How much does Patreon take from my earnings?

Patreon charges a platform fee of 5% on the Lite plan, 8% on the Pro plan, or 12% on the Premium plan. Payment processing fees of approximately 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction apply on top. Your take-home is typically 85-92% of gross patron payments depending on your plan and tier price. Higher tier prices slightly reduce the per-transaction impact because the fixed $0.30 is a smaller share of a larger amount.

What is patron churn and why does it matter?

Churn is the percentage of patrons who cancel their membership each month. At 5% monthly churn, you lose roughly half your patron base within 14 months if you add no new patrons. Even a small churn reduction has a large long-term effect because patrons compound: a patron who stays 24 months is worth twice as much as one who stays 12.

Should I launch one tier or multiple tiers?

Most creators do well with two to three tiers covering a low entry price, a mid-tier with meaningful benefits, and a high-commitment tier for superfans. Too many tiers create decision paralysis. Too few leave money on the table from patrons who would pay more for meaningful extra access. Model each configuration here before deciding.

Does the $0.30 processing fee apply to every payment?

Yes. Patreon charges the full payment processing fee on each monthly renewal, not just the first charge. For low-priced tiers ($1 or $2), this fixed $0.30 represents a large portion of the transaction. A $1 tier on the Pro plan nets approximately $0.59 per patron per month after the 8% platform fee and processing.

Should I raise tier prices?

Higher prices increase net revenue per patron and reduce the churn impact of losing any single patron, but may reduce conversion rates for new visitors. Research suggests loyal supporters on mid and high tiers are less price-sensitive than casual followers. Test a price increase on your highest tier first.

How does the Lite plan compare to Pro for small creators?

The Lite plan (5%) has a lower fee but fewer analytics and creator tools. For creators with under 50 patrons, Lite may save a few dollars per month. At 50 patrons paying $10 each, the monthly fee difference between Lite and Pro is about $15. Model your own numbers to see whether the savings justifies fewer features.

Patreon Tier Revenue Calculator

This calculator projects your Patreon net earnings across multiple membership tiers, accounting for Patreon's platform fee (5%, 8%, or 12% depending on your plan), payment processing fees (2.9% plus $0.30 per transaction), and monthly patron churn. Enter each tier's price, patron count, and churn rate to see your true take-home per tier, total net revenue, and a 12-month projection chart.

Membership tiers

Tier name

Price ($)PatronsMonthly churn (%)

Tier name

Price ($)PatronsMonthly churn (%)

Tier name

Price ($)PatronsMonthly churn (%)

Plan and fees

Patreon planProcessing fee (%)Processing flat ($)CurrencyBreakeven net target ($)

Gross monthly

$1,100.00

Total fees

$159.84

Net monthly

$940.16

Effective fee %

14.53%

Breakeven at $2,000.00 net: about 281 patrons at your current average net per patron.

Per-tier breakdown

Tier	Patrons	Gross	Fees	Net	Next month patrons
Supporter	80	$400.00	$68.00	$332.00	76
Member	40	$400.00	$55.60	$344.40	38
Patron	12	$300.00	$36.24	$263.76	11

12-month projection (with churn)

Pro (8%) platform fee plus payment processing (2.9% + $0.30 per charge). Sourced from Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/pricing), retrieved 2026-05-29.

Patreon fees and processing costs change. Treat this as a planning estimate, not a payout guarantee.

How this tool works

Patreon's actual take rate is higher than the headline platform fee suggests. The payment processing fee (2.9% + $0.30 per transaction) compounds with the plan fee, and the fixed $0.30 component hits low-priced tiers disproportionately hard: a $1 tier on the Pro plan nets less than $0.60 per patron per month. This calculator shows the exact take-home for any price and tier configuration so you can set prices and patron targets based on net earnings rather than gross amounts, and see how monthly churn compounds across a 12-month revenue projection.

Worked example

You run three tiers on the Pro plan (8% platform fee): Tier 1: $5, 200 patrons, 3% churn. Net per patron: $5 - $0.40 - $0.445 = $4.155. Net tier: $831. Tier 2: $15, 80 patrons, 5% churn. Net per patron: $13.065. Net tier: $1,045.20. Tier 3: $50, 20 patrons, 2% churn. Net per patron: $44.25. Net tier: $885. Total gross: $3,200. Total net: $2,761.20. Effective fee: 13.7%.

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Frequently asked questions

How much does Patreon take from my earnings?
Patreon charges a platform fee of 5% on the Lite plan, 8% on the Pro plan, or 12% on the Premium plan. Payment processing fees of approximately 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction apply on top. Your take-home is typically 85-92% of gross patron payments depending on your plan and tier price. Higher tier prices slightly reduce the per-transaction impact because the fixed $0.30 is a smaller share of a larger amount.
What is patron churn and why does it matter?
Churn is the percentage of patrons who cancel their membership each month. At 5% monthly churn, you lose roughly half your patron base within 14 months if you add no new patrons. Even a small churn reduction has a large long-term effect because patrons compound: a patron who stays 24 months is worth twice as much as one who stays 12.
Should I launch one tier or multiple tiers?
Most creators do well with two to three tiers covering a low entry price, a mid-tier with meaningful benefits, and a high-commitment tier for superfans. Too many tiers create decision paralysis. Too few leave money on the table from patrons who would pay more for meaningful extra access. Model each configuration here before deciding.
Does the $0.30 processing fee apply to every payment?
Yes. Patreon charges the full payment processing fee on each monthly renewal, not just the first charge. For low-priced tiers ($1 or $2), this fixed $0.30 represents a large portion of the transaction. A $1 tier on the Pro plan nets approximately $0.59 per patron per month after the 8% platform fee and processing.
Should I raise tier prices?
Higher prices increase net revenue per patron and reduce the churn impact of losing any single patron, but may reduce conversion rates for new visitors. Research suggests loyal supporters on mid and high tiers are less price-sensitive than casual followers. Test a price increase on your highest tier first.
How does the Lite plan compare to Pro for small creators?
The Lite plan (5%) has a lower fee but fewer analytics and creator tools. For creators with under 50 patrons, Lite may save a few dollars per month. At 50 patrons paying $10 each, the monthly fee difference between Lite and Pro is about $15. Model your own numbers to see whether the savings justifies fewer features.