Ko-fi doesn't handle any money that is sent. The payment is made from your supporter, directly to you, wh Ko-fi does not process payments directly, supporters pay you directly using PayPal or Stripe. Ko-fi is a direct payments platform and we take 0% platform fee from your donations.
Ko-fi is by far the most cost-effective way to start making an income from fans of what you do. Unlike Patreon and other services, Ko-fi doesn't take a cut of your donations and we don't charge supporters extra either. The only transaction fee for donations is what the payment processors charge.
Is Ko-fi Anonymous? What Information is Shared? On Ko-fi we pass the creator the display name and the email address entered by the supporter when they made the donation or subscription.
So far, I've collected quite a bit of donations from supporters. I haven't experienced any negative effects or receive any kind of spam through Buy Me a Coffee. It's a secure website while using PayPal's own secured portal to donate funds.
Buy Me a Coffee is the #1 Patreon alternative with over 300,000 creators, and here's why creators are switching.
Top tips for getting the most out of Ko-fi
- Post often. Share your page, images and content regularly on socials to engage your fans!
- Start small. Some artist and creators make a decent '4 figure' monthly income on Ko-fi, but from what we've seen most are using it to fund creative expenses and make a side income.
- Be a fan.
Artists on Ko-fi
- Achieve Your Goals. Crowdfund art supplies, software, an iPad or just about anything to fund your passions!
- Showcase Your Work. Share your best work, WIP project and offer downloads for your supporters.
- Take Commissions. Share your commissions menu, manage slots, terms and take payment.
Currently, Ko-fi's platform supports over 500,000 creators of all varieties, like writers, illustrators, developers, streamers, podcasters, cosplayers, artists, game designers, small businesses, and more.
Ko-fi Takes 0% Of Your DonationsYou're doing the creative work, they're your fans so why should you pay a % of your income just to receive donations? Over $2m in donations per month (and $50m in total so far) is given on Ko-fi and unlike almost every other service we've taken 0% platform fees on all of it!
The standard rate for PayPal processing fees is 2.9% and $0.30 per donation. PayPal says this about their donation fees: “PayPal offers discounted transaction rates for 501(c)(3) charities for most products, and consistently low rates for all other nonprofits.
It's completely free to get started. We only receive a small percentage once you start earning on Patreon, plus an industry-standard rate for processing payments from your patrons.
With Ko-fi Gold you can upload content that can only be seen by your Ko-fi supporters! Subscriptions. Just like our own Gold subscription, Gold members can accept monthly recurring payments. You can see your recurring support in your dashboard and in your PayPal account.
Short answer, no -- donations are not taxed.
In short, yes you can! If you have multiple, separate online personas or projects it can make sense to have more than one Ko-fi account. You will need to use a unique email address to sign up for each Ko-fi account, but you can link to the same PayPal email address.
As you can see, Stripe comes out the clear winner, boasting processing fees 23 percent lower than PayPal in our £100 mock transaction. It's also worth noting that both services have volume related pricing. In other words, the more you process, the cheaper your processing fees get.
