# Alternatives to Patreon Patreon is a membership platform where creators offer paid subscription tiers to fans in exchange for exclusive content, community, and perks. Patreon ranks #3 of 8 in Membership platforms, with an Alt Score of 86. It is proprietary and available on Web, iOS and Android. 12 of 13 checklist rows are verified against a public source. Source: https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/patreon/ Category: Membership platforms ## Where Patreon stands out - **Built-in community** — 3 of 8 apps with a verified answer have this - **Free tier** — 3 of 8 apps with a verified answer have this ## Overview - **Who it's for**: Creators (video, podcast, art, writing, music) who want to turn their biggest fans into recurring paying members instead of relying purely on ad revenue, sponsorships, or a self-hosted storefront. - **What you get**: A hosted creator page with paid membership tiers, one-time digital product sales, gated/exclusive posts, a built-in community (comments, group chat, DMs), a newsletter/email tool, custom domains, Membership/Earnings/Shop/Post/Traffic Insights dashboards, a public API and third-party integrations, all on web, iOS, and Android. - **How it works**: Creators start a free Patreon page, set up membership tiers and/or one-time purchases, and publish gated posts; Patreon handles payments, currency conversion, and payouts directly, taking a percentage platform fee (standard 10% for pages published after August 4, 2025, plus payment processing fees) only once the creator starts earning. ## Profile - **License**: Proprietary (verified 2026-07-17) - **Pricing model**: Usage-based (verified 2026-07-17) - **Starts at**: Free to start; 10% platform fee on earnings (verified 2026-07-17) - **Platforms**: Web, iOS, Android - **Status**: active (verified 2026-07-17) ## Ranked alternatives | # | App | Alt Score | Licence | Platforms | |---|-----|-----------|---------|-----------| | 1 | [Kajabi](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/kajabi.md) | 89 | Proprietary | Web, iOS, Android | | 2 | [Podia](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/podia.md) | 89 | Proprietary | ? | | 3 | [Buy Me a Coffee](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/buy-me-a-coffee.md) | 83 | Proprietary | Web, iOS, Android | | 4 | [Uscreen](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/uscreen.md) | 83 | Proprietary | Web, iOS, Android | | 5 | [Memberful](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/memberful.md) | 79 | Proprietary | Web | | 6 | [MemberSpace](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/memberspace.md) | 79 | Proprietary | Web | | 7 | [Ko-fi](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/ko-fi.md) | 76 | Proprietary | Web | Alt Score = Verified coverage (90%) + Visibility (10%). See https://altcatalog.com/how-alt-score-works/ ## Feature comparison Legend: Yes / No / Partial / ? (not verified). | Membership platforms checklist | Patreon | Kajabi | Podia | Buy Me a Coffee | Uscreen | Memberful | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | Pricing model | Usage-based | Subscription | Subscription | Usage-based | Subscription | Subscription | | Starts at | Free to start; 10% platform fee on earnings | $71/mo (Starter, billed annually) | $42/month billed annually | Free | $49/mo (Starter plan) | $49/month | | License | Proprietary | Proprietary | Proprietary | Proprietary | Proprietary | Proprietary | | Platforms | Web, iOS, Android | Web, iOS, Android | ? | Web, iOS, Android | Web, iOS, Android | Web | | Recurring subscription tiers | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | | One-time / pay-what-you-want | Partial | Partial | Partial | Yes | Partial | Partial | | Gated content / paywall | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | | Courses / digital products | Partial | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial | | Member portal | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | | Email marketing / newsletters | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | | Built-in community | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Partial | No | | Native payments | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | | Coupons & free trials | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial | Yes | Yes | | Revenue / churn analytics | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial | Yes | Yes | | Custom domain & branding | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial | Yes | Yes | | API / integrations | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial | Yes | | Free tier | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | No | ## Sources Sources for Patreon. Each alternative is sourced on its own page. - **License**: Proprietary — (verified 2026-07-17) - Note: Terms of Use assert Patreon's ownership over the site, iOS/Android apps, APIs, embeds, logo, and codebase; closed-source commercial SaaS with no published source code. - Quote: “Our creations are protected by copyright, trademark, patent, and trade secret laws.” - **Pricing model**: Usage-based — (verified 2026-07-17) - Note: No flat subscription fee to use Patreon as a creator; Patreon instead