Patreon Pricing & Fees 2026
New creators (published after 4 Aug 2025) pay a flat 10% Standard platform fee. Grandfathered legacy creators can instead be on Founders (5%), Pro (8%), or Pro + Merch (11%). Here's exactly what each costs, the small-charge penalty that hurts low-value tiers, and when direct subscriptions beat Patreon's cut.
Patreon simplified its pricing on 4 August 2025: any creator page published for the first time after that date pays a single flat 10% Standard platform fee, full stop — no plan choice. The legacy rates described below (Founders, Pro, Pro + Merch) only apply to creators whose pages were published before their respective cutoff dates and have remained continuously published since — they aren't a menu you pick from, they're grandfathered by publish date. If you're setting up a new page today, you're automatically on the 10% Standard rate.
Patreon's rates — Standard vs legacy
Founders (5% platform fee, legacy only)
Founders is Patreon's original, lowest platform rate. It has been closed to new sign-ups since May 2019 — the only creators still on it are ones whose pages have been continuously published since before then.
Best for: nothing you can opt into today. It's purely a reward for early, continuously-published pages.
Pro (8% platform fee, legacy only)
Pro was the standard plan for creators who joined before 4 August 2025 and have remained continuously published since. It includes tier benefits, analytics, the Patreon app integration, and creator-led promotions.
Best for: legacy creators building a real membership business, podcasters, writers, artists with multiple tiers and exclusive content.
Pro + Merch (11% platform fee, legacy only)
Pro + Merch adds Patreon's merchandise fulfillment features on top of Pro, at a correspondingly higher rate. Like the other legacy tiers, it's closed to new sign-ups — only continuously-published pages that already had it keep it.
Best for: large legacy creators with complex membership structures or merchandise operations.
Standard (10% platform fee — the rate every new creator pays)
Every page published for the first time since 4 August 2025 pays this flat rate automatically. There's no tier decision to make and no features gated behind it beyond what any current Patreon account gets — which, for new creators, is everyone by default.
⚠️ If you unpublish a legacy page and later republish it, Patreon moves you to the standard 10% plan — you don't get your old rate back, whichever legacy rate you had.
Processing fees — the part people miss
On top of the platform fee, every patron payment also incurs a payment processing charge:
- Standard rate: 2.9% + $0.30 per charge
- Small charge penalty: For pledges under $3, the processing rate switches to 5% + $0.10 — a significantly higher effective rate designed to recoup costs on micropayments
This small-charge penalty matters a lot if you offer a $1 or $2 tier. On a $1 pledge at the 10% Standard rate:
- Platform fee (10%): $0.10
- Processing fee (small charge): 5% + $0.10 = $0.15
- Total fees: $0.25 — you keep $0.75
Compare that to a $10 pledge at the same 10% rate:
- Platform fee (10%): $1.00
- Processing: 2.9% + $0.30 = $0.59
- Total fees: $1.59 — you keep $8.41
The effective fee rate on a $1 pledge (25%) is well over the effective rate on a $10 pledge (15.9%). This is why many creators deliberately avoid tiers under $3.
→ Patreon fee calculator — enter any pledge amount on any plan and see exactly what you keep.
Patreon vs buying your own platform
Patreon's main competitor isn't other membership platforms — it's direct subscriptions through your own site using Stripe or payment links. Running your own subscriptions typically costs you just Stripe's processing fee (2.9% + $0.30) without any platform percentage. On $5,000/month revenue, Patreon at the standard 10% rate costs you $500 in platform fees; direct Stripe costs you $0 in platform fees plus roughly $175 in processing = a $325/month saving.
The trade-off: Patreon brings discoverability (people browse Patreon for creators to support), an established trust signal, and a frictionless patron UX. Direct subscriptions require more setup and marketing but the unit economics are better at scale.
Annual vs monthly billing
Patreon now lets creators offer annual memberships. For patrons, annual billing saves them slightly (no per-charge fees 12 times). For creators, annual billing means one processing charge per patron per year instead of 12 — meaningfully reducing the $0.30 fixed fee component at higher pledge values. If you have patrons on tiers above $5, nudging them toward annual billing slightly improves your net margin.
The 1099-K threshold
If you're a US creator earning on Patreon, Patreon reports your income to the IRS. The federal 1099-K threshold reverted to $20,000 AND 200 transactions for 2025-2026 under the 2025 One Big Beautiful Bill Act, after a brief period where a much lower $600 threshold was on the books but never fully took effect due to repeated IRS delays. Some states still apply their own lower thresholds. Either way, this isn't a new tax obligation — you've always owed income tax on Patreon earnings — it's only a question of whether the IRS gets a matching record via a 1099-K. See the self-employment tax calculator to see what you'll owe after Patreon income.
Related calculators
- Patreon fee calculator — exact take-home on any pledge and plan
- Self-employment tax calculator — US tax on Patreon creator income
- Ko-fi fee calculator — 0% platform fee alternative for comparison
- Gumroad fee calculator — another direct-support option
Frequently asked questions
How much does Patreon take from creators?
New creators (page first published after 4 August 2025) pay a flat 10% Standard platform fee. Grandfathered legacy creators can instead be on Founders (5%, closed since May 2019), Pro (8%), or Pro + Merch (11%), depending on when they joined — plus a payment processing fee of 2.9% + $0.30 per charge (or 5% + $0.10 for pledges under $3). On a $10 pledge at the 10% Standard rate, you keep about $8.41.
What is the Patreon small charge penalty?
For pledges under $3, Patreon's processing fee switches from 2.9% + $0.30 to 5% + $0.10. This significantly increases the effective fee rate on low-value tiers. On a $1 pledge at the 10% platform rate, total fees reach about 25% — which is why many creators set their lowest tier at $3 or higher.
Which Patreon plan should I choose?
If your page was first published after 4 August 2025, there's no plan to choose — you're on the flat 10% Standard rate. If you're a grandfathered legacy creator, your rate depends on when your page was first published and has stayed continuously live: Founders (5%) for creators who joined before May 2019, Pro (8%) for creators who joined before 4 August 2025, or Pro + Merch (11%) for legacy creators on that plan.
Is Patreon worth it compared to running your own subscriptions?
At smaller scales, yes — Patreon provides discoverability and patron trust. At larger scales ($3,000+/month), the platform percentage becomes meaningful: at the standard 10% rate, Patreon costs $300/month in platform fees at $3,000 revenue, versus $0 on direct Stripe subscriptions. The breakeven depends on how much you value Patreon's discoverability and UX.
Does Patreon report income to the IRS?
Yes. Patreon issues 1099-K forms to US creators once you cross the federal threshold of $20,000 AND 200 transactions in a tax year (current for 2025-2026, per the 2025 One Big Beautiful Bill Act), or a lower state threshold if your state has one. Patreon income is self-employment income and subject to both income tax and self-employment tax (Social Security + Medicare) regardless of whether a 1099-K is issued.