Platforms change pricing and features — verify on the provider’s official pages.
Choose FanBell if you want fans to pay for questions, shoutouts, services, tips, or project support, with payouts routed to your bank through Stripe. Choose Throne if you want a private wishlist for physical gifts or Cash Gifts tied to specific items. Creators who need both paid interactions and gifts can use both.
Which platform should I pick?
Pick FanBell if you want fans to pay directly for an interaction: asking a private question, requesting a personalized shoutout, booking a small service, tipping, or contributing cash toward a project. FanBell has no follower minimum, and payouts go to the creator’s bank through Stripe (fanbell.link/how-it-works).
Pick Throne if you want fans to send physical gifts from a curated wishlist without seeing your shipping address. Throne also supports Cash Gifts, but each Cash Gift must fund a specific physical item rather than operate as an unrestricted tip jar (How do Cash Gifts work?).
You can also use both: a Throne wishlist covers tangible gifts, while a FanBell link covers paid replies, shoutouts, tips, and project support — the two address different fan actions. Creators also weighing a paid-subscription content platform may want the FanBell vs. Passes comparison as a separate reference point.
How do FanBell and Throne compare?
| Dimension | FanBell | Throne |
|---|---|---|
| Core model | Paid fan interaction: fans can pay for a private reply, personalized video, small deliverable, tip, or contribution toward a project goal. | A wishlist and gift registry where creators list products from online stores and fans purchase them; Cash Gifts can fund a specific physical item. |
| What the fan gets | A private answer, custom video, deliverable, or the opportunity to support the creator directly. | A way to choose and fund an item from the creator’s list without receiving the creator’s private shipping address. |
| What the creator gets | Payment for their time, expertise, or project, routed to their bank through Stripe. | The gifted item or, for a Cash Gift, money in their Throne Balance to purchase the specified item themselves (How do Cash Gifts work?). |
| Paid Q&A format | Replies to Paid Private Questions are delivered as text, never video. Personalized video is a separate shoutout format. | Not applicable; Throne is not designed around answering paid questions. |
| Platform fee | FanBell is free to start with no monthly fee and charges a 12% platform fee only when a fan pays (fanbell.link/pricing). Stripe processing is separate; Stripe’s typical US online card rate is 2.9% + $0.30 (Stripe pricing). | Throne says creators pay no monthly or checkout fee because checkout fees are charged to the gifter. Its stated service fees are 0% on Partner Store products, 7% on physical gifts Throne ships, and 9.75% on Cash Gifts and payout items; processing added at checkout is 2.9% + $0.30 on physical items and 3.9% + $0.30 on payout items (Why do you charge service fees?). |
| Payment and payout rails | Creators connect Stripe, and payouts go to their bank through Stripe. | Cash Gifts first enter the creator’s Throne Balance rather than going directly to a bank account, and regular (non-Instant) Throne payouts take 1–3 business days to reach a bank once requested (How long do payouts take to reach my bank?). Standard payouts are free except a $2 fee on payouts under $30, refunded if the payout fails or is returned (Is there a payout fee?). Instant Payout of a non-fan-funded balance costs $1.99 under $100 or 1.9% at $100 and up, while a fan-funded balance can be withdrawn instantly for free (What is an Instant Payout and how much does it cost?). |
| Follower minimum | FanBell has no follower minimum. | Throne states that anyone can create an account and fans can gift as guests; its official pages do not state a follower minimum (What is Throne?). |
| Primary audience | Creators fielding repeat DM requests for advice, videos, feedback, or paid services — matching FanBell's Paid Private Questions, Shoutout, and Creator Services formats. | Streamers and creators whose fans want to send tangible gifts; Throne's own walkthrough describes creators sharing their wishlist link "on stream" or in social bios. |
On a $50 payment, FanBell's platform fee is $6 (12%) before Stripe processing, while Throne's stated service fee on a $50 Cash Gift is $4.88 (9.75%), with checkout processing charged to the fan rather than the creator (Why do you charge service fees?).
Who is FanBell best for?
FanBell is best for creators whose value lies in the interaction itself rather than in receiving a physical product. If your DMs already contain requests such as “Can I ask you something?”, “Can you make a birthday video?”, or “Can you review my draft?”, FanBell lets you turn those requests into priced, private offers. Creators also considering a paid-content subscription model can see how FanBell differs from FanFix for that adjacent use case.
FanBell also supports one-time tips and contributions toward a specific project or goal with a funding progress bar. Project Support is cash toward a stated goal, not a store purchase, shipped product, or tiered crowdfunding reward. See Paid Fan Interaction, Paid Private Questions, and Project Support for the individual formats.
