FEES READ FROM BUY ME A COFFEE'S HELP CENTER
Buy Me a Coffee Fees and How Much Buy Me a Coffee Takes From Creators
No subscription, a 5% fee on everything, and Stripe on top. Put in your price and how often you sell to see what each payment leaves you, and when a flat plan elsewhere starts costing less.
- Platform fee, 5%
- -$7.50
- Stripe, 2.9% + $0.30
- -$4.65
- Payout processing, 0.5%
- -$0.75
At this volume a gig page on the plan keeps you more a year than Buy Me a Coffee. Buy Me a Coffee costs less a year than our cheapest plan at this volume. A gig page pays off when clients need to find you and order scoped work.
Buy Me a Coffee takes 5% of every payment and charges no monthly fee. Stripe, which processes every payment on the platform, adds 2.9% and $0.30 per payment and a 0.5% payout fee, with 1% more for supporters outside the US and 0.5% more on memberships. A US creator keeps about 91.5% of a $300 payment and much less of a small one, because the $0.30 weighs heavily on a $5 coffee.
Buy Me a Coffee pricing per payment
What you keep at six common prices
The percentage cut falls as the price rises. A $5 coffee loses 14.4% to fees; a $300 commission loses 8.5%. If most of your income is small tips, the fixed $0.30 is the fee that matters, not the 5%.
Turning on "supporter covers the card fee" removes the Stripe 2.9% and $0.30 from your side. Buy Me a Coffee's own example charges a supporter $26.03 for a $25 contribution.
| Payment | US supporter | Outside the US | US membership | Total cut, US |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $5 | $4.28 | $4.23 | $4.25 | 14.4% |
| $10 | $8.86 | $8.76 | $8.81 | 11.4% |
| $25 | $22.60 | $22.35 | $22.48 | 9.6% |
| $50 | $45.50 | $45.00 | $45.25 | 9.0% |
| $150 | $137.10 | $135.60 | $136.35 | 8.6% |
| $300 | $274.50 | $271.50 | $273.00 | 8.5% |
Source: Buy Me a Coffee help center, "How to calculate charges on your payment?", read 5 October 2026. Figures include the 5% platform fee, Stripe's 2.9% and $0.30, and the 0.5% payout fee. Sales tax, currency conversion and dispute fees are not included.
Beyond the 5%
Where the rest of the money goes, from checkout to your bank
-
1
Checkout
2.9% + $0.30Stripe card processing on each payment. Supporters pay by card or bank, and US dollar accounts can also take crypto. PayPal is not offered.
-
2
Surcharges
+1% or +0.5%One more point for supporters outside the US, half a point more on membership and monthly payments.
-
3
Payout
0.5%Stripe's payout processing. Withdrawals open at $10 and go through Stripe Express to your bank or debit card.
-
4
Disputes
$15The usual US chargeback fee, kept by the card network even when you win. Send proof within 7 days.
The first payout takes longest
Your first withdrawal request puts the account into a one-time human review, and Buy Me a Coffee says the first payout can take 7 to 14 days in total. After approval, withdrawals land in about 1 to 2 business days. If you plan to sell a commission and pay for materials from the deposit, request a small payout early so the review is out of the way before a big order.
Comparing payment rails on their own? Our breakdown of art commission payment methods puts Stripe, PayPal, Venmo and the creator platforms on the same commission.
Buy Me a Coffee against the alternatives
What $600 and $3,000 a month in commissions cost on each platform
Four and twenty $150 commissions a month from US supporters. Our rows include card processing at Stripe's US rate, because our marketplace fee is billed separately from the payment.
| Where you sell | $600 a month | $3,000 a month | How it charges |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy Me a Coffee | $51.60 | $258.00 | 5% plus processing and the 0.5% payout fee, no subscription |
| Ko-fi Standard | $48.60 | $243.00 | 5% plus your own Stripe or PayPal fees |
| Ko-fi Gold | $30.60 | $105.00 | $12 a month, 0% service fee |
| Patreon Standard | $78.85 | $393.25 | 10% plus 2.9% and $0.30, one $0.25 payout |
| FreelanceNation Pro | $67.60 | $262.00 | $19 a month, 5% marketplace fee, card processing |
| FreelanceNation Studio | $85.60 | $232.00 | $49 a month, 3%, cheaper than Buy Me a Coffee above $1,960 a month |
Small and tip-driven
Stay on Buy Me a Coffee or Ko-fi. With no monthly charge, nothing beats a 5% fee at a few hundred dollars a month, and we would not tell you otherwise.
