Looking for the best crowdfunding and membership platforms such as Patreon? Look through our review of the best Patreon alternatives.
Patreon is a very well-loved membership platform that provides a neat way for creators of content to collect donations from their followers and subscribers to purchase exclusive content.
But issues with censorship and increasingly high fees have led some users to look for alternatives. There are, thankfully, a variety of excellent options there.
In this post we’ll examine the best Patreon alternatives on the market today. We’ll examine their most important attributes, and discuss how the two differ from Patreon and many more.
Ready? Let’s get started!
The most effective Patreon alternatives – summary
TL;DR
Podia – Best Patreon option overall. Sell subscriptions, build paid communities, as well as sell other digital products. Free plans for paid subscriptions. A limited free plan is available.
Sellfy – A popular ecommerce platform that makes it simple to sell subscriptions, physical products prints-on demand products, as well as other digital products. Amazingly simple to use.
Purchase Me A Coffee It’s a simple Patreon alternative you can get started with right away. It allows you to accept donations and sell digital products. Instant payouts via Stripe. A 5% fee plus free to use with no options hidden behind paid plans.
1 1. Podia
Podia is our most preference Patreon alternative. Contrary to Patreon, Podia is an all-in one platform that you could create your own site, build communities that are paid, and also sell subscriptions and other digital products–with zero transaction costs!
One of the issues with using Patreon is that you’re building your community using another platform. Not only is this not good for branding, it also means that you have limited control and no true ownership over the source of your income. And of course there are payment fees from Patreon.
That’s why Podia is a much better alternative. With Podia it is possible to build the community you want to be part of and then sell subscriptions on a website that you own.
Similar to Patreon You can make use of Podia to create gated members-only content, and then sell paid memberships to fans who want to support you as creators.
The difference is you’ll be in complete control of everything , and you can set up your membership site the way you want it. You can create your own plan tiers that offer different rewards and design the number of paid or free plans as you like.
As the owner of your membership platform and your community You can retain 100% of the revenue. If you join an annual subscription there aren’t any transaction costs to worry about.
You can interact with your users directly through the community feature that allows multimedia discussions. Members can post any messages, images video, or text.
In addition to memberships, you can also sell other digital items on Podia, like online courses or digital downloads.
Key characteristics
Sell memberships, memberships, and other digital products
Create paid communities
Create your own creator’s site
Total control and ownership
Integration with Google Analytics
There are no transaction costs
Pricing
Paid podia subscriptions with no transaction costs start at just $33/month. There is also a free plan that has 8% transaction fees.
2 – Sellfy
Sellfy is a straightforward, easy-to-use ecommerce platform built by creators. It’s a great alternative for creators looking to gather donations and create their fan base through their own site instead of the third-party platform.
You can create a stunning storefront on Sellfy in just 5 minutes. After that, you can modify the design to match your brand and connect it to your own domain.
You can then create digital subscriptions and offer your subscribers access to exclusive content and other items in exchange for weekly, monthly or even yearly payment.
Aside from subscriptions, you can also sell various other product types on Sellfy such as physical and digital goods like video streaming, printing-on-demand items
The print-on-demand option is especially useful for creators as it allows you to offer your custom merchandise with your own brand name to your customers. All you need to do is upload designs to Sellfy’s fulfillment catalog and then add them on your website.
There is no requirement to purchase any stock upfront. Whenever someone makes a purchase, Sellfy will print the order and then deliver it to the customer on your behalf, and only then will they be able to charge you for base price of the product and fulfillment. Your profit margin is yours to decide. margins.
Key features
Sell subscriptions
Print-on-demand fulfillment
Sell all kinds of items
Video streaming
Store builder
Pricing
Paid plans that allow you to sell subscriptions and unlimited items begin at $22/month.
3. 3 – Buy me a coffee
Make Me A Coffee is the most suitable option for creators who require a straightforward platform for collecting donations. It’s incredibly easy to use and unlike Patreon which is a subscription-based service, you can make use of it to accept monthly donations and one-off donations from your followers.
The concept behind Buy Me a Coffee is extremely simple. Create an individual page on the subdomain (e.g. buymeacoffee.com/yourname), and your audience can visit it and buy you a coffee (make a donation) to say thanks for creating great content in a couple of clicks.
When they make a donation, they can leave an online message, which you can respond to and express your gratitude. Unlike Patreon members, your patrons do not have to sign up for an account to purchase a coffee–they just choose how many coffees to buy you (how much they’d like to contribute) and pay in one click.
In addition, in the event that are looking to provide something in return you are able to do that too. Like Patreon you can set up membership options and also share exclusive content with your supporters. You can also use the ‘Extras’ feature to offer digital products such as ebooks, access to Discord to you, Zoom calls and more.
