Ko-fi vs Patreon vs your own website
Both take a cut, and both keep you on their page. Here's what each one costs, where each falls short, and what your own website gets you instead.
Ko-fi, Patreon and a website of your own all let the people who like your work pay you for it. Only one of them is yours. Ko-fi grew out of a tip jar. Patreon is a membership platform that puts its brand and its app between you and your fans. Your own website is a home with your name on the door.
This guide compares them on what they cost and where they fall short, using each one’s own pricing and help pages as of October 2026. For “your own website” we use Drate, our product.
At a glance
| Ko-fi | Patreon | Your own site (Drate) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly price | $0, or $12 for Gold | $0 | $0, or $10 for Pro billed yearly |
| Fee on memberships | 5%, or 0% on Gold | 10% for new creators | 5%, or 0% on Pro |
| Your address | ko-fi.com/yourname | patreon.com/yourname, or one custom domain | Your own domain, on every plan |
| Your look | Ko-fi’s page layout | Patreon’s page layout | Your own website, in your look |
| Members-only content | Supporter-only posts (Standard or Gold) | Posts, audio, video and livestreams | Posts, video, downloads, courses and a community feed |
| Selling things | Shop and commissions | Digital one-time purchases | Print-on-demand merch |
Card or PayPal processing applies on all three. Stripe’s standard US card rate is 2.9% + 30¢.
What each costs at three income levels
Here is what each takes as a platform at three sizes. Card processing applies on every platform and is left out; Patreon also charges $0.25 for each US direct deposit payout.
| Monthly sales | Patreon (10%) | Ko-fi (5%) | Ko-fi Gold | Drate Free (5%) | Drate Pro, yearly |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $100 (20 members at $5) | $10 | $5 | $12 | $5 | $10 |
| $1,000 (100 at $10) | $100 | $50 | $12 | $50 | $10 |
| $5,000 (500 at $10) | $500 | $250 | $12 | $250 | $10 |
Patreon’s percentage costs the most at every size, and the gap grows with every member. At $1,000 a month, Patreon’s fee is $1,200 a year against $120 on Drate Pro billed yearly.
Ko-fi charges a percentage too, and its flat plan, Gold, is billed monthly only, at $12. Drate Pro is $10 a month billed yearly ($12 monthly), and it buys your own website on your own domain rather than a page on ko-fi.com.
Ko-fi
Ko-fi is a tip jar that grew a shop and memberships. Everything lives on one page on ko-fi.com, in Ko-fi’s layout, with no domain of your own.
Its fees are easy to misread, so here they are plainly. Ko-fi Free charges 0% on one-time tips and goal contributions, and 5% on memberships, monthly tips, shop sales and commissions. Standard, where new creators now start, charges 5% on everything, tips included, and is the mode you need for supporter-only content. Ko-fi Gold is $12 a month, monthly only, for 0% service fees, and memberships you took before switching keep paying 5%.
Where it falls short: memberships with members-only content need Standard or Gold, and even then you get a page on someone else’s site, not a website you shape. Memberships are monthly only, and there is no custom domain, no courses and no member app.
Patreon
Patreon is the most expensive of the three. Creators who published their page after August 4, 2025 pay 10% of what they earn on Patreon, plus processing (2.9% + $0.30 for a US card), a 2.5% currency conversion fee when members pay in another currency, and payout fees. Older pages keep legacy rates of 5%, 8% or 11% only as long as they are never unpublished.
Patreon’s app adds its own cost. Purchases made in its iOS app go through Apple, which takes 30%, or 15% after a member’s first year. By default Patreon raises iOS prices to cover it, so your fans pay more; only fans in the US can choose web checkout instead. New creators also cannot add Patreon’s Merch for Membership program, which stays with creators who already use it.
A custom domain does not make it yours, either. Patreon lets you point one domain at its creator page, but Patreon still hosts the page, in its layout, with its sign-in.
Where it falls short: a cut that grows with your income, higher prices for iPhone fans, and a page that is still unmistakably Patreon’s.
Patreon is rated 1.2 out of 5 from 947 reviews on Trustpilot. Almost all of them come from patrons rather than creators, and most are about unexpected charges and about refunds being left to the creator.
Your own website
A website of your own puts your work, your members and your payments in one place you control. On Drate, that means a website and app made around you, your own domain and look on every plan, memberships with members-only posts, video and downloads, courses, a community feed, paid coaching bookings, Discord roles for each membership and print-on-demand merch, with members paying through your own Stripe account.
Members join and pay on your website, so no app store takes a cut of the sale, and on Pro they also get your own iOS and Android app. And because Drate can connect to Patreon, you do not have to start from zero. Patrons who link their Patreon account on your site get the matching membership while they keep paying on Patreon, and can move their billing over when they choose.
Think twice if you need a marketplace to find new fans for you. Your website will not do that. Know, too, that you are the seller, so sales tax and VAT are yours to handle, and that Drate has no one-click export of members or posts yet.
Which to choose
- On Patreon now? Read the full breakdown of Patreon’s fees. At $1,000 a month, Drate Pro billed yearly keeps $1,080 a year that Patreon’s 10% would take, and your patrons keep their access while they move. Our guide to moving off Patreon shows how.
- On Ko-fi now? For the same 5%, or for less than Gold on Pro billed yearly, you get your own website on your own domain instead of a page on ko-fi.com. Leave your Ko-fi page up while members join you on your site.
- Starting out? Start on your own site. It is free to begin, and nobody has to move later.
Questions
Is Ko-fi cheaper than Patreon?
On fees, yes. Ko-fi takes 5% of memberships and shop sales, or nothing on Ko-fi Gold for $12 a month, while Patreon takes 10% from creators who published after August 4, 2025. Either way you get a page on their site, not your own. Drate charges 5%, or 0% on Pro, with your own website and domain.
Does Ko-fi take a fee on tips?
It depends on the mode. Ko-fi Free charges 0% on one-time tips. Standard, which new creators start in, charges 5% on tips too, in return for extras like supporter-only content. Ko-fi Gold, at $12 a month, charges 0% on everything.
Is Ko-fi Gold worth it?
Gold is $12 a month, billed monthly only, for 0% fees, and memberships you took before switching keep paying 5%. It still buys a page on ko-fi.com. Drate Pro is also 0%, costs $10 a month billed yearly, and gives you your own website on your own domain.
Can I use my own domain on Patreon?
Partly. Patreon now lets you connect one custom domain to its new creator page, so yourname.com shows your Patreon page. Patreon still hosts the page, and only Patreon-hosted pages can live on that domain.
Do I have to move everyone at once?
No. Drate connects to Patreon, so patrons who link their account get matching access on your site while they keep paying on Patreon, then move their billing when they choose. Ko-fi members can only be moved by the members themselves, so leave the page up while they join you.
Sources
Checked on October 5, 2026. Prices and terms change, so check the latest before you decide.
- Ko-fi: Does Ko-fi take a fee?help.ko-fi.com
- Ko-fi: What is Ko-fi Gold?help.ko-fi.com
- Ko-fi's homepage in the Internet Archive, October 4, 2026web.archive.org
- Patreon: Pricingpatreon.com
- Patreon: Creator fees overviewsupport.patreon.com
- Patreon: How iOS in-app purchases work on Patreonsupport.patreon.com
- Patreon: Connect a custom domain to your Patreonsupport.patreon.com
- Patreon: Selling one-time purchases on Patreonsupport.patreon.com
- Patreon: Add Merch for Membership to your tierssupport.patreon.com
- Patreon on Trustpilottrustpilot.com
- Stripe: Pricingstripe.com
