Blog
How Much Does Patreon Take in 2026? Fees & Cuts Explained
August 30, 2026 · 6 min read · By Exclu Team
How Much Does Patreon Take in 2026? Fees, Cuts & Hidden Costs Explained
TL;DR
Platform fee: 10% for new creators (post-August 4, 2025); legacy plans range from 5% (Founders) to 11% (Pro + Merch)
Payment processing: 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction for most USD payments; 5% + $0.10 for micropayments under $3
Pornography is prohibited on Patreon - adult content creators need a different platform
Total effective cut: roughly 13–15% combined (platform fee + processing + payout fee) for most creators on the standard plan
What Percentage Does Patreon Take?
Patreon takes 10% of your earnings if you joined after August 4, 2025. That's the flat standard platform fee for all new creators, no tiers, no choices.
If you're a legacy creator who published before that date and kept your page continuously live, you may still be on an older plan: 5% (Founders), 8% (Pro), or 11% (Pro + Merch). But the moment you unpublish - even briefly - you drop to the standard 10% when you republish. No exceptions.
So what percentage does Patreon take from creators exactly? It depends entirely on when you joined:
New creators (post-August 4, 2025): 10% platform fee
Legacy Pro creators: 8% platform fee
Legacy Founders creators: 5% platform fee (extremely rare - requires uninterrupted membership since before May 7, 2019)
That platform fee is just the starting point. The real Patreon cut is higher once you add processing and payout fees.
Patreon Fee Breakdown
Here's the full picture across plan types. All figures assume USD payouts and a standard credit card payment above $3.
| Founders (Legacy) | Pro (Legacy) | Standard (New) |
|---|
Platform fee | 5% | 8% | 10% |
Processing fee | 1.6% + $0.30 | 2.9% + $0.30 | 2.9% + $0.30 |
Payout fee (bank) | $0.25/payout | $0.25/payout | $0.25/payout |
Currency conversion | +2.5% if applicable | +2.5% if applicable | +2.5% if applicable |
Estimated total cut | ~7–8% | ~11–12% | ~13–14% |
Note: The Founders plan is no longer available to new creators and is grandfathered only for creators who joined before May 7, 2019 and never changed plans. Legacy Pro is unavailable after August 4, 2025.
The patreon fee for creators isn't a single number - it's a stack. Platform fee on top of processing fee on top of payout fee. That's how Patreon makes money: three separate charges, not one.
Hidden Patreon Fees Creators Miss
The platform fee gets all the attention. These three don't.
1. Micropayment processing rates
If any of your membership tiers are priced at $3 or under, Patreon applies a micropayment rate: 5% + $0.10 instead of the standard 2.9% + $0.30. On a $1 tier, that's 15% in processing alone before the platform fee even touches it. Low-price tiers are expensive.
2. Currency conversion fee
When a fan pays in a different currency than your payout currency, Patreon charges a 2.5% conversion fee on the full payment amount, including any tax. This hits international creators hard and often goes unnoticed until you check your earnings dashboard.
3. Payout transaction fees
This one doesn't even appear in your earnings breakdown - Patreon deducts it separately when you withdraw. For US creators using direct deposit (Stripe), it's $0.25 per payout. PayPal payouts cost 1% of the transferred amount (minimum $0.25, capped at $20). International creators using Payoneer pay $1.00 per payout to their Payoneer account, plus whatever Payoneer charges on their end.
4. iOS in-app purchase fee
If a fan subscribes through the Patreon iOS app (outside the US), Apple takes a 30% cut before Patreon's platform fee even applies. That's a brutal scenario for creators with a mobile-heavy audience. US fans can use Patreon's mobile web checkout instead, avoiding Apple's fee.
Patreon Fee Calculator: How Much Will You Actually Keep?
Let's run the numbers on three income levels. We're using the standard 10% plan, credit card payments above $3, USD payout via direct deposit, and a single monthly payout.
$500/month in pledges
$1,000/month in pledges
$5,000/month in pledges
Platform fee (10%): −$500.00
Processing fee (2.9% + $0.30 × ~200 transactions): −$205.00 (approx.)
Payout fee: −$0.25
You keep: ~$4,295 (~85.9%)
At scale, the fixed $0.30-per-transaction component matters less and the percentage fees dominate. A creator earning $5k/month on the standard plan keeps roughly 86 cents of every dollar - before income tax.
For a more precise calculation tailored to your tier prices and fan count, Beamly's Patreon fee calculator and Subscord's Patreon fee calculator both let you plug in your own numbers.
