Key takeaways
Patreon is a monetization platform that lets you build a community with your fans and turn it into a profitable business.
Patreon pricing is free, but takes 10% of your earnings.
The best Patreon alternatives are Ko-fi, Liberapay, Buy Me a Coffee, Kickstarter, Gumroad, Sellfy, EzyCourse, Podia, Teachable, and Thinkific.
90% users didn’t like Patreon for its high revenue model, poor client support, account/subscription issues, and so on.
Searching for Patreon alternatives that cost less and don't drain your earnings with high fees?
Basically, many creators need compensation, probably better than what is given today.
Fortunately, several such platforms charge 0% platform fees.
With these solutions, you can sell your content, run subscription businesses, or build membership websites.
This way, you increase your earnings potential and focus on creating high-quality work, which is what you do best.
Let’s see what the top alternatives to Patreon are with low platform fees.
Quick summary of Patreon alternatives
Here are the 10 Patreon alternatives that you can try that we found from Reddit, Quora, and social media (personally checked each one so you don’t have to):
What is Patreon?
Patreon is a platform where fans (called patrons) pay creators directly to support their work without any middleman. In 2013, Jack Conte and Sam Yam created this platform.
With this, you can earn a regular income by offering things like:
1. Subscriptions.
2. Exclusive content.
3. Behind-the-scenes access.
At first, Patreon was mainly for musicians, bands, podcasters, and video creators, especially those using YouTube.
Now, it supports many types of creators, including writers, game developers, and teachers.
Instead of depending on ads or one-time donations, creators can earn money regularly by turning their fans into supporters.
The platform is also easy to use and allows flexible membership plans with different pricing options.
Patreon pricing plans
It charges 10% of your total pricing while offering everything for free.
10 Patreon alternatives that you can try
Now, let's explore some alternatives to Patreon, what they offer, and, more importantly, how they can serve your creative journey.
1. Ko-fi
Ko-fi is a platform that seems quite similar to Patreon. It also allows the community to donate to their favourite creators without complicated processes.
It is common among smaller providers and others who wish to express gratitude to their advocates.
With Ko-fi, fans can either ‘buy a coffee’ or post notes of encouragement for the creator.
Besides donations, the model offers the authors the opportunity to sell e-books, pictures, and other digital products and take custom orders.
One of the most attractive aspects of Ko-fi is its free plan, which has no cut fees. This means that 100% donations go to the creators.
More importantly, it is a miniature ecosystem.
Users can earn badges, and creators can establish bonds with their supporters.
However, unlike the complex membership site at other platforms like Patreon, Ko-fi does not offer such tools.
However, Ko-fi is perfectly suitable for creators as it allows them to interact with the audience without mediators.
Why is it a better alternative to Patreon?
No fees on basic donations or your revenue in its Free or Gold plans.
Provide an easy way to accept donations.
Great for creators who do not want a full membership system but still want support from their audience.
Change the look of their Ko-fi page and build in your own style or brand.
No forced charges or attempts to coerce creators to create membership tiers.
Offers the option to sell digital items like files and physical products, too.
In its Gold plan, you get extra features like analytics with a small monthly fee.
Earn money by offering services or commissions directly to their audience.
Benefits
Zero fees on donations with the free plan.
User-friendly for smaller creators and communities.
Support for one-time donations and commissions.
Personalized profiles to showcase your work.
Ability to sell both digital and physical products.
Gated content is available with Ko-fi Gold.
Drawbacks
Limited membership features compared to Patreon.
5% transaction fee on shop sales (for non-Gold members).
No integration with advanced marketing tools.
Pricing plans
1. Contributor: $0/month with 5% service fees.
2. Gold: $12/month with no service fees.
2. Liberapay
Liberapay is the best open-source donation platform. In fact, people who donate regularly to projects use this well-thought-out platform.
It's meant to be easy to use and not cause any problems. Since there are no fees, users don't have to pay to use the platform.
Instead, only the payment gateway fee is paid. For companies like PayPal, Stripe, etc., this fee is generally between 3% and 5%.
In fact, Liberapay requires several languages and currencies.
The site is perfect for people who write free software, art, information, or anything else with an open-source feel.
However, it's only based on donations, so no goods are sold, and donors are rewarded based on how much they give.
