CrowdfundingBy Day Zero
Crowdfunding for software: Kickstarter, AppSumo and Day Zero compared
Software founders can raise early money from customers through reward crowdfunding, lifetime-deal marketplaces or a pre-launch lifetime-deal campaign. Here's how they differ.
In short
- Reward crowdfunding like Kickstarter is built mostly around creative and physical products, and charges backers when the campaign ends.
- Lifetime-deal marketplaces like AppSumo mostly sell deals on software that has already launched.
- Day Zero is for software before launch: all or nothing like Kickstarter, lifetime deals like AppSumo, and backers are charged only when the product is usable.
Crowdfunding lets customers pay for a product before it exists. For software the main options are reward crowdfunding platforms, lifetime-deal marketplaces and pre-launch lifetime-deal campaigns. They differ in when backers pay, what they get and how finished the product has to be.
| Kickstarter | AppSumo | Day Zero | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What backers get | A reward set by the creator | A lifetime deal on software | A lifetime deal on software |
| Product stage | Before launch | Usually launched | Before launch |
| Built for | Creative and physical projects | Launched software | Pre-launch software |
| When backers pay | When the campaign ends | At purchase | When the founder opens access |
| All or nothing | Yes | No | Yes, the goal is half the seats |
Kickstarter and Indiegogo
Reward crowdfunding works best for things people can picture: gadgets, games, books, films. Software can run there, but backers are charged when the campaign ends, often months before they can use anything, and most of the audience comes for creative and physical projects.
AppSumo and other lifetime-deal marketplaces
AppSumo made lifetime deals for software popular. It mostly lists products that have already launched, to a large audience of deal buyers. It's a launch and growth channel more than a way to validate an idea before you build it.
Day Zero
Day Zero is where AppSumo meets Kickstarter: all or nothing, lifetime deals, for software before launch. A founder lists 10 to 100 founding seats at $10–$150. The campaign is open for a week and is funded when half the seats are pledged. Backers are charged when the founder opens access, which is due 90 days after the campaign ends; if it doesn't open, nobody is charged.
Backers can resell a seat they haven't redeemed on the resale market. Founders connect their product through a licensing API with the same shape as AppSumo Licensing v2.
Which one to choose
- Hardware, a game or a creative project: Kickstarter or Indiegogo.
- Launched software, and you want a large burst of deal buyers: AppSumo or a similar marketplace.
- Software before launch, and you want your own early believers to become paying customers: Day Zero.
Questions
Is there a Kickstarter for SaaS?
Day Zero works like Kickstarter for software before launch. Campaigns are all or nothing, but backers get a lifetime deal and are charged only when the founder opens access.
Is Day Zero equity crowdfunding?
No. Backers buy a software license, not shares. It's closer to a pre-order than to equity crowdfunding platforms such as Wefunder or Republic.