Buy Me a Coffee for memberships
A creator support page with tips, memberships, and an extras shop, charging 5% of earnings and no monthly fee.
What Buy Me a Coffee is
Buy Me a Coffee is a support page. Fans can send one-off payments, join a monthly membership, or buy extras, and the platform takes 5% with no subscription.
Who it’s best for
Individual creators who want the lowest-friction way to let an audience pay them, and who are not ready to commit to a monthly bill.
- Writers, artists, and small creators taking support with no fixed cost
- Anyone testing whether an audience will pay at all
- Creators who want a page live in ten minutes
Who should avoid it
Anyone building a structured membership with community, courses, or gated video. This is intentionally much simpler.
- Community, course, and coaching memberships
- Video and podcast subscription products
- Anyone earning enough that 5% is a meaningful number
Membership models it supports
Not every platform suits every kind of membership. These are the models we consider it a genuine option for.
- Creator or fan membership
- Low-cost membership
Pricing and fees
Read from Buy Me a Coffee's own pricing page on 2026-07-29. Always check the official page before you buy.
| Plan | Monthly | Annual, per month | Platform fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy Me a CoffeeNo monthly fee. A 5% platform fee applies to memberships, extras, and one-off support. | $0 | $0 | 5.0% |
Payment processing. Payments are processed by Stripe on top of the 5% platform fee. Buy Me a Coffee describes Stripe's standard rate rather than publishing its own, and lets you choose whether supporters cover the card fee.
Trial. No monthly cost at all
What it costs in practice
Cheapest plan that holds the member count, including the platform's cut and payment processing.
Just starting
25 members at $20 a month
$47 / month
On Buy Me a Coffee. About 9% of your revenue.
Established
100 members at $25 a month
$228 / month
On Buy Me a Coffee. About 9% of your revenue.
Growing
500 members at $25 a month
$1,138 / month
On Buy Me a Coffee. About 9% of your revenue.
Feature support
What is included, what needs a higher plan, and what simply is not there.
Community features
Partially supportedMember posts and comments, not a discussion space.
Courses
Not supportedCoaching and live events
Not supportedVideo hosting
Partially supportedVideo attachments on posts.
Livestreaming
Not supportedNewsletter and publishing
Partially supportedPosts emailed to supporters.
Private podcast support
Not supportedPayments and monetization
SupportedOne-off support, memberships, and a shop for extras, paid out to your own account.
Branding and customization
Partially supportedA page you can colour, not a site you design.
Branded mobile app
Not supportedAudience discovery
Partially supportedA creator directory exists but rarely drives real traffic.
Email and marketing
Partially supportedIntegrations and API
Partially supportedWebhooks and stream integrations; no full public API.
Migration support
Partially supportedCustomer and data ownership
Partially supportedSupporter lists export, but the billing relationship is theirs.
Important limitations
- Very light on membership features. Supporters get posts and perks, not a platform.
- 5% plus card fees never falls, so it costs more than a flat plan once you are earning steadily.
- No courses, no private podcasts, and no real community.
Data ownership and migration
Mixed. Payouts reach your own account and supporter lists export, but Buy Me a Coffee holds the billing relationship, so moving means asking supporters to re-subscribe.
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Sources
Every fact on this page traces to one of these official pages.