takes a percentage platform fee (standard 10%, legacy plans 5-11%) of successfully processed earnings, plus separate payment proce - Quote: “The standard 10% pricing plan + relevant taxes applies to any creator who publishes their Patreon page after August 4, 2025.” - **Starts at**: Free to start; 10% platform fee on earnings — (verified 2026-07-17) - Note: Creating a Patreon page costs nothing; Patreon only deducts its platform fee (standard 10% for pages published after Aug 4, 2025) plus payment processing fees once a creator earns money. - Quote: “Patreon is free to start. You only pay when you start earning.” - **Platforms**: Web, iOS, Android — (verified 2026-07-17) - Note: Patreon is a responsive web platform at patreon.com plus native iOS and Android apps for creators and patrons; no dedicated desktop (Mac/Windows) app. - Quote: “Available now on iOS and Android.” - **Status**: active — (verified 2026-07-17) - Note: Actively developed: new standard fee plan rolled out August 2025, Terms of Use dated May 27, 2026, and ongoing feature launches (redesigned Insights dashboards, Commerce/digital products, custom domai - Quote: “The standard 10% pricing plan + relevant taxes applies to any creator who publishes their Patreon page after August 4, 2025.” - **Recurring subscription tiers**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-17) - Note: Pricing page lists "Membership tiers" alongside "Monthly and annual subscriptions" as core Patreon features. - Quote: “Membership tiers” - **One-time / pay-what-you-want**: Partial — (verified 2026-07-17) - Note: Supports one-time / non-recurring purchases, but no pay-what-you-want (name-your-price) option — the PWYW half of this cell. - Quote: “One-time payments” - **Gated content / paywall**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-17) - Note: Content is gated behind free vs. paid membership tiers; paying patrons unlock exclusive posts. - Quote: “share exclusive creative work directly with your biggest fans” - **Courses / digital products**: Partial — (verified 2026-07-17) - Note: Patreon has a Shop/Commerce feature for selling digital products (video, guides, templates), but no dedicated structured "courses" product (curriculum builder, drip lessons, quizzes) — the word "cours - Quote: “You can sell all types of digital media, posts, and collections on Patreon, including streamable native video and audio, images, and downloadable files.” - **Member portal**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-17) - Note: Members access a dedicated area of the creator's Patreon page/app to view exclusive posts, chat, and manage their membership. - Quote: “Your Patreon members can comment on your posts, join real-time community group chats, and connect directly over DM.” - **Email marketing / newsletters**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-17) - Note: Dedicated newsletter product sends posts as emails to a creator's full contact list from the same editor, with an exportable, creator-owned mailing list. - Quote: “Send posts and emails to unlimited contacts for free. Only pay when you start earning, and your mailing list is always yours.” - **Built-in community**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-17) - Note: Comments, real-time group chats, and DMs are native features on every Patreon page, not a third-party add-on. - Quote: “join real-time community group chats, and connect directly over DM” - **Native payments**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-17) - Note: Patreon processes payments directly (credit card, Apple Pay, PayPal) via its own infrastructure rather than requiring a separate third-party payment gateway. - Quote: “Payment processing fees cover the cost of using our payment infrastructure.” - **Coupons & free trials**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-17) - Note: Pricing page lists free trials, discounts, and sales as built-in tools; the Insights docs also track "free trial members" as an active-member category. - Quote: “Free trials, discounts and sales” - **Revenue / churn analytics**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-17) - Note: Separate Membership, Earnings, Shop, Post, and Traffic Insights dashboards; cancellations are tracked explicitly and the Earnings dashboard shows gross/net income after fees. - Quote: “The Membership Insights dashboard helps you track active members, new members, and cancellations, so you can monitor your community's growth over time.” - **Custom domain & branding**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-17) - Note: Feature is limited to Patreon's "new creator page" (rolled out 2025); creators connect one custom domain via DNS records, auto-secured with HTTPS. - Quote: “A custom domain lets you replace your Patreon URL (patreon.com/yourname) with a branded link like yourname.com or members.yourname.com.” - **Free tier**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-17) - Note: No cost to create a Patreon page and post free content; Patreon only takes its platform fee once a creator earns money. - Quote: “Patreon is free to start. You only pay when you start earning.” --- Ranked by verified data, never by who paid. https://altcatalog.com/trust/