Subscription Billing FAQ

This article covers FAQs about the subscription billing model, which charges new members when they join and monthly on that same date.

iOS in-app purchases and migrating to subscription billing

To keep the Patreon app available in the Apple App Store for all creators, Apple is requiring that we use their in-app purchase system for new memberships in the Patreon iOS app beginning in November 2024. Apple’s in-app purchase system only supports our subscription billing model. Apple has made clear that if creators on Patreon continue to use unsupported billing models or disable transactions in the iOS app, we will be at risk of having the entire app removed from their App Store. This means that creators using a legacy billing model will not be able to sell new memberships in the iOS app and will have to migrate to subscription billing by November 2025. 

Patreon will be migrating all creators from a 1st-of-the-month or per-creation billing model to subscription billing by November 2025. If you wish to continue offering new memberships in the iOS app after beginning in November 2024, you can migrate to subscription billing ahead of November 2025. Visit our iOS in-app purchases and migrating to subscription billing page to learn more about this change and what steps we’re taking to support creators through this transition.

When to migrate

While all creators will be migrated to subscription billing by November 2025, creators not on subscription billing will have the opportunity to decide when they want to migrate:

• First-of-the-month billing creators will be automatically migrated to subscription billing beginning on November 4, 2024, so your fans can continue to purchase your membership in the iOS app. You can delay the migration to subscription billing by selecting this option in your Settings by November 1, 2024. To learn more about this process, please visit How to move from the 1st of the month to subscription billing
• Per-creation billing creators can start the migration process to subscription billing any time before November 2025. We are giving you more time to migrate because it is a manual process that requires help from our Product Support team. To learn more about this process, please visit How to move from per creation to subscription billing. If you’re ready to switch to subscription billing now, you can fill out this form to start the process.

If you remain on a billing model other than subscription billing after November 2024, your existing members will not experience any changes, but new fans will lose the ability to purchase a membership in the iOS app (until you switch or are migrated to subscription billing).

How subscription billing works

• New paid members are charged when they join and monthly on that same date instead of on the 1st of each month. For example, a member who signs up on April 12 is charged again on May 12. Members will see their next charge date at checkout and in their Memberships tab
• Nothing changes for your existing members. They’re still charged on the 1st of each month
• Your payout schedule doesn’t change, and you can still opt to receive an automatic payout on the fifth (or manually withdraw a lump sum each month)
• This is a one-time change. Switching to subscription billing is permanent, so you won’t be able to switch back to your current billing model. If you choose not to switch in November, your billing model will still be migrated to subscription billing in 2025, when all other billing models are deprecated

How does subscription billing compare with my current billing model?

When are funds from subscription billing payments available?

Funds will be available as soon as they are settled. You can opt to receive an automatic payout on the fifth, as most creators do, or manually withdraw a lump sum each month.

The difference between subscription billing and first-of-the-month billing is that your account balance may accumulate at a different rate (spread throughout the month vs. a large amount on the first). But in both scenarios, the same amount still accumulates if you continue paying out your account balance at the same time every month.

(You may pay out as frequently as once every 24 hours. However, as with all payouts, we may cap the number of payouts available per month if payout costs and patterns change dramatically in the future.)

Before	After

Member Experience

What do new members see when they sign up?

New members will see clear messaging at checkout, letting them know their next payment will be the following month on the same date, just as they expect from other recurring subscriptions. Their Billing History will also reflect their specific billing date. They can see their next charge date and amount under Settings in their Memberships tab.

What can I tell members about the change?

Existing members won’t be billed any differently than they are now, so there are no updates to communicate to them. If you currently communicate how billing works on your page, you can now tell prospective members:

You’re charged when you join and monthly on that same date, just like any typical subscription. You can see your next charge date at checkout and in your Memberships tab.

What happens if a member's billing date falls on a day that doesn’t occur each month, like the 31st?

The member's bill will be renewed on the last available date of next month, and that date will be the monthly billing date going forward. Someone who joins on January 30 will renew on February 28 and then on the 28th of each month after that. Members can view their next charge date in their Memberships tab at any time. This renewal date is also displayed for creators in Relationship Manager under Next Charge Date.

How does subscription billing work for annual memberships?

New members on an annual membership will renew the following year on their signup date, instead of on the 1st of the month following their signup date. For example, a member who signs up on November 3, 2021, would renew on November 3, 2022 (compared to December 1, 2022, as is the case today). These members will still receive a reminder email the month before their membership renews.

What happens if a member's subscription bill declines?

If a member's payment declines, they'll lose access to your exclusive content. Once they fix their payment, they'll regain access. However, their billing date remains their join date, not the payment resolution date.

You can send the following guide to help members fix their payment: Why was my payment declined?

What happens for members who subscribe to multiple creators on subscription billing?

On subscription billing, every membership renews separately on the date the member signed up for that membership. This means members who subscribe to multiple creators throughout the month will be charged on the unique bill dates for those memberships throughout the month. If a member signs up for multiple memberships on the same day, those would all have the same monthly bill date and be charged in one transaction.

Over the past year, we tested a variety of billing models, including some that combined members’ bills to multiple creators. This current subscription billing model ensures creators are paid in full and upfront when a member signs up (which is important for content protection and benefit delivery), and provides a simple, familiar billing experience for members.

Additionally, members can see a clear view of what and when they’ll be charged for all memberships each month in their Memberships tab.

What happens if a member upgrades or downgrades their subscription?

