How membership billing works

Creators on Patreon use subscription billing: you’re charged when you join a paid membership and then on the same day each month. If you joined before your creator switched to subscription billing in November 2026, your billing date may be different. See below.

Sales tax will be applied to a membership payment where applicable. Patreon is required by law to add sales tax (including VAT or other similar taxes) to some payments made by members. Learn more about Patreon’s sales tax requirements.

Subscription billing

If a creator has subscription billing enabled, members are billed when they join a creator’s membership and then on the same day of each month thereafter. For example, if a member joins on the 5th of a month, they’ll be billed on the 5th of each month thereafter.

However, if a member is billed on the Nth day of each month but a subsequent month doesn't have N days, the member is billed on the final day of that shorter month, and their billing day resets to that new day.

For example, if a member joins on March 31st, they’ll be billed again on April 30th and then on the 30th of each month thereafter. If they reach February and that February has 29 days (because it’s a leap year), they’ll be billed on February 29th and then on the 29th of each subsequent month. After a year of being billed on the 29th, that member would reach February with only 28 days, and their billing day would reset to the 28th day of each month thereafter.

Payments are processed in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). Depending on your time zone, you might be charged up to 24 hours before the scheduled payment date

We regularly retry failed membership payments and notify members when a payment hasn't gone through, so they can resolve the issue. Members whose payment retries repeatedly fail for ~30 days will be converted to free members. 

If you joined before your creator switched models

• If your creator charged a monthly price on the 1st of the month: you’re still charged on the 1st of each month
• If your creator billed per creation: your membership now has a set monthly price, charged on the 1st of each month. If you set a monthly limit, you won’t pay more than that limit unless your creator changes your price. If your price increases, we'll notify you, and the new price applies from the following billing cycle
• Your creator may have paused billing while they review their new prices. You won’t be charged for the time billing was paused

Annual membership

Annual membership is a billing option where you pay upfront for a year of membership. You’re charged when you sign up and then yearly on your join date. Learn more details about Annual membership.

FAQ

• The names of creators you support will not be included in your statement. Your payment will be processed as Patreon and listed as one of the following line items:

  Credit card	PayPal
  PATREON* Membership   CKO Patreon* Membership	PAYPAL *PATREON IN

• Yes. If your payment declines, you can cancel your membership. We’ll stop retrying the payment, and you’ll lose access to paid benefits.

• Creator's billing model	What happens when you cancel
  Subscription billing	If a member cancels before their next billing date, they retain their membership access until the next billing date (which depends on your join date).  Due to timezone differences, we recommend canceling at least 24 hours before your next billing date if you don’t want your bill to renew.
  Annual membership	If you cancel your annual membership before your next charge date, you'll retain your membership access for the remainder of the year you paid for. You'll lose membership access after your next billing date.

• Creator's billing model	When you upgrade
  Subscription billing	When members upgrade to a higher membership level, their billing date does not change. They'll be charged the outstanding amount immediately and get access to the higher tier membership for the remainder of their billing period. They'll be charged their upgraded membership amount on their next billing date.
  Annual membership	When a member upgrades an annual membership, the system credits a prorated amount for what they’ve already paid, and they pay the remaining upgrade cost. When you update an annual membership, it extends your term for a year from that date.

• Creator's billing model	When you switch to a lower tier
  Subscription billing	If a member switches to a lower tier, they'll remain on their original tier until the next billing date. They'll have access to the lower tier membership on their next billing date.
  Annual membership	Right now, you can’t change your annual membership to a lower tier. You can, however, join a lower tier after your annual membership ends with a slight workaround. You can cancel your membership near the end of your term and then rejoin at a lower tier once the year has passed.

• If you believe you’ve been overcharged, first check your payment statement in your Billing history on Patreon. Reviewing a few months of billing may help you confirm where the additional amount is coming from—declining bills that process later can be alarming if you don’t know what they're for.

  If you have separate charges on your payment statement that don’t add up, you may have more than one account triggering charges. Please log out and then use password reset. You can enter other email addresses you own outside of your known account. If you get the message that we’ve sent you a password reset link to one of your other emails, you also have an account with that email address.