Ko-fi vs StreamElements Comparison 2026
Ko-fi is a support page that takes nothing from tips on its free plan and 5 percent from memberships, shop sales and commissions, or $12 a month to remove that cut. StreamElements is a free stream toolkit: alerts, overlays, a chat bot and a tipping page, funded by sponsorship deals rather than a cut of anything you make. Ko-fi covers how a creator gets paid across platforms. StreamElements covers how a stream looks and reacts while it is live, with a tip page built in as one piece of that.
Tips, memberships and a shop with no platform cut
Overlays, alerts and a chatbot, all free
At a glance
- Both have a genuinely free tier.
Side by side
Ko-fi | StreamElements | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | From $12 | Free |
| Pricing model (they differ) | Free plan, paid tiers | Free |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Billing (they differ) | Monthly or annual | One-time purchase |
| Free trial | Not stated | None |
| API | Not stated |
Ko-fi
Tips, memberships and a shop with no platform cut
Ko-fi takes nothing from tips on the free plan, which no other platform of its size does. Memberships, commissions and digital downloads all work from the same page. It is lighter than Patreon in every direction, which is often the point.
Our note
The best free option for somebody who mostly gets tipped, and worth weighing against Patreon the moment memberships become the larger half of the income. Do the Gold arithmetic yourself rather than taking the upgrade prompt's word for it.
Only on this side
- Covers memberships & subscriptions
StreamElements
Overlays, alerts and a chatbot, all free
StreamElements is the layer over a stream: alerts when somebody follows, overlays built in a visual editor, a chat bot with commands and loyalty points, and a tipping page. All of it is free with no tier above it, because the business is sponsorships rather than subscriptions. Most streams running something other than plain OBS are running this or its one real rival.
Why people weigh these two
- StreamElements instead of Ko-fi
- StreamElements is free at every tier and bundles stream overlays, alerts and a chatbot, tools Ko-fi does not build, for a streamer who needs the broadcast software too.
- Ko-fi instead of StreamElements
- Ko-fi takes no platform cut on tips, memberships and a shop, paid from $12 with a free tier, if the money matters more than the overlays.
Which one should you pick
Pick Ko-fi if support is the main thing you need: tips, memberships, commissions and a shop from one page, usable whether or not you stream at all. The free plan takes nothing from tips, and Gold at $12 a month removes the 5 percent taken from everything else, which pays for itself once non-tip income passes a predictable monthly figure.
Pick StreamElements if you are running a live stream and need the alerts, overlays and chat bot that make a channel look and feel produced. It costs nothing at any tier, with no upgrade path to pay for, and its tipping page is wired straight to the on-stream alert. A creator who does not stream has little use for the overlay half of the product, even though the tip page alone would still work.
Common questions
- Can I use Ko-fi and StreamElements together?
- Yes, and streamers commonly do. StreamElements handles the on-stream alerts, overlays and chat bot, while Ko-fi runs the support page itself, with memberships, commissions and a shop attached, none of which StreamElements offers.
- Does StreamElements really cost nothing?
- Yes, every feature, with no paid tier above it. The business is funded by sponsorship deals and a creator marketplace rather than by subscriptions, which the listing states plainly rather than burying in fine print.
- How much does Ko-fi take from a sale?
- Nothing from a one-off tip on the free plan. Memberships, the shop and commissions are charged 5 percent unless you pay $12 a month for Gold, which removes that cut entirely and adds supporter-only posts.
- Which one should a non-streaming creator pick?
- Ko-fi. StreamElements is built around a live stream, with overlays and alerts that a writer, artist or podcaster has no use for. Ko-fi's tipping, membership and shop features work for any kind of creator regardless of format.
Ratings are the average of reviews readers left. The facts are stated by each tool’s own listing and are not verified by CloutStack. How we make money.