All creators still on legacy billing must switch to subscription billing by November 1, 2026. If you don't take action before the deadline, we'll switch you automatically. In that case, we'll pause your billing and migrate you using a recommended multiplier. Your billing will remain paused until you log in to consent to the new multiplier or update the prices yourself.
Need help? If you'd like one-to-one assistance during this transition, you must contact Support via your settings before October 1, 2026. For additional details, check out our guides on switching to subscription billing from per-creation, first-of-the-month, or iOS in-app purchases.
Subscription billing offers a more predictable model for you and your members and unlocks features like Autopilot, Gifting, Discounts, and Tier Repricing.
How charge upfront billing works
Charge upfront is a legacy billing model, which means it’s no longer available to new creators. With charge upfront billing, members pay to join your membership and then pay monthly on the 1st after signup. Members’ first payment gives them access to your backlog of creations and their membership. We then process members' payments on the 1st of every month after that.
Each first-of-the-month charge gives members membership access for that month. For example, a member's January 1st payment gives them membership access throughout January.
Members' experience with charge-upfront billing
New member experience
New members pay when they sign up. A member's sign-up payment gives them access to your back catalog. Following their first payment, members’ bills renew on the 1st of each month at approximately 12:00 am PT.
Existing member experience
If you switched to charge upfront before September 16, 2022, you may have existing members and be wondering what they’ll experience. Members who joined before you enabled charge upfront billing will experience no billing change unless they increase their membership.
| Existing member upgrades | Existing member downgrades |
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Suppose an existing member upgrades their membership after you switch to charge upfront. In that case, they'll pay the difference between their previous and upgraded membership. After their initial upgrade payment, we will process their membership renewal payment on the 1st of each month from then on.
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If an existing member downgrades their membership, they'll experience no change. Since they aren't unlocking new content and have paid for the current month in total, there is no need for an additional payment. When their membership renews on the 1st of the month, their membership access and payment amount will reflect their new subscription. |
How to manage members with charge upfront billing
If you launched on or after September 26, 2022, with charge upfront, you’re starting fresh, and you can refer to your Relationship manager to manage new members.
If you switched to charge upfront before September 26, 2022, a new billing month appears in your Relationship Manager.
When you get your first new member after turning on charge upfront, the current month will populate as a billing month in your Relationship Manager. The new month will include new members who joined after you switched and exclude existing members.
Why the change? Once we start processing new members' payments as a charge upfront, our system needs to account for that transition month. All of your members will pay for their renewal on the 1st of the month, but only new members will have an initial sign-up payment.
Your existing members will populate in the upcoming month's income reports.
As an example:
| Pre-charge upfront > | Charge upfront enabled > | Every month after |
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Member A joins on April 12. They pay on May 1 when you bill members monthly, but not with upfront billing. Member A's payment is listed under the April line item in your Relationship Manager with a May 1 processing date. |
On May 13, you turn on charge upfront. Member B signs up and pays on May 20. For May, a new line item appears to account for this new income with your new billing model. |
On June 1, we process all of your members' (new and existing) subscription payments. A line item appears for June and includes member A and member B's payments. Every month after May includes all members, regardless of their join date. |
Apple's requirement to use iOS in-app purchases
Apple requires that purchases made in the Patreon iOS app use their in-app purchase (IAP) system. This system only supports our subscription billing model, which means charge-upfront memberships can’t be purchased through the iOS app (except for U.S. customers purchasing memberships — see below).
FAQ
- Members who upgrade pay the difference between their previous pledge level and their new pledge level. Say that member D was charged $10 on March 1. They then upgraded to $15 on March 7. On March 7, they paid $5 to upgrade. Member D has paid a total of $15 for March.
- Members who downgrade will be charged the new amount on the 1st of the month. There is no charge for downgrading, and they’ll retain their original membership access until the next billing date on the 1st. Members who downgrade will not receive a refund.
- You’ll find a detailed payment history for each member in your Relationship manager.