Patreon, Ko-fi, Buy Me a Coffee, Substack and YouTube memberships: what you keep from a $5 supporter

This is general information, not financial or tax advice. Check the linked official sources or ask a qualified accountant or tax adviser.

The headline percentage is only part of the cut. Each platform adds payment processing, some add a recurring-billing fee or a payout fee, and app-store purchases carry Apple's share. This page lines up those layers for Patreon, Ko-fi, Buy Me a Coffee, Substack paid subscriptions and YouTube channel memberships, then works through 100 supporters at $5 a month on each. Every figure links to the vendor's own pricing or help page, read on 28 October 2026.

Getting into a platform's program at all is covered in creator monetization requirements by platform.

How much do Patreon, Ko-fi, Buy Me a Coffee, Substack and YouTube take?

"On top" means the processing fee is taken from your share in addition to the platform fee. Stripe and PayPal rates depend on the country of your account and the card. Stripe's own page shows 1.5% + €0.25 for standard European Economic Area cards and 3.15% + €0.25 for international cards (Stripe pricing, Ireland); PayPal publishes its rates per country (PayPal fees, US).

What does Patreon take in 2026?

It depends on when your page went live. Creators who published after 4 August 2025 are on the standard 10% plan. Creators who published on or before that date keep their legacy plan, as long as the page has stayed published continuously. Unpublish it, even briefly, and it moves to 10% on republishing (Patreon Help). Patreon's own legacy table lists Founders at 5%, Pro at 8% and Pro + Merch at 11%. Use the pause tool, not unpublishing, if you want to keep one.

Processing comes on top. On the standard plan, a card or Apple Pay payment in USD costs 2.9% + $0.30, the same at every amount. PayPal and Venmo cost 2.9% + $0.30 in the US and 3.9% + $0.30 elsewhere. Creators paid in euros pay 3.4% + €0.35, in pounds 3.4% + £0.35. The legacy Pro and Pro + Merch plans keep a micropayment rate of 5% + $0.10 for tiers of $3 or less; Founders has its own lower USD rates (1.6% + $0.30 by card). A 2.5% conversion fee applies when a member pays in a currency other than your payout currency, and the platform fee is calculated on the payment excluding sales tax.

Payout fees are deducted when you withdraw: $0.25 per US direct deposit, 1% for PayPal (minimum $0.25, capped at $20), and for creators outside the US $1 to a Payoneer wallet. Adding or editing a payout method places a 5-day hold on the balance (How payouts work).

What about supporters who join in the Patreon iPhone app?

Apple's App Store fee is 30% of the iOS price, dropping to 15% after a member completes a year of continuous billing. By default Patreon raises iOS prices by roughly 43% so you earn at least the web amount; you can instead keep one price and absorb the fee. Fans in the US can check out on Patreon's mobile web instead, with no App Store fee (Patreon Help). iOS money also waits longer: in-app purchases stay pending up to 75 days, against up to 7 days for digital product sales on web and Android (How payouts work).

How much does Ko-fi take?

Ko-fi lists three setups on its pricing page. Ko-fi Standard, the default for new creators, charges a 5% service fee on all payment types: tips, memberships, commissions and shop sales. Ko-fi Free charges 0% on tips and 5% on memberships, shop sales and commissions, without the advanced features. Ko-fi Gold costs $12 a month and charges 0% (Ko-fi pricing). If Gold lapses, you move to the percentage model (Ko-fi Gold).

In all three, normal payment processor fees also apply. Ko-fi does not process payments: you connect your own PayPal or Stripe account, and the money lands there directly. Ko-fi says it charges no buyer, payout or marketing fees.

Gold pays off once 5% of your monthly Ko-fi income exceeds $12, which is above $240 a month.

How much does Buy Me a Coffee take?

A 5% platform fee per transaction and no monthly fee (FAQ). Its fee article adds Stripe's processing of 2.9% + $0.30 per successful transaction, plus 1% for international transactions and 0.5% for subscription payments. The same article says Stripe applies a 0.5% fee for payout processing and that these surcharges help cover it; it does not say whether the two are separate charges (Buy Me a Coffee Help).

The card fee comes out of your earnings by default. A setting lets supporters pay it instead; Buy Me a Coffee's example charges a supporter $26.03 for a $25 contribution (Buy Me a Coffee Help). You can request a payout from $10. The first one triggers a manual account review and typically takes 7 to 14 days in total; after that, funds go to Stripe and reach a bank in about 3 to 5 business days (Buy Me a Coffee Help).

How much does Substack take from paid subscriptions?

Substack keeps 10% of subscription revenue, and Stripe charges its own processing. Substack's fee table lists 2.9% + $0.30 per payment for US cards and a 0.7% Stripe Billing fee on recurring payments. Local methods such as SEPA Direct Debit are priced by Stripe and vary by country (Substack Help). Publishing is free, and Substack adds no fee to web payments for readers. For iOS in-app subscriptions, the 10% is based on your web price, and you choose whether in-app prices rise to cover Apple's fee.

How much does YouTube take from channel memberships?

YouTube's split is 70% to the creator "after applicable taxes and fees are deducted", and YouTube says all transaction costs, including card fees, are currently covered by it (YouTube Help). An MCN may take an extra share on top. The money arrives through AdSense for YouTube: earnings post between the 7th and 12th and are paid by the 21st to 26th once your balance reaches the local threshold (YouTube Help). The thresholds per currency are in creator payout thresholds and schedules.

