If you’ve been thinking about launching a Patreon account but haven’t gotten around to it yet, you might want to launch your page by August 4. That’s when the creator monetization platform will roll out a new fiscal policy that will see it take a 10% cut of all on-platform earnings — though users who are locked into previous plans will be able to keep their current rates.
Currently, Patreon offers two different pricing plans for its users: For Pro plans, which provide access to a basic set of monetization and audience engagement tools, Patreon takes an 8% cut. For the full-featured Premium tier, that figure rises to 12%. As you might expect, the 8% plan is more popular than the costlier alternative.
After August 4, Patreon will simplify matters. Everyone who signs up for Patreon after that date will fork over 10% of earnings to the platform. Anyone who claimed a pre-existing rate will be grandfathered into their current plan. And if you’re worried that Patreon will change its mind and do away with the 8% rate, keep in mind there are still some users who are taking advantage of a 5% Founders plan Patreon discontinued in 2019.
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The reasoning behind the change is pretty simple: Patreon now offers a lot more tools than it did when it launched 12 years ago. As its creators level up and diversify their businesses, it wants to level up, too.
“Since we last updated our prices six years ago, Patreon has expanded beyond just payments to include media hosting, community, and discovery,” reads a Patreon blog post. “Chat messages between creators and their fans are growing 63% year over year, in the past year fans viewed over 80 million hours of Patreon video, creators are going live daily, and Patreon’s discovery ecosystem is driving over $200 million to creators per year. We’re updating our pricing for new creators to continue offering even more tools to help you grow and connect.”
Patreon has copy-pasted popular forms of monetization from across the social web, ranging from TikTok-style live video to Twitch-style subscriptions. It has dabbled in the realm of IRL events with its acquisition of Moment, helped podcasters bring in hundreds of millions of dollars from their fans, and made it easier to discover popular creators on the platform. Patreon even came up with a “great plan” to help its community navigate the onerous fees associated with Apple’s App Store.
When you add up all of those revenue streams, you get a lot more money going into creators’ pockets. Patreon’s increased fees may not sit well with some new users, but given the diversity of the platform’s monetization options, the higher rate is a worthy price to pay.
