Patreon

What is Patreon?
Patreon is a membership platform that allows creators to run a subscription service for their
content. Instead of setting up their own website and payment platform, creators can easily launch a
personalized Patreon page in a few steps.

On Patreon, paying subscribers are called patrons. Each patron pays a fee for exclusive content from
creators.

Creators can offer subscriptions for a variety of services. Popular content formats include:

Video (38% of creators)

Writing (17%)

Audio (14%)

Photography (6%)

Patreon launched in 2013 and has over 6 million monthly active patrons and more than 185,000
registered creators. As of 2023, Patreon is valued at more than $2 billion.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

 Customizability:
Each creator can set up their own subscription tiers and reward systems. For example, a
creator can set monthly subscriptions, or they can set pricing per project (Ex: 5$ per video)
  Monetizing a small base of audience:
The ability for small creators to make content that’s niche and hits very close to what their
core audience is looking for, while being able to monetize it much to a much greater extent
than on other platforms. Patreon is for your biggest fans, and they are willing to pay a lot for
your work.
 Variety:
One can publish music, artworks, blogs, books, live shows, podcasts, games, etc. Patreon
allows for all kinds of artists to thrive on one platform.
 Reliable revenue stream:
As the amount of money made is dependent on the number of subscriptions for the month
and doesn’t depend on views/clicks, it’s a much more reliable income stream. You’ll make
the same amount of money for the month even if the views fluctuate.
 A community for your biggest followers:
Patreon works as a platform where your biggest followers can gather in one place, centered
around your content. This leads to vibrant communities which are able to converse with
each other easily.

Cons:

 Discoverability:
Most of the popular creators on patreon have made their following in other places and
migrated them over to patreon, as the platform just isn’t built in a way that encourages
discovery of new artists.
 Ease of use:
The platform is incredibly user-unfriendly. There are no filters to search for content, such as
sorting by newest or most popular. You just have to keep scrolling downwards until you find
the content you need.
 No marketing:
Patreon mostly depends on it’s creators to do marketing for them, and doesn’t spend much
on advertising itself. This leads to stagnation for a creator if they don’t actively advertise
their patreon account through other channels.
 Dividing the fanbase:
Dividing the fanbase into multiple tiers sometimes leads to discontent, as they might not be
happy with the value being provided at their tier, and grow to dislike the creator for setting
the tiers up in the wrong manner.
 Distribution:
The creator’s work done on patreon will stay on patreon, as it is exclusive content made for
paid users. This results in the content only being shown to existing audiences, and the artist
isn’t able to grow their reach to a wider network.