Most payment methods are supported, including credit, debit card, Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal, etc. And when someone donates you money, you’ll get it right away–no more 30-day waiting periods!
Buy Me a Coffee is free to use but takes an 5% fee for platform use out of the money you donate; you will keep 95% the money you earn. It’s on par with PayPal’s Lite plan but cheaper than its Premium and Pro plans.
Fun fact The fact that you can It’s a fact: Buy Me a Coffee is the platform we use to collect donations. You can visit our author page on this site. Of course, if you like the content we create here on Blogging Wizard and wish to purchase us a cup of coffee and support us, it is greatly appreciated!
Key features
One-off payments are supported
Sell digital products & memberships
No account is required to make a donation.
Very easy to get started
Transaction fees of 5% are competitive.
Pricing
You can sign up for free for Buy Me a Coffee, however, a 5% service fee will be taken from of your contributions.
4 – Ko-fi
Ko-fi is a different crowdfunding platform, which is similar as Buy Me A Coffee. It can be used as an ordinary tip jar or as a membership platform. They don’t charge any fees for sales or donations, but they do cost for features of premium quality which Buy Me A Coffee customers receive for no cost.
Similar to Patreon as well, you can use Ko-fi to accept memberships and donations from your supporters. Create a Ko-fi creator page for free in less than minutes. You can then set a fundraising goal and then encourage your supporters to support you in reaching the goal. In addition, you can offer incentives like exclusive content exclusively for supporters as well as membership benefits to encourage users to make donations.
It integrates nicely seamlessly with Discord, WordPress, and Zapier It can even get donation alerts as you stream.
The interface is very like Buy Me a Coffee. However, what sets Ko-fi apart is that it’s one the few platforms that is totally free. There aren’t any sign-up costs and they don’t take a cut of your revenue with this plan.
The only problem is the plan that’s free does not provide premium features such as memberships or the capability for selling digital downloads as well as physical products from your online shop.
Key features
No transaction fee for users that are free
Memberships
Sell your products
Crowdfunding goals
Donation alerts
Pricing
Ko-fi is available as an initial tip jar free. However, if you wish to use premium features you’ll need to upgrade to the Gold plan. The cost starts at $5 per month or the transaction fee of 5. Gold members receive 7.2x more per month on average.
5 – Kickstarter
Kickstarter is perhaps the most well-known crowdfunding platform the world. It’s a great alternative to Patreon for those trying to raise funds for one-time creative projects, but it doesn’t support memberships which means it’s not the best choice for collecting regular donations.
Kickstarter functions a little different than Patreon. It’s designed for creators who need to raise funds to finance a project that is a one-time event.
If you decide to launch your campaign, you define the project you want to fund, set goals for funding as well as a timeline to make it happen (e.g. in 60 days).
If they like the idea of your project, they may pledge money to help make it happen. The backers of your project will only be charged when your project has succeeded in reaching its funding goal. However, if you don’t reach your funding goal within the deadline, your backers won’t be charged and you don’t get to keep any of your donations. It’s all-or-nothing.
Another reason Kickstarter distinguishes itself from Patreon is that it vets crowdfunders seriously, so not every person can join. However, if your campaign gets approved and successful, it’s possible to get huge amounts of money.
Kickstarter has a 5% fee for platform use which is in line with Patreon’s entry-level plans, but lower than the higher-tier plans.
Key features
Ideal to fund one-time creative projects
Huge user base
Funding goals
Model of all-or-nothing
Pricing
It’s completely free to start campaigns on Kickstarter however, an additional 5% charge is taken out of the total amount raised, along with PayPal or Stripe payment processing charges.
6 – Hypage
Hypage is a mix of an application for linking into bios and a membership platform. It’s a good alternative for influencers of social media, especially Instagram. You can utilize it to create gated community content create regular memberships, and even market directly to your followers through your link-in bio page.
Instagram allows creators to promote a single link within the description of their account. This is why a lot of Instagram creators make use of link-in-bio tools to create landing pages to contain all promotional and affiliate links. It’s precisely what Hypage is.
But, unlike other link-in-bio applications, Hypage also lets you take donations and requests directly on your landing page. You could even use it to sell recurring memberships as well as other products, or share members-only content through your page.
It’s a two-in-1 solution that replaces both link-in-bio tools such as Linktree and membership platforms like Patreon in one neat package.
And the top aspect? No transaction fees for paid plans!
Key characteristics
Create a link-in-bio landing page
Connect your domain
Collect donations
We offer premium, gated content
Sell digital products and memberships
Pricing
You can get started with a free plan. Paid plans with premium features and no transaction fees start at $19/month.
7 – OnlyFans
OnlyFans is a great alternative for adult content creators. It’s a platform for social media subscriptions which allows users to show their support for their favorite creators through subscriptions that grant members access to exclusive content.
