Ko-fi vs. Buy Me a Coffee

Ko-fi and Buy Me a Coffee are both free to join with no required monthly fee. Buy Me a Coffee charges a flat 5% platform fee per transaction before processing add-ons; Ko-fi charges 0% on tips only on its basic free account, since its Standard plan — the default for new creators — charges 5% on all payment types. 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.

For tips and one-time support, Ko-fi is usually the cheaper starting point if you can use its basic free account for tips. Buy Me a Coffee is simpler to understand because it uses a flat 5% platform fee. Neither requires a monthly fee or a follower minimum. If people also ask you for commissions, reviews, or paid custom work, compare those request tools with Brillay’s Custom Work before you choose where to send them. The commission is the product, not an add-on: the price, the scope and the delivery window are published before anyone orders, the brief is collected at checkout, and the follower pays upfront by card as a guest, so the work arrives already paid for and already specified.

Ko-fi and Buy Me a Coffee are both free to join. Buy Me a Coffee lists a flat 5% platform fee per transaction before the extra processing and payout costs in its help article. Ko-fi lists 0% on tips only on its basic free account; its Standard plan — the default for new creators — lists 5% on all payment types.

Both 5% figures are platform fees only. Stripe's processing fee applies on both platforms, and Buy Me a Coffee documents a further 0.5% payout fee, +1% on non-US transactions, and +0.5% on recurring membership payments. Fees and features change without much notice, so confirm current numbers on the official Ko-fi pricing page and Buy Me a Coffee help center before deciding.

Which should I pick?

Choose Ko-fi if your main use case is one-off tips and you can stay on the basic free account, where Ko-fi lists a 0% service fee on tips. Choose Buy Me a Coffee if you prefer one clear 5% rule across tips, memberships, and shop sales. Both let you start at $0/month, and neither publishes a follower minimum.

Ko-fi's pricing page says Ko-fi free has a 0% service fee on tips and a 5% fee on memberships, shop sales, and commissions. The same page says Standard is the default for new creators and charges 5% on all payment types in exchange for tools such as supporter-only content and scheduled posts. Ko-fi's help center says the same thing: on Standard, a flat 5% fee applies to one-time tips, shop, commissions, monthly tips, and memberships too (Does Ko-fi take a fee?).

Buy Me a Coffee keeps the fee rule easier to read: 5% per transaction, with the creator keeping 95% before the other fees listed in its help article updated March 18, 2026. That is simpler across tips, memberships, and shop sales, but it costs more on tips than a basic Ko-fi free account. If you are deciding whether that cleaner setup is worth it, is Buy Me a Coffee worth it breaks down what you get for the 5%.

Neither platform requires a monthly fee. Ko-fi says accounts are free to create and there are no monthly charges, while Buy Me a Coffee says it does not charge a monthly fee. If Patreon is also on your list, Patreon vs. Ko-fi vs. Buy Me a Coffee compares all three. The bigger question is whether you need a tip jar, memberships, and a shop, or whether you need a fixed-price way to answer private questions or deliver one small custom project. Ko-fi and Buy Me a Coffee memberships continue month to month; a paid question is one payment for one written answer, and the work ends with that answer.

How do Ko-fi and Buy Me a Coffee compare feature by feature?

Both platforms cover tips, memberships, and a shop for $0/month. Ko-fi adds a Commissions format and an optional $12/month Gold tier that drops its service fee to 0% on all payment types, according to the Ko-fi pricing page. Buy Me a Coffee keeps one flat 5% and publishes no paid tier, according to its help center. If the shop is the deciding factor, compare Buy Me a Coffee with Gumroad before choosing a sales home. If Stan Store is also on your shortlist, this Buy Me a Coffee and Stan Store comparison covers fees, monthly costs, and selling tools.

Sources: Ko-fi's figures come from the Ko-fi pricing page, Does Ko-fi take a fee?, and the Ko-fi Gold explainer, which prices Gold at $12/month for new users and says it unlocks 0% service fees on all payment options. Buy Me a Coffee's figures come from How to calculate charges on your payment, updated March 18, 2026, and When are payouts processed?. The 2.9% + $0.30 figure is Stripe's own published US online-card rate (Stripe pricing), not a platform fee.

Which is cheaper, Ko-fi or Buy Me a Coffee?

For tips, a basic Ko-fi free account is cheaper: 0% versus Buy Me a Coffee's flat 5%. On $1,000 of monthly tips, that is $0 in platform fees on Ko-fi free versus $50 on Buy Me a Coffee, before processing costs. On shop, membership, and commission sales, both charge 5%, so the platform-fee gap disappears.

Here is the side-by-side math using each platform's own published rates:

• A single $10 tip costs $0.00 in platform fees on a basic Ko-fi free account and $0.50 on Buy Me a Coffee's 5%.
• $1,000 of monthly tips costs $0 on a basic Ko-fi free account and $50 on Buy Me a Coffee.
• $1,000 of monthly shop sales costs $50 on either platform, because both charge 5% on shop sales.
• A $10/month membership costs $0.50 on Ko-fi and $0.55 on Buy Me a Coffee, whose docs add +0.5% for recurring membership payments on top of the 5%.
• A $50 tip from a supporter outside the US costs $0.00 in platform fees on a basic Ko-fi free account and $3.00 on Buy Me a Coffee, whose docs add +1% for international transactions outside the US to the 5%.
• Stripe's published US online-card rate of 2.9% + $0.30 per successful transaction applies separately on both platforms — about $0.59 on that $10 tip — and Stripe's own pricing page notes different rates for non-US cards and other payment methods, while a Ko-fi creator paid via PayPal is charged PayPal's rate instead.

