14 Patreon Alternatives for Monetizing Your Community: In-Depth Review
The Problem With Patreon
Patreon is by far the most popular subscription crowdfunding platform, but it isn’t without faults. Despite the success, the CEO doesn’t think the business is sustainable.
“The reality is Patreon needs to build new businesses and new services and new revenue lines in order to build a sustainable business.”
Users have their complaints, too. Patreon’s search function isn’t perfect, as it’s not used to browse content creators. Communities are sent there from external sources, usually a YouTube channel, Facebook group, or a website.
Another problem is that Patreon only offers recurring memberships, and one-time donations are unavailable. Having only recurring donations is a massive setback for many users looking for one-time donations only.
You don’t get money from Patreon; you get it from your community. They will follow you wherever you go. Patreon is not essential. In fact, there are plenty of superior alternatives out there.
Here are 14 Patreon alternatives to monetize your community.
#1 GroupApp The Best Platform For Building A Profitable Online Community
GroupApp is an excellent Patreon alternative to consider. While Patreon makes it possible to host your fan community, GroupApp allows you to host your online community, online courses, and set up membership subscription plans all within the same platform. When you switch to GroupApp, you can charge your online community members membership subscription fees and create and sell online courses to monetize your community.
Discover how Wealth Nation Generated $29,268 in Membership subscriptions in 3 Weeks
If you’re wondering how much a membership website costs, here’s what you should know about GroupApp pricing plans:
- Free Plan — This free starter plan is designed for those just getting started and using community software for hobbies and personal creative projects. The Starter Plan allows you to have up to 100 members and three community channels. Unlike other Patreon alternatives, this plan is entirely free.
- Pro Plan — Pro Plan is mainly used by growing businesses and creators. If you want to pay for this package monthly, it costs $59 a month. Are you looking to save a few bucks? Pro Plan can be billed yearly. In this case, you pay $49 a month and save $120 a year. Pro Plan allows you to have 10,000 members, 30 community channels, and a 0% transaction fee.
- Premium Plan — The Premium option is designed for brands and large organizations. While the regular price for the Premium Plan is $189 a month, there is a way to save up. Like the Pro Plan, this one can also be billed yearly if you want to save $120. The plan allows 100,000 members, 10 community channels, and a 0% transaction fee. It offers everything you could possibly need.
Pros
- Membership Subscription Feature
When you sign up for GroupApp, you can charge your members a monthly, quarterly, and yearly membership subscription to monetize your community. You don’t have to depend on donations. Build a recurring business revenue instead, and focus on providing the best content possible for your community members. You can choose between four different currencies and efficiently monetize your community.
- Easy-to-Use Online Course Builder
Unlike Patreon, GroupApp offers a free and easy-to-use online course builder, and you can build and sell online courses to your community members within the platform. You can enhance your course lessons with embedded HTML content to provide more value to your students.
- Third-Party Integration
With GroupApp, third-party integration is a smooth breeze. You can integrate a variety of software tools, such as Mailchimp, Zapier, HubSpot, etc.
- Complete Control Over Your Community
Various alternatives to Patreon allow you to build a community, but not many will enable you to own it. Luckily, GroupApp gives you control and ownership over your community. Meaning you can export your data at any time and communicate with your community on your own terms.
Cons
- No Donation or Tip Option
Unlike some other alternatives to Patreon, GroupApp doesn’t have the option for one-time donations. This makes it similar to Patreon, which also offers only recurring monthly, quarterly and annual memberships.
- Requires Stripe for Payments
In order to set up membership subscriptions on GroupApp, you need to have a Stripe merchant account.
#2 SubscribeStar
SubscribeStar describes itself as “an online content marketplace that operates on a subscription basis.” This makes this more exclusive platform one of the best Patreon alternatives.
Here is what you need to know:
- It allows creators to upload exclusive content and sell memberships for access
- Creators may sell multiple levels of membership
- SubscribeStar takes a 5% cut on all earnings
- Processing fee of 2.9% + $0.3
Patreon alternatives have the same function as Patreon, so the SubscribeStar page looks somewhat similar to a Patreon page.
