Introduction
The creator economy is all the rage, isn't it? There are so many platforms that allow creators to monetize their work, but it's hard to know which one is the best for you.
All of them have different feature sets and different pricing models. It can be confusing and annoying to price-shop — it feels like you need a math degree just to figure out the cost of building your business. That's why I built this widget: to help you compare the costs of different platforms. (I'm not saying you should make your decision solely on cost, but it's certainly important to consider!)
The calculator
| Service | Cost (monthly USD) |
|---|---|
 Buttondown | cost $9.00 |
 Beehiiv | cost $59.00 |
 Substack | cost $1000.00 |
 Maven | cost $1000.00 |
 Ghost | cost $40.00 |
 WordPress | cost $408.00 |
 Patreon | cost $800.00 |
 Buy Me a Coffee | cost $500.00 |
 Ko-fi | cost $6.00 |
 ConvertKit | cost $101.00 |
 Memberful | cost $515.00 |
 Gumroad | cost $1000.00 |
 Podia | cost $33.00 |
 Steady | cost $1000.00 |
 Hype | cost $500.00 |
 MemberSpace | cost $500.00 |
 Ream | cost $1000.00 |
 Discord | cost $1000.00 |
How did you compile this data?
I went through the pricing pages of each of the above services and calculated the cost of each service for a hypothetical newsletter with various price points and subscriber counts. Frustratingly, some services make it difficult to get the exact formula for their pricing, but the above calculator is as accurate as humanly possible.
In addition, I tried to be as generous as possible to each service: if they offer multiple tiers of service, I used the cheapest tier; if they offer an annual discount, I used the annual discount; if they offer a free tier, I used the free tier.
Aren't I actually paying more than this?
Yes! Literally every single one of the above services processes payments through Stripe, which charges a flat fee of 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction. To my knowledge, there aren't any services that offer a cheaper rate than Stripe, so I've left it out of the calculations since it's a constant across all services.
One exception to this is Discord, which doesn't pass through the raw Stripe fee but charges (in addition to the 10% platform fee) a 6% processing fee. This means they're taking a _little_ bit more on all payments of $10 or above and a _little_ bit less on payments below $10.
These numbers seem awfully self-serving.
I agree! Obviously I am biased: I built this tool to show that many people are paying a lot more money than they need to for managing their paid subscriptions, and are better off with a cheaper solution. It just so happens that Buttondown is a particularly affordable solution (though I will point out not the cheapest!)
You have a bug — regardless of what numbers I put in, KoFi only costs $6.
Not a bug. KoFi charges a flat $6 fee per month, regardless of how much volume you're running through them.
What about Liberapay? They're free, right?
Liberapay is terrific. They are not quite a creator economy platform, as they only support donations (meaning that transactions cannot be tied to a promise of recompense, such as exclusive content or access). However, if you're looking for a solution that lets you accept _donations_ from your readers, they're a great option.
What about [other provider]?
I'm happy to add more providers to this list! Please email me and I'll add them to the list.
Gee, it sure is awfully nice of you to compile this resource and keep it up to date. What can I ever do to thank you?
Tell your friends about Buttondown, the best way to add email subscriptions to your newsletter.
Changes over time
This tool is updated periodically with new pricing information. Here are the most recent changes:
- April 22, 2024 — updated Beehiiv to reflect their shift to usage-based pricing