Making the work
Growing an audience
Running the business
7 tools that solve a similar problem. Compare what each costs and what it covers.
Recurring donations with no platform cut
Liberapay collects the same recurring supporter donations with no platform cut at all, a plainer swap for the tips side of Buy Me a Coffee.
Membership tiers with the fees printed
SubscribeStar covers the membership half of the job with tiers and its fees printed up front, and it is free to start like Buy Me a Coffee.
Works with YouTube, Discord
Sell access to a community with no monthly fee
Whop sells access to a community with no monthly fee, free to start, aimed at recurring membership rather than one-off tips.
Sell digital products with almost no setup
Gumroad picks up the shop half, selling digital products with almost no setup and free to start, better for a creator whose sales outweigh their tips.
Overlays, alerts and a chatbot, all free
StreamElements bundles tip alerts into stream overlays and a chatbot, all free, built for somebody streaming live rather than running a general creator page.
Works with YouTube, Twitch, Kick
Tips, memberships and a shop with no platform cut
Ko-fi runs the same page of tips, memberships and a shop but takes no platform cut, charging a $12 subscription for extras instead of the 5 percent Buy Me a Coffee keeps.
Works with YouTube, Twitch
Membership tiers and posts for paying supporters
Patreon is the step up when supporters become subscribers, built around membership tiers and posts for paying members rather than one-off thanks.
Works with YouTube, Podcast, Discord
