Platforms change pricing and features — verify on the provider’s official pages.
Choose Patreon if you want recurring membership revenue from followers who pay monthly for ongoing content, community, and perks. Choose Brillay if you want one-off, on-demand payments for a specific interaction, such as a private answer, personalized video, small service, tip, or project contribution, without a subscription. A follower pays once for one question, one commission or one video, and nothing is owed afterwards — so the people who were never going to subscribe can still pay you, beside the Patreon you already run.
Paid Questions let a follower pay upfront to ask one private question, and you send one written reply on your own time — no live call or scheduling.
Followers pay upfront as guests, with no follower account needed. You set the price and the reply window yourself, so the answer is priced as one thing rather than as a month of access.
Which should I pick?
Pick Patreon when your offer is an ongoing membership. Supporters pay each billing cycle for continuing access to content, community, and perks.
Pick Brillay when people already ask you for a specific answer, custom video, commission, review, or way to contribute once. Brillay gives the people already asking you a way to pay.
Brillay offers include Paid Questions, Personalized Videos, Custom Work, Tips, Goals, and Brand Collaboration Inquiries. A Goal accepts one-time contributions with no all-or-nothing cutoff and nothing to ship. Tips are one-time thank-yous with nothing owed back.
The platforms can work together. Add a one-time option beside your Patreon so personalized requests stay separate from membership benefits. Musicians considering memberships, tips, and individual requests can also explore these Patreon alternatives for musicians.
Creators in 41 countries can get paid; followers pay by card from anywhere.
No monthly fee, you only pay a small platform fee when you get paid. 8% platform fee when a follower pays for work, 5% platform fee on tips and goals. Card processing is separate.
See Brillay pricing for the published plan.
Who is Brillay best for?
Brillay fits creators whose followers already ask for advice, feedback, custom work, videos, readings, or a one-time way to help. The request and payment happen on the creator’s page as a guest.
Examples include:
- Visual arts and image-making: an illustrator offering a portfolio review when an emerging artist asks for feedback, or a photographer selling a small image critique.
- Writers, publishing, and media: an author answering one private craft question, or an editor offering a defined manuscript review.
- Music and audio: a musician recording a Personalized Video, reviewing a demo, or collecting contributions toward a Goal.
- Teachers, tutors, and study creators: a tutor answering one private study question in writing within a chosen reply window.
- Careers, business, and growth: a career creator reviewing a portfolio, résumé, pitch, or business question.
- Technology and makers: a developer giving a written take on one software question or offering a defined mini audit.
- Spiritual and reflective practices: a tarot reader or astrologer providing a clearly scoped reading through Custom Work.
- Gaming, streaming, and tabletop: a streamer recording a custom video, or a tabletop creator funding a new map, module, or equipment goal.
Illustrative price examples include a $25 Paid Question, a $35 Personalized Video, or a $25 portfolio review. These are examples rather than required prices. Brillay supports Paid Questions as a defined offer.
Brillay is useful when you want:
- One question and one written answer instead of another call.
- A custom video for a birthday, congratulations, pep talk, or special moment.
- A commission or small service with the price, scope, and delivery time written down.
- A one-time tip with nothing owed back.
- One named Goal with a progress bar, no all-or-nothing cutoff, and nothing to ship.
- A separate form for Brand Collaboration Inquiries that collects budget, timeline, and deliverables.
How do Brillay and Patreon compare?
Patreon is structured around recurring membership. Brillay is structured around paid requests and one-time support from your own creator page.
