Patreon’s headline fee is one percentage, but it’s only the first of up to six deductions. Payment processing adds a fixed fee to every single payment, so a page with many small pledges pays far more than its plan rate. Currency conversion, Apple’s cut on iPhone purchases, tax on the platform fee in some countries and a payout fee come on top, and the payout fee doesn’t even appear in your earnings dashboard. The calculator works on a whole month: enter what your members pay and how many of them there are, and it applies each fee to the amount Patreon names, with the arithmetic on every line.
Every Patreon fee at a glance
These are the rates for a creator paid out in US dollars. Pick another payout currency in the calculator to see its rates.
| Fee | Amount | Charged on | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| Platform fee: standard plan | 10% | Membership and one-time payments, excluding sales tax/VAT | Pages published after Aug 4, 2025source |
| Platform fee: legacy plans | Pro 8% · Pro + Merch 11% · Founders 5% | Same as above | Published by Aug 4, 2025 and never unpublishedsource |
| Payment processing: standard plan | 2.9% + $0.30 (PayPal/Venmo outside the US: 3.9% + $0.30) | Each payment, including sales tax/VAT | Any amountsource |
| Payment processing: legacy plans | 5% + $0.10 up to $3.00 · 2.9% + $0.30 above (PayPal/Venmo outside the US: 6% + $0.10 · 3.9% + $0.30) | Each payment, including sales tax/VAT; threshold on the tier price | Pro, Pro + Merchsource |
| Payment processing: Founders | 1.6% + $0.30 card · 2.65% + $0.28 PayPal/Venmo | Each payment, including sales tax | Founders paid out in US dollarssource |
| Currency conversion | 2.5% | The full payment, including tax | Member pays in a currency other than USDsource |
| Apple App Store fee | 30% (15% after a year; China 25% / 12%) | The in-app price (no Patreon processing) | Purchases through Apple in the iOS appsource |
| Tax on platform fee | Your local VAT/GST or sales tax | The platform fee | Where the law requires itsource |
| Payout: Direct deposit | $0.25 | Each withdrawal | Per payoutsource |
| Payout: PayPal | 1%, min $0.25, max $20 | Each withdrawal | Minimum $10.00source |
Four things catch creators out:
- The 10% isn’t the whole cost. Processing adds 2.9% + $0.30 per payment. On $500 a month from 100 members that is $44.50 on top of the $50.00 platform fee.
- Small tiers pay the most. The standard plan has no micropayment rate, so the fixed $0.30 takes a big bite out of cheap pledges: a $1 pledge loses 43% and a $3 tier 23%.
- Processing is charged on tax. Sales tax and VAT are added on top of your price and never come out of your earnings, but processing and currency conversion are calculated on the total including tax.
- The payout fee is out of sight. Your balance already has the platform, processing and conversion fees taken out. The payout fee is taken when you withdraw and isn’t in the dashboard’s fee breakdown.
What you keep at common prices
Each row is one member paying that tier price by card, on the standard 10% plan in US dollars, before the payout fee.
| Tier price | Total fees | Fee rate | You keep |
|---|---|---|---|
| $1.00 | $0.43 | 43.0% | $0.57 |
| $3.00 | $0.69 | 23.0% | $2.31 |
| $5.00 | $0.95 | 19.0% | $4.05 |
| $10.00 | $1.59 | 15.9% | $8.41 |
| $20.00 | $2.88 | 14.4% | $17.12 |
| $50.00 | $6.75 | 13.5% | $43.25 |
The fixed $0.30 is why the share falls as the tier rises: fees take 43% of a $1 pledge, 15.9% of a $10 tier and 13.5% of a $50 one.
How the fees add up in one month
$500 a month from 100 members paying by card, withdrawn once by direct deposit:
- Audience pays$500.00
- Platform fee (10%)10% × $500.00−$50.00
- Payment processing2.9% × $500.00 + $0.30 × 100 payments−$44.50
- Payout fee: Direct deposit$0.25−$0.25
- You keep$405.25
The platform fee is 10% of $500. Processing is 2.9% of the same $500, which is $14.50, plus $0.30 for each of the 100 payments, which is $30.00, so the fixed part costs more than the percentage. Withdrawing once by direct deposit costs $0.25, leaving $405.25. If the same $500 came from 50 members at $10, processing would drop to $29.50 and you would keep $420.25.
Standard 10% plan or legacy 8%
Patreon put every page published after August 4, 2025 on a single 10% plan. If your page was published on or before that date and has stayed published, you are still on a legacy plan: Pro at 8%, Pro + Merch at 11% (with Merch fulfillment) or, for creators who joined before May 7, 2019, Founders at 5%.
