Best Ko-fi Alternative for Creators (Free Trial, 0% Fees)
Ko-fi takes 5% of every sale beyond tips, or $12/mo for Gold. Compare Buy Me a Coffee, Payhip, Gumroad, Patreon and shopspace on what you keep.
The best Ko-fi alternative depends on what you sell. If you only take tips, stay on Ko-fi: one-off tips are free there. If you have moved on to selling products, memberships or courses, Ko-fi takes 5% of every sale (or $12 a month for Gold), and a flat-fee storefront like shopspace, at $19 a month billed yearly with 0% per sale, keeps more of your money once you pass a few hundred dollars a month.
Ko-fi is a great first stop. You put up a page, people buy you a coffee, you feel good. Then something shifts. A follower asks if you sell the preset pack. Someone wants a monthly tier. You start a small course. And now the "tip jar" is a shop, and the fee line on each payout starts to matter.
This guide is for that moment. It compares Ko-fi against Buy Me a Coffee, Payhip, Gumroad, Patreon and shopspace on the one thing that changes as you grow: what you actually keep.
Start your shopspace store: 7-day free trial, card required, nothing charged for 7 days
What does Ko-fi actually charge?
Ko-fi has three levels, and the fee changes depending on what you sell. All numbers below come from Ko-fi's own pricing page and help center.
- Ko-fi Free: 0% on one-time tips. A flat 5% on everything else: memberships, shop sales, commissions and monthly tips.
- Ko-fi Standard: 5% on all payment types, including one-time tips.
- Ko-fi Gold: $12 a month, 0% service fee on everything.
On top of that, PayPal or Stripe take their own processing fee, which Ko-fi says is "usually around 3% + $0.30". That part is the same on every platform in this article, so the table below leaves it out.
The short version: Ko-fi is free for tips and 5% for commerce. That 5% is fair when you are making $80 a month. It is $100 a month when you are making $2,000.
Why do creators leave Ko-fi?
It is rarely the fee alone. The usual reasons, from creators who have made the move:
The shop is a side feature. Ko-fi was built for tips first. Digital downloads, memberships and commissions were added later and sit inside a page designed around a "support me" button. If selling is now most of your income, you want a page where the products are the point.
No place for a course. You can sell a PDF or a file on Ko-fi. You cannot host a structured course with lessons, progress and members-only access. Creators who teach end up bolting on a second tool.
Memberships are basic. Tiers exist, but locking specific posts, drip content, and a community around them is thin compared to a dedicated membership tool.
The percentage grows with you. Every step up in income is a step up in fees. Gold fixes that at $12 a month, which is a good deal, but it still leaves you with the feature gaps above.
If memberships are your main income, our Patreon alternative guide goes deeper on that specific case.
How do the alternatives compare on fees?
Here is what a creator keeps each month on each platform, after the platform's own fee. Payment processing (roughly 3% plus 30 cents on every platform) is excluded. Gumroad's per-sale fee assumes a $25 average order, so 20 sales at $500 and 80 sales at $2,000.
| Platform | Platform fee | You keep at $500/mo | You keep at $2,000/mo |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ko-fi Free or Standard | 5% | $475 | $1,900 |
| Ko-fi Gold | $12/mo, 0% | $488 | $1,988 |
| Buy Me a Coffee | 5% | $475 | $1,900 |
| Payhip Free | 5% | $475 | $1,900 |
| Payhip Plus | $29/mo + 2% | $461 | $1,931 |
| Gumroad | 10% + $0.50 per sale | $440 | $1,760 |
| Patreon | 10% | $450 | $1,800 |
| shopspace (monthly) | $29/mo, 0% | $471 | $1,971 |
| shopspace (yearly) | $19/mo, 0% | $481 | $1,981 |
Sources: Ko-fi pricing page and help center, Buy Me a Coffee help center, Payhip help center, Gumroad pricing page, Patreon pricing page, shopspace pricing page. All checked September 2026.
A few things jump out. Ko-fi Gold and shopspace are within a few dollars of each other on money kept. Percentage platforms (Buy Me a Coffee, Payhip Free, Patreon, Gumroad) fall behind the moment you pass roughly $500 a month, and the gap widens from there. Gumroad is the most expensive on this list at every level; we broke that down in Gumroad fees explained.
So if the numbers are close between Ko-fi Gold and shopspace, the decision comes down to what each one lets you sell.
Try shopspace free for 7 days: card required, nothing charged for 7 days
Which Ko-fi alternative fits which creator?
Buy Me a Coffee is Ko-fi with a different coat of paint: tips, memberships, a small shop, 5% on everything, no monthly plan. If you like Ko-fi and just want a cleaner page, this is the sideways move. It does not solve the course or fee problem.
Payhip is a proper digital product store with a free plan at 5%. It handles downloads, courses and memberships well. The catch is that removing the fee costs $99 a month on Pro, and the Plus plan at $29 still takes 2%. Good for sellers with a big catalogue who do not mind paying for the top tier.
Gumroad is the simplest checkout on the internet and the most expensive. At 10% plus 50 cents a sale it makes sense for a one-off launch, not for a monthly income.
Patreon is the default for memberships and takes 10%. Strong for podcasters and video creators who want a familiar brand their fans already trust. Weak if you want to sell products alongside the membership.
shopspace is a flat-fee storefront for creators who sell three things at once: digital products, memberships and courses. It also has Instagram comment-to-DM automation built in, so "comment LINK and I'll send it" delivers the product without you doing it by hand.
Where shopspace fits
Be honest with yourself about your income before switching. If you make under $200 a month and most of it is one-off tips, Ko-fi Free is the right tool and shopspace would cost you money. Stay.
shopspace makes sense when:
- You sell products, a membership or a course, or plan to within the year.
- You are past roughly $400 to $500 a month, where a flat fee beats 5%.
- You want everything on one page with one checkout, rather than a Ko-fi page plus a Gumroad link plus a Patreon.
- A chunk of your sales come from Instagram and you are tired of answering "link?" in the comments by hand.
What it costs: 7 days free on every plan, then from $19 a month billed yearly, or $29 month to month. 0% on every sale. A card is required to start the trial, and nothing is charged for the first 7 days. It is not free forever, and we would rather say that plainly than dress it up.
What you get for that: a storefront with products, memberships and courses in one place, a built-in email list, and the Instagram DM automation. The full comparison to Ko-fi's feature set is on the pricing page, but the one-line summary is that shopspace is built around selling, and Ko-fi is built around tipping with selling added on.
The verdict
For tips only: Ko-fi Free. Nothing beats 0%.
For a Ko-fi feel with a different vibe: Buy Me a Coffee. Same fee, same limits.
For a large catalogue of downloads: Payhip, and budget for the Pro plan once you are big enough for the fee to hurt.
For memberships that are your whole business: Patreon, or read our Patreon alternative guide if 10% is more than you want to give up.
For products, memberships and courses from one storefront with 0% per sale: shopspace. Not free, but a flat $19 to $29 a month, and at $2,000 in monthly sales you keep about $80 more than on Ko-fi Free and around $200 more than on Patreon or Gumroad.
Run the table against your own numbers. If you are near or above $500 a month and selling more than tips, the flat-fee option wins, and the trial is long enough to find out whether the storefront fits.
Open your store: 7-day free trial, card required, nothing charged for 7 days