Free from trolls, and ever-changing algorithms – you can now upload videos directly to Patreon!
Article quick links:
- Patreon Video early access details
- Uploading your videos
- Patreon Video previews
- Resolving issues
- Frequently asked questions
Patreon Video early access details
Who has early access to Patreon Video?
Patreon Video is currently only available as an early access feature. You may be eligible for early access to Patreon Video if you meet the following criteria:
✅ You have launched a page on Patreon
✅ You are on our Pro or Premium plans
✅ Your Patreon page is in the All Audiences category
✅ Your account is and remains in good standing
Patreon Video is not currently available to creators who make 18+ content; however, we hope to expand eligibility to more creators in the future. All creators can continue to link or embed videos from other platforms. In order to become eligible for the early access programme for Patreon Video, creators on the Founders or Lite plan can move to the Pro or Premium pricing plan.
You can check your plan and early access eligibility in your Settings.
Storage limit & pricing
Patreon video is now included at no additional cost for eligible creators on Pro and Premium plans through 2023
- During the early access period, we want to give creators time to try Patreon Video to see how integrated video can add value to their membership
- That’s why we’re giving all eligible creators on Pro and Premium plans 500 hours of uploaded videos through the end of 2023
- After 2023, we plan to introduce new pricing for Patreon Video that takes into account the cost of hosting and streaming video natively
- When we do roll out new pricing, all early access creators will have an additional 6 months to use their 500 hours. And the videos you upload during the early-access period will not expire. You won’t lose access to them and your patrons will still be able to stream these videos, even after the end of 2023. You’ll also have the option to link or embed videos from other platforms
- Note: As a thank you for testing with us, we are giving creators who joined the Patreon Video beta 500 additional hours on top of anything used previously before 3 November 2022. You can track your total video usage in your Settings
Content & volume guidelines
Content Guidelines
- Your video content needs to be appropriate for all ages
- Like all content, videos need to meet our Community Guidelines. To keep Patreon safe for everyone, we may need to take down videos that don’t meet guidelines or remove your early access
Volume Guidelines
- We may also review your account if we notice suspicious activity, for example, if there is a higher-than-typical number of hours uploaded within a month
Patreon Video features
For creators
- On-platform previews – Automatically generate previews out of your videos to convert more fans into patrons
- Custom thumbnails – Select a still from your video or upload a new image as a custom thumbnail
- Insights – Analytics for your posts to show you which patrons watch your content and what makes them engage
For patrons
- Picture-in-picture mode – Patrons can watch videos on full screen and view the player in picture-in-picture mode on both desktop and mobile web
- Casting videos to other devices – Patrons can cast videos using iOS Airplay (Android Chromecast is coming soon)
- Video playback speed – Patrons using a Chrome browser will be able to control the video playback speed
- Cross-platform play state – Patrons can start watching a video on desktop, pause and continue watching in-app. We’ll save your place
How to upload directly to Patreon
With Patreon Video, you can upload your videos on desktop and mobile web. Uploading on the Patreon mobile app is not yet available, but is coming soon.
Here’s how to upload with Patreon Video:
- While logged in to your creator account, click on the Create post button from the left menu
- Choose the Video post type
- You can drag and drop your file or click the Select Video button
- If you are uploading on mobile web, you can choose a video from your photo library, take a video using your device camera or browse your device’s files
- While your video is processing, you can fill in your post title, say something about your post, add tags or file attachments and let us know who should have access to your video
- Once your video has been processed, you can customise your thumbnail by sliding through the video and selecting a still or uploading a new image
- If your video is at least 2 minutes, we’ll generate a 30-second video preview to attract more patrons. Keep reading to learn more about customising your video preview
- You can Publish now or Schedule the post to go live at a later time – you can also simply exit the post editor and we’ll save a draft for you to get back to later
Patreon Video previews
With video previews, you can highlight moments from your video posts to help convert more fans into patrons. A video preview is a short clip that plays at the beginning of your video, and encourages fans to join your membership to watch the rest of the video and unlock your posts.
Video previews are automatically enabled for newly created video posts on 27 July 2022, and after.
Editing your video preview
- Click Edit duration for the preview editor to appear. You’ll be able to choose a consecutive clip from a minimum of 10s to a maximum of 120s (2 minutes) from your uploaded video
- New video posts will have a 30 second preview by default
- You can retroactively create a preview for an existing Patreon Video post by visiting your Published posts and clicking the Edit link for a post
- You can disable a preview with the teaser video switch on the right-hand side of the post editor
Video preview specifications
- Your video must be at least 2 minutes in length for a preview to be created
- Video previews can be between 10 seconds and 2 minutes long
- Video previews cannot be created for public posts
- Previews will not automatically play
- Consumption of previews is limited to desktop and mobile web, native mobile is not currently supported
Resolve an issue with Patreon Video
If you encounter an issue while uploading a video, please try these troubleshooting steps to minimise processing time:
- Ensure that the output file is 1080p definition or less
- Make sure that the total file bitrate is below 8mbps
- Check that your colour depth is 8-bit 4:2:0 or below
FAQ
What happens to my videos after 2023?