You have the banner image, page title, and a short blurb.
The tiers of membership are advertised in the middle of the page.
Stats and features are on the right.
And social media sharing buttons to the left.
Popular YouTuber Sargon of Akkad has one of the most popular SubscribeStar pages.
He offers multiple membership levels, ranging from $1 a month to $50.
With over 2666 subscribers, he makes just short of $16,000 a month. That’s nearly $200,000 a year. This is a prime example of how the platform isn’t that important. You don’t need Patreon when you have Patreon alternatives.
Your community will follow you to your membership content, so multiple membership sites are an option.
Pros
- Low Platform Fee
At 5%, SubscribeStar has a lower, more competitive rate than other Patreon alternatives out there.
- You Will Not Get Shutdown/De-platformed
SubscribeStar brands itself as a free-speech alternative to Patreon. Its users are primarily Patreon castoffs, people with conservative political affiliations, and pornographic digital content authors.
Cons
- No PayPal or Stripe
Both PayPal and Stripe decided to cut ties with SubscribeStar. This makes it less viable for many established niche creators and subscribers. Many people see PayPal/Stripe accessibility as a sign of professionalism.
Many assume this to be politically motivated.
- Payment Withdrawal Restrictions
You can only withdraw every two weeks, and you have to have at least $150 in earnings. The minimum withdrawal is $5.
- Far-Right Political Association
The political association shouldn’t be that important, but it matters in today’s climate. SubscribeStar has gained a reputation for being an alt-right haven for banished Patreon users. Best Patreon alternatives became important to creators like Sargon of Akkad, Black Pigeon Speaks, and Carl Benjamin.
Why is this a con?
Because politics matters online and in business. Many assume PayPal and Stripe cutting ties with SubscribeStar was politically motivated.
Hatreon was an earlier crowdfunding site that occupied these “alt-right” Patreon exiles. It was de-platformed by payment processors, then eventually by its website host, Digital Ocean.
I will not be surprised if SubscribeStar follows a similar fate.
#3 Ko-fi
Ko-fi is one of the best Patreon alternatives that has become rather popular recently. The platform was created in late 2017, although its origins date back to as early as 2012. Ko-fi has over 300,000 pages and has transferred $12 million from fans to creators.
It works similarly to Patreon; creators invite their community to a personalized Ko-fi page, where they can make donations.
This is what a standard Ko-fi creator page looks like.
An ‘About’ section features a short bio, genre tags, website links, and social icons.
There is a goal funding section for specific content creation-related endeavors like a mini Kickstarter campaign.
The donations are in the form of “coffees.” One coffee is a $3 donation, and you can purchase as many at once as you like.
Also featured on the page are an activity feed, coffee tally and top donators/fans.
Even though you can choose a free membership package, Ko-fi will charge you a 5% fee on income. If you want to avoid losing 5% of everything you earn, you can consider purchasing a Gold membership. Ko-fi does not take a percentage on earnings with a Gold membership, starting from $4.50/month when paid annually.
There is a payment processor fee, however. Ko-fi uses PayPal to manage payment transactions, and the only way to avoid platform fees is to purchase a Ko-fi Gold account.
Ko-fi Gold is an upgraded feature for established niche creators on the Ko-fi platform. It costs just $6 a month and has a host of benefits. These include:
- Offer subscriptions
- Sell commissions
- Exclusive content
- High-resolution downloads
- Ability to set price of donations
- Change the “Buy me a coffee” gimmick
- Analytics integration
Pros
- No Payment Delays
Because Ko-fi doesn’t take a cut, the payments are direct. There is no waiting period.
- Lower Content Demand
Unlike Patreon, Ko-fi doesn’t force you to put out content for your subscribers consistently. You will not get kicked off the platform like you might on Patreon.
