How Does Patreon Work? Here's What You Need To Know (2024)

Patreon is a subscription-based platform that connects content creators with either existing fans or those looking for creative projects to support. There are currently more than 200,000 active Patreon accounts and millions of patrons who support these members.

While ad revenue earnings come from views and clicks, Patreon creators receive payment based on direct engagement. The site lets you incentivize patrons to take an active interest in your creations. For example, offering exclusive access to art not seen outside your Patreon account.

Patreon works for members by allowing them to earn money based on their various projects and creations. You could be an individual or part of a team or community. The platform serves to create a financial resource that funds your past, present and future goals. As with any major internet platform, Patreon has its upsides and drawbacks, which get discussed further in the following sections.

Pros of Using Patreon

Hundreds of thousands of people continue to use Patreon year over year, as it has some great advantages. These benefits include:

• A source of income: Not only can Patreon help fund your creative goals but it could also become an additional source of annual earnings.
• Community building: Through engaging your Patrons with exclusive content, you create a place where your most loyal supporters can come to engage with you repeatedly.
• Motivation: Knowing some people have a sincere and financial investment in your dreams can inspire you to push forward with your various creative goals.
• Accountability: When you promise something to people who are paying you to create something, their financial contribution can help keep you on task as you don’t want to risk losing patrons due to a failure to follow through.

As you can see, Patreon offers some significant financial and social benefits. By growing your Patreon, you can begin to build a professional network of support while strengthening your brand.

Cons of Using Patreon

While Patreon has its upside, there are a few issues one might have with it. For instance, there are a few drawbacks to consider, such as:

• You need a following: Although Patreon is great for garnering financial support from your audience, those without preexisting interest in their content may struggle to attract patrons.
• Patreon gets a cut: Patreon takes a percentage of your earnings, so you will never get the entirety of what your supporters send to you.
• Patreon makes the rules: If you are a content creator who wants complete control, this isn’t possible with a site, such as Patreon. Although it is rare to run afoul of Patreon, the platform can change its rules anytime. Depending on your content, you could be unable to keep your page open.

Potential Tax-related Obligations

If you earn at least $600 through Patreon, you may receive a Form 1099-K; the amount is $20,000 for federal taxes. While this isn’t necessarily bad, it does mean you need to be more mindful of your Patreon earnings to ensure you meet any required state or federal tax requirements.

Patreon, by its nature, is a subscription-based service. Theoretically, you can provide your patrons with a seemingly limitless array of content in exchange for their subscriptions. The understanding is that the items are offered exclusively to those with access to your Patreon account. It is most common to provide patrons with perks, such as:

• Unique access to videos or audio
• A shoutout in an upcoming YouTube video or Twitch stream
• The ability to directly decide what content comes next
• An exclusive piece of artwork

As long as what you are offering your patrons is within the site rules, there are a host of items that you can present to potential subscribers to encourage their long-term support.

Offering Merchandise Through Patreon

Once you come up with your own unique designs, you can put them on various items, such as mugs, shirts, hoodies and stickers. Patreon would take care of creating the merchandise and shipping them to your patrons. Rather than allow your patrons to purchase the items outright, they would need to subscribe to a specific tier for a predetermined number of months.

While you would not get charged outright for the creation of your merch, you will have to pay an additional 3% of your monthly earnings to cover the cost of providing merch to patrons.

Setting Up Your Tier System

You can set up a single payment option or a series of tiers, each offering more benefits as patrons upgrade. Additionally, patrons can be charged upfront or you can delay their subscription to a particular date. Monthly payments are standard, but Patreon also offers the option for a patron to sign up for an annual subscription.

Products and Services Prohibited by Patreon

Patreon’s terms of service limit what services or products may be provided on its platform. It is essential to understand what these are to avoid losing your page and patrons. Patreon prohibits the following:

• Blatantly p*rnographic materials
• The exchange of sexual services
• Illegal weapons
• Illicit drugs
• Fake services
• Demanding payment “not” to do something

In recent years, Patreon has experienced pressure from credit card companies such as Mastercard and those who offer adult content regarding what if there is anything about which you aren’t sure, reach out to Patreon for clarification.

If you are worried about gathering patrons and being able to stand out from the crowd or keeping your patrons month after month, here are a few tips to help you thrive on Patreon.

• Free monthly content: Give would-be patrons a taste of what they miss out on. They won’t know if everything is locked behind a paywall.
• Create multiple tiers: If you provide better options for higher contributions, you could increase your earnings.
• Share multiple goals: The more milestones you have to work toward, the more money you may receive over time.
• Be patient: It can take months or even years to get the most out of a Patreon account. Give yourself time to develop enough of a following to begin to see your desired outcome.

It’s easy to dismiss your work as not good enough for Patreon or assume that nobody will support you. But that’s not necessarily true, and you will not know one way or the other until you create an account and put your content out there.

You aren’t required to have a substantial social media following or paint like Pablo Picasso. What you need is a fundamental belief in what you have created and the hope that someone else out there would be honored to lend a hand as your Patreon supporter.