Ko-fi review

How much does Ko-fi take?

Ko-fi takes 5% of membership payments, monthly tips, shop sales, and commissions, with no monthly fee. One-time tips cost 0% on the Free setting and 5% in Standard mode. PayPal or Stripe processing comes on top, which Ko-fi says is usually around 3% + $0.30.

On a $10 membership paid by US card through Stripe at 2.9% + $0.30, you keep about $8.91. That is $0.50 more per payment than Patreon's 10% plan. Our fee table runs the same math at higher revenue.

At $1,000 a month in $10 memberships, Ko-fi's 5% costs $50 and Stripe about $59, so you keep about $891. With Gold you would keep about $929. Patreon's 10% plan would leave about $841.

The fee shows up as an "application fee" in Stripe and a "partner fee" in PayPal. Both are Ko-fi's 5%.

Is Ko-fi Gold worth $12 a month?

Gold pays for itself once you sell more than $240 a month through memberships, the shop, or commissions. Below that, the 5% fee costs you less than the subscription. At $5,000 a month, Gold saves you $238 a month.

Ko-fi's Gold page lists a 0% platform fee for $12 a month. New subscribers can only pay monthly, because Ko-fi dropped annual Gold plans. Existing Gold members keep the price they already pay.

Gold does not switch off Standard mode for you. New creators start with it on, so turn it off in Settings > Payment after you subscribe, or one-time tips keep paying 5%. Gold includes supporter-only posts and scheduled posts on its own.

Time the switch carefully. Ko-fi says it cannot update the fee on Stripe memberships that started before you joined Gold, so those keep paying 5% until they cancel. If you plan to use Gold, subscribe before you launch your tiers.

What is Standard mode, and do you need it?

You need Standard mode or Gold if you want supporter-only posts. Standard mode adds a 5% fee on one-time tips and in return turns on supporter-only content, scheduled posts, more shop storage, custom page colors, and Google Analytics. Some Ko-fi help pages call the same setting Contributor status.

New creators start with it switched on. If tips are most of your income and you do not gate any posts, turn it off in Settings > Payment and keep tips fee-free.

For a membership creator without Gold the choice barely matters. Memberships cost 5% either way, and members expect exclusive posts, so Standard mode is usually worth keeping. On Gold, turn it off.

What can you sell on Ko-fi?

Ko-fi covers one-time and monthly tips, membership tiers, a shop for digital and physical items, commissions, and stream alerts for Twitch and YouTube. Tiers can include Discord roles and exclusive posts, and you can cap how many people join a tier. Shop and commission sales pay the same 5% as memberships, so one rate covers everything you sell.

Video is the weak spot. Ko-fi posts link to YouTube or Vimeo rather than hosting files, so members-only video means unlisted uploads somewhere else. Ko-fi has no app yet. Its help center says one is in development for messages and notifications.

Ko-fi's membership guide describes monthly billing on the same calendar date as the first payment. If you want hosted video or group chat, Patreon has both, for twice the platform fee.

Can you leave Ko-fi and keep your supporters?

You keep more than you would on Patreon. Payments go straight into your own PayPal or Stripe account, and Ko-fi says you can download your supporter email list any time.

Ko-fi makes you the merchant of record. You write your own membership terms, up to 10,000 characters, and members agree to them before they join. Disputes are between you and the member. That is more control and more responsibility.

Ko-fi's help center does not document a custom domain, so your page lives on a ko-fi.com address. It also does not say whether active memberships can move to another platform with payment details intact. Ask Ko-fi before you build a large membership there.