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Ko-fi vs Buy Me a Coffee

Ko-fi lands on Worth it, and Buy Me a Coffee lands on Depends.

Ko-fi

ko-fi.com

Worth it
Confidence: High

Buy if you're a solo creator taking tips, commissions, or small memberships and want near-zero fees.

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Ko-fi versus Buy Me a Coffee
CompareKo-fiBuy Me a Coffee
VerdictWorth itDepends
Best forArtists taking commissionsIndividual creators
Who it's not forSerious online stores needing inventory and shippingBusinesses selling actual products or services
PrivacyRuns a HackerOne bug bounty program; a 2023 XSS hit the unofficial Ko-fi WordPress button plugin; no confirmed breach found in reviewed sources.⁸No platform-wide breach found in reviewed sources; its WordPress plugin had three CVEs in 2023.
Support quality4.6/5 Trustpilot, but payout complaints existUsers report email and login failures
Public sentimentCreators broadly praise Ko-fi's low fees and simplicity, with recurring complaints about payout hiccups and support.³Praise for fast, simple setup is balanced by recurring complaints about support, fees, and account reliability.10
Biggest gotchaThe 5% fee applies to shop and membership income, not just tips . margins shrink on product sales.¹5% platform fee applies to every contribution . it compounds as your income grows12

Pick Ko-fi when

  • Artists taking commissions
  • Streamers and YouTubers collecting tips
  • Writers running small memberships
  • Hobbyists monetizing a side project

When Ko-fi is not a fit

  • Serious online stores needing inventory and shipping
  • Businesses needing invoices or B2B billing
  • Large creators wanting Patreon-style discovery tools
  • Anyone needing enterprise support or uptime SLAs

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

Sources

  1. Ko-fi Pricing | Just 0-5% feesko-fi.com
    official
  2. Ko-fi featuresko-fi.com
    official
  3. Ko-fi Trustpilot reviewstrustpilot.com
    review
  4. Ko-fi Review 2026: Is It Worth It for Creators?builtbyfoundry.io
    review
  5. Patreon vs Ko-Fi vs Buy Me a Coffeealitu.com
    review
  6. Reddit: Is Ko-Fi underrated?reddit.com
    review
  7. HackerOne: Ko-fi bug bountyhackerone.com
    security
  8. CVE-2023-2254: Ko-fi Button XSSfused.com
    security
  9. Ko-fi Termsmore.ko-fi.com
    official
  10. Buy Me a Coffee Reviews . Trustpilottrustpilot.com
    review
  11. Buy Me a Coffee . Google Playplay.google.com
    review
  12. Buy Me a Coffee Review 2026: Is the 5% Fee Worth It?builtbyfoundry.io
    review
  13. The advanced Buy Me a Coffee alternative with 0% fees . Ghostghost.org
    official
  14. Opinions on 'Buy me a coffee?' . r/indiegamedevforumreddit.com
    review
  15. Buy Me a Coffee Not Sending Emails . Mediummedium.com
    review
  16. CVE-2023-2078 . Missing Authorization (NVD)nvd.nist.gov
    security