Replies to Paid Private Questions are text-only rather than video, and the transaction happens through the creator’s FanBell page rather than inside Instagram or TikTok DMs. FanBell has no follower minimum, no monthly fee, and a 12% platform fee that applies only after a fan pays.
Coaches, tutors, career mentors, niche experts, and creators who regularly receive requests for personalized shoutouts, feedback, or small paid services are likely to get the most direct use from FanBell, though those focused specifically on paid calls may prefer comparing FanBell with Minnect.
Who is Throne best for?
Throne is best for creators—especially streamers—whose fans already want to send tangible items such as streaming gear, games, books, or hobby supplies. It works like an ongoing creator wishlist while protecting the creator’s shipping information.
Throne’s central privacy benefit is that fans can purchase gifts from a creator’s curated list without receiving the creator’s home address (What is Throne?). FanBell does not provide physical gift fulfillment, so it does not solve that particular privacy and shipping problem.
Throne charges a 0% service fee on Partner Store products, rising to 7% on other physical gifts it ships and 9.75% on Cash Gifts and payout items (Why do you charge service fees?).
Throne’s Cash Gifts feature may appear similar to direct cash support, but it works differently: the money enters the creator’s Throne Balance and must be associated with a real physical product the creator intends to purchase. Throne explicitly states that Cash Gifts are not a tip jar (How do Cash Gifts work?).
FanBell’s closest alternative, Project Support, lets fans contribute cash toward a stated goal with a progress bar; it is not a store checkout for an item shipped to the creator.
When is each platform not the right fit?
FanBell is not the right fit if fans specifically want to send a tangible item — merch, streaming gear, books — since FanBell has no product catalog or shipping fulfillment; that is Throne's Gift Store and Partner Store (What is Throne?).
Throne is not the right fit if you want an unrestricted tip jar or a paid-question format: Throne states Cash Gifts must be tied to a specific physical item rather than function as a general tip jar (How do Cash Gifts work?), and Throne's help center describes wishlist gifting only, with no paid-question or paid-shoutout format documented.
Frequently asked questions
What is the main difference between FanBell and Throne?
FanBell is built for paid fan interaction: private questions answered by text, personalized shoutouts, small services, tips, and cash contributions toward projects. Creator payouts go to their bank through Stripe.
Throne is a gift wishlist and registry. Fans can purchase physical gifts or fund Cash Gifts tied to specific products, while Throne helps keep the creator’s shipping address private (What is Throne?).
Can I use FanBell and Throne together?
Yes. A creator can place a Throne wishlist alongside a FanBell link because they serve different purposes: Throne handles tangible gifts, while FanBell handles paid questions, shoutouts, services, tips, and project support.
Is FanBell or Throne cheaper for creators?
FanBell charges no monthly fee and applies a 12% platform fee only when a fan pays, with Stripe processing charged separately. Stripe’s typical US online card rate is 2.9% + $0.30.
Throne says checkout fees are paid by the gifter rather than the creator. Its stated service fees are 0% on Partner Store products, 7% on physical gifts it ships, and 9.75% on Cash Gifts and payout items, plus the stated checkout processing fees (Why do you charge service fees?).
The cheaper option depends on the transaction being compared: FanBell charges for direct paid interactions, while Throne’s checkout fees apply to gifts and Cash Gifts and are generally presented to the fan at checkout.
Which should I choose for cash support instead of physical gifts?
Choose FanBell if you want unrestricted one-time tips or cash contributions toward a stated project without requiring a store purchase or shipped item. FanBell sends creator payouts to their bank through Stripe.
Throne Cash Gifts must be tied to a specific physical product, enter the creator’s Throne Balance, and are explicitly not intended as a general tip jar (How do Cash Gifts work?).
What is the honest bottom line?
Throne answers, “How can fans send me physical gifts without learning my address?” — solved through a wishlist that keeps the creator's shipping details private (What is Throne?). FanBell answers, “How can I get paid for the questions, shoutouts, services, tips, and project support fans already request?” — through a 12%-fee, no-follower-minimum page that pays out via Stripe.
A streamer who wants both a wishlist for gear and a way to charge for shoutouts could reasonably use both platforms. They solve sufficiently different problems that the decision does not have to be either-or.
If the second question is the one you're trying to solve, create your free FanBell link — it's free to start, with no monthly fee and a 12% platform fee that only applies once a fan pays you.