This article explains the flow of payments: from a fan entering their payment information to when you withdraw your balance to your personal account. Throughout the article, we’ll link to other helpful resources that we think you may be interested in. If you have any questions after reading this overview, feel free to submit a request with our support team for one-on-one help.
Processing online payments
Fans submit their payment information to make purchases and start memberships. Members and customers can use a credit card, PayPal, Apple Pay, or Venmo.
Learn more about the payment methods we accept here: Payment options.
Depending on how you’ve configured your creator page and whether you are offering paid subscriptions and/or one-time purchases, members may be charged immediately, on the first of the month, or per creation.
The image below demonstrates the chain of events that are kicked off when a member enters their payment information to join or when we process their membership payment. This is how we confirm that their payment method is valid and accepts payments. This processing flow is on a per-payment basis.
It’s important to note that a block or error at any stage of the process above may result in a declined payment. We retry declined membership payments; however, there are instances when a member may need to work directly with their payment provider to fix any issues preventing a successful transaction.
If a member reaches out for help with a declined payment, feel free to send them this troubleshooting guide, Troubleshooting a failed payment.
Where can I see how much Patreon has processed for my account?
You can see the total amount we’ve attempted to process in a given month in your Earnings dashboard.
Membership and Commerce fees
You can use this table as a reference guide to understand how fees are applied to your membership and digital product offerings:
| Fee type | Membership application | Commerce application |
| Platform fee |
The platform fee covers the use of Patreon’s platform and may include a flat fee and/or is calculated as a percentage of successfully processed membership payments, excluding sales tax. The platform fee depends on the level and type of Patreon service you select, including whether you choose to use Patreon’s paid membership service, free membership service, and/or service for facilitating one-time purchases.
|
The platform fee covers the use of Commerce and is a flat fee of 5% of the processed transaction amount. The platform fee is the same regardless of your membership platform plan. |
| App store fee |
Beginning in November 2024, Apple is requiring that we use the iOS in-app purchase system for all new memberships made through the Patreon iOS app. Apple takes 30% of the iOS sale price for memberships made on the iOS app. Patreon does not charge a payment processing fee on iOS transactions. Visit our How iOS in-app purchases work on Patreon page to learn more about how creators can control this fee's application. |
Apple charges the App Store fee for processing product purchases made on the Patreon iOS app through its in-app payment system. For products purchased by fans on the iOS app, Apple takes 30% of the iOS sale price.
|
| Currency conversion fees | We apply a 2.5% currency conversion fee on all payments made in a currency other than your payout currency. All fees will be reflected in your payout currency. | We apply a 2.5% currency conversion fee on all transactions made in a currency other than your payout currency. All fees will be reflected in your payout currency. |
| Payment processing fees |
Payment processing fees relate to the cost of using our payment infrastructure. This infrastructure includes recurring billing, recovering declined payments, and fighting fraud. Payment processing fees depend on the level and type of Patreon service you select. Your payment processing fees are applied on a per-transaction basis and depend on the following factors:
|
Payment processing fees cover the cost of using our payment infrastructure. This infrastructure includes billing and fighting fraud. If you receive payments in USD, there is a flat processing rate of 2.9% + $0.30 per commerce transaction. You can visit our commerce fees article for a full list of payment processing rates. |
| Taxes on fees | Not applicable to membership purchases at this time. Subject to change. |
As an intermediary-oriented marketplace, Patreon may have sales tax and VAT obligations related to the services fees it charges to its creators. This obligation usually depends on the local tax laws applicable to a creator’s jurisdiction. Visit our Taxes on fees article to learn more about how taxes on service fees may apply to you. |
Payout fees
When funds are withdrawn from your account, a payout fee will be applied to the payout amount. Visit our Payout Fees resource to learn more about which rates apply to you based on your currency and payout method of choice.
Where can I see my breakdown of fees?
The Monthly earnings details table of your Earnings insights shows fees deducted from your earnings.
Creator balance
Once we process membership payments and applicable fees, your share will be available in your creator balance. Funds from products purchased through Commerce on Web and Android will appear as pending for up to 7 days before they can be withdrawn from your balance. Funds from product sales made via iOS in-app purchases will remain pending for up to 75 days before they will be available for payout, accounting for the time Apple requires to process and confirm the funds.
Once funds are available to withdraw, you can pay out your balance whenever you’d like, wait for the automatic-5th-of-the-month payout (if enabled), or keep funds in your balance for a later date.
There is no cost to creators for keeping funds in their creator balance.
Paying for Merch
If you use Patreon for Merch fulfillment, the cost of the merchandise (based on the quantity and SKUs of the associated items) and shipping will usually be deducted from your balance on the 4th of each month. This may impact your balance if you are enrolled in automatic 5th-of-the-month payouts.
Paying out
You can see a breakdown of your balance withdrawals on a monthly basis by visiting the Withdraw tab.
Payouts timeline
Funds from products purchased through Commerce on Web and Android will appear as pending for up to 7 days before they can be withdrawn from your balance. Funds from product sales made via iOS in-app purchases will remain pending for up to 75 days before they will be available for payout. This additional period accounts for the time Apple requires to process and confirm the funds and only applies to earnings from in-app sales. Funds from membership payments may also appear as pending until they are successfully processed. Once funds are no longer pending and appear as available to withdraw, you can pay out your balance.
Once a payout is initiated, it typically takes 1-5 days for the funds to appear in your personal account. If, for any reason, we are unable to send funds to your account successfully, funds are typically returned to your creator balance.
Beginning in November 2024, Apple will require us to use iOS in-app purchases for digital goods and new memberships to keep the Patreon app available on the Apple App Store. The iOS in-app purchase system requires a 75-day pending period while Apple processes and confirms the funds. Funds from iOS in-app purchases will appear as pending on your account until Apple has settled the transaction. Visit our How iOS in-app purchases work on Patreon page to learn more about this change.
Automatic payouts
If you’d prefer to have one less item on your task list, you can also opt-in to automatic payouts. When enabled, automatic payouts are initiated on the 5th of each month as long as you have a positive balance. You can enable or disable automatic payouts from your Payouts page.
Payout fees
When funds are withdrawn from your account, a payout fee will be applied to the payout amount. Visit our Payout Fees resource to learn more about which rates apply to you based on your currency and payout method of choice.
I need help with a payout
If you need any assistance with locating a payout or fixing an issue with a payout, feel free to email our Support team for one-on-one assistance. Be sure to select ‘Payouts and earnings’ from the dropdown so we can help you as quickly as possible.