Patreon vs Supporting Cast (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Patreon grades higher than Supporting Cast: 3.0 against 1.6 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 18, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Oct 18, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Patreon grades higher on the free plan, features, ease of use and platforms. Supporting Cast grades higher on value for money.
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
Free
Supporting Cast
Podcast subscriptions delivered through listeners' own apps
Paid
Which one is for you
Pick Patreon if
- Fits if you're a podcaster, video maker or artist funded by monthly members
- Works for creators who want payments, fraud and most sales tax handled, for 10% of earnings
Look elsewhere if
- Pricey if you earn a lot, as 10% of every dollar goes to Patreon with no plan to lower it
- Watch out: processing, currency conversion and payout fees come on top of the 10%
- Not for you if you want buyers paying on your own site, since they need a Patreon account
- Not for you if you want a desktop app, as it's web, iPhone and Android only
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
How we grade them
| 3.0GPAPatreonVery good | 1.6GPASupporting CastWeak | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | 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. | CNo price is published and the site sends you to a demo. C is where no price is published. |
| Free plan and trial | 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. | FNothing free is listed: no plan and no trial, only a request for a demo. |
| Features | BMember tiers, free trials, a shop for downloads, native video, livestreams, podcasts with Spotify, newsletters and group chats, more than its alternatives list. Not an A, because buyers need a Patreon account to purchase anything. | CPrivate feeds in existing apps, membership setups, branding, piracy protection, reporting and promo codes. It does that one job fully, which is a smaller job than a general store. |
| Ease of use | A4.9 from about 580,000 App Store ratings, the highest here. Getting started is free, and Patreon takes care of payments, chargebacks and most taxes for you. | CNo store rating on record, and getting started means a demo and setting up membership tiers and feeds. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb, iPhone and Android, with Discord, Spotify, YouTube, Vimeo, Zapier, ConvertKit, WordPress and Crowdcast. No desktop app, which an A needs. | CWeb setup, with listener access through their existing podcast apps and three listed integrations. No other apps are listed. |
| Best for | memberships funded by fans | paid podcast feeds that work in listeners' own apps |
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: Patreon and Supporting Cast. How we grade
Where they differ
- Patreon also covers community and digital downloads.
- Supporting Cast also covers reports.
In commonWebPaid newsletters
At a glance
| Patreon | Supporting Cast | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free | Paid |
| Starts at | Free | Not published |
| Free plan | Starting a Patreon is free. Patreon keeps 10% of the income creators earn, plus payment processing, currency conversion and payout fees and applicable taxes. | None |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Patreon | Supporting Cast |
| Price read from | patreon.com | Not confirmed |
| Checked | Oct 18, 2026 | Nov 13, 2026 |
Worth knowing
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.
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.
Key features
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.
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.
Plans
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.
Supporting Cast
Pricing could not be confirmed. See supportingcast.fm.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Patreon or Supporting Cast?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Patreon is free, and Supporting Cast has no price we could confirm.
Which has a free plan, Patreon or Supporting Cast?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only Patreon has a free plan. Supporting Cast does not.
Which platforms do Patreon and Supporting Cast run on?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only Patreon 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.