Where should creators sell to fans, and what does each platform keep?

What does each platform take from a sale?

Gumroad takes the biggest cut per sale, while Stan, beehiiv, Ghost and Kajabi take 0% and charge a monthly plan instead. Every platform here earns from a percentage of each sale, a flat monthly plan, or both. Card processing comes on top almost everywhere, and in the US it is usually Stripe's standard 2.9% + $0.30 per payment.

The fixed 30 cents matters more than people expect. On a $3 tip it is 10% of the payment by itself. On a $100 course it is a rounding error. If your prices are low, favor platforms with no per-sale fixed fee of their own, and skip Gumroad, which adds 50 cents of its own.

What $1,000 of sales leaves you on each platform

Stan and Ghost leave the most of $1,000 in monthly sales, and Kajabi leaves the least. The example below assumes 100 US card payments of $10 in one month, the cheapest plan that can sell, monthly billing, and no refunds, taxes, app store purchases or payout fees.

Card processing on 100 payments of $10 comes to $59 everywhere Stripe's 2.9% + $0.30 applies. Memberships and newsletters are treated as recurring payments, which is why Substack and Buy Me a Coffee carry small extra billing fees. Ko-fi, beehiiv and Ghost do not mention Stripe's 0.7% Billing fee, so the table leaves it out for them. Products and courses are treated as one-time sales.

Volume changes the order. Flat-fee platforms get cheaper per dollar as you grow, and percentage platforms stay the same. At $300 a month, Stan's $29 plan is almost 10% of revenue and Kajabi's $179 plan is 60%.

Memberships: Patreon, Ko-fi or Buy Me a Coffee?

Ko-fi is the cheapest of the three for tips and small memberships, and Patreon costs the most. Patreon's help center says pages published after August 4, 2025 pay a standard 10% platform fee, plus 2.9% + $0.30 per US card payment. Creators who published earlier and never unpublished keep legacy rates, such as 8% on the Pro plan.

Patreon's 10% buys a hosted page, monthly and annual memberships, one-time product sales, community chats and up to 100 hours of video hosting a month for creators with paying fans. It also brings an app that fans already use. Apple's 30% App Store fee applies to purchases made through Apple's in-app system in Patreon's iOS app, and Patreon says US fans may be able to pay through mobile web checkout instead. Funds from iOS in-app purchases stay pending for up to 75 days.

Patreon is also moving everyone off old billing models. Its help center says all creators still on legacy billing must switch to subscription billing by November 1, 2026, or Patreon will switch them automatically and pause billing until they set new prices.

Ko-fi's help center says the Free setting charges 0% on one-time tips and 5% on memberships, monthly tips, shop items and commissions. New creators start in Standard mode, which charges 5% on tips too, so switch it off under Settings > Payment to keep tips fee-free. Ko-fi Gold removes the 5% on new sales for $12 a month, which pays for itself once you sell about $240 a month. New Gold subscribers can only pay monthly. Money goes straight to your own Stripe or PayPal account, so there is no payout wait on Ko-fi's side.

Buy Me a Coffee charges 5%, but its help center lists more than card processing on top: 0.5% extra on subscription payments, 1% extra on payments from outside the US and a 0.5% payout processing fee. You can toggle a setting so supporters pay the card fee. The first payout needs a $10 balance and a manual account review that can take 7 to 14 days.

• Pick Patreon if you post a lot of members-only video or audio and want fans to find you in an app they already have.
• Pick Ko-fi if most of your income is tips, or if you sell under $240 a month and want no monthly bill.
• Skip Buy Me a Coffee for memberships unless you prefer its page design. Its stacked fees cost more than Ko-fi's on the same sale.

Paid newsletters: Substack, beehiiv or Ghost?

Substack is the cheapest way to start a paid newsletter, and beehiiv or Ghost becomes cheaper once you earn a few hundred dollars a month. Substack's help center says it keeps 10% of each subscription payment, and Stripe adds 2.9% + $0.30 per US card payment plus a 0.7% Stripe Billing fee on recurring payments. Publishing is free at any size.

beehiiv takes 0% of paid subscription revenue, according to its pricing page, but its Free plan cannot sell subscriptions. You need the Lite plan, which costs $59 a month on monthly billing for up to 1,000 subscribers. beehiiv renamed its plans on October 1, 2026. Launch became Free, Scale became Lite and Max became Pro, and existing customers move to the new prices at their first renewal on or after November 1, 2026.

Ghost also charges 0% on transactions. Its hosted Starter plan, $18 a month, cannot sell subscriptions, and the Publisher plan costs $35 a month on monthly billing for up to 1,000 members. Self-hosting Ghost removes the plan fee if you can run a server.

The break-even is simple. Substack's 10% plus the 0.7% Billing fee passes beehiiv Lite's $59 at roughly $550 to $600 a month in revenue, and passes Ghost Publisher's $35 at roughly $330 to $350. The range depends on whether Stripe's Billing fee also applies on beehiiv and Ghost, which neither platform states.

Substack also sells through its iOS app. Its help center says Apple's fee comes out of those payments, and writers choose whether to raise in-app prices to cover it. Apple pays Substack monthly, up to 45 days after each month ends.

