Ko-fi vs. Patreon: What Each Platform Actually Keeps
Two fee models with genuinely different shapes, not just different numbers.
People comparing Ko-fi and Patreon are usually comparing the wrong thing first — the headline percentage — when the more consequential difference is how each platform's fee is structured. One scales with your tier choice on recurring pledges; the other is a flat rate on Shop and Membership income that you can convert into a flat monthly cost instead.
Just want the number? Run your numbers on the Ko-fi calculator — the two fee shapes compared below are what it models.
Patreon: tiered percentage of pledges
Patreon has historically run tiered platform plans, each taking a different percentage of a creator's monthly pledge income, on top of separate payment processing fees deducted per transaction. The exact tier names and percentages have moved before and can move again, so treat any specific number you read (including older Patreon posts) as something to reconfirm on Patreon's current pricing page rather than as fixed — this page won't state one it can't verify today.
What stays true regardless of the exact current numbers: the fee is a percentage of pledge volume, so it scales up linearly as your patron income grows, and payment processing is charged separately from the platform fee, which matters more for a large number of small pledges (processing has a fixed-cent component per transaction) than for a few large ones.
Ko-fi: flat rate, with a flat-fee opt-out
Ko-fi's Shop, Membership and Commission income is charged a flat 5% service fee on the Standard plan (the default plan every new creator starts on) — payment processor fees (Stripe/PayPal) are separate and charged the same way they would be anywhere. Tips specifically also carry a separate 5% "Contributor" fee, which is opt-out. The alternative is Ko-fi Gold: $12/month flat, 0% service fee on Shop and Membership income.
Because Gold trades a percentage for a flat cost, there's a literal breakeven point: at 5% fee vs. $12/month flat, the two plans cost the same once qualifying monthly income reaches $240 ($12 ÷ 0.05). Below that, Standard's percentage is cheaper in absolute terms; above it, Gold is.
Why the shape matters more than the headline number
A percentage-based fee (Patreon's model, and Ko-fi Standard) costs more in dollar terms as you earn more, with no ceiling. A flat monthly fee (Ko-fi Gold) costs the same dollar amount regardless of how much you earn above the breakeven point — which means the "cheaper" platform depends entirely on your income level, not on which platform has the lower headline percentage. This is the comparison a single number can't answer and a calculator can.
Creator Payout Calculator has a dedicated Ko-fi page that runs both the Standard and Gold math on your actual tip and Shop numbers, including the $12/5% breakeven, and a separate parent page comparing five platforms at once (Gumroad, Ko-fi, Payhip, Lemon Squeezy, itch.io) if you're weighing more than these two.
Selling files rather than taking pledges? The same fee-shape question decides that choice too, worked out in Gumroad versus Payhip.