What Patreon actually takes from your memberships, per member and per month
| Plan | Platform Fee | Who's On It |
|---|---|---|
| Standard | 10% | Pages published after Aug 4, 2025 — and any legacy page that gets unpublished (by you or Patreon) and republished after that date |
| Legacy Pro | 8% | Pages published on or before Aug 4, 2025 and continuously published since |
| Legacy Lite | 5% | Same, on the Lite tier (basic membership tools) |
| Legacy Premium | 12% | Same, on the Premium tier |
| Founders | 5% | Joined before May 7, 2019, and never upgraded, changed payout currency, or been unpublished |
Source: Patreon Help Center, "Creator fees overview" (updated Aug 2026). The platform fee is a percentage of each successfully processed payment, excluding sales tax.
| Fee | Amount | When It Applies |
|---|---|---|
| Platform fee | 10% standard (5%–12% legacy) | Every processed membership and one-time purchase, calculated on the payment excluding sales tax |
| Payment processing | 2.9% + $0.30 | Each charge, USD payout currency; calculated on the total payment including any sales tax collected |
| Micropayment processing | 5% + $0.10 | Legacy plans only, tiers priced at $3 or less |
| Currency conversion | 2.5% | Member pays in a currency different from your payout currency; charged on the full payment including tax |
| Apple App Store | 30% of the price | Memberships and purchases started in the Patreon iOS app; replaces the processing fee, platform fee still applies |
| Payout transfer | Varies by method | Deducted when your balance pays out; direct bank transfer adds no extra fee from Patreon, but PayPal and Payoneer may add their own |
Creator-to-creator payments from an existing Patreon balance skip the processing fee entirely. Where local law requires it, Patreon also collects VAT/GST/sales tax on the platform fee itself.
| Monthly Tier Price | Standard 10% Plan | Legacy Pro 8% | Legacy Lite 5% |
|---|---|---|---|
| $1 | 42.9% | 23.0% | 20.0% |
| $3 | 22.9% | 16.3% | 13.3% |
| $5 | 18.9% | 16.9% | 13.9% |
| $10 | 15.9% | 13.9% | 10.9% |
| $25 | 14.1% | 12.1% | 9.1% |
| $50 | 13.5% | 11.5% | 8.5% |
Total of platform + processing as a share of the payment. The fixed $0.30 processing component is why cheap tiers lose so much: at $1 it's 30 cents on a dollar. Legacy plans soften the blow under $3 with the 5% + $0.10 micropayment rate; the standard plan doesn't.
Patreon's cut isn't one fee, it's a stack: a platform fee on every processed payment, payment processing on every charge, and situational extras. This calculator adds them up the way Patreon does, then shows what lands in your balance.
Platform fee = tier price × plan rate. Processing = tier price × 2.9% + $0.30 per charge for USD payouts — except on legacy plans, where tiers of $3 or less pay 5% + $0.10 instead. Members who joined through the iOS app skip processing but pay Apple's 30% on the price. Members paying a currency other than your payout currency add 2.5% of the payment. Multiply by your member count, subtract from gross, and that's your take-home.
Pick your plan first. If you published your page after August 4, 2025, you're on the standard 10% plan — that's also where you land if you ever unpublish and republish. Pages continuously published since on or before that date keep their legacy 5%, 8%, or 12% rate; the Founders 5% rate belongs to creators who joined before May 7, 2019 and never changed plans or currency. Check your Plan details page in Patreon settings if you're unsure. Then set your tier price and member count, and only fill in the iOS and currency percentages if they apply to you.
Example 1 — new creator, standard 10%. 100 members at $5 a month. Gross: $500. Platform fee: 10% × $500 = $50. Processing: each charge costs $5 × 2.9% + $0.30 = $0.445, so 100 × $0.445 = $44.50. Total fees: $94.50, an effective rate of 18.9%. You keep $405.50 a month, $4,866 a year, or $4.06 per member.
Example 2 — legacy Pro 8%, bigger tiers. 200 members at $25. Gross: $5,000. Platform: $400. Processing: 200 × ($25 × 2.9% + $0.30) = 200 × $1.025 = $205. Total: $605, or 12.1%. Take-home: $4,395 a month and $52,740 a year. The same page on the standard plan would give up $705 — a hundred dollars a month more.
Example 3 — the iOS tax. Back to example 1, but 30 of the 100 members joined through the iOS app. Apple takes 30% × $5 × 30 = $45, processing now covers only the 70 web members ($31.15), and the platform fee still applies in full. Total fees jump to $126.15, or 25.2%, and take-home drops to $373.85. One workaround: Patreon's mobile web checkout avoids Apple's cut, and in the US fans can use it directly.
These are pre-tax estimates. Where sales tax or VAT applies to your members, processing is calculated on the tax-inclusive total, so your real fees run slightly higher than shown.
Two fees stack on every membership payment: the platform fee (10% on the standard plan for pages published after August 4, 2025; 5%, 8%, or 12% on legacy plans) plus payment processing of 2.9% + $0.30 per charge for USD payouts. On a $5 tier at 10%, that totals $0.94 per member per month, so you keep $4.06.
Payment processing sits on top of the platform fee, and its fixed $0.30 component weighs heavily on cheap tiers. A $1 tier on the standard plan loses $0.10 platform + $0.329 processing = $0.429, or 42.9% of the payment. Currency conversion (2.5%), memberships started in the iOS app (Apple's 30% instead of processing), and sales tax collected on the payment push it higher still.
On legacy plans, yes: tiers priced at $3 or less pay a micropayment rate of 5% + $0.10 instead of 2.9% + $0.30. On the standard 10% plan, no — the same 2.9% + $0.30 applies to every payment regardless of amount, which is why $1 tiers are so expensive to sell there.
It applies to memberships started inside the Patreon iOS app (rolled out from November 2024). Apple takes 30% of the price, and Patreon charges no payment processing on those transactions, but the platform fee still applies. Fans in the United States can complete purchases through Patreon's mobile web checkout instead, which skips the 30% App Store fee entirely.
If you unpublish your creator page after August 4, 2025 (or Patreon does), you lose legacy pricing and move to the standard 10% platform plan when you republish. Patreon recommends using the pause tool instead of unpublishing to keep a legacy 5%, 8%, or 12% plan.
Patreon deducts a payout transaction fee when your balance transfers out, separate from platform and processing fees, and it varies by payout method and currency. Direct bank transfer carries no additional fee from Patreon; PayPal and Payoneer may add their own conversion or withdrawal costs. Your balance already has platform, processing, and currency conversion fees taken out before the transfer.