For Paid Questions, Personalized Videos, and Custom Work, followers pay upfront and you deliver within the window you set. Tips and Goals are paid immediately. Brillay explains the request and payment flow in its how-it-works guide.
| Dimension | Brillay | Patreon |
|---|---|---|
| Core model | One-time paid requests and support | Recurring memberships, generally billed monthly |
| What a follower buys | One private answer, custom video, defined service, tip, or Goal contribution; Brand Collaboration Inquiries collect budget, timeline, and deliverables | Continuing access to a membership tier, which can include exclusive posts, community, and perks |
| Follower checkout | Followers pay by card as guests, with no follower account needed | A supporter generally creates a Patreon account to manage the recurring membership |
| Payment timing | Paid requests are paid upfront and delivered later; Tips and Goals are paid immediately | Billing continues on a recurring schedule while the membership remains active |
| Monthly creator cost | See the Brillay fee line above | $0 to start, with no monthly platform fee |
| Platform fee | See the Brillay fee line above | See the published Patreon fee section below |
| Payment processing | Stripe processes card payments separately | Patreon applies processing rates based on currency and transaction size |
| Getting paid | Connect your bank through Stripe inside Brillay; payout timing follows the applicable country schedule | Patreon applies a hold after payout-method changes, followed by processing to the selected method |
| Payout minimums and currency fees | Stripe’s applicable payout rules determine the schedule | Patreon applies a minimum balance and may charge bank-transfer or currency-conversion fees |
| Offer types | Paid Questions, Personalized Videos, Custom Work, Tips, Goals, and Brand Collaboration Inquiries | Membership tiers, posts, community features, and one-time sales through Patreon Shop |
| Creator commitment | One defined request or contribution at a time | Continuing membership value across billing cycles |
| Best fit | Creators receiving individual requests or one-time support | Creators publishing ongoing content for a recurring membership |
Who is Patreon best for?
Patreon fits creators who publish continuing work such as a podcast, webcomic, newsletter, video series, or regular body of member content. Its structure centers on recurring memberships, digital benefits, and community tools.
Patreon publishes its cumulative creator-payment figure on its About page and publishes creator and paying-member figures through its careers page. Those company pages provide the latest totals.
Patreon is a strong fit when:
- You maintain a regular publishing cadence and want recurring billing tied to continuing access.
- Your membership includes posts, comments, chats, or other community features.
- You can provide continuing benefits that give supporters a reason to remain subscribed.
- You have confirmed that Patreon’s free-trial option is available for your page and region.
- You want to sell one-time digital posts, products, or collections through Patreon Shop alongside membership.
- You prefer a membership model in which supporters manage their subscriptions through Patreon accounts. That is different from Brillay Custom Work: the follower orders first, and the work you deliver is made for that person’s request rather than stocked in advance.
What are the exact fees on each platform?
Patreon’s standard platform fee is 10% of income earned through Patreon for pages published after August 4, 2025, while eligible legacy plans may retain platform fees of 5%, 8%, or 11%, according to Patreon’s creator fees overview.
Patreon’s published fee structure also states:
- The standard platform fee applies to one-time digital purchases as well as memberships.
- Credit card and Apple Pay processing in USD is 2.9% plus $0.30.
- Processing is 3.4% plus €0.35 in EUR and 3.4% plus £0.35 in GBP.
- Micropayment processing rates apply to tiers priced $3 or less; standard processing rates apply above $3.
- A 2.5% currency conversion fee applies when a member pays in a currency different from the creator’s payout currency.
Stripe pricing lists 2.9% plus 30 cents per successful domestic card transaction in the United States, plus 1.5% for international cards.
How fast does each platform pay out?
Brillay creators connect a bank through Stripe inside Brillay. The time for money to reach that bank depends on the creator’s country and the applicable schedule in Stripe payout documentation.
According to Patreon’s How payouts work, adding or editing a payout method places an automatic 5-day hold on the creator’s balance, after which a payout takes 1-5 business days to process to the selected method.
Patreon’s published payout terms also state:
- The minimum payout is $10.
- A US bank transfer costs 1% of the transferred amount, with a $0.25 minimum and a $20 cap.
- For creators outside the US, paying out USD to local currency costs $0.25 plus a 1.55% currency conversion fee per payout.
- Paying out USD to a USD bank account costs $0.50 per payout.
- Commerce payments made on the web and Android remain pending for up to 7 days while payment is confirmed.
- Funds from iOS in-app purchases remain pending for up to 75 days because of Apple’s processing time, according to Patreon’s guidance on what to expect with iOS in-app purchases.
