# Buy Me a Coffee vs Ko-fi vs Patreon: Fees in 2026

> What Buy Me a Coffee, Ko-fi and Patreon really take from a $5 tip and from monthly members in 2026, from their own help pages, plus the cheaper options.

By Dane Dolph. Published 2026-10-20 on the makerhandle blog. Tags: Support, Guides.

Every tip platform has a headline number, and none of them is the whole story. This post puts Buy Me a Coffee, Ko-fi and Patreon side by side using only their own pricing and help pages, checked on October 20, 2026, and works through what you keep from a $5 coffee and from $100 a month of members.

We make makerhandle, which has a support button of its own, and we say where it fits. It is not always the answer.

## The headline fees

| | Buy Me a Coffee | Ko-fi | Patreon |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Platform fee | 5% | 0% on one-off tips, 5% on the rest | 10% for creators since August 2025 |
| Paid plan | None | Gold, $12 a month, 0% platform fee | None |
| Card processing | 2.9% + $0.30, plus extras | PayPal or Stripe's own fees | 2.9% + $0.30 on US cards |
| Payouts | To your bank, $10 minimum | Straight to your PayPal or Stripe | Fee depends on method |

Sources for every cell are listed at the end. Ko-fi's and Patreon's help centers did not load for our fetcher, so their figures were read through search results of those pages; treat them as "as of October 2026" and check before you decide.

## Buy Me a Coffee

[Buy Me a Coffee's FAQ](https://buymeacoffee.com/faq) says: "We charge a 5% transaction fee, and creators keep 95% of the earnings." There is no monthly fee.

Its help article on charges adds the processing side: Stripe's 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction, **+1% for payments from outside the US**, **+0.5% for subscription payments**, and **0.5% for payout processing**. You can switch on an option so supporters pay the card fee on top of their coffee instead.

Payouts start once your balance reaches $10, and Buy Me a Coffee says the first one can take 7 to 14 days while your account is reviewed.

## Ko-fi

Ko-fi's help center describes a free option with **0% on one-off tips** and **5% on shop sales, memberships, monthly tips and commissions**, and **Ko-fi Gold at $12 a month**, which removes the platform fee. Ko-fi says payments go straight into your own PayPal or Stripe account, so processing is whatever PayPal or Stripe charges you.

Ko-fi's options have changed more than once in the last few years, and third-party reviews quote several different Gold prices. Use Ko-fi's own help center, not a review.

## Patreon

Patreon's help center says creators who published their page **after August 4, 2025 pay a 10% platform fee**, plus processing: 2.9% + $0.30 on US cards. Payout fees depend on the method (for example $0.25 per US direct deposit), and a 2.5% currency conversion fee applies when a member pays in a different currency from your payout. Creators who published earlier keep their old plan unless they unpublish.

Patreon also does more than the other two: members-only posts, an app, community features. Part of that 10% is paying for those.

## What you keep from a $5 coffee

A one-time, US card, $5 coffee, processing paid by you:

- **Buy Me a Coffee:** 5% is $0.25, Stripe is about $0.45, so roughly **$4.30**, a little less after the 0.5% payout fee.
- **Ko-fi, free option:** 0% platform fee, then PayPal's or Stripe's fee. If that is the same 2.9% + $0.30, about **$4.55**.
- **Patreon:** 10% is $0.50, processing about $0.45, so about **$4.05** before payout fees.

The $0.30 fixed fee is the quiet killer on small tips: it is 6% of a $5 coffee by itself. Preset amounts of 3 or 5 coffees help more than any platform switch. (Our arithmetic, from the fees above.)

## What you keep from $100 a month of members

Platform fee only, since processing is similar everywhere:

- **Buy Me a Coffee:** 5%, $5 a month, **$60 a year**, plus the 0.5% subscription surcharge.
- **Ko-fi:** 5%, **$60 a year**, or Gold at $12 a month, **$144 a year**, with no platform fee.
- **Patreon:** 10%, **$120 a year**.

This is where a flat price starts to win. Ko-fi Gold beats Ko-fi's 5% once memberships pass $240 a month ($12 divided by 5%, our arithmetic).

## The cheaper options

- **GitHub Sponsors** charges no fees on sponsorships from personal accounts, per GitHub's docs. Great if your supporters are developers. See [GitHub Sponsors compared](https://makerhandle.com/compare/github-sponsors).
- **Liberapay** takes no cut and is funded by donations to itself; one-time donations are not properly supported yet, its FAQ says.
- **makerhandle's built-in support** pays into your own Stripe account with a **0% platform fee on Pro ($20 a year) and 5% on Free**, plus Stripe's processing fees. Pro pays for itself once support passes about $400 a year ($20 divided by 5%). It is opening to makers in stages; the link button, which opens your existing Buy Me a Coffee, Ko-fi or Patreon page, works for everyone today.

## So which one?

- **Mostly one-off tips:** Ko-fi's 0% on one-off tips is the cheapest hosted option.
- **Members who want posts and files:** Patreon or Ko-fi; the content tools are worth the fee.
- **Steady monthly supporters, no gated content:** a flat price beats a percentage. Ko-fi Gold, or a [support button](https://makerhandle.com/features/support) on your own page with makerhandle Pro.
- **You like where you are:** stay, and put a button to it on your link in bio. [How to add a tip button to your link in bio](https://makerhandle.com/blog/add-tip-button-to-link-in-bio) shows how.

The longer list, with who each tool suits, is in [Buy Me a Coffee alternatives](https://makerhandle.com/compare/buy-me-a-coffee-alternatives).

## Sources

- [Buy Me a Coffee: FAQ (5% transaction fee, no monthly fee, payouts in 44 countries, export your supporters)](https://buymeacoffee.com/faq)
- [Buy Me a Coffee help center: How to calculate charges on your payment (updated March 18, 2026)](https://help.buymeacoffee.com/en/articles/8105744-how-to-calculate-charges-on-your-payment)
- [Buy Me a Coffee help center: How to eliminate the credit card fee from your earnings](https://help.buymeacoffee.com/en/articles/8105320-how-to-eliminate-the-credit-card-fee-from-your-earnings)
- [Buy Me a Coffee help center: When are payouts processed? (updated August 25, 2026)](https://help.buymeacoffee.com/en/articles/6364717-when-are-payouts-processed)
- [Ko-fi help center: Does Ko-fi take a fee?](https://help.ko-fi.com/hc/en-us/articles/360002506494-Does-Ko-fi-take-a-fee)
- [Ko-fi help center: What is Ko-fi Gold?](https://help.ko-fi.com/hc/en-us/articles/360005506873-What-is-Ko-fi-Gold)
- [Ko-fi: features (paid directly into your own PayPal or Stripe account)](https://ko-fi.com/features)
- [Patreon help center: A standard platform fee for new creators, effective after August 4, 2025](https://support.patreon.com/hc/en-us/articles/36426991446797-A-standard-platform-fee-for-new-creators-effective-after-August-4-2025)
- [Patreon help center: Creator fees overview](https://support.patreon.com/hc/en-us/articles/11111747095181-Creator-fees-overview)
- [GitHub Docs: About GitHub Sponsors](https://docs.github.com/en/sponsors/getting-started-with-github-sponsors/about-github-sponsors)
- [Liberapay: FAQ](https://liberapay.com/about/faq)
- [Stripe: pricing](https://stripe.com/pricing)

---

Source: https://makerhandle.com/blog/buy-me-a-coffee-vs-ko-fi-vs-patreon-fees
makerhandle: makerhandle is a link in bio for makers, creators and small businesses: your links and your work, with optional verified revenue.