Patreon for artists: fees, shop sales and limits
On a new Patreon page, Patreon takes 10% of every membership and every download you sell, and Apple can take 30% more on iPhone. Here's what artists get, what each sale leaves you and the rules to know first.
Patreon takes 10% of what new creators earn there, from memberships and from every download in their shop. Card fees come on top. Sell through Patreon’s iPhone app, and Apple takes 30%.
This guide covers what an artist really gets on Patreon: how your work shows up, what you can sell, where commissions and prints fit, and what each sale leaves you. Every fact about Patreon comes from its own help center and pricing page, checked on October 12, 2026.
The short answer
| On Patreon | |
|---|---|
| Platform fee | 10% of memberships and shop sales, for pages published after August 4, 2025 |
| Card processing | 2.9% + $0.30 a payment, by US card |
| Your shop | Digital work only, priced from $3 to $5,000 |
| Printed merch | Patreon’s merch program is closed to new creators |
| Commissions | A perk you add to a tier |
| iPhone | Apple takes 30% of shop sales and new memberships made in the app |
A $10 download bought on the web leaves you $8.41. Bought in Patreon’s iPhone app, it leaves you $6.00 if you keep your price, or $8.70 if you let Patreon raise it to $14.50.
Pages published on or before August 4, 2025 may keep their older rate of 5%, 8% or 11%. Patreon fees in 2026 walks through every fee, and the Patreon fee calculator runs your own numbers. The rest of this guide is about what you get for them.
How your art shows up on Patreon
Posts are where members see your work. A post can hold one image or up to 500, as JPG, PNG or GIF files.
- The feed is 16:9. Patreon shows images in a 16:9 frame and suggests 1920 by 1080 pixels. Anything else shows up with bars around it.
- Thumbnails are square. Tall pages and wide pieces are cropped in the thumbnail.
- Email shows one image. Members who get your posts by email see the first image. They click through to Patreon for the rest.
- Files go in attachments. PDFs, ZIPs and other files attach to the bottom of a post, up to 5 GB a file. Image attachments stop at 16 MB.
You can group posts into collections, give members early access, and sell single posts or whole collections in your shop.
Charge per post? Patreon’s per-creation billing ends on November 1, 2026. If you haven’t switched by then, your billing pauses until you review new monthly prices. Patreon’s billing change on November 1, explained shows what to do.
Your page is Patreon’s template with your art in it: a header image at 4:1 (Patreon suggests 2,500 by 625 pixels), a profile photo, a brand color, an About section and shelves of posts you arrange. On November 16, 2026, every Patreon page moves to this design, and there isn’t a way back.
Two more things about the page. Patreon says your tiers “aren’t shown on the main page.” Fans find them under membership options. And you can connect your own domain, but Patreon “still powers everything behind the scenes.” Why creators are leaving Patreon covers the redesign.
Selling art in Patreon’s shop
Patreon’s shop sells digital work only: single posts, collections, and products made of images, video, audio or files.
- Prices run from $3 to $5,000.
- Products hold up to 500 images, or up to 25 downloadable files of up to 5 GB each.
- Fees match memberships: 10%, plus processing, plus a payout fee when you cash out.
- Payouts wait. Web and Android sales can be pending for up to 7 days. iPhone sales can take up to 75.
- Refunds are possible for 90 days, and only when your Patreon balance has enough money to cover them.
- Featured spots fit up to three products at the top of your shop.
On iPhone, the sale goes through Apple. Here’s Patreon’s own example for a $10 product:
| Where the fan buys | Fan pays | Apple’s fee | Patreon’s fees | You keep |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Web or Android | $10.00 | $0 | $1.59 | $8.41 |
| iPhone, price raised (default) | $14.50 | $4.35 | $1.45 | $8.70 |
| iPhone, same price | $10.00 | $3.00 | $1.00 | $6.00 |
Patreon doesn’t charge processing on iPhone sales, which is why the default row leaves you a little more. Your fan pays $4.50 extra for it. Fans in the US may get Patreon’s web checkout in the app instead. And in countries where Patreon’s iPhone shop isn’t available yet, fans can see your products in the app but can’t buy them there.
Prints and merch
Patreon prints merch for some creators, through a program called Merch for Membership. That program is “only available to creators who are already using it,” so a new page can’t add it.
That leaves prints, stickers and sketchbooks for you to make and post yourself. A tier can ask members for a shipping address when they join, and the rest is up to you. On iPhone, Patreon says tiers with physical goods, like merch or commissions sent by mail, may keep the same price in the app as on the web.