As Liberapay doesn't charge any fees, it can be a good option for producers who don't want to subscribe every month.
The platform won't force any one-time gifts or tiered rewards. Even, it is simple for clients who wish regular payments from their biggest fans.
Why is it a better alternative to Patreon?
As an open-source platform, it is clear and transparent.
Build trust because the community can see how it works.
Ideal for creators who do not want to sell products or memberships.
Only allows regular donations (weekly, monthly, or yearly).
Earn a steady and predictable income.
Supports many currencies and languages, making it accessible for people around the world.
Sign up and start receiving donations without approval or setting up reward tiers. It is simple and quick to use.
Run on donations instead of charging creators with no service fees.
Benefits
No platform fees or monthly payments.
Completely open-source, fostering transparency and trust.
Supports 32 currencies and 28 languages for a global reach.
Easy-to-use interface without complex setups.
Allows pledging that enables future donations once recipients join.
Available for teams, enabling shared funds distribution.
Integrates with GitHub, Twitter, Mastodon, and other platforms.
No monthly or recurring platform fees for creators.
Supports manual or automatic renewal of donations.
Not reliant on cryptocurrency, avoiding fluctuations and complexities.
Drawbacks
No support for one-time donations, limiting flexibility for some donors.
Not ideal for creators who want to offer rewards or products.
Relies heavily on PayPal and Stripe, which have their own processing fees.
Pricing plans
Liberapay is completely free to use, meaning it charges no platform fees for donations. But, it has 3.1% to 5.1% payment processing fees from PayPal and Stripe.
3. Buy Me a Coffee
Buy Me a Coffee, aka BMC, is another easy-to-use platform that allows artists to earn money from their fans. It also allows donations and tips.
Made for the Corteous is geared towards artists who want to avoid dealing with complicated membership systems. But still want to make money from their work.
With BMC, fans can give tips to their favourite creators to "buy" them.
This is possible because the creators have set up personalized profile pages that explain how to do this with just a few clicks.
Creators can also offer features like "watching behind the scenes" or "talking with them over the network" to get gifts from their fans.
They can also sell accessories to fans based on their membership type.
However, many features that make sites like Patreon so popular take dedication from fans.
But this one doesn't have those features. Instead, it has easy and quick ways for fans and creators to connect.
Any sale made on the platform's website is subject to a 5% fee. Payments can be made quickly through PayPal or Stripe.
Its standard features make signing up, earning revenue quickly, and monetizing content easy. This is good for content owners who aim to do more than entertain their audiences.
Why is it a better alternative to Patreon?
Easy to use if you are a beginner.
Only charges a small fee on sales.
Receive your money quickly through Stripe or PayPal without long waiting times.
Choose to give one-time donations or subscribe monthly.
Earn money not only from donations but also by selling digital or physical products and offering services.
Supports multiple languages for you to translate.
Get support without sharing personal details like their full name or address, keeping their information safe.
Benefits
Quick and simple setup.
Low 5% transaction fee.
Instant payouts via PayPal and Stripe.
One-time donations and recurring memberships are available.
Custom profile page for showcasing work.
"Extras" feature for selling content and services.
No lengthy approval processes or account verification.
Email marketing tools are integrated for free.
Allows flexible payment types for fans.
Drawbacks
Basic features compared to more complex platforms.
Transaction fees still cut into creators’ earnings.
No options for large-scale project funding.
Lacks advanced membership management functionality.
Pricing plans
Buy Me a Coffee operates on a straightforward pricing model. While the platform is free to use, creators pay a 5% fee on all earnings.
There are tips, one-time donations, memberships, and "Extras" (like selling digital goods or offering services). Creators only pay when they earn money, so there are no monthly fees.
Payment processors (Stripe and PayPal) also charge a standard transaction fee of around 3% to 5%.
Platform Fee: 5% of all earnings.
Transaction Fee: Processing fees from Stripe or PayPal, typically 3%-5%.
4. Kickstarter
Kickstarter is a popular crowdfunding platform for swift project finishers and new ventures.
However, it does not offer partial funding for projects listed on it.
Also, there is no going back for those project creators.
Given this peculiar structure, backers are willing to participate since their funds will go to worthy projects.