Legacy plans also keep the older processing rates. Tiers priced at $3 or less pay a micropayment rate of 5% + $0.10 instead of 2.9% + $0.30, which is why a $3 tier keeps $2.51 on Pro and $2.31 on the standard plan. Founders paid in US dollars pay 1.6% + $0.30 on cards and 2.65% + $0.28 on PayPal and Venmo. With several tiers, the calculator tests the $3 cut-off on your average pledge, so run tiers on either side of $3 separately.
A legacy plan ends the moment the page is unpublished, by you or by Patreon, even for a short time. Use the pause tool if you need a break.
iPhone app purchases and Apple’s 30%
When a fan joins or buys through Apple’s in-app purchase in the Patreon iOS app, Apple takes 30% of the app price and Patreon charges no processing fee. Apple’s cut drops to 15% once a member has been subscribed for a year; for members in China it is 25%, then 12%. The platform fee still applies, on the app price.
By default Patreon raises your prices in the app by about 43% (the list price divided by 0.7), so after Apple’s fee you earn at least what you would on the web. In Patreon’s own example a $10 product sells for $14.50 in the app (one-time purchases are rounded to the nearest 50 cents), Apple takes $4.35, the platform fee is $1.45 and you keep $8.70, against $8.41 on the web. If you keep app prices the same as the web, you absorb Apple’s fee and keep $6.00.
Fans in the US can choose Patreon’s web checkout inside the app, which avoids Apple’s fee. Money from in-app purchases can stay pending for up to 75 days. Set the share of members who paid in the app under More options.
Currencies and payouts outside the US
Each payout currency has its own processing rate: 3.4% + £0.35 in pounds, 3.4% + €0.35 in euros, 3.2% + C$0.35 in Canadian dollars and 3% + A$0.30 in Australian dollars. Two more costs depend on the currency:
- Conversion: 2.5% of every payment made in another currency, tax included. A UK creator paid in pounds whose members all pay in US dollars loses another £12.50 on £500. Patreon’s own advice is to keep US dollars as your payout currency if most of your members pay in dollars.
- Payout fees in local currencies are flat: £0.50 or €0.50 by bank transfer, £0.75 or €0.75 to Payoneer, £1.00 or €1.00 to PayPal. Creators outside the US who keep US dollars pay 1.55% + $0.25 to have them converted into a local bank account, $0.50 to a US-dollar account, $1.00 to Payoneer (minimum $25) or 1% to PayPal.
Patreon may also add VAT, GST or sales tax to its platform fee where the law requires it. Outside the US it usually doesn’t once you have given it a valid VAT ID, except in countries such as South Africa, Switzerland, Indonesia and Malaysia. Enter your local rate under More options if it applies to you.
Ways to keep more of each payment
- Price tiers with the fixed fee in mind. A $5 tier keeps 81% of its price; a $10 tier keeps 84.1%. Fewer, larger pledges pay fewer $0.30 fees.
- Offer annual memberships. Processing is charged per payment, so one yearly payment carries one fixed fee instead of twelve.
- Never unpublish a legacy page. Pause it instead and keep your 8% (or 5%) plan and its processing rates.
- Match your payout currency to your members. Every payment in another currency costs 2.5% more. Founders should weigh this first: changing currency keeps the 5% fee but moves you off the 1.6% + $0.30 processing rate.
- Withdraw once a month. Every withdrawal, partial ones included, pays its own fee. In the US, direct deposit at $0.25 is cheaper than PayPal at 1%, which would be $4.06 on the month above.
Recent Patreon fee changes
- November 1, 2026UpcomingCreators still on first-of-the-month or per-creation billing must be on subscription billing (Apple’s requirement); accounts not switched are moved automatically in November, and per-creation accounts have billing paused until the creator reviews the new monthly prices. Fee rates don’t change.source
- April 2026Members in China who join through Apple’s in-app purchase: Apple’s fee is 25% in the first year and 12% after a year (Apple changed it in March 2026; Patreon applies it to new memberships from April 2026).source
- August 4, 2025New creator pages pay a standard 10% platform fee (Pro 8% and Premium 12% merged into one plan) and standard processing rates with no micropayment rate. Pages published on or before August 4, 2025 keep their plan unless they are unpublished.source
- May 22, 2025One-time purchases: creators who start selling digital products after this date pay their plan’s platform fee (5%–12%) instead of a flat 5%.source
- May 2, 2025After the Epic v. Apple ruling of April 30, 2025, Patreon added a web checkout option for US fans in the iOS app, which avoids Apple’s 30% fee.source
- November 4, 2024New memberships bought in the Patreon iOS app go through Apple’s in-app purchase, with Apple’s 30% fee (one-time purchases in the app already did since January 2024). Patreon charges no processing fee on them.source
We re-check Patreon’s fee pages every day and update this calculator when they change. If your earnings report shows something different, use the “Something’s off” button under the result.