How to support your favourite creator directly — without losing 30% to a platform

You want to send your favourite creator $5 — here is what they actually get

You watched a YouTube video that genuinely helped you. You read a Substack post that captured something you had been thinking about for months. You saw a TikTok that made you laugh out loud at the end of a hard day. You want to send the creator $5 — a small thank-you, the digital equivalent of buying them a coffee. You click their tip jar, type the amount, confirm.

The creator does not receive $5. Depending on the platform, they receive somewhere between $3.50 and $4.55. The rest disappears into platform fees, payment processing, and infrastructure cuts that you, as the supporter, never agreed to and were not shown clearly when you sent.

This is the article most creators wish they could send to their audiences but find awkward to write themselves. If you support creators online, here is how the existing infrastructure actually works — and what the alternative looks like.

Where your $5 actually goes when you tip a creator

Through Patreon. The creator receives approximately $4.25-$4.55 depending on their Patreon tier. Patreon takes 5-12% as a platform fee; payment processing takes another 2.9% + 30¢. On a $5 monthly pledge, the creator nets approximately 85-91% of what you sent.

Through YouTube Super Thanks. YouTube takes a 30-45% cut on Super Thanks payments depending on creator agreement and country. A $5 Super Thanks delivers roughly $2.75-$3.50 to the creator. The split is rarely shown on the supporter side at the moment of payment.

Through Twitch Bits or subs. Twitch takes 50% of standard subscription revenue. A $5 sub delivers $2.50 to the streamer. Bits cheers carry a similar effective cut. The supporter pays $5; the creator banks $2.50 before any further processing fees.

Through Apple Podcasts subscriptions. Apple takes 30% in the first year of any podcast subscription, dropping to 15% after year one. A $5 subscription delivers $3.50 to the podcaster initially, $4.25 after the first anniversary. Country availability is limited.

Through Ko-fi or Buy Me a Coffee. The creator nets approximately $4.25-$4.55 — better than YouTube or Twitch but still subject to platform fees plus Stripe/PayPal processing. Cross-border supporters absorb additional FX margin.

Through Stripe-powered creator tip pages. The flat 30¢ Stripe fee plus 2.9% percentage means a $5 tip nets the creator approximately $4.55. On smaller tips ($1-$2), the percentage of the supporter's intent that reaches the creator drops sharply — a $1 tip nets $0.67.

Why the cuts exist (and why they are bigger than they need to be)

Each platform's cut covers something legitimate — hosting, distribution, discovery features, infrastructure, payment processing. The platforms are not running unfair businesses. They are running businesses that price their services at the rates the market accepts because most supporters have no other option for sending value to a creator.

What the cuts cover, broadly:

• Payment processing infrastructure (Stripe / PayPal / etc.) — typically 2.9% + 30¢

• Card-network interchange fees passed through

• Platform infrastructure costs (hosting, support, content moderation)

• Discovery and recommendation features (the algorithms that helped you find the creator)

• Platform profit margin

The legitimate costs — payment processing — typically run 3-4%. The remaining 5-45% across different platforms is the platform's value-add and margin. For creators with audiences they bring themselves (audience built outside the platform's discovery, supporters who already know the creator), the platform's discovery value is low and the cut feels disproportionate. For supporters who already know the creator, the platform between them and the creator is collecting on a relationship the platform did not create.

Across major creator-support platforms, the cut on a $5 supporter dollar ranges from approximately 9% (Patreon, Ko-fi) to 50% (Twitch). The supporter typically does not see the breakdown at the moment of payment. The creator sees the deduction in their monthly statement.

— Patreon, Ko-fi, Buy Me a Coffee, Twitch, YouTube, Apple Podcasts published fee documentation, 2025