Two details can change the answer. First, Ko-fi's Standard plan — which its pricing page calls the default for new creators — charges 5% on all payment types, so a new Ko-fi creator who stays on Standard pays the same 5% on tips that Buy Me a Coffee charges. Second, Buy Me a Coffee's help center lists three costs layered on top of its 5%: a 0.5% payout-processing fee, +1% for international transactions outside the US, and +0.5% for recurring membership payments, alongside Stripe's 2.9% + $0.30. Ko-fi's pricing page says there are no buyer fees, payout fees, marketing fees, or other platform fees beyond its service fee and standard processor fees.

Ko-fi Gold costs $12/month and removes the 5% service fee entirely, so it breaks even at $240/month in fee-charged revenue — the point where 5% of sales equals the $12 plan price, using Ko-fi's own published $12/month and 5% figures. Below $240/month in memberships, shop sales, and commissions, the free or Standard plan is cheaper. For a fuller breakdown, see does Ko-fi take a percentage and the Buy Me a Coffee fees explainer.

What do Ko-fi and Buy Me a Coffee have in common?

Both are $0/month to join, charge a percentage only when a supporter pays, and offer the same three broad formats: one-time support, memberships, and a shop. Ko-fi pays into your own PayPal or Stripe account. Buy Me a Coffee pays through Stripe to your bank.

Ko-fi's pricing page says creators get paid instantly, receiving earnings directly in their own PayPal or Stripe account. Buy Me a Coffee's help center says a creator can request a payout once the support amount reaches $10, that the first request goes through review, and that the first payout may take 7–14 days total, including bank timing.

Ko-fi requires a connected processor rather than processing payments itself. Its pricing page says creators need PayPal or Stripe to get paid and lists supporter payment options including PayPal, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Venmo, Cash App, and credit or debit cards. Buy Me a Coffee says it partnered with Stripe to process payments and pays net earnings to the creator's bank account. Neither the Ko-fi pricing page nor the Buy Me a Coffee help center publishes an audience-size or follower minimum for opening a page.

Where do paid questions or custom work fit?

Neither platform is mainly built for repeated inbox questions that should become private paid written answers, or for one small custom project with a fixed price, clear scope, and one delivery. Ko-fi offers Commissions for paid custom work at a 5% service fee. Buy Me a Coffee also takes commissions alongside its tips, memberships, and shop, under the same flat per-transaction fee.

Ko-fi's help center says Commissions carry a 5% fee, with no service fee for Ko-fi Gold creators and normal payment-processor fees still applying. Buy Me a Coffee's commissions sit beside its tips, memberships, and shop as one more thing a supporter can buy.

If open-ended support feels awkward, give people a specific thing to buy. On Brillay, Custom Work handles small custom work, Tips are one-time thank-yous with nothing owed back, Paid Questions provide one private written answer, Personalized Videos are custom videos, and Goals are named goals with a progress bar. Connect your bank through Stripe, and Stripe pays you out in any of Brillay's 41 supported payout countries, as explained in how Brillay works. Many creators run it next to a Ko-fi or Buy Me a Coffee page, not instead of one. For the head-to-head details, see Brillay vs. Ko-fi and Brillay vs. Buy Me a Coffee. (Brillay's pricing)

Frequently asked questions

Should I use Ko-fi or Buy Me a Coffee for tips?

Ko-fi is cheaper for tips on a basic free account, where its pricing page lists 0% service fee on tips. Buy Me a Coffee lists a 5% platform fee per transaction. On $1,000 of monthly tips, that is $0 versus $50 in platform fees, calculated from those two published rates. The catch is the default: Ko-fi's pricing page labels the Standard plan as the default for new creators and prices it at 5% on all payment types, so confirm which plan your account is on before assuming the 0% tip rate. Stripe's published US card rate of 2.9% + $0.30 per successful transaction applies on both platforms regardless.

Do I need to pay monthly for Ko-fi or Buy Me a Coffee?

No required monthly fee is published for either one. Ko-fi says creating an account is free and there are no monthly charges. Buy Me a Coffee says it does not charge a monthly fee and instead applies a 5% platform fee per transaction. Ko-fi's optional upgrade, Ko-fi Gold, is priced at $12/month for new users and unlocks 0% service fees on all payment options, per Ko-fi's Gold explainer. Buy Me a Coffee publishes no paid tier.

Do I need a certain number of followers to use either platform?

No follower minimum is published by either the Ko-fi pricing page or the Buy Me a Coffee FAQ, so a small account can still open a page. Buy Me a Coffee does have a money threshold for payouts: its help center says a payout can be requested once the support amount received reaches $10.

Can I keep Ko-fi or Buy Me a Coffee and use another tool too?

Yes. Neither the Ko-fi pricing page nor the Buy Me a Coffee FAQ says you must use it exclusively. A practical setup is Ko-fi or Buy Me a Coffee for tips, memberships, and a shop, alongside Brillay for Paid Questions, Personalized Videos, or Custom Work. All three have a $0/month starting point: Ko-fi says there are no monthly charges, Buy Me a Coffee says it does not charge a monthly fee, and Brillay charges no monthly fee either.

Related reading

If you are unsure what to charge, test a $3 tip or a $25 portfolio review, then compare the costs in creator platform fees compared and the best online tip jars for creators. If you are weighing either of these against paid questions or paid custom work specifically, Brillay vs. Ko-fi and Brillay vs. Buy Me a Coffee cover those comparisons directly.

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