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Both of these services make it possible for content creators to accept recurring donations, but PayPal and Patreon differ in a few very important ways.
Whether you’re looking to solicit donations, get people to pay for access to your content, or both, we’re here to help you choose between two powerhouse platforms: Patreon and PayPal. Let’s take a closer look at these two payment platforms that, despite their considerable differences, can be used by artists, gamers, podcasters, writers, and video streamers to draw an income.
Table of Contents
If you’re looking for a donation and/or subscription service to monetize the content you produce and you’re considering PayPal and Patreon, you should understand the differences between the two platforms. These differences will affect how you can get paid, what portion of your earnings will be taken by the platform, and more.
If you are a creator looking for a way to monetize your content, Patreon has far more features to help you with this goal than PayPal. That’s because Patreon was created as a crowdfunding platform based on subscription tiers. Winning Patreon campaigns focus on consistently offering new material to subscribers — it appeals to content creators who are looking for a way to diversify revenue streams.
With Patreon, you’ll receive a hosted creator page, communication tools that enable you to connect with your backers, and assistance with reward distribution. With a higher-level Patreon subscription, you’ll get access to features like the ability to offer different membership tiers, unlimited app integrations, analytics tools, team accounts, and a dedicated partner manager. However, as you’ll see in the Fees section, these features come at a price.
Here’s what Patreon does well:
We think Patreon is great for creators, especially ones who are looking for a basic and familiar platform that takes a lot of the guesswork/creative energy out of setting up a subscription service for content. However, if you have extensive web development abilities, you might be frustrated by the limiting interface of Patreon. It’s designed to be easy to use for everyone, which often means that there are few opportunities for customization.
Additionally, Patreon is lacking in terms of reporting. The fees are also quite pricey, especially if you upgrade to a higher subscription tier.
Here are all of the areas where Patreon falls short:
PayPal, by contrast, lets you take payments and donations, but it’s not an all-in-one crowdfunding platform, and you won’t get a creator page. Anyone with a free PayPal business account can accept one-time donations. To accept recurring payments, however, you’ll need to sign up for the Virtual Terminal or a PayPal Payments Pro account. For other crowdfunding features comparable to what Patreon offers, you’ll need to fill the gap with third-party integrations (thankfully, there’s no shortage of those with PayPal).
PayPal is better for nonprofits interested in fundraising and accepting donations through PayPal.
Here’s a quick look at what PayPal does well:
As we mentioned above, setting up recurring payments isn’t PayPal’s strength. If you’re looking for a way to set up memberships, then PayPal isn’t for you.
Here are some other areas where PayPal misses the mark:
There are four main types of fees you’ll pay with Patreon and PayPal: Platform fees (charged either as a monthly fee or as a percentage of your total monthly earnings), per-transaction payment processing fees, payout fees (fees charged when you move funds from your creator balance to your bank account), and currency conversion fees (only charged when a payment is sent in a currency other than your own).
Check out our PayPal pricing article for a complete breakdown of PayPal’s complex fee structure. For more details on Patreon’s subscription plans and fees, see our Patreon review.
If you’re looking to fund your creative business or project by accepting donations or offering subscriptions, Patreon and PayPal can both be used to facilitate earning an income. Here’s the bottom line:
If you specifically want to sell access to your content on an ongoing basis, Patreon is a much more complete crowdfunding solution. If Patreon sounds close to what you’re looking for, but not quite a great fit, check out the best Patreon competitors.
PayPal, on the other hand, is better if you intend to take individual donations on a one-off basis. It’s entirely possible to use PayPal to draw subscription income, too. Just know that it will require more effort on your part, and you may need to hire a developer. And if PayPal is close to what you want, but you’d like to explore competitors, check out the best PayPal alternatives.
If you’ve used either PayPal or Patreon to earn money through donations or subscriptions, we’d love to hear about your experience.
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