Also, it is an excellent alternative to Patreon for those who want a quick pump without an indefinite feed.
They can sell actual prizes as products or experiences to random users and test their hypotheses on the market.
In fact, it has an extensive pool of more than 22M active contributors who are always looking for new projects to fund.
Why is it a better alternative to Patreon?
Receive funds if your project reaches its goal.
Lessens risk for both creators and supporters.
Designed for funding specific projects, either new ideas or ongoing work.
Connect with potential backers before launching fully.
Offer rewards to encourage people to support your campaign.
Get access to a large community of potential backers and supporters.
Provides tools to track and analyze your campaign performance.
Benefits
Free to use until you hit your funding goal.
Large community of potential backers.
Tangible rewards create engagement.
Comprehensive analytics tools for campaign tracking.
Live video interactions foster community.
Review process enhances credibility.
Visibility on the Kickstarter platform.
Fast payout—funds released 14 days post-campaign if successful.
Supports a wide variety of project types.
Encourages creativity and innovation.
Encourages public engagement and feedback.
Easy to set funding goals and rewards.
Opportunities for media coverage and exposure.
Ideal for both established creators and newcomers.
Drawbacks
An all-or-nothing model can be risky.
5% fees on successful campaigns plus processing fees.
Limited to project-based funding.
Requires extensive planning and marketing efforts.
Pricing plans
This platform charges 5% transaction fees. With that, it takes 3% to 5% of payment processing fees based on the location.
5. Gumroad
Gumroad is an e-commerce site where you can buy and sell digital goods such as e-books, online courses, goods, software, and more.
You can post and sell products immediately to existing audiences through template-based interfaces and drag-and-drop page builders.
Nowadays, Gumroad lets you charge for subscription material, but the service is mostly used to pay for and share digital files.
Even creating product pages doesn't take long.
While Gumroad does some marketing for artists, it doesn't do much else. This service is best suited for people who already have an audience.
However, Gumroad's membership plans with automatic billing allow users to sell more digital material than Patreon.
Despite its clear price and ability to use affiliate programs, we believe most creators who want to sell digital goods will be interested in this service.
Even if it doesn't come with advertising features out of the box.
Why is it a better alternative to Patreon?
Made for selling digital items like eBooks, courses, and software.
Quickly create an account and start selling.
Simple to set up for newcomers.
Offer different payment types, such as one-time purchases, subscriptions, or installment payments.
Provide monthly or yearly access to earn recurring income.
Benefits
Ideal for selling e-books, software, courses, and more.
User-friendly platform with simple registration and product page creation.
Offers one-time payments, subscriptions, and installment plans.
Allows selling content through monthly or annual subscriptions.
Helps creators reach new audiences via affiliates.
Flat fee of 8.5% + $0.30 per transaction with no hidden charges.
Best suited for those with an existing audience.
Easily scalable for selling software, courses, and digital files.
Clear and simple fee structure for creators.
Drawbacks
Minimal built-in promotion for new creators.
Primarily focused on digital products.
A $0.30 fee can reduce profit margins on lower-priced items.
Pricing plans
1. Takes 10% + 0.50 for transaction fees if anyone buys directly from your profile or links.
2. Takes 30% for transaction fees if anyone buys after getting discovered by the marketplace.
6. Sellfy
Sellfy is a good Patreon alternative platform for artistic and creative individuals who want to sell physical and digital products.
Registering for a personal retail site for each client takes a few minutes. After that, online sales begin.
With Sellfy, you can do more than just set up an online store.
Also, it provides integrated email marketing, upselling tools, cart abandonment tools, and various other valuable features for small businesses.
Using Sellfy, creators can instantly make withdrawal requests.
Entrepreneurs can also track sales and modify the design to understand their customers and sales patterns better.
Why is it a better alternative to Patreon?
Sell digital products, physical items, and print-on-demand products in one place.
Get your money right away after a sale, instead of waiting for a payout period.
Simple to set up and use for beginners.
Use email marketing and discount codes to promote your products and increase sales.
Provides clear data about sales, customers, and traffic to help you make better decisions.
Share your products on platforms like Facebook and YouTube to reach more people.
Benefits
Easy-to-navigate interface for product management.
Instant payouts ensure quick access to earnings.
