makerhandle vs Ko-fi

What Ko-fi does well

Ko-fi is many people's favorite for good reasons. As of October 2026, its help center describes:

• 0% platform fee on one-off tips on its free option, and 5% on shop sales, memberships, monthly tips and commissions.
• Ko-fi Gold at $12 a month with no platform fee at all; the help center says new creators can sign up for Gold monthly.
• Payments straight to you. Ko-fi's features page says you are paid directly into your own PayPal or Stripe account, and Ko-fi never holds your money.
• A shop and commissions for art, files and custom work.

Ko-fi has changed its fee options more than once, so check its help center before you decide. Processing fees from PayPal or Stripe apply on top.

Why makers look for a Ko-fi alternative

• Two pages. Ko-fi is its own page at ko-fi.com/you. Your bio link already goes somewhere else, so supporters take an extra hop.
• Ko-fi's look, Ko-fi's address. We could not find a custom domain option in Ko-fi's own pages; it offers a widget to embed on your site instead.
• Monthly members cost 5% unless you pay for Gold, which is $144 a year at $12 a month.
• It does not show what you build. A tip page says little about your products, their status or what they earn.

What makerhandle does instead

makerhandle is a page for everything you make, and the support button is one block on it, in your template's style and on your custom domain on Pro.

• Link mode, live today on every plan: the button opens your Ko-fi page. You keep everything Ko-fi gives you.
• Built in, with Stripe: one-time support and up to three monthly tiers paid into your own Stripe account. 0% platform fee on Pro, 5% on Free, plus Stripe's processing fees. Built-in support is opening to makers in stages; the link button works for everyone today.

What makerhandle does not do: a shop, commissions, or members-only posts. If you sell art or files, Ko-fi is still the better home for that part.

Who should pick which

• Artists who sell prints, files or commissions: Ko-fi. Point the makerhandle button at it if you want one link for everything.
• Mostly one-off tips: Ko-fi's 0% on one-off tips is hard to beat. Keep it.
• Monthly supporters, and you would rather not pay $12 a month for Gold: makerhandle Pro is $20 a year with a 0% platform fee on built-in support, once it opens for you.
• You build software, games or hardware: a maker page with projects, verified revenue and a support button says more than a tip page.

The fee math for all three big platforms is in Buy Me a Coffee vs Ko-fi vs Patreon fees, and the full list is in Buy Me a Coffee alternatives.