How do Apple’s App Store fees change what a Patreon creator keeps?
Patreon states that Apple’s 30% App Store fee applies to all new purchases made inside the Patreon iOS app, and creators can choose how that fee is reflected in their prices, as explained in Patreon’s guide to how iOS in-app purchases work.
Patreon also states:
- US supporters using iOS can choose web checkout, where the App Store fee associated with an in-app purchase does not apply.
- Supporters who signed up in the iOS app after November 4, 2024 may see a higher price than on the web because of Apple’s 30% processing fee.
- For memberships started and renewed through the iOS app, the fee is 30% for the first year and 15% for each year after.
Brillay checkout happens on the web, where followers pay by card as guests.
How much would a creator keep from a $5, $20, or $100 payment?
Using the platform and processing rates listed above, a creator would net roughly $4.16 from a $5 Brillay payment, $17.52 from $20, and $88.80 from $100. The corresponding Patreon standard-plan estimates are $4.06, $17.12, and $86.80.
For an apples-to-apples illustration, both columns use the same published card-processing assumption described above.
| Follower payment | Brillay estimated net | Patreon estimated net | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| $5 | $4.16 | $4.06 | Brillay: $0.10 more |
| $20 | $17.52 | $17.12 | Brillay: $0.40 more |
| $100 | $88.80 | $86.80 | Brillay: $2.00 more |
These examples estimate what remains before the payment reaches your bank. They exclude payout fees, taxes, refunds, disputes, and currency conversion. Actual processing charges can vary by country, card type, currency, and connected-account pricing.
Eligible Patreon legacy plans may produce different results because their platform rates differ from the standard plan.
What is the honest tradeoff?
Patreon and Brillay charge for different structures. Patreon centers on a recurring membership and applies its published platform, processing, conversion, and payout charges. Brillay centers on individual paid requests and one-time support.
The practical choice is:
- Choose Patreon when recurring membership is the product and you can keep delivering continuing content, community, or perks.
- Choose Brillay when followers ask for advice, a Personalized Video, a commission, a review, a tip, or help funding a named goal.
- Use both when ongoing content belongs in Patreon while personalized and one-time requests need their own payment path.
Patreon is a membership you maintain. Brillay is your own page for defined requests and one-time support, open to creators of any audience size.
Linktree and Stan organize links or storefront items; on Brillay, the request and payment happen on the page as a guest. Cameo and Topmate are marketplaces creators apply to; Brillay is your own page. Calendly and Zoom organize live calls; Paid Questions give followers a written answer instead of another call.
Frequently asked questions
What is the main difference between Brillay and Patreon?
Patreon sells continuing membership access. Brillay turns specific requests and one-time support into individual payments from your own creator page.
Do my followers have to create an account to pay me on Brillay?
No follower account needed. Followers pay by card as guests. Patreon supporters generally create an account to manage their recurring membership and billing.
Is Brillay or Patreon cheaper?
The final amount depends on the platform rate, processing, payout costs, currency conversion, transaction size, country, card, and currency. Use the published fee details and payment examples above for a like-for-like calculation.
Does Patreon cost more when a follower pays inside the iPhone app?
Yes. Patreon says qualifying purchases made inside its iOS app are subject to Apple’s App Store fee. Its US iOS checkout can also direct supporters to web checkout, depending on the purchase flow.
How long does each platform take to pay a creator?
Patreon publishes a minimum balance, a hold after payout-method changes, and a processing period. Brillay payouts follow the Stripe schedule applicable to the creator’s connected bank and country.
Can I use Brillay and Patreon together?
Yes. Keep recurring content and community on Patreon, then add Brillay as a one-time option for Paid Questions, Personalized Videos, Custom Work, Tips, Goals, and Brand Collaboration Inquiries.
People keep coming to me with questions—should I use Brillay or Patreon?
Use Brillay when the thing followers want is one private written answer at a price and reply window you set. Use Patreon when the product is continuing membership access across recurring billing cycles.
Ready to try Brillay?
If your followers are already asking you things, requesting Personalized Videos, or sending tips, start with Brillay.