Eligibility is the real gate. Memberships need 500 subscribers, 3 public uploads in the last 90 days, and either 3,000 qualified long-form watch hours in 365 days or 3 million qualified Shorts views in 90 days. You must be at least 18, live in an eligible country and accept the Commerce Product Module (YouTube Help). You can create up to 6 membership levels at different prices (YouTube Help).

Worked example: 100 supporters at $5 a month

Assumptions: a US creator paid in USD, 100 supporters at $5 a month, all paying by US card on the web, no sales tax, no currency conversion, one payout a month. Ko-fi states no processor rate, so its line uses the 2.9% + $0.30 US card rate that Substack and Buy Me a Coffee quote for Stripe. YouTube is shown at a $5 level for comparison; check the price levels Studio offers you. Per-payment fees are shown to a tenth of a cent; totals are rounded to the cent.

The flat $0.30 per payment is what hurts at $5: it alone is 6% of each payment on Patreon, Ko-fi, Buy Me a Coffee and Substack. The same fee is 1.5% of a $20 tier.

The euro picture differs because the processor rates do. For one €5 card payment from a standard EEA card:

Buy Me a Coffee and YouTube state no separate euro rates on the pages read, so they are left out of the euro line.

Which platform fits which creator?

• You already have a monetized YouTube audience. Memberships keep members on YouTube and cost nothing in card fees, but the 70% share is the lowest net in the example. Check the 500-subscriber and watch-hour bar first.
• You want one-off tips, not a membership. Ko-fi Free charges 0% on tips, so only the PayPal or Stripe fee comes off; note that new creators default to Ko-fi Standard at 5%. Buy Me a Coffee takes 5% on tips too.
• You run memberships with members-only posts and video. Patreon's 10% covers a hosted creator page, video hosting and community tools; Ko-fi Standard and Buy Me a Coffee take 5% and also offer memberships. Ko-fi Gold wins on cost above $240 a month of Ko-fi income.
• You write a newsletter. Substack's 10% plus Stripe nets the least of the percentage-fee platforms in the example, but the fee also covers the newsletter itself. Owned-list tools are compared in link in bio and newsletter tools for creators.
• Your page went live on Patreon before 4 August 2025. Keep it published; unpublishing moves you to the 10% plan when you republish.

Checklist: before you pick a platform

• Platform fee and plan confirmed (Patreon: check Plan details in settings; Ko-fi: Free, Standard or Gold)
• Processing fee for your country and payout currency looked up, not assumed from US rates
• Recurring-billing surcharge counted (Substack 0.7%, Buy Me a Coffee 0.5%)
• Fixed per-payment fee divided into your lowest tier price
• Payout fee and minimum noted (Patreon PayPal 1%, Buy Me a Coffee from $10)
• iOS pricing setting chosen on Patreon or Substack
• Card fee pass-through decided on Buy Me a Coffee
• Hold periods in your cash plan (Patreon 5 days after payout changes, iOS up to 75 days)
• Income recorded gross and fees separately, for tax: see tax forms platforms send creators and VAT registration thresholds for creators

Frequently asked questions

Is Patreon 8% or 10%?

10% for any creator page published after 4 August 2025, or republished after being unpublished. The 8% Pro plan and the other legacy plans remain only for pages published on or before that date and kept continuously published. Processing fees come on top in both cases.

How much does Ko-fi take from a donation?

Nothing on Ko-fi Free, which charges 0% on tips. Ko-fi Standard, the default for new creators, takes 5%. Ko-fi Gold takes 0% for $12 a month. Your PayPal or Stripe fee applies in every case.

Does Buy Me a Coffee charge a monthly fee?

No. It charges a 5% platform fee per transaction, plus Stripe processing.

Do supporters on iPhone pay more?

They can. Patreon raises iOS app prices by roughly 43% by default to cover Apple's 30% fee, and Substack lets you choose to raise in-app prices. US fans on Patreon can pay through mobile web instead.

Which platform keeps the most of a $5 supporter?

In the worked example, Ko-fi Gold at 100 supporters ($443.50), then Ko-fi Standard, Buy Me a Coffee, Patreon, Substack and YouTube. Below $240 a month of Ko-fi income, Gold costs more than Standard.

Sources

All read on 28 October 2026.

• Patreon Help Center: Creator fees overview
• Patreon Help Center: How payouts work
• Patreon Help Center: How iOS in-app purchases work on Patreon
• Ko-fi: Pricing
• Ko-fi: Ko-fi Gold
• Buy Me a Coffee Help: How to calculate charges on your payment
• Buy Me a Coffee Help: How to eliminate the credit card fee from your earnings
• Buy Me a Coffee Help: Frequently asked questions
• Buy Me a Coffee Help: When are payouts processed
• Substack Help: How much does Substack cost?
• YouTube Help: Analyze and manage your channel memberships program
• YouTube Help: How to earn money on YouTube
• YouTube Help: Create or manage memberships levels and perks
• YouTube Help: YouTube partner earnings overview
• Stripe: Pricing (Ireland)
• PayPal: Business fees (US)

Platforms change fees without notice. Check the linked page before you rely on a rate. This is general information, not financial or tax advice.