Cons
- Gimmicky Donation
The “Buy me a coffee” gimmick might be off-putting to some people. Some prefer a clean-cut approach. This can be changed with Ko-fi Gold.
- Same Genre Deplatforming As Patreon
If you create certain types of content, such as explicit adult or far right political content, you will be subject to the same de-platforming as on Patreon. This is covered in the Ko-fi terms of service.
#4 Memberful
Memberful was founded in 2013 to help content producers sell memberships to their communities. This Patreon alternative is different in that it is a website plugin. It also happens to be owned by Patreon as of August 2018.
Memberful uses Stripe for recurring payment transactions. Stripe is an online payment processing platform used by some of the biggest companies in the world.
Some of the features of the plugin include:
- Analytic data on Membership revenue/totals
- Automatic sync of Memberful membership data to your WordPress website
- Single sign-on feature – members are automatically signed into Memberful + WordPress
- Paywall feature that creates restricted access, “VIP” section for any content on your WordPress website
- RSS feed option + bbPress forum protection
To use the Memberful WordPress plugin, you need a registered Memberful account.
There are three different Memberful membership packages to choose from:
1. Starter
Free, maximum of 2 plans and a 10% transaction fee. It offers Website integration.
2. Pro
$25 per month, unlimited plans, and a 4.9% transaction fee. It includes coupon codes, staff accounts, metrics, and free membership options.
3. Premium
Like the Pro package, it costs $100 per month, offers unlimited plans, and a 4.9% transaction fee. This package includes coupon codes, staff accounts, metrics, free membership option, no Memberful branding, group subscriptions, etc.
You will also need a Stripe account. Stripe will then transfer the funds to your bank account.
Pros
- More Control
Having it on your own website allows you more control. Think of the marketing and advertising campaigns you can run on your own website. Such things are much more limited on Patreon.
- Easy Software Integration
Because Memberful is a website plugin, it makes it easy to integrate other software, plugins, and your own apps. This makes email marketing, Google analytics, and sales much more integrated into your membership platform.
Cons
- Requires A Website
Memberful is a website plugin, which means you’ll need a website. A website costs money; you need a domain name and hosting. Other platforms don’t require these additional expenses.
- Higher Transaction Fees
Memberful has a 10% transaction fee, double that of Patreon. This can be lowered by purchasing a “Pro” or “Premium” membership package. This, however, comes with a monthly expense.
- Owned By Patreon
Patreon now owns Memberful. This means Memberful falls under the same de-platforming of specific genres of content creators.
#5 Buy me a coffee
Buy me a coffee is one of the best Patreon alternatives that allow content creators to get paid by their community. It was created on January 2nd of 2018, by Jijo and Joseph Sunny.
It features three main community monetization products:
- Buttons
- Coffeelinks
- WordPress plugin
Buttons
Buttons can be made that feature on your WordPress website. They can also be used on Tumblr, DeviantArt, or Medium sites. The buttons come in orange and yellow.
A logomark is added to the button. There are three logomarks to choose from.
The end product will look like this.
Coffeelinks
Coffeelinks are particular sites hyperlinks that content creators can send to their audience. The link allows them to donate. It’s described on the main website as “like Bit.ly for payments.”
There are three steps to Coffeelinks.
- Enter the reward link – Enter a private link that you’d like to share with your audience.
- Set a price – Set the price to access the link
- Share and sell – Share the link to start selling
Coffeelinks can be used in many different ways. You can combine a Coffeelink with Dropbox to sell a digital product by sharing the zip file. You can attach it to a YouTube video link. You can even connect it with a form/survey software like Typeform.
WordPress plugin
The Buy me a coffee WordPress plugin allows you to place your button anywhere on your site.
After downloading the plugin, you’ll need to sync your Buy me a coffee account.
There is a dashboard and a Widget section to create the buttons.
There are over 70,000 users of Buy me a coffee. These Twitter posts featured on the main website seem to be a good quality service.
Much like Ko-fi, creators are paid in “coffees.” Obviously not actual coffees but money. These can be either $3, $4, or $5 donations.
