Fourthwall vs Ko-fi (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Fourthwall grades higher than Ko-fi: 2.8 against 2.6 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 18, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 18, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
Fourthwall grades higher on value for money. Ko-fi grades higher on the free plan. They get the same grade on features, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Fourthwall
Creator shop with merch, digital products and memberships
Free plan · from $15/mo
Which one is for you
Pick Fourthwall if
- Fits if you are a creator who sells merch to a following and wants memberships beside it
- Works for streamers who want a free shop to start
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want to run courses or a community, as the listing shows a shop
- Watch out: fees of 5% on digital products on the free plan, 5% on memberships, and 2.9% + $0.30 on US card payments
- Watch out: catalog products carry a flat per-item fee taken from your selling price
- Tight if you stay free: the 5 GB limit on digital products and the 5% fee
Pick Ko-fi if
- Fits if you're an artist or streamer who wants tips, members and a shop on one page
- Works for creators taking paid commissions who want requests and payment in one place
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want sales tax handled for you, since you're the merchant of record
- Too light for a proper store with email, discount codes and upsells
- Watch out: shop, membership and commission sales cost 5%, with PayPal or card fees on top
- Watch out: we couldn't confirm the price of the paid Gold plan on Ko-fi's own pages
- Not for you if you want a phone or desktop app, as only the web is listed
How we grade them
| 2.8GPAFourthwallGood | 2.6GPAKo-fiGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | AFree, or $15 a month for Pro, which is under 60% of the $29 cheaper quarter of courses and communities tools. Fees apply on sales. | CNo price for Ko-fi Gold is on record, so our rule for a missing price makes this a C. On the free page, 5% of $1,000 in shop, membership and commission sales is $50 a month, with card fees on top (not counted). That's Buy Me a Coffee's rate and half Patreon's 10%. |
| Free plan and trial | BThe free plan lets you design and sell products, offer memberships and run promotions. Digital products are capped at 5 GB with a 5% fee. | AThe free page has tips, memberships, a shop and commissions with no monthly or listing fee, and no cap on record. You pay 5% when you sell, and the value grade counts that. |
| Features | CCustom products, a shop builder, digital products, memberships and promotions. It is a merch shop with memberships, not a course or community platform. | CGraded against its own alternatives, fan-support pages. Tips, goals, member tiers with posts and Discord roles, a shop for files and physical items, commissions and stream alerts. It does that job fully, but it's a smaller kit: no email, discounts or tax handling in the listing. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating on record. You build a shop and set up products, which is setup work. | CNo App Store rating on record. A page is quick to start, but you connect PayPal or a card account first, and member tiers and a shop take some setting up. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb, iOS and Android, with YouTube, Instagram and TikTok connections. No desktop app. | BWeb, with PayPal, Discord, Twitch, YouTube and a WordPress plugin, plus stream overlays. No phone or desktop app is listed. |
| Best for | a creator shop with merch and memberships | tips, memberships and commissions from 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: Fourthwall and Ko-fi. How we grade
Where they differ
- Fourthwall also covers community, merchant of record and print on demand.
In commonFree planWebOnline storeDigital downloads
At a glance
| Fourthwall | Ko-fi | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $15 per month for Pro | Not published |
| Free plan | Design and sell products, offer memberships, run promotions; 5% fee and 5 GB limit on digital products. | A free page with tips, memberships, a shop and commissions. Ko-fi's own pages state a 5% platform fee on shop, membership and commission sales, plus card processing fees. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Fourthwall | Ko-fi Labs |
| Price read from | fourthwall.com | Not confirmed |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Oct 18, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Fourthwall
- Fees: 5% on digital products on the free plan, 5% on memberships, and 2.9% + $0.30 on US card payments, with other rates for PayPal and other methods.
- Products from the catalog carry a flat per-item fee taken from your selling price.
- The Pro plan saves $48 a year when paid yearly, compared with monthly.
Ko-fi
- Ko-fi sells a paid Gold plan, but its price could not be confirmed on Ko-fi's own pages for this listing.
- Shop, membership and commission sales carry a 5% Ko-fi fee on the free page, and PayPal or card processing fees come on top.
- Creators are the merchant of record, so sales tax and VAT on their sales are their own responsibility.
Key features
Fourthwall
- Custom products
- Designs products from a catalog that includes apparel, mugs and jewelry, with the company handling manufacturing and shipping.
- Shop builder
- Builds a branded shop with themes and a custom domain.
- Digital products
- Sells files with hosting and delivery handled for you.
- Memberships
- Offers members-only video, images, polls, Discord access and private RSS feeds.
- Promotions
- Runs discounts, promo codes and free giveaways.
- Social shopping
- Shows products on YouTube Merch Shelf, Instagram and Facebook Shopping, and TikTok Shopping.
Ko-fi
- Tips and goals
- One-off tips from supporters, plus funding goals that creators can set and show on their page or on a stream overlay.
- Memberships
- Membership tiers with member-only posts (text, audio, video and polls), member-only shop items and requests, and Discord roles for members.
- Ko-fi Shop
- Sell digital downloads and physical items from a link, with no listing or monthly fees; Ko-fi takes 5% when a sale is made.
- Commissions
- Take paid requests such as artwork, tutorials, feedback sessions or video messages, with a 5% platform fee on each sale.
- Stream alerts
- Connect Twitch or YouTube to show tips, subscriptions and goals as on-stream alerts and overlays.
- Direct payouts
- Supporters pay the creator directly through PayPal, Venmo, cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay or local methods, with no payout schedule to wait on.
Plans
Fourthwall
Free$0
No monthly fee. 5% flat fee on digital products (5 GB limit) and on memberships, plus 2.9% + $0.30 card processing on US cards.
Pro$15
per month
$120 of shop credit a year, a free .store domain, unlimited team members, no fee on digital products and 100 GB of storage.
Ko-fi
Pricing could not be confirmed. See ko-fi.com.
Ways to pay less
Fourthwall
- Annual discount
Save $48 a year on Pro
The pricing page says paying yearly for Pro saves $48 compared with paying monthly.
Ko-fi
No public discounts listed.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Fourthwall or Ko-fi?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Fourthwall starts at $15 per month for Pro, and Ko-fi has no price we could confirm.
Which has a free plan, Fourthwall or Ko-fi?
As of Nov 12, 2026, both Fourthwall and Ko-fi have a free plan.
Which platforms do Fourthwall and Ko-fi run on?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only Fourthwall lists iOS and Android apps. Both list a web app. A platform missing from a listing is one its maker's pages did not mention.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.