Ko-fi vs Patreon
Side-by-side comparison on fees, payouts, monetization, and audience ownership.
Platform fee
0–5% · 0% tips · 5% sales
10% · of revenue
Payout speed
instant
monthly
Minimum payout
$0
$10
Countries
PayPal- or Stripe-supported
Wide (excludes RU, CN, IR, KP, SY, CU)
Email list export
Limited export
Limited (CSV export of patron list)
Custom domain
Yes (subdomain)
No
Community features
Comments and DMs
Up to 10 Chat spaces, DMs, Discord integration
Best for
Visual artists, beginners, small audiences, fee-sensitive creators
Video creators, podcasters, visual artists, community builders with established audiences
Ko-fi vs Patreon: which one wins?
Ko-fi charges 0–5% (0% tips · 5% sales) versus Patreon at 10% (of revenue).
On payout speed, Ko-fi pays instant while Patreon pays monthly. For creators where cashflow matters, the faster cadence usually wins.
For audience ownership, Ko-fi offers limited export email export and Patreon offers limited (csv export of patron list). Email portability matters most for creators planning to migrate later or build a list independent of any single platform.
Best for: Ko-fi suits visual artists, beginners, small audiences, fee-sensitive creators. Patreon fits video creators, podcasters, visual artists, community builders with established audiences.