Commissions
Patreon’s help center treats commissions as a tier perk. Its list of benefit ideas for visual artists includes “Ability to commission work” as a perk for your top members.
So on Patreon, a commission is a promise attached to a tier. You decide how many requests a member gets, and you agree the details with each one.
What an art membership looks like on Drate
On Drate, your art lives on your own website, on your own domain and in your look. Not in a 16:9 feed on someone else’s template.
- Members-only posts and downloads. Post finished pieces, sketches, process notes, video and files, open to everyone or only to the plans you pick. Pictures and files can be up to 20 MB each.
- Courses and a community. Group your tutorials into courses, and give members a community feed and messages with you.
- Monthly mail. Mail members stickers or prints you make, once a month. Members add their address, and each month you get a list ready to download as labels.
- Your own app on Pro. Members get your own iOS and Android app, in your look.
Your art can go on T-shirts, hoodies, tote bags and mugs too, printed and shipped when someone orders, so there’s no stock to buy.
Members pay through your own Stripe account. Both plans take 5% of membership sales. Regular is $9 a month or $60 a year, and Pro, with your own app, is $12 a month or $99 a year.
What it costs
For 100 members at $10 a month, or $1,000:
| Where | What you pay | Fees on $1,000 a month |
|---|---|---|
| Patreon (new creators) | 10%, plus 2.9% + $0.30 a payment | $159 |
| Drate Pro | 5% plus $12 a month, plus Stripe’s fees | $121 |
| Drate Regular | 5% plus $9 a month, plus Stripe’s fees | $118 |
Stripe’s fee here is 2.9% + 30¢ for each US card payment, the same card fee Patreon charges. Over a year, Drate Pro keeps $456 that Patreon would take, and Drate Regular keeps $492.
Already on Patreon?
You don’t have to start over. Connect Patreon to Drate and match your tiers, and patrons who link their Patreon account keep their access on your site while they keep paying on Patreon. Drate can copy your posts in as drafts, with their text and pictures.
See what an artist’s site can include on the membership creator template, and how switching works on our Patreon alternative page. When you’re ready, how to move off Patreon without losing patrons shows each step.
Questions
How much does Patreon take from artists?
Pages published after August 4, 2025 pay 10% of memberships and shop sales, plus 2.9% + $0.30 for each card payment, 2.5% when a fan pays in another currency, and a fee each time you cash out. A $10 download bought on the web leaves you $8.41.
Can you sell art prints on Patreon?
Not in Patreon's shop, which sells digital work only. Patreon's Merch for Membership program is open only to creators who already use it. You can ask members for a shipping address on a tier and mail prints yourself.
Can you take commissions on Patreon?
Patreon treats commissions as a tier perk: its list of benefit ideas for visual artists includes the ability to commission work. A commission mailed to a member counts as a physical good, so that tier may keep the same price in Patreon's iPhone app as on the web.
Why are prices higher in Patreon's iPhone app?
Apple takes 30% of purchases made in the app. By default, Patreon raises iPhone prices so you earn about the same, so a $10 download costs $14.50 there. You can keep one price everywhere instead, but then a $10 sale in the app leaves you $6.00.
Can I share downloads with members on my own website?
Yes. On Drate, you attach files to a post and choose who can open it: everyone, all members, or only the plans you pick. It all lives on your own domain, and members pay through your own Stripe account.
Sources
Checked on October 12, 2026. Prices and terms change, so check the latest before you decide.
- Patreon: Pricingpatreon.com
- Patreon: Creator fees overviewsupport.patreon.com
- Patreon: Selling one-time purchases on Patreonsupport.patreon.com
- Patreon: How iOS in-app payment works for one-time purchasessupport.patreon.com
- Patreon: What to expect with iOS in-app purchasessupport.patreon.com
- Patreon: Posting imagessupport.patreon.com
- Patreon: What file formats are supported for posts?support.patreon.com
- Patreon: Your updated creator pagesupport.patreon.com
- Patreon: Connect a custom domain to your Patreonsupport.patreon.com
- Patreon: Add Merch for Membership to your tierssupport.patreon.com
- Patreon: Get members' shipping addressessupport.patreon.com
- Patreon: Ideas for benefits to offer memberssupport.patreon.com
- Stripe: Pricingstripe.com
- Stripe: Billing pricingstripe.com
