Did Patreon Change Its Fees in 2026?

No, Patreon did not raise its platform fee in 2026. Its last major change took effect August 4, 2025: creators who published after that date pay a flat 10% platform fee, while earlier creators generally retain legacy rates between 5% and 12%; payment processing is separate (Patreon Help Center). 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.

If your older page still shows its previous rate, that is expected: Patreon applied the new standard plan to creators launching after the cutoff rather than automatically moving existing pages to it.

What changed with Patreon's fees?

Before August 4, 2025, Patreon offered new creators a choice of three plans — Lite, Pro, and Premium — with different platform fees. Patreon retired that tiered signup structure and replaced it with a single standard 10% platform plan for every creator who publishes a page from that date forward, plus applicable taxes and separate payment processing (Patreon Help Center).

Patreon's standard platform fee is 10% for creators who published after August 4, 2025, while creators published before that cutoff retain legacy rates between 5% and 12%.

A separate 2026 change affects billing schedules rather than fee percentages. Creators still using legacy 1st-of-the-month or per-creation billing must move to subscription billing by November 1, 2026, and Patreon will automatically migrate creators who have not switched before the deadline. This does not alter the rates above (Patreon Help — Subscription Billing FAQ).

What is Patreon's fee for new creators now?

A creator starting a Patreon page now pays a 10% platform fee on earnings, plus applicable taxes and separate payment processing — the single standard rate that replaced the old Lite/Pro/Premium plan choice.

For USD payments, Patreon's standard processing rate is 2.9% + $0.30 per payment. A separate 2.5% currency conversion fee applies whenever a patron pays in a currency different from the creator's payout currency (Patreon Help — Creator fees overview).

For a broader explanation of how platform and processing charges stack, see creator platform fees explained.

Did existing creators’ fees go up?

No. Patreon grandfathered creators whose pages were published before August 4, 2025 into their legacy plans rather than automatically moving them to the 10% standard rate, and those legacy fees range from 5% to 12% of processed sales depending on the plan.

Patreon also renamed its legacy tiers as part of the same change: the former Lite, Pro, and Premium plans are now labeled Founders, Pro, and Pro + Merch in the Creator fees overview, still charging 5%, 8%, and 12% respectively.

Grandfathered pricing is not necessarily permanent. Patreon states that if you unpublish your page—or Patreon unpublishes it for any reason—the page moves to the standard 10% pricing when republished.

How much does Patreon take in total?

A new creator on the standard plan owes the 10% platform fee plus payment processing of 2.9% + $0.30 per payment and applicable taxes; on the sample pledges below, that works out to roughly 16-18% of the pledge total because the fixed per-payment charge weighs more heavily on smaller amounts (Patreon Help — Creator fees overview).

For standard USD payments, processing is 2.9% + $0.30 per payment (Patreon Help — Creator fees overview). The fixed $0.30 charge represents a larger percentage of a $3 payment than of a $30 payment.

Patreon applies a lower micropayment processing rate of 5% + $0.10 to pledges of $3 or less.

Applying those published rates to two sample pledges on the standard plan: a $3 pledge owes a $0.30 platform fee plus the $0.25 micropayment charge (5% + $0.10), leaving the creator $2.45, or about 81.7% of the pledge; a $10 pledge owes a $1.00 platform fee plus the $0.59 standard processing charge (2.9% + $0.30), leaving the creator $8.41, or about 84.1% of the pledge (calculated from Patreon Help — Creator fees overview rates).

For examples of earnings after these charges, see how much Patreon creators make.

How does Brillay compare for one-off follower payments?

Followers pay upfront; you can decline a request. Tips let followers send a one-time thank-you, with nothing for you to deliver and no membership for them to join. Followers can pay for Paid Questions, Personalized Videos, Custom Work, or fund a Goal with no follower account needed. You can start with a small audience: there is no follower minimum and no monthly fee, and Stripe pays creators out in 41 countries. (how it works) (pricing) Stripe processing is separate from Brillay's platform fee, at Stripe's standard U.S. online domestic-card rate of 2.9% + $0.30 per successful card charge (Stripe pricing).

Stripe processing fees are deducted separately from creator earnings and vary by country, currency, and payment method.

If your followers already pay monthly for ongoing access, Patreon may fit better; if they only want a specific answer, review, commission, shoutout, or way to support one project, Brillay gives them a one-time option. If people keep asking for free advice or custom work in your DMs, offer a Paid Question or one clearly defined Custom Work deliverable at a fixed price, so the scope is clear before you start.

Whichever platform you use, read the current fee terms from the original source rather than relying only on a secondhand summary—including this one.

Frequently asked questions

Did Patreon raise its fees in 2026?

Not specifically. The major change took effect August 4, 2025, when Patreon replaced its tiered plans for new creators with a single 10% platform fee. That standard rate remained in effect as of September 2026, while eligible existing creators retained their legacy plans (Patreon Help — Creator fees overview).

What is Patreon's platform fee right now?

New creators pay a 10% platform fee, plus applicable taxes and separate processing. Standard USD processing is 2.9% + $0.30 per payment, while pledges of $3 or less use a 5% + $0.10 micropayment rate (Patreon Help — Creator fees overview).

Legacy creators may pay between 5% and 12%, depending on their grandfathered plan (Patreon Help — Creator fees overview).

Are existing Patreon creators affected by the fee change?

Creators whose pages were published before August 4, 2025 were not automatically moved to the 10% standard plan. However, Patreon says that an unpublished page moves to the standard 10% fee when republished, including when Patreon unpublishes the page.

How does Brillay's fee compare?

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. There is no plan to pick and no grandfathered rate to lose by unpublishing a page, and the card charge is billed to you on top rather than taken out of the platform fee, so it varies by country, currency and payment method.

Instead of asking for money in every post, create your free Brillay page, set a clear option such as a $25 portfolio review or $50 commission, and keep one link in your bio for followers who want it.