Every pricing page leads with its friendliest number. The real cost is the stack of fees underneath, and that stack changes shape as you earn more. Patreon and Stan cost about the same at $300 a month, and at $20,000 Patreon costs $1,971 more.
What fees do creator platforms charge?
There are five kinds of fee, and most platforms charge two or three at once. The table shows each type with real rates from our platform data.
| Fee type | How it works | Real examples |
|---|---|---|
| Percentage of revenue | The platform keeps a share of every payment | Patreon 10%, Substack 10%, Beacons Free 9%, Payhip Free 5% |
| Flat monthly plan | A fixed bill, often with 0% taken from sales | Stan $29, Ghost Publisher $35, beehiiv Lite $59, Kajabi Basic $179 |
| Per-sale fee | A fixed amount on each transaction | Gumroad 50¢ on top of 10%, Skool Hobby 30¢ on top of 10% |
| Card processing | The payment processor’s cut, usually Stripe | 2.9% + 30¢ per US card on most platforms |
| App store fee | Apple’s cut on purchases made inside an iOS app | 30% on Patreon iOS, 15 to 30% on Substack iOS |
Some platforms blend the types. Memberful charges $49 a month plus 4.9% of every charge. Kit charges 3.5% + 30¢ with Stripe processing included and says its own share is 0.6%, while YouTube channel memberships keep 30% but cover card fees.
How does a percentage fee work?
A percentage fee grows with your revenue. You pay nothing when you earn nothing, and you pay the most when you earn the most.
That makes percentage plans friendly to beginners and expensive for everyone else. Substack’s 10% never shrinks, so at $10,000 a month you hand over $1,000 before Stripe. Gumroad does cut its rate for volume, dropping new direct sales to 5% + 50¢ once paid sales pass $20,000 in a calendar month.
Percentages also stack on each other. Patreon’s 10% sits on top of 2.9% + 30¢ card processing, plus 2.5% currency conversion when a fan pays in another currency.
How does a flat monthly plan work?
A flat plan charges the same bill whatever you sell, and many take 0% of sales. Your cost per dollar earned falls every time revenue goes up.
The risk sits at the low end. Kajabi Basic at $179 a month leaves you $94 out of $300 in sales, by our math. Ghost’s $18 Starter plan can’t take payments at all, so a paid newsletter starts on Publisher at $35.
Flat plans also rise with your list. beehiiv Lite is $59 a month at 1,000 subscribers and climbs from there. Ghost Publisher costs $105 a month at 10,000 members, and free members count toward that.
Do per-sale fees and card processing matter?
They matter most on cheap items. A fixed 30¢ charge is small on a $50 sale and painful on a $3 one.
A $3 Patreon tier loses about 23% to the platform fee and processing combined. Gumroad stacks a 50¢ fee on top of 30¢ processing, so a $20 sale loses about $3.38, nearly 17%. At $300 a month in $5 sales, Whop’s 2.7% + 30¢ costs $26 and Gumroad costs $87.
Processors add their own extras too. Stripe charges Substack writers a 0.7% Billing fee on recurring payments. Buy Me a Coffee adds 1% on non-US payments and 0.5% on subscriptions.
Where do flat plans overtake percentage plans?
For most platforms in our data, somewhere between $300 and $1,000 a month in sales. The table shows what each platform’s cheapest plan costs you at four revenue levels.
Each level assumes a different average sale, $5 at $300, $10 at $1,000, $25 at $5,000 and $50 at $20,000. Costs add the plan price, the platform’s percentage, any per-sale fee and US card processing of 2.9% + 30¢ where it isn’t included.
| Platform and plan | Fee model | $300 | $1,000 | $5,000 | $20,000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| YouTube channel memberships | 30%, processing covered | $90 | $300 | $1,500 | $6,000 |
| Gumroad, direct sales | 10% + 50¢ + processing | $87 | $209 | $805 | $2,900 |
| Patreon, Standard | 10% + processing | $57 | $159 | $705 | $2,700 |
| Substack, paid subscriptions | 10% + processing | $59 | $166 | $740 | $2,840 |
| Memberful, Standard | $49 + 4.9% + processing | $90 | $157 | $499 | $1,729 |
| Kajabi, Basic | $179 + processing | $206 | $238 | $384 | $879 |
| Kit, Free | 3.5% + 30¢, processing included | $29 | $65 | $235 | $820 |
| beehiiv, Lite | $59 + processing | $86 | $118 | $264 | $759 |
| Ghost, Publisher | $35 + processing | $62 | $94 | $240 | $735 |
| Stan, Creator | $29 + processing | $56 | $88 | $234 | $729 |
| Ko-fi, Gold | $12 + processing | $39 | $71 | $217 | $712 |
| Whop, Standard | 2.7% + 30¢, processing included | $26 | $57 | $195 | $660 |
Two notes on the table. Substack’s row includes the 0.7% Stripe Billing fee its help page lists. beehiiv and Ghost use entry prices that rise as your list grows.
Why do flat plans win as revenue grows?
The plan price stays put while a percentage keeps scaling. Compare Ghost and Substack, two newsletter platforms that charge in opposite ways.
At $300 a month, Substack costs $59 and Ghost costs $62, so the free option wins by $3. At $1,000, Ghost costs $94 against Substack’s $166. At $20,000, the gap is $2,105 a month. Our Substack vs Ghost comparison covers what else separates them.
Patreon and Stan show the same pattern across categories. They tie at $300, $57 against $56. At $20,000, Patreon costs $2,700 and Stan costs $729.
The crossover also happens inside a single platform. Payhip’s cheapest plan is Free at $300, costing $42, then Plus at $1,000 for $108, then Pro at $5,000 for $304. Our reviews put the break-even point for each upgrade at these levels:
| Upgrade | Pays off once monthly sales pass |
|---|---|
| Ko-fi Free to Gold, $12 a month | $240 in fee-bearing sales |
| Beacons Free to Creator Plus, $30 a month | about $333 |
| Fourthwall Free to Pro, $19 a month | about $380 in digital sales |
| Teachable Starter to Builder, $89 a month | about $670 |
| Payhip Free to Plus, $29 a month | about $967 |
| Skool Hobby to Pro, $99 a month | about $1,270 |
| Payhip Plus to Pro, $99 a month | about $3,500 |
Gumroad has no paid plan that lowers its 10%, so it costs $2,900 at $20,000 while Payhip Pro costs $799. Our Gumroad vs Payhip comparison goes through the rest.
What do these numbers leave out?
They leave out tax, currency conversion, app store fees and payout fees. Most add a point or two, and an app store fee can add 30%.
- Patreon charges 2.5% when a fan pays in another currency, and PayPal payouts cost 1%.
- Buy Me a Coffee payouts cost 0.5% through Stripe, on top of its other Stripe extras.
- Stan’s Stripe payout fee is 0.25% + 25¢ with a $1 minimum.
- Whop charges $2.50 for each next-day ACH withdrawal and 4% + $2.50 for an instant one.
- Apple takes 30% of new memberships bought in Patreon’s iOS app, dropping to 15% after a member’s first year.
Run your own mix through the fee calculator. Our methodology explains how these costs turn into each platform’s fee score.