8 Best Patreon Alternatives for Creators (2024)

If you’re looking for a way to make money from your creative work, Patreon is a great option.

However, if you’re just starting out and or you’re looking for an alternative, there are a number of other platforms that offer similar features.

So we’ve compiled a list of the best Patreon alternatives for creators, so you can start making money from your work today.

What is Patreon?

Patreon is a membership platform that enables people to support creators they love with a recurring monthly membership. It was founded in 2013 by musician Jack Conte and developer Sam Yam.

Creators who join Patreon can set up a page on the site where they offer exclusive content or rewards to their patrons in return for a monthly membership.

For example, an artist might offer early access to new songs, or a writer might give exclusive blog posts or short stories to their patrons.

In this way, Patreon allows creators to make money from their fans directly, rather than through advertising or other third-party sponsorships.

The Best Patreon Alternatives for 2024

Whether you’re looking for a monthly subscription service, a one-time donation option, or an easy way to accept recurring subscriptions, these platforms have something for you.

Let’s dive into the in detail list of the best Patreon alternatives for creators in 2024.

1. Teachable

Teachable is a platform that allows anyone to create and sell online courses. You can create courses on anything from cooking to woodworking to web development. It’s simple to use, with no programming required, and you can start selling your courses effortlessly.

Plus, Teachable integrates with major payment processors so you can get paid quickly. You can also run your course under your own domain name and they have their own program to provide additional resources to train creators.

Reasons to try Teachable:

• Free to get started
• Intuitive drag-and-drop course builder
• Affiliate marketing tools to get partners to promote your business
• Create a checkout page with full e-commerce capabilities to accept payments
• Integrations with MailChimp, ConvertKit, Google Analytics, and more. Comments, quizzes, and course certifications features

Pricing: Teachable offers a free plan to create one course with limited features. And there is a transaction fee of $1 + 10%. The Basic plan starts at $39/month (5% transaction fee on sales) which is most suitable if you want to create more than one course.

2. Payhip

Payhip is a platform that allows you to sell digital downloads, courses, and memberships. It’s an easy and simple way to manage your sales and keep track of your customers. You can create a payhip account for free, and you can access all of the features and list unlimited products.

Payhip also takes care of the payment processing for you, so you receive your payments from a wide array of international currencies. This makes it an ideal platform for selling digital products to customers around the world.

Reasons to try Payhip:

• All-in-one solution to sell your digital products
• Easy and simple checkout experience for customers
• Customize your checkout to fit your branding
• Notify your customers of new products
• Run promotional campaigns with coupons, add expiration dates, and much more

Pricing: Free to access all features with a 5% transaction fee. Paid plans start at $29/month with a 2% transaction fee. Use the code talkbitz10 to get a 10% off discount on all Payhip paid plans.

3. Gumroad

Gumroad is a digital platform for artists to sell and distribute their products directly to their fans. Artists can create digital products such as e-books, music, videos, or works of art and set a price for them. And takes a small commission on each sale.

It’s a simple way to make money by selling digital downloads and physical products without having to manage a website or use a shopping cart.

Reasons to try Gumroad:

• Free to get started
• Create simple memberships
• Works for both digital and physical products
• Simple affiliates feature to earn more
• Use Gumroad under your custom domain or embed it on your website

Pricing: Gumroad has no monthly charges. If you are brand new to the platform, they will take a 9% cut of your sales plus $0.30 per transaction.

4. Podia

Podia is an all-in-one platform that enables you to sell online courses, coaching, and more. With Podia, you can manage your entire online business from a single platform, making it easy to create and sell your products.

In addition, Podia also offers a wide range of features to help you grow your business. For example, you can use Podia to create landing pages, build email lists and accept payments. And if you need help getting started, Podia offers a wide range of training materials and support options.

Reasons to try Podia:

• Get a mobile-friendly website for your brand
• Deliver your course content and take payments
• Start your online community in the same place
• Integrates with YouTube Live to offer webinars
• Share your updates with your entire email list

Pricing: Podia has a free plan and they charge an 8% transaction fee. The paid plans start at $39/month offering you more features and no transaction fees.

5. Buy Me a Coffee

Buy Me a Coffee is an online donation platform that allows users to start a membership and sell anything they like. The idea behind Buy Me a Coffee is to provide an easy way for people to donate money to their favorite content creators, as well as to sell products and services.

You can simply sell anything you like in order to earn a recurring income by accepting monthly or yearly membership. This could be digital products, such as eBooks, Zoom calls, or art commissions.

Reasons to try Buy Me a Coffee:

• Free to get started
• Accept donations, offer membership, or sell anything
• An easy way to get paid instantly to your bank account
• Add goals to collect support for any specific reason
• Sell digital downloads, Live event tickets, and more.

Pricing: Buy Me a Coffee has no monthly fees and all features are free for everyone. They will take a 5% cut of anything you earn through the platform.

6. Ko-fi

Ko-fi is another Patreon alternative that lets you receive donations and memberships and sell digital or physical items to your fans. It’s free and easy to use, and there are no fees or commissions taken on donations. You can create a page for your project, set up a payment method, and start accepting payments from your fans in minutes.

Ko-fi also offers a subscription service called Gold which provides additional features to offer a rewarding experience for your supporters.

Reasons to try Memberful:

• It offers an easy user experience
• Receive Donations with 0% platform fees
• Sell both digital and physical items
• Build a monthly income with memberships
• Set a crowdfunding goal to raise money for a project

Pricing: Ko-fi doesn’t take a cut from your donations. Premium features come with the Gold plan priced at $6/month.

7. Memberful

Memberful is a great option if you want to sell memberships on your existing WordPress website. It’s easy to use and integrates with Stripe, making it a convenient option for accepting payments.

It also provides a variety of tools to help you manage your memberships and keep track of conversion analytics and activity metrics. It’s a good choice for businesses of all sizes, from small one-person operations to large enterprises.

Reasons to try Memberful:

• WordPress Plugin for membership management
• Staff accounts for your team
• Analytics and conversion tracking
• Coupons, discounts, and referral programs
• Requires a Stripe account to process your payments

Pricing: Free to get started with a 10% transaction fee. Paid plans start at $25/month with 4.9% transaction fees.

8. Easy Digital Downloads

Easy Digital Downloads is a WordPress plugin that lets you sell digital products such as ebooks, PDF files, music, software licenses, and more on your existing WordPress site. You can list products, set prices, and manage orders and downloads, effortlessly.

The plugin has a built-in shopping cart system which makes it easy for customers to purchase products. You can also customize your checkout process and tracks the download activity of each product so you can see how popular they are.

Reasons to try Easy Digital Downloads:

• Ease of setup and integration with WordPress
• Shopping cart with Buy Now or Add to Cart buttons
• Ability to maintain separate records for your customers
• Flat rate or percentage-based discount codes
• View earning reports and export data to CSV file

Pricing: Available as a free version that you can install in WordPress. The paid version starts at $99.50 for extended functionalities.

Which of These Patreon Alternatives is Best for You?

Clearly, each of these Patreon alternatives has its own set of pros and cons. It is important to consider what you are looking for in a crowdfunding platform before making a decision.

• If you’re looking to sell subscriptions on Patreon-style or online courses try Teachable or Podia.
• If you’re a creator looking to sell your digital goods, you might opt for a platform like Payhip or Gumroad.
• If you just want to fund your side hustle with your creativity, look into Buy Me A Coffee or Ko-fi.
• To build a website and grow as a business, look into Memberful, Easy Digital Downloads.

But the best option for you depends on your specific needs and goals.

So, take some time to evaluate your situation and choose the platform that will work best for you!