What sets OnlyFans apart from Patreon is its broad guidelines for content, which permit creators to market content that doesn’t meet the Patreon community guidelines. This includes adult-only content.
So, OnlyFans has become very popular among adult content creators and the top contributors to the platform have millions of dollars in earnings every month.
Key features
It functions as a social platform
Creators can interact with fans
Liberal content policies
Perfect for creators of adult content.
A large user base (high findability)
Pricing
It’s free to signup for OnlyFans but the platform gets 20 percent of your monthly subscription earnings.
8 Mighty Networks
Mighty Networks is a powerful community platform that lets you sell online community access and content like online courses and livestreams.
As opposed to Patreon, Mighty Network lets you create a paid community on your own platform with the complete control of your ownership and control. It’s used by some the most famous YouTube stars, including Drew Binsky, Adriene Mishler and many others.
Mighty Networks also offers some advanced community-focused features that you can’t find on other platforms. Like, for instance, the cutting-edge Mighty Effect(tm) technology allows you to personalize your user’s experience by filling their feed using the relevant content, groups, members and products, for example.
Key characteristics
Mighty Effect personalization technology
Welcome and Discovery sections to new members
Moderators and unlimited members for all plans
Your complete ownership of your community
Native course builder
Rich member profiles
Livestreaming and native uploads of videos
Integrated analytics
Pricing
Plans start at $33/month and no additional transaction fees. Free trial options are available.
The pros and pros and Patreon
Let’s consider the reasons Patreon isn’t always the best option for all creators. Like every platform they have their share of cons and pros. These are the most important ones you should know about.
Pros
Easy revenue for creators. If you’re an established influencer , or creator with lots of avid supporters, Patreon offers an easy method to make money from your fans through crowdfunding campaigns.
There are no upfront costs. Contrary to other platforms Patreon does not require an annual fee, which means you can start your page without cost. Patreon makes a portion of your monthly earnings on the backend.
A model of recurring revenue. Patreon works on an subscription model. Patrons are required to make monthly payments, so you will earn a steady monthly income and not have depend on one-time donations.
Tools for communication. With Patreon, you can establish your own members-only community , and communicate in real-time with the patrons through the platform. You can also grant them an access to special content, and much more.
Flexible membership options and financing goals. With Patreon, you can establish several membership levels that offer different perks depending on how much your patrons are willing to pledge.
A diverse creator base. Patreon is suitable for all types of creators, including YouTubers streamers, musicians and podcasters, artists and writers.
Connect to your WordPress website. Patreon offers a WordPress plugin that can be added to your website to maximize the benefits of the money you earn from Patreons.
Cons
There are no built-in marketing tools. If you don’t have an existing community or audience to make money from, it might be difficult to establish one on Patreon. It doesn’t offer much in terms of tools for promotion and projects aren’t easily discovered.
Censorship. Patreon ran into some controversy in the past in the past when it implemented a ban on accounts they claimed violated its community guidelines, which prohibit the use of hate speech. However, some conservative commentators believe these bans constitute an attack on free speech, and have accused the platform of bias towards political opinions. They later went on to ban an NGO account which was raising funds for an army in Ukraine. Ukrainian army.
Uncapped fees. Patreon is a percentage of your earnings (either 5%, 8% or 12% depending upon the subscription you sign up with), rather than paying a fixed amount. This means that high-earners could be paying hundreds of dollars each month in costs.
Subscriptions-only. Patreon isn’t set up to allow single-time payments. Being required to sign up for regular monthly subscriptions could deter many would-be supporters from making a donation.
Less the control of ownership and. Patreon is an unaffiliated platform that isn’t yours to own. As such, you won’t enjoy the same degree of control or ownership of your account as you would if you built your communities on your own website.
Bad for branding. If you use Patreon, your audience will be going to Patreon to access your own content, instead of visiting your own website that is branded.
Selecting the most suitable Patreon alternative
The list is complete. the top Patreon alternatives. Hope you’ve found something that’s a good fit for your audience on this list.
If you’re unsure what platform to choose We’ve got a quick review of our top three recommendations (you aren’t going to be disappointed with all three):
Podia is the most popular Patreon alternative for most creators. You can use it to create your own paid community website and sell memberships as well as other digital content for free costs (on the paid plan).
Sellfy is another e-commerce platform you can utilize to sell and create subscriptions. It’s made for creators, and comes with a few features that other platforms lack such as built-in print-on demand fulfillment.
Buy Me a Coffee is the ideal free Patreon alternative if require a quick and easy method to receive donations. It is possible to create your own Patreon page with just few clicks, then start collecting donations and selling digital goods–with immediate Stripe payment.
If you’re still unsure then consider trying a for free or even one of the free trials.
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