Growing Patreon
Patreon's advice starts outside Patreon: share your link where your fans already are, such as YouTube or Substack. Its Explore tab and feeds add more.
Basics
How many people use Patreon?
More than 10 million fans pay for memberships each month, across more than 300,000 creators, Patreon says. Its About page gives no date for these figures.
Fans have sent creators more than $10 billion since 2013.[1]
How do you grow a Patreon?
Share your link everywhere, mention it often, and post where Patreon's feeds can show you.
| Step | Patreon's advice |
|---|---|
| Share your link | In social bios, newsletters and every platform you use |
| Make an intro video | Say why you started and what members get |
| Mention it often | For example, at the end of every video |
| Post public Quips and Collab Posts | They reach fans beyond the Explore tab |
| Write clear taglines | Patreon sorts creators into Explore from them |
When can you earn money on Patreon?
As soon as your page is published. You can offer paid memberships, sell single posts or collections, or start with free memberships.[4]
Advanced
What does Patreon take from your earnings?
10% for pages published after 4 Aug 2025, plus payment processing, payout and currency fees.
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Platform fee | 10% (older pages: 5%, 8% or 11%) |
| Card and Apple Pay | 2.9% + $0.30 in US dollars |
| Currency conversion | 2.5% |
| PayPal payout | 1%, from $0.25 up to $20 |
| US direct deposit payout | $0.25 |
| iPhone in-app purchases | Apple takes 30% |
Sources [5]
What can you do with Patreon's API?
Read your campaign, members and posts, and get webhooks when members join or posts go out, through API v2.
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Access | Register a client to get a Creator's Access Token |
| Writes | Webhooks and live events; posts are read-only |
| Rate limits | 100 requests every 2 seconds per client; 100 a minute per token |
Sources [6]
Which paid Patreon options are worth it?
Patreon charges only when you earn. Start with free memberships, then add paid ones. The order is our view.
| Option | Cost | What it buys |
|---|---|---|
| Free memberships | Free | Fans who follow your posts |
| Paid memberships | 10% plus fees | Monthly income from fans |
| Custom domain | Your domain's price | Your own .com; patreon.com links redirect to it |
Sources (7)
- PrimaryPatreon: About, undated
- PrimaryPatreon Help: How to get traffic to your Creator page
- PrimaryPatreon Help: How can fans discover me on Patreon
- PrimaryPatreon Help: Launch Checklist
- PrimaryPatreon Help: Creator fees overview
- PrimaryPatreon API documentation
- PrimaryPatreon Help: Connect a custom domain to your Patreon