Growing an audience
Running the business
Both cover tips & donations and monetization & payments. Here is what separates them on price, billing, what you can take with you, and coverage.
| Liberapay | SubscribeStar | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | Free | Free |
| Pricing model | Free | Free |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Billing | Usage-based | Usage-based |
| Free trial | Not stated | Not stated |
| API | Not stated | Yes |
| Data export | Not stated | Not stated |
| Their cut | None | 5% of what you earn |
| Runs on | Web | Web |
| Covers | Tips & Donations, Monetization & Payments | Tips & Donations, Memberships & Subscriptions, Monetization & Payments |
| Works with | Nothing in particular | YouTube, Discord |
| Founded | Not listed | Not listed |
| Reader rating | No reviews yet | No reviews yet |
| Live deals | None right now | None right now |
Recurring donations with no platform cut
Liberapay is a non-profit that collects recurring donations and keeps none of them, funding itself from donations to its own page. Money moves weekly rather than monthly, and a donor pays several weeks ahead so the processing fee is charged once. There are no tiers, no rewards and no shop, which is the point for people who wanted a way to be paid rather than a platform to run.
Our note
Nothing else in this catalog takes zero. The cost is everything a platform normally provides, discovery, tiers, a shop and a support team, so choose it because you agree with how it works rather than to save the ten percent.
Membership tiers with the fees printed
SubscribeStar runs paid membership tiers and posts for creators, and prints its fee arithmetic on the front page rather than in a help centre. A free profile gets the publishing tools and the money only costs something when it moves. It is smaller than the platform everybody names first, which matters, because a membership platform is only worth what an audience will follow you onto.
Our note
Patreon takes 10 percent and gives you an audience that already has an account there. This takes half that and gives you none, which is the entire decision. It is worth running as a second option rather than a replacement.
Only on this side
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.