How much does Patreon take? Fees in 2026

Patreon’s pricing page leads with one number: 10% of the income you earn on Patreon. The small print under it is where the rest lives: “plus payment processing, currency conversion, and payout fees, and applicable taxes.”

This guide walks through each of those fees as they stand in October 2026, using Patreon’s own help center, then works through what a real pledge leaves you with. Everything is in US dollars unless it says otherwise.

The short answer

For a typical $10 monthly membership paid by US card, a new creator keeps about $8.41. The sections below show where the other $1.59 goes, and when it is more.

Want your own numbers? Put your members and prices into the Patreon fee calculator.

The platform fee: 10% for new creators

Patreon moved to a single standard plan for new creators in August 2025. If you published your creator page after August 4, 2025, you pay 10% of the income you earn on Patreon. That covers memberships and one-time purchases from your shop alike.

If you published on or before August 4, 2025, you stay on the plan you had:

Two details catch people out. First, a legacy plan is tied to your page staying published: if you unpublish your page, or Patreon unpublishes it for any reason, you move to the standard 10% when you publish again. Second, creators who started selling digital products before May 22, 2025 may still pay 5% on one-time purchases, while everyone else pays their normal platform fee on them.

The platform fee is a percentage of each successful payment. Processing, currency conversion and payout fees are separate, and come on top.

Payment processing

Processing covers the card networks and Patreon’s payment infrastructure. On the standard 10% plan, with a US dollar payout currency, the rates are:

The standard plan uses these rates for every payment, whatever its size. Legacy plans have a separate micropayment rate for payments of $3 or less: 5% + $0.10 by card or US PayPal, and 6% + $0.10 by PayPal outside the US.

If you are paid out in another currency, the rates are set in that currency instead. For example, 3.4% + €0.35 for euros, 3.4% + £0.35 for pounds, 3.2% + CA$0.35 for Canadian dollars and 3% + A$0.30 for Australian dollars.

Processing is worked out on the whole payment, including any sales tax or VAT the member paid. The $0.30 matters most on small tiers, as the examples below show.

Currency conversion: 2.5%

When a member pays in a different currency from your payout currency, Patreon adds a 2.5% currency conversion fee. It is calculated on the full payment, tax included, and refunded if the member is refunded. A member who pays in your payout currency is never charged it.

If most of your members are in one country, setting your payout currency to theirs avoids this fee for the majority of your income.

Payout fees

Getting money out of Patreon costs a small fee each time:

PayPal may charge its own fees again when you move money from PayPal to your bank. For most US creators, direct deposit is the cheapest route by a distance: $0.25 against up to $20.

Apple’s fee on iPhone purchases

Memberships bought inside Patreon’s iOS app go through Apple’s in-app purchase system. Apple takes 30% of those purchases, falling to 15% once a member has been billed continuously for a year. Patreon does not add processing fees on iOS purchases, but its platform fee still applies.

You choose how to handle it:

• Raise prices in the iOS app (the default). Patreon adds about 43% to your price in the app (covering a 30% cut means dividing the price by 0.7), so you earn the same as on the web. A $10 tier costs a fan about $14.29 in the app.
• Keep prices the same everywhere. Fans pay $10 in the app and you absorb Apple’s fee.

There is one way around Apple’s fee. Fans in the US can choose Patreon’s mobile web checkout from inside the app, and those purchases carry no App Store fee. Apple does not allow web checkout for fans outside the US.

Two more things to know. Apple pays Patreon slowly, so iOS purchases can show as pending in your balance for up to 75 days. And Apple’s rules mean the iOS app only supports subscription billing, where members are charged on the day they join and monthly after that. Every creator has to be on subscription billing by November 1, 2026. If you still charge per creation, Patreon pauses your billing, sets new monthly prices for you, and keeps billing paused until you review them. If you charge on the first of the month, Patreon switches you in November: members you already have keep paying on the 1st, and new members pay on the day they join.

What a pledge actually leaves you

Here is what reaches you from a few common cases, on the standard plan with a US dollar payout currency.

A $10 monthly membership, paid by US card. Patreon’s 10% is $1.00 and processing is $0.59 (2.9% of $10, plus $0.30). You keep $8.41, or 84%.

The same $10, paid by a member in Europe in euros. Add the 2.5% conversion fee, about $0.25. You keep about $8.16.