This is just a marketing gimmick, which apparently is 3x as successful.
Buy me a coffee takes a 5% cut from all earnings. Stripe and Paypal are used for payment processing. Standard transaction fees apply. sitesPros
- Competitive Platform Fee
Buy me a coffee charges a 5% platform fee, and it is the same for every creator irrelevant of their country or location. Compared to other Patreon alternatives, this is a very competitive rate. Lots of other Patreon alternatives charge more.
- Easy Software Integration
Like Memberful, Buy me a coffee has a plugin, on-site integration. This makes it easy to connect it with analytic, marketing, sales, and email software/plugins.
Cons
- Limited Donation Amount
Donations can only be $3, $4, or $5. Other platforms allow for much more significant amounts.
- No Membership Tiers/Levels
Buy me a coffee works more like a standard donation box than a membership subscription.
- Gimmicky
The “Buy me a coffee” gimmick might confuse some people. People know what Patreon is but do they understand what this branded platform is? Do they even know it’s a recurring donations platform?
#6 Podia
Podia is a Patreon alternative that allows creators to sell digital downloads, online courses, and digital downloads to their community. The platform was created in 2014 by Spencer Fry.
Compared to Patreon and the other options detailed in this article, Podia markets itself more like an e-learning platform. Think Udemy or Lynda. It, however, is still completely viable as an alternative to Patreon.
There are three main community monetization features of Podia.
- Online courses
- Memberships
- Digital downloads
Online courses
Just like Udemy, Podia offers the ability to create and sell courses and work on one-time projects. This provides a way for content creators to monetize their communities.
Podia allows you to upload any file type for your audio, video, and written documents relating to your course.
The Podia editor allows you to rearrange and format your course and how you’d like. You can give access to the entire course or in a drip-style of content.
The Podia online courses can be integrated with many other software like MailChimp, ConvertKit, ActiveCampaign, and Drip.
Payment is made via Stripe and PayPal. Podia takes no transaction fee, as Podia is a subscription service altogether.
Memberships
Podia offers membership software for those that want to create an exclusive site for their community.
Here’s an example of a Podia membership site.
The membership sites are completely customizable and have software compatibility, just like the courses. You can also connect Facebook groups and Slack groups to your Podia site.
The transactions are done through Stripe and PayPal.
Digital downloads
Podia lets you sell digital downloads, such as eBooks, PDFs, cheat sheets/checklists, audio, text, and video files.
The Podia editor allows you to customize a sales page, a recommendation for anyone looking to sell digital downloads. Here’s a testimonials page example. Once you read it, you’ll understand why selling digital products matters.
For fans to purchase, all that is required is an email. The payments are made through Stripe and PayPal.
Podia has three pricing plans:
- Mover – $39/month
- Shaker – $89/month
- Earthquaker – $199/month
Pros
- More Ways To Make Content
Podia has more features that allow content creators to monetize their communities. An online course is an example of this.
- No Transaction Fee
Podia does not take any percentage from your earnings. Depending on which plan you choose, you pay a monthly fee of either $39 or $79 a month.
- Convenience
Podia houses online courses, digital products, and membership sites all in one. Instead of having a separate WordPress Membership site and a Udemy for courses, it’s all right there.
Cons
- Expensive
Although Podia has no transaction fees, it is still quite expensive. This is too expensive for low-level content creators at $39/month and $79/month.
#7 Liberapay
Liberapay is a platform that helps content creators get financial support for their work in donations. Founded in 2015 in France, this crowdfunding platform is now available worldwide and covers 33 currencies. It’s not hard for a content creator to run a successful crowdfunding campaign on this all-in-one platform. Here are some crucial things to know about this Patreon alternative:
- Unlike Patreon, Liberapay does not charge a fee for donations.
- You do need to pay payment processing fees. These depend on the chosen payment processor, payment method, and currency, but the average payment processing fee should be below 5%.
- This Patreon alternative supports both Stripe and PayPal.
