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If Patreon is no longer working for you, these crowdfunding solutions offer similar products to help you manage donations and keep your fan base motivated and engaged.
WRITTEN & RESEARCHED BY
Editor & Senior Staff Writer
Last updated onUpdated
REVIEWED BY
Lead Staff Writer
For podcasters, YouTubers, writers, journalists, artists, comedians, and other creatives, Patreon has provided a convenient way to monetize everything from physical products to podcasts and memberships.
While Patreon is one of the more popular crowdfunding platforms, it isn’t built for every creator. If you want lower fees, more funding options, faster funding, or better customer service, it’s time to seek an alternative platform. This post offers several Patreon alternatives that may fulfill your fundraising needs.
Learn More About Our Top Picks
| Company | Best For | Next StepsBest For |
|---|---|---|
Podia
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Kickstarter
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Indiegogo
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Read more below to learn why we chose these options.
Table of Contents
When comparing alternatives to Patreon, you’ll need to decide what factors are most important. Is it the option to continuously accept donations and raise funds? Or would you prefer low platform fees? Each of these Patreon alternatives offers something a bit different.
| Platform Fees | Processing Fees | |
|---|---|---|
| Podia | 0% to 10% | 2.9% + $0.30 |
| Kickstarter | 5% | 3%-5% |
| Indiegogo | 5% | 3% + $0.20 |
Pros
Cons
Through Podia, you can create a free website, create an email marketing campaign, or create a custom blog. If you want to peddle your online courses or digital downloads, you're in luck because Podia offers these features, too.
You can create and sell your online courses all from the Podia platform. You can also pre-sell courses, create waiting lists, or create bundles. If you're selling digital downloads, Podia makes it possible to create your website, add your content, and start selling in just minutes.
Pros
Cons
Kickstarter crowdfunding campaigns do not operate on Patreon's recurring subscription-like model. However, if you're a creator whose focus is on putting out a few works per year -- as opposed to a continuous stream of content -- Kickstarter may work for you. You can always launch a new Kickstarter campaign after your old one runs its course.
Kickstarter vets crowdfunders fairly strenuously, so not everyone gets in. It's a more exclusive platform than most of its rewards crowdfunding peers, which is a factor to consider if you're a small-time creator. However, Kickstarter has competitive fees, makes it easy to launch a campaign, and is one of the most popular crowdfunding platforms -- upping the odds that your project will get seen.
Pros
Cons
Like Kickstarter, Indiegogo crowdfunding campaigns are not continuous and have concrete start dates and end dates. Unlike Kickstarter, however, Indiegogo gives you the option of launching a Patreon-like continuous crowdfunding campaign after succeeding with your initial campaign. This service is called Indiegogo InDemand, and you can use it if you've already run a successful crowdfunding campaign with any platform -- not just Indiegogo.
Indiegogo doesn't prescreen the campaigners who sign up to crowdfund, making it a less exclusive platform for creatives. Indiegogo also gives you the choice of whether you want your campaign to be all-or-nothing or keep-whatever-you-raise in its structure. With the latter, you won't be left empty-handed if your campaign fails to reach its funding goal.
We spend hours researching and evaluating each crowdfunding platform that we review at Merchant Maverick, placing emphasis on key characteristics to generate our product ratings.
When rating crowdfunding platforms, we use a rubric that looks at terms and fees, project qualifications, application process, sales and advertising transparency, customer service, and user reviews. We weigh each section differently to calculate the total star rating.
Each section is further broken down into granular, weighted subsections, in which we look at specific attributes, such as campaign durations, supported project types, time to funding, application processing times, and platform fees. Learn more about how we rate crowdfunding platforms.
Here’s a crowdfunding solution that ensures you won’t have to pay a platform fee to anybody. You can just directly solicit donations from those who enjoy your work.
Adding a donation button to your website is an easy, hassle-free way to raise funds. If you opt to go this route, there are a number of options available, including:
These payment providers allow people to make recurring payments, so your fans can sign up to support you on a continuing basis (just as with Patreon). You won’t be getting any of the extra crowdfunding services you’d get with Patreon (reward distribution, patron management, analytics, etc.), so this funding solution will require more of your time and energy than Patreon does.
Then again, you’ll get more of every pledge made to you. If you have an existing fanbase motivated to pay up for your content and the ability to manage everything manually, this may be a crowdfunding route worth exploring.
Monetizing your work online has long been challenging. Thankfully, platforms such as Patreon and its various competitors have arisen to plug this market gap and help creators make money from the very people who consume and enjoy their content.
No Patreon alternative is right for everybody, so check out these platforms (check out other ones too if you want!) to determine which funding model makes sense for your particular needs.
Now go forth, create, and get paid!
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