Ko-fi vs Patreon fees on a $3 gift, and why I built a third option anyway

I'm Kir, and I built Pennygood: simple monthly support pages, from $3/mo. Before building it I had to work out where Ko-fi and Patreon actually fit and where they don't. This is that comparison, including the parts where my own product loses.

If you're an indie maker, an open-source maintainer or anyone who wants a support button, you've probably looked at Ko-fi and Patreon. They charge fees differently, and they're built on different ideas of what supporters are paying for.

The short answer

• Patreon: pick it for recurring memberships with tiers and gated content for an audience you already have.
• Ko-fi: pick it for a low-friction tip jar, an optional shop or commissions, and a 0% platform fee on one-time tips if you set it up right.
• Something else: look elsewhere when supporters are backing who you are and what you do rather than buying access to content.

At a glance

Built for

• Patreon: creators with audiences and perks
• Ko-fi: creators and artists; a tip jar plus a shop
• Pennygood: everyday people doing good work (volunteers, carers, NGO freelancers)

Platform fee (typical)

• Patreon: about 10% for new creator pages
• Ko-fi: 0% on one-time tips (with Contributor/Standard mode off). 5% on memberships, shop sales and monthly tips. Ko-fi Gold ($12/mo for new users) can bring the platform fee to 0%.
• Pennygood: 8% (creators keep 92%)

Payment processing

• All three charge it on top of the platform fee (Stripe and/or PayPal)

Tiers and perks

• Patreon: they're the core product
• Ko-fi: optional
• Pennygood: none, and none expected

Discovery

• Patreon and Ko-fi: limited, so you bring your own audience
• Pennygood: a public page plus share tools (link preview, QR code, captions)

One gotcha with Ko-fi: new accounts often start with a 5% fee on tips until you turn Contributor off in Settings → Payment. Fees and toggles change, so check Ko-fi's help pages before you decide.

Fee math on a small gift

These are platform fees only. Card processing comes on top, so don't read them as bank deposits.

$3

• Patreon (~10%): ~$2.70
• Ko-fi one-time tip (0%, Contributor off): $3.00
• Ko-fi membership (5%): ~$2.85
• Pennygood (8%): ~$2.76

$5

• Patreon: ~$4.50
• Ko-fi tip: $5.00
• Ko-fi membership: ~$4.75
• Pennygood: ~$4.60

$10

• Patreon: ~$9.00
• Ko-fi tip: $10.00
• Ko-fi membership: ~$9.50
• Pennygood: ~$9.20

Honestly, a Ko-fi one-time tip at 0% beats my 8% on a single tip. Pennygood isn't "always cheaper". If an occasional coffee button is all you need, Ko-fi is probably the better and cheaper choice.

On small amounts, processing matters more than the headline percentage. The commonly cited card fee of ~2.9% + $0.30 means the fixed $0.30 alone is 10% of a $3 payment. Compare the whole path: platform fee plus processing in your country.

Is Ko-fi Gold worth it?

Gold costs $12/month. Against the 5% fee, it breaks even at roughly $240/month of fee-bearing income (memberships, shop and monthly tips, not 0% one-time tips). Below that, the free plan is cheaper. That's rough math for orientation, not a savings promise.

Patreon: memberships and perks

Patreon is built on an exchange: tiers, early access, behind-the-scenes posts, calls. Supporters pay monthly, and you produce and gate. That works for podcasters, YouTubers, artists and writers who publish regularly to an audience that already cares.

It gets awkward when your "product" is showing up every weekend to clean a beach, or quietly maintaining something people depend on. If there's nothing natural to put behind a $15 tier, you end up inventing content just to suit the platform.

Ko-fi: tip jar, shop, optional memberships

Ko-fi started as one-time "buy me a coffee" tips and grew into memberships, a shop and commissions. You mostly bring your own audience, and nobody pushes a membership model on you. For many makers, that's exactly the appeal.

When neither fits

Both tools are fine. They were just built for creators. They fit poorly when:

• you don't produce gated content and don't want to invent perks
• you don't have an online audience yet
• supporters want a small monthly habit, not a membership ladder
• you're a volunteer, carer or NGO freelancer, not a media brand

That last group is why I built Pennygood. Picture a designer making logos for NGOs on tiny budgets, a shelter volunteer, or someone running a free class in their neighbourhood. Their friends would happily give $3 a month, but there's nowhere simple to send them.

So the product is deliberately small. It's one page: who you are, what the money helps with, and a button for $3/month or more (or a one-time gift). There are no tiers and no content calendar. Payments go through Stripe Connect in 120+ countries. The fee is 8%, and creators keep 92% before Stripe processing.

Which should you use?

Ask yourself one question: are people paying for what you produce, or backing who you are?

• Paying for what you produce: Patreon for memberships and perks. Ko-fi for tips and a shop (watch the Gold vs 5% math, and turn Contributor off for 0% tips).
• Raising for a crisis or deadline: a crowdfunding campaign like GoFundMe has a different fee setup, but it suits that job better.
• Backing who you are, ongoing: a plain monthly page.

Prices change, so check each service's pricing page before you commit. This is a comparison, not a quote.

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If the last case sounds like you, or like someone you know, you can make a page here. If Ko-fi or Patreon fits better, use that. I'd also like to hear from other builders how you'd reach people who do useful work but don't think of themselves as "creators".