# makerhandle vs Buy Me a Coffee > makerhandle vs Buy Me a Coffee: a support button on your own page and domain, or a page on buymeacoffee.com. Fees, payouts and who should pick which. Buy Me a Coffee is a support page. makerhandle is your maker page with a support button on it. They overlap less than you would think, and they work fine together. ## The short version | | Buy Me a Coffee | makerhandle | | --- | --- | --- | | What it is | A support page, memberships and a shop | A page for everything you make, with a support button | | Platform fee | 5% | 0% on Pro, 5% on Free (built-in) | | Monthly price | None | Free, or Pro at $20 a year | | Memberships | Monthly or yearly | Up to three monthly tiers (built-in) | | Members-only posts and shop | Yes | No | | Your own domain | Not offered | On Pro, with SSL | | How you are paid | Processed by Stripe and Wise, paid out to your bank | Direct charges on your own Stripe account, so you are the seller | | Verified revenue | Shown on makerhandle with a read-only token | Built-in support counts automatically | Buy Me a Coffee facts are from its FAQ and help center, checked October 20, 2026 (see Sources). makerhandle's built-in payments are opening to makers in stages; link mode works for everyone today. ## Where Buy Me a Coffee is better - **It is a whole platform.** Posts for members, a shop for extras and downloads, a website widget and stream alerts. makerhandle has none of that. - **No account to manage.** No Stripe account of your own, no dashboard. [Buy Me a Coffee's FAQ](https://buymeacoffee.com/faq) says it pays out to creators in 44 countries. - **Yearly memberships.** Its homepage offers monthly or yearly subscriptions; makerhandle's tiers are monthly. If you post for members or sell files, Buy Me a Coffee (or Ko-fi or Patreon) is the better home for that, and you can still point makerhandle's button at it. ## Where makerhandle is different - **It is on your page.** The button sits on your link in bio in your template's style, next to your projects, and on your [custom domain](https://makerhandle.com/features/custom-domain) on Pro. Buy Me a Coffee's own comparison page lists "No hosting. No custom domains." as part of what it is. - **Your own Stripe account.** Built-in payments are direct charges on your Stripe account, so you are the [merchant of record](https://makerhandle.com/glossary/merchant-of-record): your name on the statement, payouts on your Stripe schedule, refunds and disputes in your own Stripe Dashboard. - **0% platform fee on Pro.** 5% on Free, the same as Buy Me a Coffee's fee. Stripe's processing fees apply on both. - **Your unit.** A coffee, a book, a server hour, an Arduino: any emoji, any name, $1 to $500 each. - **It counts as proof.** Support income shows as [verified revenue](https://makerhandle.com/features/verified-revenue) on the project you pick. Built-in support is opening to makers in stages; the link button works for everyone today. ## Use both Most people should not rip anything out. Put the [support button](https://makerhandle.com/features/support) on your makerhandle page in link mode and point it at buymeacoffee.com/you. Connect Buy Me a Coffee's read-only token to a project and its income shows with a check mark. Nothing about your supporters changes. If you later switch the button to built-in, it stays exactly where it is, and your Buy Me a Coffee page can stay underneath as a small "Also on Buy Me a Coffee" link, so existing members are not lost. [How to move from Buy Me a Coffee to your own page](https://makerhandle.com/blog/move-from-buy-me-a-coffee) has the step-by-step, including why members have to re-join. ## 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: When are payouts processed? (updated August 25, 2026)](https://help.buymeacoffee.com/en/articles/6364717-when-are-payouts-processed) - [Buy Me a Coffee: Ghost alternative page ("No hosting. No custom domains.")](https://buymeacoffee.com/ghost-alternative) - [Buy Me a Coffee blog: Buy Me a Coffee vs Patreon (January 22, 2026)](https://buymeacoffee.com/blog/buy-me-a-coffee-vs-patreon/) - [Stripe docs: Create direct charges](https://docs.stripe.com/connect/direct-charges) ## Questions ### Does Buy Me a Coffee support custom domains? Not as of October 2026. Its own comparison page lists "No hosting. No custom domains." You can forward a domain to your Buy Me a Coffee page, or put a support button on a page you host, such as makerhandle Pro with your domain. ### Is makerhandle cheaper than Buy Me a Coffee? On Free, built-in support has the same 5% fee. On Pro ($20 a year) the platform fee is 0%, so Pro costs less once you get more than about $400 a year in support (our arithmetic: $20 divided by 5%). Card processing applies either way. ### Can I verify my Buy Me a Coffee income on makerhandle? Yes. Connect a read-only Buy Me a Coffee token to a project and its last 30 days, or MRR from members, shows with a check mark. ### Do supporters need an account? Not on makerhandle: they pay through Stripe Checkout with an email. Buy Me a Coffee says one-time support needs no account and memberships do. --- Source: https://makerhandle.com/compare/buy-me-a-coffee makerhandle: makerhandle is a link in bio for makers, creators and small businesses: your links and your work, with optional verified revenue.