This article details how to publish your videos to your Patreon. Keep reading to learn about uploading videos natively on Patreon, privacy settings for third-party video hosting options, and publishing posts for certain members only.
Uploading a video
Uploading a video using Patreon video (Early access)
With Patreon video, creators can easily upload and host videos without ever leaving Patreon.
Patreon Video is available only as an early access feature for Pro and Premium creators. You may be eligible for early access to Patreon Video if:
- You've published your Patreon
- Your Patreon is Safe for all audiences
- Your Patreon has not been flagged for potentially fraudulent behaviour and complies with our Community Guidelines and Terms of use
You can check your early access eligibility in your Settings.
Learn how it works and how to get started by visiting our help centre article on Patreon Video Early Access.
Uploading a video using a URL
You can upload a video link to a Video Post, and it will display as the main body of your post in a player box. Here’s how:
- While logged in to your creator account, click on the Create button from the left-hand side of your creator menu
- Choose the Video button option
-
Click on Embed video URL
- If you do not see this option, make sure the Make this a Drop toggle is turned off. When this feature is enabled, you can only upload video posts from your device. For more details on scheduling Drops, refer to our Drops guide
- Add your URL to the textbox and a preview of your video will populate
- Don’t forget to add your title and a short summary of what you’re posting before publishing
- On desktop, you can preview your post before publishing or scheduling your post by clicking the View
button
Note: We use Embed.ly for all embedded Video Posts. You can test your URL there to ensure that your video will post properly. Add your URL into the textbox field, and click the arrow link to the right. If you find an error in the “type” field, your URL will not post, and you’ll want to double-check your link.
Uploading a video using Vimeo
You can set up the Vimeo integration available on Pro and Premium Plans on Patreon.
If you'd like to start using the Vimeo integration, select Vimeo and then follow the steps in this Help Centre article: Upload your videos with Vimeo
Other video hosting options
If you’re looking for other options to host your videos, we have a recommended list of other Video hosting options that may work for you.
Privacy Settings for YouTube and Vimeo
Ultimately, only you can decide what level of security you want for your videos. With that said, there are some basic settings that we recommend on YouTube and Vimeo to ensure that your videos will play on Patreon.
YouTube
If you're using YouTube as your 3rd party hosting site, there are a few settings you can enable to ensure that members can access your videos on desktop, and the Patreon app. With YouTube, we recommend publishing your video as Unlisted. Additionally, there are a couple of YouTube default Advanced settings that you'll want to keep as-is.
- Keep the Licence and rights ownership field on the default Standard YouTube Licence. If you change this, your videos will not play on the Desktop or the app for members.
- In the Distribution options setting, be sure to leave Allow embedding ticked.
Note: If you're finding that your video is “Unavailable” on the app, in particular, you'll want to double-check your licensing on YouTube. YouTube may add additional copyright licensing to a video that uses music from different artists. This license prevents embedded players within apps from playing these videos outside of their own app or website. You can learn more about music in videos hosted by YouTube following this next link: YouTube.
Vimeo
When editing the privacy settings for your videos on Vimeo, there are a few things we recommend doing to ensure that your videos play for your members when they try to check them on desktop and the Patreon app.
- We recommend you set your video privacy as Hide from Vimeo or Public. Selecting different options may result in errors for members
- In the Where can this be embedded? field of your Vimeo privacy settings, we recommend allowing embedding Anywhere. That said, we understand that you want to keep your videos secure. If you select the option to allow embedding only on Specific domains, you’ll want to add www.patreon.com as a domain (click the + sign to add it)
To learn more about Vimeo's privacy settings, head on over to Vimeo privacy settings.
Using the Vimeo integration for Patreon?
If you are using the Vimeo integration with Patreon, the privacy settings are already configured, and only members who can access that particular post can access the video. These settings can always be changed within Vimeo.
Attaching a video file to a post
You can attach a video file to any Post type directly from your device.
This won’t show as a video player in the main body of your post, but it will populate as a link at the bottom of your post. Members can then click on the link to download your video file. To attach your video file, click the Upload button near the bottom of the Post creator/editor.
What file types can I attach to video posts?
Your video file must be 200 MB or less and in one of the following file formats:
.mov, .mp4, .mpeg and .ogg,
You’ll know that your file is attached when the upload arrow is gone, and you’ll find your file listed at the bottom of the post.
How do I make a post for certain members only?
Note: If your Patreon is categorised as adult content, your posts will default to paid members only. If your Patreon is categorised as safe for all audiences, your posts will default to Public.
You can set post access by creating/editing a post under Who can see this post? You can set your post access to:
- Public: Anyone can access your post – free and paid members, as well as non-members, whether logged in or not
- All members: All free and paid members will be able to access your post. Non-members will see the content as locked
- Paid members only: Everyone with a paid membership, regardless of tier, can access the post
- Free members only: Only free members can access your post. Paid members won’t see these posts in their feeds, but the post will still be visible for non-members, locked and with an option to Join for Free to access the content.
- Selected tiers: You can manually choose which membership tiers have access
If you’re a per-creation creator, you cannot simultaneously charge members and make a Post only for certain members. You can find more information about how per creation billing works.