Buy Me a Coffee vs Patreon
We give Buy Me a Coffee a 2.6 GPA and Patreon a 3.0, out of 4.0. Buy Me a Coffee grades higher on value for money. Patreon grades higher on features and ease of use. They get the same grade on the free plan and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Patreon
Paid memberships, a shop and community for creators and their fans
How we grade them
| 2.6GPABuy Me a CoffeeGood | 3.0GPAPatreonVery good | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CGraded against its alternatives, tip and membership pages. 5% of $1,000 is $50 a month, with Stripe's 2.9% + $0.30 and 0.5% payout fee on top (not counted). The same as Ko-fi's 5% and half Patreon's 10%, with no plan that lowers it. | DGraded against its own alternatives, fan-support platforms. Patreon keeps 10% of what you earn, so $1,000 a month costs $100, with processing and payout fees on top (not counted). That's double Ko-fi's and Buy Me a Coffee's 5%, and in this category's dearest tenth. |
| Free plan and trial | AEvery feature is free, including posts and emails to supporters, with no monthly fee and no cap. You pay 5% of each payment instead, and the value grade counts that. | AStarting a Patreon is free, with no monthly fee and nothing held back. You only pay a share once you earn, and the value grade counts that. |
| Features | CGraded against its alternatives. One-tap support, monthly or yearly memberships, a shop for files, commissions and Zoom calls, posts, emails and stream alerts. It does that job fully, but it's a smaller kit than Patreon's, with no video hosting or podcasts in the listing. | BAgainst its alternatives it does the most: member tiers, free trials, a shop for downloads, native video, livestreams, podcasts with Spotify, newsletters and group chats. Not an A, because buyers need a Patreon account to purchase anything. |
| Ease of use | C4.4 from about 1,900 App Store ratings, just short of the 4.5 a B needs. Fans can pay without signing up, which helps. | A4.9 from about 580,000 App Store ratings, the best here. Getting started is free, and Patreon takes care of payments, chargebacks and most taxes for you. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb, iPhone and Android, with Stripe, Wise and Zoom, plus buttons, QR codes and stream alerts to point fans to your page. No desktop app, which an A needs. | BWeb, iPhone and Android, with Discord, Spotify, YouTube, Vimeo, Zapier, ConvertKit, WordPress and Crowdcast. No desktop app, which an A needs. |
| Best for | tips and memberships with no monthly bill | memberships funded by fans |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Buy Me a Coffee and Patreon. How we grade
Price against what you get
Buy Me a Coffee has no paid plan and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Patreon has no paid plan and scores 3.3.
Patreon scores higher for the same starting price. Of the other tools for selling digital products on the chart, none scores higher than Buy Me a Coffee for less, and none scores higher than Patreon for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Buy Me a Coffee is free. Patreon is free.
- Patreon also covers community.
At a glance
| Buy Me a Coffee | Patreon | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free | Free |
| Starts at | Free | Free |
| Free plan | No monthly fee and every feature included. Buy Me a Coffee keeps 5% of each transaction, and Stripe charges 2.9% + $0.30 plus 0.5% for payouts. | Starting a Patreon is free. Patreon keeps 10% of the income creators earn, plus payment processing, currency conversion and payout fees and applicable taxes. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Buy Me a Coffee | Patreon |
| Price read from | help.buymeacoffee.com | patreon.com |
| Checked | Oct 18, 2026 | Oct 18, 2026 |
Who each one suits
Buy Me a Coffee
- Creators who want tips and memberships without a monthly bill
- Podcasters, writers and streamers asking fans for support
- Creators selling a few ebooks, commissions or calls
Patreon
- Podcasters, video makers and artists funded by monthly members
- Creators who want payments, fraud and tax handled for them
- Creators selling extra digital products to the same fans
Worth knowing
Buy Me a Coffee
- Each payment costs 5% plus Stripe's 2.9% + $0.30 and 0.5% payout fee; international payments add 1% and subscription payments 0.5%.
- Payouts go straight to a bank account, but only for creators in the 44 countries Buy Me a Coffee supports.
- The help center describes one 5% platform fee for every creator, with no paid plan that lowers it.
Patreon
- Patreon keeps 10% of creator income, and payment processing, currency conversion and payout fees come on top.
- Buyers need a Patreon account to purchase products, so fans pay inside Patreon rather than on your own site.
- The pricing page lists a single rate, 10% of earnings, with no monthly plan that lowers it.
Key features
Buy Me a Coffee
- One-off support
- Fans pay in a couple of taps without signing up, pick how many coffees to buy and leave a message on the creator's page.
- Memberships
- Monthly or yearly membership tiers with exclusive posts and messages, email alerts for new posts and perks such as discounts.
- Shop
- Sell ebooks and other files, art commissions or one-to-one Zoom calls, with one-tap checkout and buyer ratings.
- Posts and emails
- Publish posts and email supporters from the same account, with no extra charge for publishing or sending.
- Creator tools
- Stream alerts, QR codes and buttons for websites point fans to the page.
- Payment methods
- Supporters pay by card, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Cash App or other global methods, processed by Stripe and Wise.
Patreon
- Memberships
- Membership tiers billed monthly or annually, one-time payments, free trials, discounts and sales, with member analytics.
- Shop for digital products
- Sell video, audio, images, downloadable files and collections one at a time, with no listing fee, or make them free for members.
- Posts, video and newsletters
- Publish audio, images and rich text, host video natively, livestream, and send posts as email newsletters.
- Podcasts
- Import and sync podcasts, run several shows, distribute episodes by RSS, and use the Spotify integration with synced feeds.
- Community
- Group chats, direct messages and comments for members, with exportable email lists and Discord integration.
- Payments handled by Patreon
- Patreon processes payments, handles chargebacks, disputes and fraud, collects and remits most taxes, and supports 16+ currencies.
Plans
Buy Me a Coffee
Buy Me a Coffee$0
No monthly fee. A 5% platform fee per transaction, plus Stripe's 2.9% + $0.30; creators can choose to have supporters cover the card fee.
Patreon
Patreon$0
No monthly fee. Patreon keeps 10% of what creators earn from memberships and shop sales, plus processing, currency conversion and payout fees.
