We’ve partnered with Crowdcast to run patron only livestreams! Crowdcast is a premium livestreaming service that makes it easy to livestream and offers great features, including:
Secure, private livestreams
Easy setup- No downloads required for streamers or the audience
Analytics on your engagement and your audience
Real-time commenting, polls and Q&A with audience voting
This service is free for creators during the two-week trial and after, Patreon creators will receive a 20% discount for the service for 3 months. There are four different plans available on Crowdcast. You can learn more about Crowdcast pricing.
How do I make a patron-only Crowdcast livestream?
To set up or schedule a livestream, make a post as you usually would by selecting the posts button on your left sidebar. From here, you’ll find the livestream button.
Select the "Use Crowdcast" button. This will take you to another browser page, where you'll find the option to set up your Crowdcast account if you don't have one already. This will automatically create a Crowdcast account for you, using your Patreon login credentials. You can also choose to set up your first stream at this point on Crowdcast.
Once you have set up your stream, go back to the browser page that your Patreon account is on. Here you’ll have the option to test your livestream and check how it will display or set up a livestream post. On desktop, you can preview your post before publishing by clicking the View button.
You also have the ability to schedule a livestream. Select the date and time you’d like the livestream scheduled.
If you decide to schedule your livestream, you’ll be able to make a post announcing it to your patrons. We’ll also email you one hour before your scheduled livestream to remind you to get everything set up!
If you decide to publish your livestream immediately, select "publish now" button. Don't worry, you won't be officially live yet! You’ll want to continue to Crowdcast to livestream.
Once on Crowdcast, select the green "Prepare to Go Live" button. And it’s go time! your patrons will all be sent an email alerting them of your livestream. They’ll also notice a livestream announcement in their feed but they’ll need to click the crowdcast link to check the livestream.
Does Crowdcast cost money? How much can I stream?
Crowdcast is free for creators during the two-week trial and, afterwards, Patreon creators will receive a 20% discount for the service for 3 months. There are four different plans available on Crowdcast. You can learn more about this at the following link: Crowdcast pricing.
Can I still stream with YouTube(or other services)?
Absolutely! You can continue to stream using YouTube (or any other service) and share the link with your patrons.
Which browsers can I use with Crowdcast?
Crowdcast currently works with desktop or laptop computers running the latest browsers, including:
Chrome
Firefox
Opera
Edge
Safari (To attend the live stream, not broadcasting)
All things equal, Google Chrome tends to work best.