Patreon vs Substack vs your own website
Both take 10%, and both put your fans in their app. Here's how they compare on fees, email, apps and payouts, and what your own site gets you instead.
Patreon and Substack both let fans pay you every month. Both take 10% from new creators, both put your fans in their own app, and both sell through Apple on iPhone. Patreon gives you a membership page in Patreon’s layout. Substack gives you a newsletter that sends from substack.com. A website of your own is the third option.
This guide compares them on cost, ownership, look, email, apps and payouts, using each platform’s own pricing and help pages as of October 2026. For “your own website” we use Drate, our product. Weighing up Ko-fi too? Ko-fi vs Patreon vs your own website covers it.
At a glance
| Patreon | Substack | Your own site (Drate) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly price | $0 | $0 | $9 ($60 a year), or $12 for Pro ($99 a year) |
| Fee on memberships | 10% for new creators | 10% | 5% on every plan |
| Card fees | 2.9% + $0.30 per card payment | Stripe’s 2.9% + $0.30, plus 0.7% for billing | Stripe’s 2.9% + $0.30 |
| Your address | patreon.com/yourname, or one custom domain | yourname.substack.com, or your domain for $50 | Your own domain, on every plan |
| Your look | Patreon’s page layout | Preset layouts in Substack’s editor | Your own website, in your look |
| Post emails sent from a patreon.com address | Every email sent from your substack.com address | Not a newsletter: members read on your site | |
| App | Patreon’s app | Substack’s app, shared with other writers | Your own iOS and Android app on Pro |
| iPhone purchases | Apple takes up to 30%, prices up about 43% by default | Apple takes up to 30%, a $10 plan costs $14 by default | Members join on your website |
| Getting paid | Patreon balance, with a fee per withdrawal | Your Stripe; app sales up to 45 days after the month | Your own Stripe account |
| Selling more | Digital one-time purchases | Subscriptions only | Courses, passes and print-on-demand merch |
Substack’s subscriptions run through Stripe Billing, which adds 0.7%. Drate creators pay Stripe’s card fee but not that billing fee, and Patreon doesn’t add a separate one.
What each costs
Here’s what a $10 monthly member paid by US card leaves you on each, and the fees on 100 of them.
| Patreon | Substack | Drate Regular | Drate Pro | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Platform fee on $10 | $1.00 | $1.00 | $0.50 | $0.50 |
| Card and billing fees | $0.59 | $0.66 | $0.59 | $0.59 |
| You keep from one member | $8.41 | $8.34 | $8.91 | $8.91 |
| Fees on 100 members ($1,000) | $159 | $166 | $118 | $121 |
Patreon also charges $0.25 for each US direct deposit, and Drate’s totals include $9 a month on Regular and $12 on Pro.
The 10% is the biggest line on Patreon and Substack alike: $100 a month on $1,000, or $1,200 a year. So the two cost about the same. On Drate, the same $1,000 costs $118 on Regular and $121 on Pro.
On small sales, Pro’s $12 a month costs more than either platform. It catches up at about $210 a month against Substack and $240 against Patreon. Regular’s $9 costs more on small sales too, and catches up sooner: at about $160 a month against Substack and $180 against Patreon.
For every fee in detail, read every fee Patreon charges and how much Substack takes, or put your own numbers into the Patreon fee calculator.
Patreon
Patreon gives you a membership page in Patreon’s layout. On November 16, 2026, every creator page moves to Patreon’s new design automatically, with no way back.
- Fees. New creators pay 10%, plus 2.9% + $0.30 per card payment, 2.5% when a fan pays in another currency, and a fee each time you withdraw. Older pages keep their legacy rate only while they’re never unpublished.
- Ownership. A custom domain changes the address, not the page. Patreon says it works “while Patreon still powers everything behind the scenes,” and only one domain can be connected. Fans can also turn off sharing their email address with new creators they join.
- Email. Post emails go out from a patreon.com address. Text posts send only a preview by default, so fans click through to Patreon to read the rest.
- App. The app is Patreon’s. Apple takes 30% of new purchases in its iOS app, and Patreon raises your prices there by about 43% by default. Inside the app, only fans in the US can choose web checkout instead.
- Payouts. Money lands in your Patreon balance. You withdraw it by hand or automatically on the 5th, for $0.25 per US direct deposit. iPhone earnings can sit as pending for up to 75 days.
- Rules. Patreon’s terms say: “We can terminate or suspend your account at any time at our sole discretion.”
Where it falls short: a 10% cut that grows with you, Patreon’s page and app between you and your fans, and higher prices for iPhone fans.
Substack
Substack gives you a newsletter with a website around it. Every reader who subscribes gets a Substack account, and Substack sends them occasional emails of its own, some recommending other publications.
