Buy Me a Coffee
Depends
Confidence: Medium
Buy it if you're a solo creator who wants a fast, free-to-start page for tips and memberships.
Comparison
Buy Me a Coffee vs Patreon
Buy Me a Coffee and Patreon both land on Depends.
Patreon
Depends
Confidence: Medium
Buy if you're a creator with an existing audience who wants recurring membership income on a proven platform.
| Compare | Buy Me a Coffee | Patreon |
|---|---|---|
| Verdict | Depends | Depends |
| Best for | Individual creators | Podcasters and YouTubers |
| Who it's not for | Businesses selling actual products or services | Creators with no audience . Patreon offers no discovery |
| Privacy | No platform-wide breach found in reviewed sources; its WordPress plugin had three CVEs in 2023. | Mixed record: 2015 breach and 2022 security-team layoffs reported; official security and vulnerability-reporting program exists. |
| Support quality | Users report email and login failures | Recent 1-star Trustpilot service reviews |
| Public sentiment | Praise for fast, simple setup is balanced by recurring complaints about support, fees, and account reliability.¹ | Feedback splits: a 4.2/5 G2 rating, but Trustpilot, BBB, and Reddit show recurring complaints about fees, billing, and support.11 |
| Biggest gotcha | 5% platform fee applies to every contribution . it compounds as your income grows³ | Fees are commission-based and the structure changed recently . verify current rates before launching.15 |
Pick Buy Me a Coffee when
- Individual creators
- Podcasters and writers
- Artists and indie devs
- One-off tip monetization
When Buy Me a Coffee is not a fit
- Businesses selling actual products or services
- Fee-sensitive creators . 5% beats Patreon but loses to Ko-fi's 0%
- Anyone needing deep membership management or content hosting
- Teams wanting guaranteed support response
Pick Patreon when
- Podcasters and YouTubers
- Creators with an existing fanbase
- Membership and exclusive-content businesses
- Fan communities wanting a home
When Patreon is not a fit
- Creators with no audience . Patreon offers no discovery
- Fee-averse creators (Ghost, Ko-fi charge 0%)
- One-off art or product sellers
- Creators wanting full ownership of their member list
Sources
- Buy Me a Coffee Reviews . Trustpilottrustpilot.comreview
- Buy Me a Coffee . Google Playplay.google.comreview
- Buy Me a Coffee Review 2026: Is the 5% Fee Worth It?builtbyfoundry.ioreview
official
review
review
- CVE-2023-2078 . Missing Authorization (NVD)nvd.nist.govsecurity
security
- How two brothers built Buy Me a Coffee . What a Startupwhatastartup.substack.comnews
- How Buy Me a Coffee Engages 2M+ Creators with Mailercloudmailercloud.comofficial
review
review
- r/Patreon . creator discussionsreddit.comreview
- Patreon Pricing Planspatreon.comofficial
- Creator fees overview . Patreon Supportsupport.patreon.comofficial
- Patreon Pricing (2026): Fees by Tiercasrai.orgnews