iPad 11 Pro) solid app. But as for this app, RESEARCH THE CREATORS BEFORE YOU BACK THEM. Make sure they’ve completed and fulfilled previous projects and that they’re getting great reviews! It’s very hard to get your money back from creators that don’t complete or follow up. Sometimes you don’t get your money back and NEVER get the rewards!
I 💯 recommend Kickstarter but this app can be a money pit

by Crooked Line

If you don’t know about this app, you are missing out. I have made 2 purchases so far on some really cool inventions. this app gives both new and existing companies, with new products, the opportunity to test the customer market through advertisement and retail sales of new products at a discounted rate. Some products have been a bust while others far exceed what the designing companies were hoping to achieve in the way of funding. Although many products are not assembled and shipped for an extended amount of time, due to being in various stages of design, this is still a very innovative and worthwhile app to have. You’ll be glad you downloaded it. Thank you this app!

by ThatOneCreepOverYonder

I have been a huge fan of this app for several years now. The items that I see and feel something that makes me want to help kickStart these brilliant ideas, whether it be a new gadget, an old but improved take on something or someones vision for a piece of Artwork that they wish to give the world. The experience of making a financial bond by backing them early and seeing them snowball in popularity and mature to a finished product often with several bonus items attached, I have to say its similar to a proud parents watching a baby grow up and make moves disrupting or improving the current status quo. Ive invested in belts, chargers and short films and each gives me a great deal of pride and happiness when the final priduct is even more astonishing than I had ever imagined during the first time I saw it on Kickstarter . Kickstarter completes me.

by The Goon

First off, Kickstarter works fine. It’s functional, easy to navigate and responsive.
My problem is with this app itself.
I’ve supported several successful campaigns, the majority of which delivered the promised product on time.
However, if the creator of the campaign fails to deliver the product that the supporters backed financially, this app does NOTHING to intervene on the behalf of the backers. Basically, if the creator decides to keep your money and not provide the product they promised you, this app doesn’t care. They will not intervene on your behalf. No product, no refund, nothing. No punitive action against the dishonest creator. Nothing.
So if you’re fine with gambling on people being true to their word, this app should be fine for you. However, when a project is labeled “this app Gold”, endorsed by this app, I feel the company has a responsibility as they have now attached themselves to the project by their endorsement.

by Hdhcjavd

For a majority of the projects, you’ll have a great experience. Other times, you’ll lose your money (no refund), never receive the item, and have no accountability. I backed a custom made poker playing card project, but the creator stopped any communication with the 400+ backers after months of delays. More than a full year after the project was funded, a decent amount of backers have not received their cards. The project was reported to this app by many, but they have not done anything about it. They have not contacted us to give any update on the situation. It seems KS does not have a policy to keep creators accountable. Once a project is funded, if the creator decides to run away, there is nothing to stop them from doing so. So, many of us have lost our money with little hope for the cards or a refund by the creator or this app.

by Thehannakate

Pretty disappointed in this app. I’ve backed several projects, and a few of them never did filled their promises. It’s been 3 years, no updates, nothing has shipped. In kickstarted fine print it says if a creator promises certain things or items to their pledges, they are legally obligated to fulfill them. One guy from Canada on another project or enamel pins stated that his grandma died and that’s why he was months late on any update, and two years later we never heard from him again.

I’ve written this app so many times as well as hundreds of others and they do nothing. Someone needs to go after these “creator companies” and see what they are really doing with the 500k instead of actually creating a product. My advice, don’t back anything, most of the people on this site are just going to run away with the money.

by Casey2792

this app (And Indiegogo) are, to me, great ideas! I love the idea of being able to make a small contribution to new projects coming to life, but as these two companies are currently set up there is just too much risk for me to feel comfortable ‘backing’ another project.
If something goes wrong, this app will literally go out of their way to do nothing to help you. I have unfortunately contributed money to 4 different campaigns where the campaign owner just disappeared with all of the money they raised and cannot be contacted. this app could care less, and will do nothing to try to make things right, in fact, after only two emails to them about one of these scams, I stopped getting replies from this app and haven’t gotten a response to an email from them in months. Super disappointing, but I can’t reasonably allow myself to use this platform again unless some changes are made.