Print-on-demand service for selling custom merchandise.
No transaction fees on sales.
Customizable storefront options for branding.
Integration with social media platforms.
Detailed analytics for tracking sales performance.
PDF stamping to protect digital products.
Ability to embed products on personal websites or blogs.
User-friendly setup process.
Unlimited product listings on higher plans.
Affordable pricing plans suitable for various needs.
Drawbacks
Limited customer interaction options.
Reports of inadequate customer support.
Pricing plans
1. Starter: $22/month (yearly)
2. Business: $59/month (yearly)
3. Premium: $119/month (yearly)
7. EzyCourse
EzyCourse is an all-in-one platform that lets you build content, sell memberships, manage a community, and so on.
If compared to Patreon, EzyCourse is the opposite because it does not take any of the creator's cut. In fact, it allows them to earn every cent.
It doesn’t matter whether you are an artist, a coach, or an educator wishing to capitalize on your knowledge.
This platform allows you to control your brand and business fully.
With this, you can build courses and communities and manage subscriptions with various tools.
Through upsells, content creators can sell courses, membership plans, and course-related merchandise to enhance the platform's revenue potential.
Apart from boasting great features, the platforms give you much flexibility when customizing your landing pages and content layout.
It also enables purchasing directly through the platform, as this platform has onboarded payment processing.
As there are no hidden charges, you can run your online business with 100% profits.
Why is it a better alternative to Patreon?
0% transaction, processing, or hidden fees.
Get a free branded mobile app on Unlimited and Elite plans.
Design your landing pages and course structure the way you want.
Earn in different ways, such as memberships, online courses, subscriptions, and digital products.
Create and sell as many courses or products as you want without limits.
Build a community with forums and groups to connect with your audience.
24/7 priority support to solve issues.
Benefits
0% platform fees.
Multiple revenue streams.
Customizable branding and design.
Built-in payment gateway.
Unlimited courses and digital product selling.
Strong community-building tools.
Full ownership of customer data.
Supports memberships and subscription models.
Low learning curve for new users.
Responsive customer support.
Mobile-optimized for creators and users.
Drawbacks
Only 1 coaching program in its Essential plan.
No free plan.
Pricing plans
1. Essential: $55/month (yearly)
2. Pro: $129/month (yearly)
3. Unlimited: $189/month (yearly)
4. Elite: $279/month (yearly)
Note: Pricing is subject to change*
8. Podia
Podia is another platform that competes with Patreon in providing a one-stop subscription solution for its users.
Since it's a third-party site, all content hosted is protected on Patreon. However, you can create your membership site here.
As a result, all branding barriers and platform privation risks are irrelevant.
Besides offering memberships through Podia, you can sell digital assets, create online courses, conduct webinars, and sell downloadable content.
Also, it integrates easily with trade and email selling systems and helps extend the creators' ventures.
Primary features include catered membership options, gated tiers with prices for each mode, and pay-as-you-go.
Even in paid plans, there are no transaction fees, unlike Patreons, which take a cut of your earnings.
Why is it a better alternative to Patreon?
Build your own website, grow your audience, and sell directly.
No transaction fee on its Shaker plan.
Sell different types of content like courses, webinars, and coaching.
Includes email marketing and affiliate tools
Create unlimited membership levels with different prices and content for different audiences.
Sell digital products and run memberships from the same platform.
Customize your site with your own branding, domain, and design without restrictions.
Get an unlimited email marketing option with its Free plan.
Benefits
Full control over your website and branding.
0% transaction fees on paid plans.
Built-in email marketing features.
Offers both membership and e-commerce functionalities.
Clean and user-friendly interface.
Ability to set up custom pricing and gated content.
Community features like forums and messaging.
Free plan available.
Excellent customer support (available 7 days a week).
Custom domain integration.
Ability to bundle products and offer coupons.
Affiliate marketing tools included.
Offers free migrations from other platforms.
Drawbacks
Higher monthly fees compared to Patreon.
Limited advanced email automation in the free plan.
Some technical skills needed for full customization.
Features like course sales not as advanced as dedicated LMS platforms.
Pricing plans
1. Mover: $33/month (yearly)
2. Shaker: $75/month (yearly)
9. Teachable
Teachable, a reliable course platform, is the best alternative to Patreon, a powerful tool that helps people who sell courses online.