Is Patreon's Cut Worth It?
Honestly? It depends on what you're selling and who your audience already is.
Patreon's 10% patreon commission buys you a lot: a recognized brand, a built-in discovery layer, video hosting (up to 100 hours/month for creators with paying fans), community tools, and a checkout flow fans already trust. For podcasters, writers, illustrators, and educators with an existing following, that infrastructure has real value.
But the math gets uncomfortable fast. A creator earning $1,000/month pays roughly $153 in combined fees - that's money that would otherwise go directly into their pocket. And unlike some competitors, Patreon doesn't offer a lower fee tier for high earners. The patreon cut is flat, regardless of volume.
Where Patreon earns its keep:
Audience discovery - Patreon's explore pages and email integrations can surface your work to new patrons
Reliability - payment recovery, fraud monitoring, and a stable checkout reduce churn
Legitimacy - some fans are more comfortable paying through Patreon than an unfamiliar platform
Where it falls short:
No adult content - pornographic content is explicitly prohibited (more on this below)
Flat fee regardless of scale - no volume discount
Slow payouts - automatic payouts initiate on the 5th of each month; funds can take up to 10 days to arrive
Patreon vs Alternatives: Fee Comparison
Platform | Platform fee | Processing fee | Adult content | Payout speed |
|---|
Patreon (Standard) | 10% | 2.9% + $0.30 | ❌ No pornography | Monthly (5th) |
OnlyFans | 20% | Included | ✅ Yes | 7 days after request |
Fanvue | 20% (15% intro) | Included | ✅ Yes | 7 days |
Exclu | 0% | Varies | ✅ Yes | Fast |
Patreon's platform fee is lower than OnlyFans and Fanvue on paper. But those platforms include processing in their 20% cut, while Patreon stacks fees separately. The real comparison is closer than it looks.
For non-adult creators, Patreon's 10% all-in is competitive. For adult creators, the comparison is moot - Patreon doesn't allow it.
Patreon Alternatives for Adult Creators
Patreon explicitly prohibits pornographic content. The platform's community guidelines ban buying, selling, or funding the production of pornographic material. Some limited adult/18+ content is allowed in paywalled spaces, but explicit sexual content is off the table. If that's your niche, Patreon isn't your platform - full stop.
The main alternatives adult creators use:
OnlyFans takes a flat 20% commission on everything - subscriptions, tips, pay-per-view. No separate processing fee. Payouts arrive within 7 days of a request. It's the dominant platform in the adult space, with the largest built-in audience.
Fanvue also charges 20% (with a promotional 15% for new creators for a limited period). It allows adult content and has been growing its creator base since 2022.
Exclu operates on a 0% commission model - the platform takes nothing from creator earnings. It allows adult content and is built specifically for creators who want to keep their full revenue. For creators who already have an audience and don't need a platform's discovery engine, 0% is a hard number to argue with.
The right choice depends on where your fans already are. If you're building from scratch, OnlyFans' audience size matters. If you're migrating an existing fanbase, a 0% commission platform like Exclu means every dollar your fans spend reaches you.
FAQ
Does Patreon take a cut of every payment?
Yes. Patreon takes a cut of every successfully processed membership payment and one-time purchase. The platform fee (10% for new creators) is deducted first, then the payment processing fee. The payout fee is deducted separately when you withdraw.
What percentage does Patreon take from creators on the standard plan?
The standard platform fee is 10%. On top of that, payment processing adds roughly 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction for most USD credit card payments. Total effective take: around 13–14% for most creators.
How much of a cut does Patreon take on micropayments?
For tiers priced at $3 or under, the processing rate jumps to 5% + $0.10 per transaction (legacy plans). On the standard 10% plan, Patreon applies the same processing rate regardless of amount. Either way, very low-priced tiers are disproportionately expensive.
How does Patreon make money beyond the platform fee?
Patreon makes money from three sources: the platform fee (percentage of your earnings), payment processing fees (passed through from payment processors with Patreon's margin built in), and payout transaction fees. Currency conversion fees add a fourth revenue stream for international transactions.
Can I avoid Patreon's fees by using a different payout method?
Not really. The platform fee and processing fee apply regardless of payout method. The payout fee varies: US direct deposit (Stripe) costs $0.25 per payout, which is the cheapest option. PayPal costs 1% of the payout amount. Payoneer costs $1.00 per transfer to your Payoneer account. Choosing direct deposit saves a few dollars per month but doesn't change the core patreon fees for creators.
Useful Sources