Patreon vs Ko-fi: When $12 Beats a 10% Fee

For a new creator page, Ko-fi generally takes less in platform fees. Patreon’s standard fee policy applies a 10% charge to pages published after August 4, 2025; standard USD card processing adds 2.9% plus $0.30 per payment. Ko-fi Gold costs $12 per month for new subscribers and removes Ko-fi’s service fee from eligible payments. On platform charges alone, Gold beats Patreon’s standard rate above $120 in eligible monthly revenue.

Ko-fi’s fee schedule charges 5% on memberships without Gold, plus PayPal or Stripe processing that varies by account, location and currency and is typically around 3% plus $0.30. That percentage option costs less than Gold until eligible monthly revenue passes $240. Older Stripe memberships can retain their 5% fee after a creator subscribes to Gold, so an established account needs a calculation based on which payments actually qualify for the fixed-price plan.

Where the fee breakpoints fall

Let R be monthly membership revenue eligible for Gold’s zero service fee. Patreon’s standard platform charge is 0.10 × R, Ko-fi’s no-subscription membership charge is 0.05 × R, and Gold’s subscription is $12. Gold and Patreon’s standard charge are equal at $120; Gold and Ko-fi’s percentage charge are equal at $240. Between those amounts, Gold beats Patreon’s platform charge, but Ko-fi’s 5% option costs even less.

Processing changes what the creator keeps. For the hypothetical cases below, assume every member pays by card in USD and processing costs 2.9% plus $0.30 per payment on both platforms. That is a modeling assumption for Ko-fi, whose actual PayPal or Stripe rate may differ. The totals combine platform and modeled processing charges, but exclude taxes, currency conversion and withdrawal costs.

10 members paying $10 each: On $100 of monthly revenue, total modeled fees are $15.90 on standard Patreon, $10.90 on Ko-fi’s 5% option and $17.90 on Gold. The fixed subscription costs more than either percentage option at this level.
30 members paying $10 each: On $300 of revenue, modeled fees are $47.70 on Patreon, $32.70 on Ko-fi’s 5% option and $29.70 on Gold. Gold saves $3 against Ko-fi’s percentage option for the month.
100 members paying $10 each: On $1,000 of revenue, modeled fees are $159 on Patreon, $109 on Ko-fi’s 5% option and $71 on Gold. The gap widens as eligible revenue grows while the Gold subscription stays fixed.

Member count matters even when revenue does not change. At a hypothetical $600 a month, 20 payments of $30 produce $6 in fixed processing charges under this model; 100 payments of $6 produce $30. The platform-fee comparison is unchanged, but the additional transactions reduce the creator’s net by $24. A different processor rate can also erase a narrow platform-fee advantage, especially near either breakpoint.

Existing accounts change the comparison

A creator with an older Patreon page should use the plan shown in their account. Patreon’s creator fee breakdown lists legacy platform rates of 5% for Founders, 8% for Pro and 11% for Pro + Merch; qualifying Founders pages also have a USD card-processing rate of 1.6% plus $0.30. A Founders page therefore cannot assume a platform-fee saving from Ko-fi’s 5% membership option. Processing, payout method and the value of Patreon’s features can determine the better result.

Legacy pricing depends on keeping the Patreon page continuously published. If the creator or Patreon unpublishes it, republishing moves the page to the standard plan. A Founders creator who changes payout currency keeps the 5% platform rate but moves to standard processing rates. Those conditions make the current account settings more useful than a comparison based solely on today’s new-page price.

On Ko-fi, the Gold calculation must separate older Stripe memberships from payments eligible for zero service fees. Consider a hypothetical $300 month with $250 from older Stripe memberships still charged 5% and $50 from eligible newer memberships. Gold would cost $24.50 in subscription and platform fees: $12 plus $12.50 on the older payments. The no-subscription 5% option would cost $15. When older payments incur the same 5% fee either way, eligible new revenue alone must exceed $240 a month for Gold to cost less. A creator who previously enabled Ko-fi’s Contributor setting must also turn it off separately to remove the service fee from eligible Gold payments.

Community tools may justify a different price

Patreon’s standard plan includes chats, polls and comments, as well as monthly and annual memberships and video hosting for eligible creators. Ko-fi’s membership guide describes tiers, exclusive content and Discord role benefits. A creator whose paid community depends on conversations inside the membership platform may value Patreon’s built-in tools. Ko-fi may fit better when discussion already happens in Discord or the main benefit is access to posts and other creator-supplied work.

Moving an audience also has a payment constraint. Ko-fi memberships are paid to the creator’s connected PayPal or Stripe account; changing that account directs new memberships to the new destination, while existing memberships continue paying the old one. Moving those existing payments requires canceling the memberships and having supporters join again. That disruption deserves a place in the comparison for a creator with an established paying audience.

When the money reaches the creator

Ko-fi membership payments go directly to the creator’s connected PayPal or Stripe account when a member joins, without a Ko-fi payout day or minimum balance. A Patreon payment instead contributes to the creator’s balance after platform and processing deductions, and transferring that balance incurs a separate payout transaction fee. Receipt in a Ko-fi payment account is distinct from the processor’s later transfer to a bank, which follows that provider’s schedule.

For a new page built mainly around paid posts, Ko-fi’s 5% option has the lowest platform charge below $240 in eligible monthly revenue; Gold takes that position above it. For an existing page, the relevant figures are its actual Patreon plan, the fee attached to each Ko-fi subscription and its payment-processing terms. If members rely on Patreon’s chats, polls or comments, that community experience is part of the cost of switching.