Ko-fi is the friendliest tipping/shop platform for US creators: 0% on tips, 5% on shop sales (free plan), $6/month Gold tier removes the 5%. Combined with Stripe processing, it’s one of the cheapest legitimate creator monetisation routes available.
Fee structure
Free plan: - Tips/donations: 0% Ko-fi + Stripe (~3.2% + $0.30) - Shop sales: 5% Ko-fi + Stripe (~3.2% + $0.30) - Memberships: 5% Ko-fi + Stripe - Commissions: 5% Ko-fi + Stripe
Ko-fi Gold ($6/month): - Everything: 0% Ko-fi + Stripe - Plus custom branding, multi-currency, advanced analytics
When Ko-fi makes sense
- Tipping audience (newsletter readers, podcast listeners, YouTube viewers, Twitch alternative)
- One-off support (artists between commissions, writers between launches)
- Digital downloads with simple delivery
- Commissions accepting with milestone tracking
- No commitment to recurring revenue (vs Patreon’s lockin)
When Ko-fi doesn’t make sense
- High-volume e-commerce (Etsy/Shopify better at scale)
- Recurring memberships at scale (Patreon’s discovery + tools beat Ko-fi’s memberships above ~50 patrons)
- Affiliate partnerships (no real affiliate marketplace)
- Physical merchandise complex SKUs (Ko-fi Shop is light)
Ko-fi Gold breakeven
Gold costs $6/month and saves the 5% Ko-fi fee on shop sales (not tips). Breakeven at $120/month shop sales ($6 / 5%). Below that, free plan wins. Above, Gold wins.
For $500/month shop sales: Gold saves $25 - $6 = $19/month vs free plan.
Comparison
| Platform | Tip fee | Shop fee |
|---|---|---|
| Ko-fi free | Stripe only | 5% + Stripe |
| Ko-fi Gold | Stripe only | Stripe only |
| Buy Me a Coffee | 5% + Stripe | 5% + Stripe |
| Patreon | n/a | 8-12% |
| Gumroad | n/a | 10% + Stripe |
Ko-fi free plan has the cheapest tipping rate available. Ko-fi Gold has the cheapest shop fees (matches Substack’s 0% but with no platform fee instead of 10%).
What this calculator doesn’t include
- Ko-fi Gold’s $6/month subscription cost
- PayPal alternative (slightly different rate structure)
- Multi-currency conversion fees on Gold
- US self-employment tax (see side hustle tax calculator)
For the donation-style alternative see Buy Me a Coffee calculator. For digital-product-focused selling see Gumroad calculator.