The videos you upload during this early access period will not expire and there won’t be any extra costs to keep them, even after 2023. You won’t lose access to these videos and your patrons will still be able to stream them.
I’m on the Founders or Lite plan. If I upgrade to Pro or Premium will I get access to Patreon Video?
Yes! If you change to Pro or Premium and your page is in the All audiences category, you may become eligible for early access to Patreon Video. You can switch at any time from your Settings.
I’m an 18+ creator. When will I get access to Patreon Video?
At this stage, Patreon Video is available to launched creators on Pro and Premium plans, whose content is intended and appropriate for audiences of all ages. Our goal is for Patreon Video to ultimately be available to all of our creators, and we are hard at work building additional infrastructure and tooling that can make that possible for 18+ creators. We will keep you updated as we work towards that goal.
Additional information about these categories can be found here, including how to recategorise your page.
All creators can continue to link or embed videos from other platforms.
What does it mean to have an account in good standing?
Your account is in good standing if it has not been flagged for potentially fraudulent behaviour. Additionally, your account activity must comply with Patreon’s Terms and Community Guidelines.
What kind of video content can I upload to Patreon?
Patreon’s Terms and Community Guidelines apply to Patreon Video. As always, Patreon is for creators who put something original out into the world and, as a creator, you may not post creations that infringe on others’ intellectual property rights. At this time we do not permit content with any nudity on Patreon Video, even if it would otherwise be acceptable under our Community Guidelines.
What file types does Patreon Video support?
We support most video formats with 1080p/2k or of smaller definition
What are the limits on Patreon Video?
- There is no file size limit; however, videos cannot exceed 12 hours in length
- There is a total upload limit of 500 hours of uploaded videos through the end of 2023
What’s the quality of the video for members?
It depends on a couple of factors:
- Player size relative to video source size. For example, if the video source is 320 x 240 and the player size is 640 x 480, the player will stretch the video to fill in the dimensions. In that process, the quality of the video degrades
- The patron’s internet bandwidth
Can you migrate my content over from Vimeo or YouTube?
At this time, we do not provide migration support for videos. That said, we’d be interested to know if this is something you’d like to see – please let us know if this is blocking you from using Patreon Video.
Will Patreon Video have closed captions, and if not when will they be available?
This is something we are actively working on building. In the meantime, there are several third-party language and caption service options that may work for you and your patrons. All these options enable live captioning for any platform with audio and are free to use:
-
Google Chrome Live Captions
- You can enable live captions in Google’s Chrome browser through the browser settings
- Requirements: Chrome web browser
-
WebCaptioner
- WebCaptioner is a website that can use your computer audio output to display live captions via their browser application
- Requirements: WebCaptioner works on a desktop computer using the Chrome web browser but can caption audio wherever your microphone/computer is picking it up
-
Android Live Caption App
- Google Play has an Android application that can display live captions on your mobile device as a second screen
- Requirements: Android mobile phone compatible with the Live Caption app. This app will caption whatever audio your mobile phone microphone picks up
What happens if I lose early access to Patreon Video?
In most cases, if you were using Patreon Video as intended but are no longer eligible, nothing happens to your past video posts and you can still post videos using a third-party platform, like Vimeo and YouTube.
Why might I lose early access to Patreon Video?
- Like all content, videos need to meet our Community Guidelines. To keep Patreon safe for everyone, we may need to take down videos that don’t meet guidelines or remove your early access
- If we find that your page or content should be categorised as 18+, your post(s) may be removed and we may revoke your early access to Patreon Video
- We may also review your account if we notice suspicious activity, for example, if there is a higher-than-typical number of hours uploaded within a month
- If we find that you are seeking to abuse early access to Patreon Video or are not using the feature as it was intended, we may remove your video posts and review your account
What happens if I downgrade from Pro or Premium to the Lite plan?
In most cases, if you are using early access to Patreon Video as intended and you downgrade, nothing happens to videos you’ve already uploaded, however, you will no longer be eligible for early access to Patreon Video.
If we find that you are moving plans and seeking to abuse early access to Patreon Video, we may remove your video posts and review your account.
I have a question or issue with Patreon Video. Where do I go?
If you believe you’ve found a bug or have a general question, please reach out to Patreon Support.
If you are in the early access programme and have specific feedback on the product feature, we’d love to hear it! You can share feedback directly from your account by clicking on the Account menu button at the bottom of the left menu (the three dots) > Creator resources > Feature request > choose Patreon Video – Early Access.