Over about $220 a month
Ko-fi Gold's $12 flat fee beats Buy Me a Coffee's 5% plus payout fee above roughly $218 a month in sales. It is the cheapest way on this table to take payments from people who already follow you.
Selling to clients, not fans
A gig page lists fixed tiers with scope, revisions and delivery time, and buyers who search for an artist can order without knowing you first. Our Studio plan costs less than Buy Me a Coffee above about $1,960 a month.
Who this page is for
Artists and freelancers taking commissions through Buy Me a Coffee
Buy Me a Coffee does run commissions. Supporters open the Commissions tab, pick a service, click Book this, fill in the details and pay, and you can message them before they buy. The same 5% applies, so a $150 portrait pays you $137.10.
Where it gets awkward is the client who is not already a fan. A Buy Me a Coffee page is built around your audience. Somebody searching for "hire an illustrator" or "logo designer for a bakery" is looking for a listing with prices, examples and delivery times, and that is what a gig page is. Plenty of creators keep both: the coffee button for followers and a gig page for paid client work.
Setting the tier prices comes first, and art commission prices covers that. If you are choosing between the two tip platforms, read Ko-fi vs Buy Me a Coffee for art commissions, and for every place artists sell, see art commission sites compared by fee.
- ✓One character, flat background
- ✓Two rounds of revisions
- ✓Delivered in 7 days, PNG and PSD
- ✓Personal use license
Questions creators ask
Buy Me a Coffee fees questions, answered
Each answer leads with the direct reply, taken from Buy Me a Coffee's own help center wherever it covers the point.
How much does Buy Me a Coffee take?
Buy Me a Coffee takes a 5% platform fee on every payment. Stripe then takes 2.9% and $0.30 per payment and a 0.5% payout processing fee, so a US payment loses 8.4% plus $0.30 in total. A $150 commission pays you $137.10 and a $5 coffee pays $4.28.
Does Buy Me a Coffee take a cut?
Yes, 5% of every one-time support, membership, shop sale and commission. That is the only fee Buy Me a Coffee keeps for itself. The other 3.4% and $0.30 is card processing and payout processing charged by Stripe, which Buy Me a Coffee uses for all payments.
Is Buy Me a Coffee free?
It is free to create a page and there is no monthly subscription for creators. Buy Me a Coffee earns only from the 5% fee on money you receive, so you pay nothing until a supporter pays you. Every feature, including memberships, the shop and emails to supporters, is included.
Does Buy Me a Coffee charge a monthly fee?
No. Buy Me a Coffee has no paid plan and no monthly charge, which is the main difference from Ko-fi Gold at $12 a month. The trade-off is that the 5% fee never goes away, so at higher sales a flat monthly plan elsewhere can cost less.
Can supporters pay the fees on Buy Me a Coffee?
Partly. You can turn on an option that makes supporters cover the credit card fee, so a $25 contribution charges them $26.03 and the card processing no longer comes out of your earnings. The 5% platform fee and the 0.5% payout fee still come out of your side.
Can you take commissions on Buy Me a Coffee?
Yes. Buy Me a Coffee has a Commissions tab where supporters choose a service, click Book this, fill in the details and pay. Several comparison articles still say it has no commissions feature, which is out of date. Commission payments carry the same 5% fee and processing as everything else.
Does Buy Me a Coffee use PayPal?
No. Payments and payouts run through Stripe. Supporters pay by card or bank, plus crypto on eligible US accounts that use dollars, and every payout goes to Stripe Express, which forwards it to your linked bank account or debit card. If your clients insist on PayPal, Ko-fi supports it.
When do you get paid on Buy Me a Coffee?
You can request a payout once your balance reaches $10. The first request triggers a one-time human review of your account, and the first payout can take 7 to 14 days in total. After that, withdrawals reach your bank in about 1 to 2 business days.
How much is a chargeback on Buy Me a Coffee?
The dispute fee is usually $15 in the United States, and it is not refunded even if you win. You have 7 days to send proof that the payment was legitimate, and the bank takes 60 to 90 days to decide. Refunding a payment before a dispute opens avoids the fee.
Sell commissions to clients who find you, with a fee from 8% down to 2%
Publish fixed tiers with scope and examples. Clients pick one, send the brief and order. Keep your coffee button for the fans.
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