Buy Me a Coffee vs Supporting Cast (2026): which should you pick?

Pick Buy Me a Coffee if

• Fits if you want fans to support you without making an account
• Works for podcasters, writers and streamers selling a few ebooks, commissions or calls with no monthly fee

Look elsewhere if

• Skip it if you live outside the 44 countries it pays out to
• Too light for selling courses or running a full store, and there's no video hosting or podcasts
• Watch out: each payment costs 5% plus Stripe's 2.9% + $0.30 and a 0.5% payout fee
• Pricey if many fans pay from abroad or by subscription, which add 1% and 0.5% more
• Tight if you grow: there's one 5% fee for every creator, with no paid plan that lowers it

Pick Supporting Cast if

• Fits if you make a podcast and want paid feeds in Apple Podcasts or Spotify-style apps
• Makes sense if you already have a host and want to keep it

Look elsewhere if

• Skip it if you want a price up front, because none is published and you request a demo
• Tight if you want to try it first, as no free plan or trial is listed
• Watch out: subscriber support is handled by Supporting Cast only if the publisher wants that
• Too light for anything but podcasts, as it is built for audio shows

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.

Supporting Cast

• No prices are published; the site directs visitors to request a demo, so pricing is recorded as unverified.
• The site says the platform can host premium content, or publishers can keep their current host.
• The site says it is part of Graham Holdings and that subscribers can take their card relationships and data if they leave.
• Support for subscribers is handled by Supporting Cast only if the publisher wants that.

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.

Supporting Cast

Private feeds in existing apps

Listeners subscribe in two taps and use their current podcast app, with Apple Pay and Google Pay for mobile payments.

Flexible membership setups

Single shows or multi-show bundles, monthly or annual pricing, tiered benefits, pay-what-you-want and one-time payments.

Branding and site integration

Branded landing pages, no Supporting Cast logo in the member experience, a WordPress plugin and an API.

Piracy protection

Sharing thresholds flag members for review or disable access automatically.

Reporting

Growth, revenue and engagement reports, with CSV export or a data pipeline.

Promo codes and localized currencies

Promo codes and discounts, localized currencies, bulk user invites and single sign-on with two-factor authentication.

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.

Supporting Cast

Pricing could not be confirmed. See supportingcast.fm.