- The payment processing fees are usually lower when you use Stripe.
- Liberapay supports only recurring donations; not optimal for one-time projects.
- A creator’s minimum donation from a single supporter per week is €0.01, while the maximum amount per week is €100.
To create your account on Liberapay, you need to provide your email address and select your preferred currency.
This convenient crowdfunding platform now has more than 32,500 users. If you’re looking for a free app like Patreon, this might be a good choice for you. However, the problem of community remains — you don’t own it. Don’t forget that there are many other better alternatives to Patreon if you want to own your community, such as GroupApp.
Depending on whether you’re expecting a donation or you’re the one donating the money, the process might look somewhat different. Here’s how it works for donors:
And this is what the process looks like for creators:
Pros
- Low Platform Fees
Unlike Patreon and some other alternatives to Patreon, Liberapay does not take a cut of donations made. However, there are payment processing fees.
- Supports Multiple Languages
Your profile description and content can be translated into as many as 124 languages, so people worldwide can support you even if they don’t speak English.
- Open-Source Software
Unlike Patreon and many other alternatives to Patreon, Liberapay is built on open-source software.
Cons
- Small and Relatively New Platform
Not many people have heard of Liberapay, so your exposure might be pretty limited if you decide to present your exclusive content on this platform.
- No Rewards
Unlike Patreon, Liberapay doesn’t give you the option to reward your patrons for supporting you, which may affect your “relationship” in the long run.
#8 Steady
Steady is a subscription-crowdfunding platform with close to 80,000 members. Co-funded by the Google Digital News Initiative, this crowdfunding platform is mainly used by bloggers, podcasters, YouTubers, online magazine editors, and open-source developers. Steady may be more or less suitable depending on your target audience, as it is primarily focused on the European market. Here are some crucial things to know about one of the most popular Patreon alternatives:
- Steady takes 10% of your gross revenue.
- You also pay payment processing fees. These vary according to the payment method, but the average is 4.6%.
To get started on Steady, you first need to ask your community members to support your creative content on Steady. This is one of the main problems of this Patreon alternative — you need to have a community already and then get them to move to Steady for you. That’s why GroupApp is among the better Patreon alternatives — you get to do everything within the same platform.
Furthermore, you should upload your project and personalize your page. If you already have a website, you will also need to add the Steady code.
Finally, when you have everything ready, it’s time to promote your Steady page wherever and whenever you can. This is the safest way to turn your supporters into paying members.
Pros
- Recurring Payments
Unlike classic crowdfunding platforms that enable one-time financial support for creative projects, Steady allows you to receive recurring monthly payments. There’s no time limit.
- Supports Several Currencies
Depending on your target country, you can choose from various currencies and determine which one works best for your Steady pricing and payouts.
- Access to Statistics
You get access to real-time statistics. This can help you keep track of your membership program by analyzing page visitor numbers, monthly revenue, and membership figures.
Cons
- Platform Fees
Steady takes a cut of 10%, so you also need to pay to use this platform in addition to the payment processing fees.
- Focused on the European Market
Founded in Germany, Steady is a part of primarily European crowdfunding platforms, i.e., it is focused on the European market. If you want to grow your business and gain traction in the US, this might not be the right platform for you.
- Steady Can Ban Users
According to the Guidelines provided on their official website, Steady can ban users if they find their content or activity inappropriate. The Steady team reserves the right to determine what content is unacceptable.
#9 Flattr
Flattr is a Swedish-based subscription service that enables people to support their favorite websites and creators by paying monthly patronage. One-time donations are also an option.
When it comes to fees, Flattr takes a cut of 5%, and their payment provider takes another 5%, which leaves you 90% of your revenue. All prices are withdrawn on the 1st of the month. There’s also a fee of $3 per withdrawal.
When it comes to payment, you can expect to receive the money when each of your contributor’s cycles ends. Each cycle lasts 30 days. This means that you will always be paid at different times, depending on the contributors’ cycle.
