Patreon Alternatives for Artists Compared by Fees and Payouts

The best Patreon alternatives for artists are Ko-fi (for commissions and tips), Gumroad (for brush packs, tutorials and other downloads), SubscribeStar (for adult art at a low service fee), Memberful (for artists who already run a website) and FanBase (for monthly tiers, pay per view files and paid custom requests on one page). The right pick depends less on the headline fee and more on what your collectors actually pay you for.

Patreon still works for a lot of illustrators, painters and comic artists. Artists start shopping around for specific reasons: they want to sell a single layered file without inventing a new tier, they want a clean checkout for commissions, they make adult work that keeps bumping into Patreon's rules, or they simply want to know what lands in their account each week. This comparison is built around those jobs, not around a generic feature list.

Patreon alternatives for artists at a glance

Fees below come from each platform's public pages and recent third party guides as of October 2026. Promotional rates and plan prices change, so check the current numbers before you commit.

The short version: if you mostly sell commissions, Ko-fi is hard to beat. If you mostly sell downloads, Gumroad is built for it. If you want one page where a collector can subscribe, buy a single file and pay for a custom sketch, a fan subscription platform like FanBase covers all three.

What artists actually sell to collectors

Before you compare fees, list where your income comes from. Most working illustrators earn from a mix of these:

• Process access. Time lapses, sketches, work in progress shots and critiques, which suit a monthly tier.
• Files. High resolution prints, layered PSD or Procreate files, brushes, textures and tutorials, which suit a one time purchase.
• Custom work. Commissions, personalized sketches, character designs and portrait requests, which need a way to agree a price and get paid.
• Recognition. Name in credits, early votes on the next piece, a monthly sketch for top supporters.

A platform that only does the first one forces you to bundle the rest into tiers, and that usually means lower prices than the work deserves. Pick the platform that matches the biggest slice of your income, then check how it handles the second biggest.

Ko-fi for commissions and tips

Ko-fi is the most common recommendation for visual artists, and for good reason. It has a dedicated commissions tool with slots, a request form and a queue, plus a shop for downloads and optional memberships. On the free plan Ko-fi takes 5 percent of memberships, shop sales and commissions, and its paid Gold plan removes the platform fee. Payment processing is charged on top either way.

Where Ko-fi falls short is depth on the membership side. There is no pay per view inside a feed and no paid messaging, and the page reads as a tip jar to many fans, which can anchor prices low. Artists with a large monthly membership often pair Ko-fi commissions with a separate membership platform.

Gumroad for brush packs and tutorials

If your best sellers are files, Gumroad is the cleanest checkout around. You upload a brush pack, set a price or a pay what you want minimum, and it handles delivery. Gumroad charges 10 percent plus $0.50 per sale made through your own link, with card processing on top, and a higher flat fee on sales that come through its Discover marketplace.

Gumroad memberships exist but are basic. There is no community feed, no messaging and no tiered access to process posts, so it works best next to a membership platform rather than instead of one.

SubscribeStar for adult art

SubscribeStar runs a separate adult site with looser content rules than Patreon, which is why many NSFW illustrators use it. The service fee is low (third party guides report about 5 percent) with processing on top, and its terms describe processing costs from about 3 percent plus $0.30 to 7 percent plus $0.40. The trade offs are a manual approval process, payout thresholds and a smaller audience. We compare it in detail on the SubscribeStar alternative page, and the NSFW Patreon alternative guide covers the wider adult market.

Memberful for artists with their own website

Memberful is a good fit if you already have a portfolio site and an email list and want memberships to live there under your own brand. You pay a transaction fee, plus a monthly fee on its paid plans, and payments run through your own payment account. The catch is that it brings you no new fans and has no single file sales, so it suits established artists more than artists still building an audience.

FanBase for tiers, pay per view files and paid requests

FanBase puts the three income types on one page. Collectors subscribe to one of up to three tiers between $4.99 and $49.99 a month, buy a single layered file or tutorial as a pay per view post, and send a paid message for a custom sketch or a portrait request. Tips work on any post. You keep 80 percent of everything, and that already includes card and crypto processing.

Payouts run weekly. Each payment clears 7 days after it is made and any cleared balance of $50 or more goes to your bank account or crypto wallet. Collectors outside the US whose cards get declined can pay in crypto instead. See how an art page is laid out on the FanBase page for artists, and the full fee breakdown on the fees page.

FanBase is not the cheapest option on paper. If you sell nothing but commissions, Ko-fi will keep more of each sale. FanBase makes sense when a membership is your base income and files and custom work are the upsell.

The fee math for a working illustrator

Take an illustrator with 80 members on a $10 tier, 15 brush pack sales at $12 and 4 custom sketches at $40 a month. That is $800 plus $180 plus $160, or $1,140 gross.

• Patreon plus Ko-fi: Patreon keeps 10 percent of the $800 plus processing, and Ko-fi takes 5 percent of the $340 in packs and sketches plus processing. Fees land somewhere around 11 to 13 percent overall, spread across two dashboards and two payout schedules.
• FanBase alone: 20 percent of $1,140 is $228, so you keep $912, paid in one weekly run with no separate processing line.

The split setup can keep a little more money. The single page wins on time, one link in your bio and one place where a collector can do everything. Plenty of artists decide that is worth a few points. If you also sell gear recommendations to followers, a creator storefront for the tablets, brushes and software you recommend can earn from that side of your audience without cluttering your art page.

How to switch from Patreon without losing patrons

1. Build the new page first. Set tiers that match your Patreon ones so nobody has to rethink what they get.
2. Post one clear announcement on Patreon with the new link, the date you stop posting there and a launch bundle.
3. Keep Patreon live for one billing cycle so patrons who already paid get their month.
4. Move files last. Re-upload your archive of process posts and downloads before the switch date so the new page does not look empty.

Our guide to moving Patreon members to a new platform has message templates and a timeline. You can also compare broader options on the Patreon alternative page.

Which one to pick

• You mostly sell commissions: Ko-fi.
• You mostly sell files and tutorials: Gumroad.
• You make adult art and want a known adult brand: SubscribeStar, or FanBase if your collectors want crypto checkout.
• You have a site and list and want your own branding: Memberful.
• You want a membership with single file sales and paid custom requests on one page and weekly payouts: FanBase.

Enter your price and expected members on the homepage to see your page and a payout estimate before you decide.