A $3 tier, paid by US card. The platform fee is $0.30 and processing is $0.39 ($0.09 plus $0.30). You keep $2.31, or 77%. The fixed $0.30 makes small tiers much more expensive in percentage terms.

100 members at $10 a month. Fees come to $159, leaving $841, less $0.25 for one direct deposit. Over a year, that is $1,908 in fees on $12,000 of support.

The same 100 members on a legacy Pro plan at 8%. Fees come to $139, leaving $861.

None of these include sales tax or VAT, refunds, chargebacks or iOS purchases, all of which change the picture.

Can you pay Patreon less?

Not by much. The platform fee is the biggest line, and it cannot be negotiated. Everything else only trims the edges:

• Direct deposit instead of PayPal saves a few dollars a payout, and only in the US.
• Matching your payout currency to your members avoids the 2.5% conversion fee, but only for members who pay in that one currency.
• Annual memberships save card fees, but Patreon only lets you discount them once your page is at least three months old and has earned at least $200 a month for the previous three months.
• A legacy rate lasts only as long as your page is never unpublished, by you or by Patreon.
• Web checkout avoids Apple’s 30%, but only for fans in the US, and only if they choose it inside Patreon’s app.

None of these touch the 10%. And if you still charge per creation, Patreon will pause your billing on November 1, 2026, and set new monthly prices for you, unless you switch first.

Stop paying a cut

A percentage grows with you. On $1,000 a month, Patreon’s 10% is $100 a month, $1,200 a year, and more with every member you add.

Drate charges a flat price instead. Pro is $12 a month with a 0% platform fee, and it comes with your own website on your own domain, with members paying through your own Stripe account instead of into a Patreon balance. Above $120 a month in sales, $12 costs less than 10%, and the gap widens with every member.

You do not have to leave everyone behind to do it. Drate connects to Patreon, so patrons keep their access while they move. How to move off Patreon without losing patrons shows how, step by step.

Questions

How much does Patreon take from creators?

New creators pay 10% of what they earn, plus 2.9% + $0.30 for each card payment, 2.5% when a member pays in another currency, and a fee each time you cash out. On a $10 membership paid by US card, you keep about $8.41.

Does Patreon take 8% or 10% in 2026?

It depends on when your page was published. Pages published after August 4, 2025 pay the standard 10%. Pages published on or before that date keep their legacy plan: 5% on Founders, 8% on Pro or 11% on Pro + Merch, unless the page is ever unpublished.

Is there a fee to withdraw money from Patreon?

Yes. A US direct deposit costs $0.25 per payout. PayPal costs 1% of the amount, at least $0.25 and at most $20, with a $10 minimum payout. Payoneer costs $1.00 per payout with a $25 minimum.

Why do some patrons pay more on iPhone?

Apple takes 30% of purchases made in Patreon's iOS app, falling to 15% after a member's first year. By default Patreon raises iOS prices by about 43% so you earn the same as on the web. Fans in the US can choose Patreon's web checkout in the app instead and pay the normal price.

Does Patreon charge fees on free members?

No. Patreon's fees apply to payments it processes, so a free membership costs you nothing. The fees start when a member pays.

Will my fee change if I unpublish my page?

Yes, if you are on a legacy plan. Patreon says that if you unpublish your page, or Patreon unpublishes it for any reason, your plan switches to the standard 10% when you publish again.

Sources

Checked on October 5, 2026. Prices and terms change, so check the latest before you decide.

1. Patreon: Pricingpatreon.com
2. Patreon: Creator fees overviewsupport.patreon.com
3. Patreon: A standard platform fee for new creatorssupport.patreon.com
4. Patreon: Pricing FAQsupport.patreon.com
5. Patreon: Creator fees FAQsupport.patreon.com
6. Patreon: Selling one-time purchases on Patreonsupport.patreon.com
7. Patreon: How iOS in-app purchases work on Patreonsupport.patreon.com
8. Patreon: iOS in-app purchases and switching to subscription billingsupport.patreon.com
9. Patreon: iOS in-app purchases and switching to subscription billing FAQsupport.patreon.com
10. Patreon: Apple has reimposed its subscription billing mandate for creators on Patreonpatreon.com
11. Patreon: Reminder: All creators must be on subscription billing by November 1patreon.com
12. Patreon: Annual memberships creator overviewsupport.patreon.com
13. Patreon: How to pause billing for your memberssupport.patreon.com
14. Apple: Auto-renewable subscriptionsdeveloper.apple.com