Pros
- Affiliate Program
Creators can implement an affiliate program. If you choose this option, you need to recommend Flattr to as many people as possible. You get $10 for each person to sign up to Flattr.
Cons
- Platform Fee
You should be prepared to say goodbye to 10% of your revenue each month (5% for the platform fee and 5% for the payment provider), plus $3 per withdrawal.
- No Control Over the Platform
Creators have no control over Flattr. As a result, you have no control over your community, either.
#10 Supercast
Supercast is an excellent crowdfunding platform for podcasters. It allows you to turn your loyal listeners into paying members. Creators can offer paying subscribers ad-free versions of their podcasts and give them access to exclusive content. One of the most appealing Patreon alternatives provides:
- You can reward premium members with early access to new content.
- You can integrate your Supercast page with your existing membership community.
- You need to create a Stripe account.
- Stripe charges a fee of 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction.
Creators also get access to analytics (inside the platform, not Google analytics). This can help you learn more about what your listeners like and what not, what they listen to most and why they leave.
Supercast does not offer free trials. Podcasters can choose between two pricing plans — an all-in plan and a custom plan. You get all standard features for $0.59 a month per subscriber with the all-in plan.
Pros
- Flat Rate
Unlike Patreon and other Patreon alternatives, Supercast charges a flat $0.59 a month per subscriber. This means that, even when your revenue grows, you will still pay the same amount per subscriber.
- Rich Analytics
You get access to valuable data, which helps you get a clear picture of your listeners’ wants. This, in turn, can help you grow your business. You can analyze total and recurring revenue, churn, average revenue per user, etc. – all standard metrics as with Google analytics.
Cons
- Limited to Podcasts
Supercast is one of the best Patreon alternatives for podcasting. But if you’re looking for a free app like Patreon for some other type of content, this is not the solution for you.
- Flat Rate Can Still Cost You a Lot
Paying a flat rate can turn out to be an expensive deal, too, depending on how much you charge your community members. For instance, if you have 200 subscribers who pay a subscription of $5 a month, your income is $1000 a month, your costs amount to $118 a month. This means that you spend 11% of your income on the flat rate, which is not cheap at all.
#11 Facebook (Fan subscriptions + Subscription groups)
Facebook is always looking to diversify the uses of its intensely popular platform. In 2018 decided to build its version of Patreon.
They created two content monetization formats:
- Fan subscriptions
- Subscription groups
Fan subscriptions allow you to monetize your Facebook page. Fans of your page can subscribe and receive exclusive content, page badges, and interactions with the content creator.
ZDogg MD, a former Stanford doctor and popular content creator, successfully utilized fan subscriptions.
He created exclusive content for fan subscribers.
Within six months, he built a subscriber total of over 4000—each member, paying $4.99 a month.
To be eligible for fan subscriptions, you must apply and be accepted.
To be accepted, you must be compliant with three things.
Subscription groups are like regular private Facebook groups, except entry/access must be paid for.
The creator can charge anywhere between $4.99 to $29.99. Some subscription groups have a free trial.
Pros
- Large User Base
Facebook is the most popular social media network, with over 2.89 billion users as of 2021. It’s easy to get your fans to become subscribers and group members on Facebook.
Cons
- Facebook is free (for now)
Facebook will not be taking any fees from Fan Subscriptions until 2023. However, this might change after 2023and impact your revenue significantly.
#12 YouTube Channel Membership
After the success and popularization of Patreon, YouTube decided to roll out its alternative. In mid-2018, YouTube announced the release of channel memberships.
Channel memberships are an exclusive, members-only section to a YouTubers account. Members pay a monthly fee for exclusive videos, posts, live chats, badges, and emojis, as with other membership platforms.
You can offer multiple levels/tiers of membership. The membership levels provide different amounts of exclusive content. For example, one of the digital media companies – Vox did just that.