- Fees. Substack keeps 10% of every paid subscription. Stripe adds 2.9% + $0.30 per US card payment and 0.7% for billing. Connecting your own domain costs a one-time $50.
- Look. You build your site in Substack’s editor: colors, fonts, a logo and a choice of Substack’s preset layouts.
- Email. Every email comes from your substack.com address, even on your own domain. You can change the sender name, not the address.
- App. Readers who use Substack’s app read you there, next to every other writer they follow. Paid Substacks have to offer Apple’s in-app purchase in Substack’s iOS app, and you can’t switch it off. By default a $10 plan costs $14 there. Keep the price at $10 and you get $6 in the first year. Outside the US, readers who upgrade in the app only see Apple’s checkout.
- Payouts. Web sales go to your own Stripe account. App Store sales go to Apple first, and Apple pays Substack up to 45 days after the end of each month. Substack says Apple won’t transfer those subscriptions if you leave.
- Rules. Substack’s terms say it can terminate or suspend your account “for any reason at our discretion.”
Where it falls short: the same 10% as Patreon, your readers on Substack’s accounts and in Substack’s app, and nothing to sell but subscriptions.
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, with your own domain and look on every plan. Memberships, members-only posts, video and downloads, courses, a community feed, Discord roles for each membership and print-on-demand merch live together on one site. Members pay through your own Stripe account.
Members who join on your website pay there, so Apple isn’t part of that sale, and on Pro they also get your own iOS and Android app. Coming from Patreon? Drate connects to it. Patrons who link their Patreon account get the matching membership while they keep paying on Patreon, then move their billing when they choose.
Know before you switch. Drate is a website and app, not an email newsletter: members read your posts on your site or in your app. There’s no marketplace sending you fans and no one-click import from Substack. And you’re the seller, so sales tax and VAT are yours to handle.
Which to choose
- On Patreon now? Drate connects to Patreon, so your patrons keep their access while they move. How to move off Patreon without losing patrons shows how, step by step, and Drate as a Patreon alternative shows what you get.
- On Substack now? Keep your Substack running while readers join you on your own site. The Substack alternative puts the two side by side and shows how switching works.
- Starting out? Start on your own site. It’s $9 a month to begin, and nobody has to move later.
Questions
Is Substack cheaper than Patreon?
About the same. Both take 10% from new creators. A $10 monthly member paid by US card leaves you about $8.41 on Patreon and $8.34 on Substack, where Stripe adds a 0.7% billing fee. On Drate Regular, which is $9 a month and takes 5%, the same member leaves you about $8.91 before the $9.
Do Patreon and Substack charge more on iPhone?
Both sell through Apple in their iOS apps, and Apple keeps up to 30%. By default, Patreon raises iOS prices by about 43%, and Substack raises a $10 plan to $14. In either app, only fans in the US can choose to pay on the web instead.
Can I use my own domain on Patreon or Substack?
Partly. Patreon lets you connect one custom domain to its new creator page, while Patreon still runs the page. Substack charges a one-time $50 to connect a domain you already own, and its emails still come from a substack.com address. On Drate, your own domain works on every plan.
Can I move from Patreon to Substack?
Yes, but your patrons start over. Substack's own guide has you export your members, pause billing on Patreon, give paid members free access on Substack for a while and copy each Patreon post by hand. Patrons then subscribe again on Substack. Drate connects to Patreon instead, so patrons keep their access while they move.
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: How iOS in-app purchases work on Patreonsupport.patreon.com
- Patreon: How payouts worksupport.patreon.com
- Patreon: Set up automatic payoutssupport.patreon.com
- Patreon: Connect a custom domain to your Patreonsupport.patreon.com
- Patreon: Your updated creator pagesupport.patreon.com
- Patreon: I'm not getting emails from Patreonsupport.patreon.com
- Patreon: Control text previews for member email notificationssupport.patreon.com
- Patreon: Fan email sharing with creatorssupport.patreon.com
- Patreon: Terms of Usepatreon.com
- Substack: How much does Substack cost?support.substack.com
- Substack: Can my subscribers pay on the Substack iOS app?support.substack.com
- Substack: How do I set up my Stripe account on Substack to start receiving payments?support.substack.com
- Substack: How do I set up my custom domain on Substack?support.substack.com
- Substack: How do I change my email sender name?support.substack.com
- Substack: How do I set a custom theme for my Substack?support.substack.com
- Substack: How much does the Substack app cost?support.substack.com
- Substack: How do I stop receiving emails from Substack?support.substack.com
- Substack: How do I move from my current platform to Substack?support.substack.com
- Substack: Terms of Usesubstack.com
- Stripe: Pricingstripe.com
- Stripe: Billing pricingstripe.com
