FreeFunder vs Goteo

FreeFunder is a web service for creating personal crowdfunding campaigns for medical bills, funeral costs, personal projects and other personal causes. Campaign owners start with a short form describing the amount sought and the reason for fundraising. They can customize pages with color schemes, formatted text, pictures and tables, then share campaigns or embed them on another website. Team members can receive read-only or read-write access. Owners can post updates and email them to followers, and keyword-based text-to-donate supports offline events and promotions. FreeFunder says it charges no platform fee and relies on voluntary donations. Card donations through Stripe incur a 2.9% + $0.30 processing fee deducted from each donation. Venmo, PayPal and Cash App gifts can be recorded on the page and can avoid processing fees. Donations go to a separate Stripe account for the owner or beneficiary and then to a bank account. Campaigns cannot offer rewards or investment opportunities.

Goteo is a crowdfunding platform for projects with social, cultural, educational, or environmental impact. Individuals and organizations can seek funding or practical collaboration for work made, produced, or distributed under free and open terms. Projects must use free or open licenses and contribute to shared knowledge or the commons. A standard campaign has two 40-day rounds, with an all-or-nothing minimum goal in the first. Campaigns describe collective returns alongside individual rewards. Contributors may offer skills, materials, infrastructure, or help with tasks instead of money. Goteo and a community of experts review registered projects and may advise on promotion, licensing, and collective returns. Backers can pay by card, PayPal when enabled by the promoter, or Goteo Virtual Purse. Its API is currently read-only, supports GET, OPTIONS, and HEAD, and offers Basic and OAuth authentication with documented rate limits. The free campaign plan is free when the minimum goal is not reached; successful projects retain 10% of funds raised.