• Start on Substack if you have no list yet. You pay nothing until you earn, and its app and recommendations can bring readers.
• Move to Ghost once you clear about $350 a month and want the lowest cost and your own site.
• Move to beehiiv once you clear about $600 a month and also want its ad network and growth tools. Newsletter income beyond subscriptions is covered in how much newsletter writers make.

Digital products: Gumroad, Stan or Payhip?

Payhip's free plan costs less per sale than Gumroad, and Stan beats Gumroad from about 20 sales of $10 a month and Payhip Free from about $580 a month. Gumroad's help center says sales through your own links pay 10% + $0.50, plus 2.9% + $0.30 card processing. Sales that come through Gumroad's Discover marketplace pay a flat 30% that includes processing.

Gumroad does two things the others here do not. It has acted as merchant of record since January 1, 2025, so it collects and remits sales tax worldwide for you. Its help center also says direct sales drop to 5% + $0.50 for the rest of any calendar month once that month's paid sales pass $20,000. Payouts need a $100 minimum balance.

Stan takes 0% of sales and charges $29 a month on the Creator plan or $99 on Creator Pro. Billed yearly, the plans cost $300 and $948, according to its help center. There is no free plan. Discount codes, upsells, payment plans and email broadcasts only come with Creator Pro. Gumroad's cut on a $10 sale is $1.50, so Stan's $29 is cheaper from about 20 sales a month. Payhip Free's 5% only passes $29 at about $580 a month.

Payhip's help center lists three plans. Free charges 5% per sale, Plus costs $29 a month and charges 2%, and Pro costs $99 a month and charges 0%. Plus beats Free once you sell about $970 a month, and Pro beats Plus at about $3,500.

• Pick Gumroad if you sell a few products a year and want someone else to handle sales tax.
• Pick Stan if you sell from an Instagram or TikTok bio link and clear $580 a month in sales.
• Pick Payhip if you want the lowest per-sale fee without a monthly bill.

Courses: Kajabi or Teachable?

Teachable costs far less than Kajabi for most course creators, and Kajabi only makes sense when it replaces several other paid tools. Kajabi's pricing page lists Basic at $179 a month on monthly billing, Growth at $249 and Pro at $499, with about 20% off for yearly billing. Kajabi takes no revenue share. Kajabi Payments charges 2.9% + $0.30 per US card payment, and its help center adds 0.7% on subscriptions and payment plans.

Kajabi's pricing page also lists a fee for selling through a third-party processor other than PayPal instead of Kajabi Payments: 2% on Basic, 1% on Growth and 0.5% on Pro. In exchange you get email marketing, a website, funnels and a community in one bill. If you would otherwise pay for those separately, the $179 is easier to justify.

Teachable's pricing page lists Starter at $39 a month with a 7.5% transaction fee, Builder at $89 with 0%, and Growth at $189 with 0%. Builder beats Starter once you sell about $670 a month. Teachable's help center says its new Teachable Payments system, built on Stripe, charges 2.9% + $0.30 per US card, plus 0.7% on recurring payments and 0.5% where tax is assessed on the default bundle. It pays out daily, about two business days after each sale.

• Pick Teachable Starter for a first course, then move to Builder at about $670 a month in sales.
• Pick Kajabi only if you already sell over a few thousand dollars a month and want email, site and course in one place.

Paid communities: Skool or Discord?

Skool's $9 Hobby plan is the cheapest way to run a small paid community, and Discord Server Subscriptions only suit US creators whose fans already live on Discord. Skool's help center says Hobby charges 10% + $0.30 per transaction with processing included. Pro costs $99 a month and charges 2.9% + $0.30 on transactions up to $899.

The switch point is about $1,270 a month in revenue. Below that, Hobby's higher percentage still costs less than Pro's $90 higher plan price. Skool acts as merchant of record, so it handles sales tax and VAT, and it pays out every Wednesday.

Discord's Monetization Terms set a 6% payment processing fee on desktop and browser purchases, then a 10% platform fee on what is left, so a $10 subscription nets $8.46. For mobile purchases, Discord raises the price to cover the app store fee. Discord's Creator Revenue FAQ says Server Subscriptions are only for US-based owners aged 18 or older with US banking details. Payouts arrive within 45 days after each month ends, with a $100 minimum for the first one.

Which platform should you pick?

Match the platform to what you sell and how much you sell, not to what other creators use. Percentage platforms are cheaper while you are small, and flat-fee platforms win as you grow. Check your numbers again each time revenue doubles.

• Podcasters and video creators with a loyal audience should use Patreon for its app and video hosting. Podcast income beyond memberships is covered in how much podcasters make.
• Artists and streamers who live on tips should use Ko-fi, which takes 0% on one-time tips in Free mode.
• Writers starting from zero should use Substack, then move to Ghost or beehiiv past about $350 to $600 a month.
• Short-form creators selling templates or guides from a bio link should start on Payhip Free and switch to Stan at about $580 a month.
• Educators with one course should start on Teachable Starter and move to Builder at about $670 a month.
• Coaches running a paid group should stay on Skool Hobby until about $1,270 a month.
• Creators who never want to think about sales tax should look at Gumroad, Skool or Teachable, which all collect and remit it.