by Psych012332

App works fine. this app does not. You are literally gambling your money away. If the creator takes your money and doesn’t provide you with anything at all, this app will do absolutely NOTHING to help you. What they will do is happily take their cut of the money. I was duped and lost $165 and literally received nothing, no product not anything! Just simply handed over $165 to this app and some random person who kept my money. It was a scam, and this app threw their hands up. But of course kept their cut of the money and basically said screw you to all of the people supporting their business. I for one will never back another this app project and recommend that you don’t either unless you really feel compelled to gamble your money away. You may get nothing, you may get a half baked product, you may have to wait forever to get it and maybe if all things go well it will be worth you investment. For me, it never will be ever again.

by TheLegalMan

this app allows companies to help get initial funding to help companies grow or they fail, which some companies have failed within this app.

this app needs to warranty the money paid if you do not get your product or service since they make money off the money that was paid by a customer.

I only gave this app 2 out of 5 stars because a few companies I’ve paid took advantage of my money (fraud) and failed to pay me back timely (negligence) like 2 years later or never paid me back (fraud again) because of their poor business model.

this app needs to be sued for their role in this business model to make an example out of them for now and in the future. this app should be held liable for any company that does not preform or make good on the date of delivery since most companies on the this app app or online never get a product out by the deadline date (again fraud or product liability).

When this app steps up their game then I’ll increase the star rating higher but they need to change or I’m going to be the class action jerk off to sue them!

Good luck this app for harboring lying and deceitful companies that do not preform in a timely manner!

by Nursestudrnt

I’ve backed several projects, received several, some have failed funding, and some I’m waiting on. There is noway to get rid of the unsuccessful projects from my list of projects, nor an easy way to sort the projects that have completed from those I’m still waiting on. Toggling the button on my pledge page is fine, but it can only be seen on the pledge page in the project. Why not make it so toggling that button moved the project to a “completed” section, with an “in progress” section for those still (hopefully) in production? And while you’re at it, allow us to remove unsuccessful or “canceled by creator”projects from our backed list.

by Meh20137

Kickstarter does not show when creators send their survey - you must log into the browser page for that. A bit inconvenient and as I had previously exclusively used Kickstarter , I had to have a creator tell me to log in on the browser to find. I would have missed out on my rewards otherwise. Also need to be able to mute projects that are finished—I have notifications turned off for all filled projects yet still get emails/this app alerts from their pages. A bit annoying as I get excited thinking it’s my newly backed project only to find out otherwise.
All in all, a nice app (so glad they rolled back the recent side-side backing screen update).

by Mr. J-Swizzle

I love this app! I just really wish there was a way to “dislike” a project so that I wouldn’t keep seeing the projects that I’m not interested in, and I could find more projects that I am interested in!

It shouldn’t be so hard to find the awesome projects that I want to back, and it would be a lot easier if I didn’t have to scroll past all the top projects in any given search area.

I can change the search criteria, but then I still have to scroll past tons of projects that I have no interest in backing. Every time. Because they always show up, and I can’t get rid of them!

by Blinxes

Allow me to state that firstly, if you don’t know already this app is a place where you can help fund indie developers with their life long goal of projects, whether or not they reach their goal is purely on marketing tactics and people who are interested. Do note that this app is not an obligation so always keep that in mind. With that being said this app app has a extremely easy to use interface and so simple that I believe even an elderly person who is technology illiterate can use it. I do hope Kickstarter continues to go through updates and positive changes as time goes on.

by Awsomestguy

this app is so so amazing! It provides the opportunity to invest in so many different companies. Personally I use this app for purchasing cards before they hit the market because the soon you get the cards, the cheaper they will be. You never know! Maybe that deck you bought rises to 70 dollars by the time you get them (when you only payed about 12$ for them). I also recommend funding the projects that have Exceeded what the person/company has asked for because that means that they will definitely be popular and increases you chances of making money. Love you this app!