Many tools are available that make creating a course and promoting it to increase sales easier and more effective.
Teachers can run well-organized and well-marketed classes with the help of teachable lesson formats, assessments, and education credentials.
Also, it has a grade book tool for keeping track of students even when it's not connected to the Internet.
You can promote a Teachable course on a website made by Teachable or embed its content on other websites using iframes.
Apart from that, Teachable works well for businesses that teach classes and want to connect with their audience.
It doesn’t have all the features of community platforms, like live webinars, creative membership sites, etc.
However, it makes up for it with detailed data, marketing tools, and the option to sell bundles.
Of course, this is helpful for people who want to create this kind of content but don't want to build a group around it.
When you want Patreon without paying platform fees, Teachable might be a good choice.
Why is it a better alternative to Patreon?
No platform fees, so you can keep more of the money you earn.
Offers useful tools to create courses, such as videos, images, quizzes, and certificates.
Download lessons and study without needing to stay online all the time.
Track your sales and collect student feedback.
Release lessons step by step instead of all at once.
Benefits
No platform fees.
Excellent multimedia course-building tools.
Built-in marketing support.
Affiliate program for extended sales reach.
Offline viewing support.
Drip content to keep students engaged.
Customizable certificates of completion.
Ability to create quizzes and assignments.
Detailed sales and student analytics.
Can remove Teachable branding on higher plans.
Grade book and student progress tracking.
Integrates with various payment options, including Stripe.
Drawbacks
Limited community-building features.
No live engagement tools like webinars.
Requires payment processing fees (2.9% + $0.30 per transaction).
Pricing plans
1. Starter: $29/month (yearly)
2. Builder: $69/month (yearly)
3. Growth: $139/month (yearly)
4. Enterprise: Personalized pricing plan
10. Thinkific
Actually, some people enjoy creating beautiful courses and building online communities around them. For these people, Thinkific is a great solution.
It has several tools for creating unique course pages containing premium content and freemium pages for building communities.
In turn, Thinkific empowers the creators to customize their learning materials and subscription sites based on their preferences.
However, content drips, course bundles, coupons, all these features allow creators to offer both paid premium content and free membership to the community with Thinkific.
You can also use Thinkific's affiliate management tools to promote your courses by letting others encourage them.
In fact, professionals may find this platform more beneficial here, as the template explains.
There is not only the creation of the courses but also a membership component to the internet resource.
Also, it is for creators who desire to sell their courses and build a community. The learning curve may be slightly higher than Teachable initially, but once you get the hang of it.
Why is it a better alternative to Patreon?
Simple to edit and personalize your course website.
Great for users who want full control over design and style.
Create both free and paid communities.
Group courses into bundles and offer discounts with coupons.
With the Pro plan, you can remove Thinkific branding.
Work with affiliates who can promote your courses.
Create a space inside your course platform.
Benefits
Fully customizable course websites.
Supports both courses and membership communities.
Flexible drip content scheduling.
No platform fees, allowing you to keep more profits.
Robust marketing and course bundling features.
Custom domain options to match your brand.
White-label option (Pro Plan) for full branding control.
Ability to create free or premium communities.
Excellent support through one-on-one consultations.
Course creators can easily manage student enrollment and progress.
Built-in mobile app to enhance student access.
Drawbacks
Steeper learning curve compared to other platforms like Teachable.
Less emphasis on simple course selling; more features are geared toward community management.
No built-in Android app support for community management.
Pricing plans
1. Basic: $36/month (yearly)
2. Start: $74/month (yearly)
3. Grow: $149/month (yearly)
4. Thinkific Plus: Personalized pricing plan
5. Branded App: $199/month (yearly)
Ending Note
How useful did you feel our guide on the top 10 Patreon alternatives with low fees for your business?
Firstly, thank you for reading it.
Secondly, we hope that it was not all in vain and that you have learned something that will further develop your business.
Then it means that our work was worth it, and you spent your time wisely!
You've probably guessed it's tricky to generate income from your content without scaling every inheritance down to fees, but it's not impossible.
With the right platform and strategy, you will earn as much as possible so you can build your people and content.