Upgrading or downgrading will not change a member's billing date. As happens today, members who upgrade get charged the outstanding amount straight away and get access to the higher tier straight away for the remainder of their billing period. Downgrades will remain on the original tier until the next billing date.

What happens if an existing member (currently charged on the 1st of the month) cancels and signs up again?

Just like today, if a member cancels their membership and signs up again after their original access has ended, that member will be considered a new member. They will be charged at signup, and that date will be their renewal date going forward. For example, if a member joins and renews on the 17th of each month, cancels on November 15, and resubscribes on December 21, their new billing date will be the 21st going forward.

If a member cancels their membership and signs up again on the same tier before their original access has ended, their billing date remains their original join date. For example, if a member joins on September 17, cancels on October 8, and signs up again on October 15, they’ve already paid for their membership through October 17 and wouldn’t be charged again until then.

How do I refund a subscription billing member?

The process for refunding members doesn’t change. You can refund a member's three most recent payments from Relationship Manager, as long as you have an account balance to cover the refunded amount. You can only refund a charge within 90 days of the original processing date. For annual pledges, you can initiate a partial refund up to a specific day.

How does subscription billing work for creators with Merch for membership?

As happens today, members and customers earn merch after they complete a required number of consecutive payments to any tier that contains that merch item. If you add a merch item to a tier after a member has already joined, they earn a month towards an item for each month of membership they pay for after the item goes live.

For example, if you add a merch item to a tier on May 15th, an existing members with a billing date of the 20th would make their eligible payments on May 20th and June 20th, and earn the item with their third payment on July 20th. Learn more about Merch eligibility.

How is running a Special Offer impacted by subscription billing?

There are no changes to Special Offers. You can continue to run these as normal.

Creator Experience

How will I track the billing date for my new members?

The Relationship Manager will continue to be the source of truth for member information. To identify whether a member is on subscription billing, enable the custom column Next Charge Date in Relationship Manager. This will help you identify benefit eligibility and appears as a column in the CSV download.

Member bills on subscription billing renew on UTC (the global payments processing standard) instead of PT, like the other monthly billing models. The dates displayed in Relationship Manager are in your local time zone, which may be ahead or behind UTC by up to one day.

I rely on the API to deliver my benefits. Is the API supported on this billing model?

Yes, you can continue using the API to deliver benefits as expected.

How will I know which members paid during a certain period of time?

You can get a list of members who paid during any period of time from your Relationship manager. To get a list click on Audience from the left navigation > click the Filters button > adjust the Last charge date time range.

You can use the last charge date filter in combination with other filters like New this month, Payment Declined, and Canceled, to communicate with specific groups of members. As an example, you could get a list of members who paid between September 1, 2022, and September 30, 2022, to send them their benefits.

Will this billing model support the Discord integration?

If you offer Discord access as a benefit, you'll still be able to do so as expected. The Patreon-Discord bot runs every day and will sync members who join or lose access any day of the month. Eventually, subscription billing will lead to access changes spread more evenly throughout the month. Combined with the architectural improvements we're making to the integration (across all billing models), creators who use Discord will soon see more accurate syncing and surfacing of errors as they occur.

What happens if I need to pause my membership?

You can pause your membership in your Account Settings. Existing members will not be charged for one month starting from the day you pause. New members will not be able to sign up while you are paused. Billing automatically resumes on/around the same calendar day the following month.

If you resume billing within a month of when you paused, you won’t be able to go back and charge members whose billing date was skipped while you were paused. Learn more about pausing.

I am a creator on the founder’s pricing plan. Will Patreon still use shared patronage between founder’s plan creators on subscription billing to combine transactions and reduce transaction fees?

Founding creators will still experience the same payment processing fees with some reductions from shared members whose bills renew on the same date. In other words, if you have members who also sign up for other creators on the same date (and with the same payment method), all of those bills are processed in one transaction and you split the payment processing fee with those creators.

If your new members subscribe to other founding creators on different days of the month, which may be more common with subscription billing, each membership will be processed as a separate transaction with its own processing fee.

Processing fees from shared members already being charged on the 1st of the month will still be split among that member's creators who are on founder’s pricing. There is no change to your platform fee or fixed third-party payment processing rates. See more details on founder’s plan pricing.

I’m a creator whose benefit delivery workflows rely on 1st of the month billing. How will I keep track of who is due a benefit if members are being charged throughout the month?

We know some creators’ setups would need more flexibility than benefit delivery tools currently provide, which is one reason why switching to subscription billing is optional.

If you currently limit benefits to members who have paid by a certain date each month and want to switch to subscription billing, one way to do so is to deliver benefits to all members who are active at the time you’re processing benefits.

Another way is to deliver benefits at the start of each month to any member who has paid throughout the previous month. For example, if you typically mail a sticker on the 5th of each month to members who have paid by the 1st, you can mail the sticker on September 5 to all members who had a successful payment in August. On October 5, you can mail the September sticker to all members who had a successful payment in September.

For creators with more fixed delivery dates and workflows, we’ve been working to understand what updates could help them succeed on this model. One need we’ve heard frequently from creators is the ability to pull a list of members who paid between a custom date range, or who paid a certain number of times in a period of time. For example, creators who typically start their benefit delivery process on the 8th of each month might need to pull a list of members who paid between the 9th of last month and the 8th of this month. We are working to support this functionality in the coming months.

We know some creators have concerns about how switching billing models may impact the way they run their business. You can learn more about what creators can expect when they switch and what’s coming soon for all creators on subscription billing by checking the Building subscription billing tools to power your fandom.