They created two levels of membership:
- $4.99/month “Vox Video Lab”
- $9.99/month “Video Lab Advisory Board”
To be eligible for a YouTube channel membership, you must meet specific requirements. These include:
- At least 30,000 subscribers
- Be on the YouTube partner program
- Over 18 years old
- Be located in one of these locations
YouTube takes a 30% cut from all memberships. YouTube covers all the transaction fees.
Pros
- Great For Video Content Creators
YouTube is the premier platform for video content creators. Those looking to monetize their communities with exclusive content would go to Patreon. Now, with channel memberships, they don’t have to.
- No Transaction Fee For Payment Processing
At this membership platform, YouTube covers all transaction costs. This is supposedly covered in the 30% cut YouTube takes from all membership earnings.
Cons
- YouTube Takes 30%
YouTube takes a massive 30% of earnings. This is quite dramatic compared to Patreon’s 5% and other best Patreon alternatives rates.
- Only Viable For Big Channels
You need at least 30,000 subscribers. YouTube channel memberships are not optimal for smaller content creators.
- Only Suitable For Video Content Creators
Patreon has more than just YouTubers looking to keep their income afloat amidst demonetization. YouTube is a platform based on visual content. Naturally, channel memberships have no use for non-video content creators.
#13 OnlyFans
OnlyFans is a content subscription service. The popularity of this membership platform grew in the past two years, thanks to the concept of content creators earning money from users who subscribe to their content—the “fans.” The content creators can receive funding directly from their fans every month as well as one-time tips and the pay-per-view feature
Pros
- Good for beginners
OnlyFans is a good option for people at the beginning of the community building. Even if you don’t have a large base of your community members or fans, you can still start OnlyFans. The algorithm will help you find people interested in the content you provide. Better yet, it will help them find you!
- Good source of income
OnlyFans allows you to charge your members/fans directly through the platform and set the price you find suitable. This will enable you to build a passive source of income that will come continuously.
Cons
- Platform Fee
With OnlyFans, there are platform fees you should be aware of. Besides the size of your community, the platform fee determines how much you will be able to earn. You can check this calculator that estimates how much you could make on OnlyFans, determined by your current following and your chosen subscription price.
#14 Substack
Substack is a platform that enables writers to start an email newsletter and earn money from subscriptions. If you consider yourself a writer, Substack might be a good choice for you. Writers receive a content management system (CMS) built for publishing email newsletters, integrated payments through Stripe, and a website that can host free and subscriber-only content.
Pros
- Easy for Beginners
If you are just beginning with content writing, you don’t have to worry about getting first clients or convincing them to hire you. Substack allows you to add your regular readers to the mailing list and start charging them right away. It is also user-friendly, which means it will be easy for you to design and organize your newsletters, and your readers will enjoy it even more.
- Creativity and Freedom
Every artist looks for a platform that enables creativity and freedom. Substack is one of those! There are many different spheres and niches within Substack, allowing almost every writer to find a topic that suits them. In other words, you can use Substack to write about issues that are important to you (and get paid for that!).
Cons
- Minimum subscription of $5 per month
You are obliged to charge a minimum subscription of $5 per month. This is not the best option for many writers, as people need to feel the trust to be ready to invest $5 a month for a newsletter subscription.
- Fees
The fees are the biggest downside of Substack. You should be aware of Substack’s 10% cut, Stripe’s 2.9%, and $.30 per transaction fee. Remember that you will also be charged income tax eventually, so your earnings will not be that high with Substack.
Final Thoughts
Patreon has a monopoly on the subscription crowdfunding game. It has this for no other reason than being the first. Patreon does not offer a better service. Its search function is lacking. People do not browse the platform to find content creators.
This is why it is not essential. You don’t have to use it. Your income comes from your community which Patreon does not build. It simply hosts it.
There are so many other platforms to monetize your community out there. In this post, highlighted are 14 Patreon alternatives, some of which offer free trials.
Choose any one of them, and you are sure to find success. Our warm recommendation is GroupApp – a platform that has all the features you could possibly need. Join GroupApp and start building your community for free!