Podia vs Patreon: Which is best for Creators?

Great question! Here’s an honest answer:

Both Podia and Patreon allow you to accept recurring donations from followers who want to support your Creator Work. You can also create different membership tiers and provide fans with exclusive content or “rewards” to thank them for their patronage.

But while Patreon is a big name in the crowdfunding and recurring donation arena, Podia helps you build a full-fledged business in addition to receiving monthly support. If Patreon is your online tip jar, then Podia is the platform that empowers you to be an entrepreneur.

To help you choose the best platform for you, let’s dive into the details.

All prices and features are accurate at the time of writing, but they may change over time.

Build a membership community with more flexibility

Both Podia and Patreon allow you to create a membership community for your followers. You can encourage followers to join in exchange for premium content and behind-the-scenes information, or you can simply ask followers to donate without offering anything in return.

With Patreon, you can receive your funds through Paypal, Stripe, or Payoneer. With Podia, you can use Paypal or Stripe as your payment processor.

One-time and recurring donations

Another difference between Podia and Patreon is that Podia allows you to accept one-time donations and payments.

On Patreon, it’s only possible to subscribe on a monthly basis, which means you could be leaving money on the table from supporters who don’t want to make a big commitment.

Bundle membership plans with products

On Patreon, you can offer rewards at each subscription level. Rewards can be physical merchandise or downloadable digital items.

Patreon creators must upload the files to their feed to deliver digital rewards to subscribers. Members can scroll through the feed to find their products, but this can get messy if there’s a lot of content to dig through.

Podia gets around this issue by allowing creators to bundle membership tiers with digital products like courses, files, and coaching sessions. These products can be enjoyed in a separate area of the community.

You can even showcase other digital items you sell in the “More products” tab.

You can also sell these products as standalone products for followers who don’t want to pay a monthly membership fee.

Sell digital products, courses, and coaching

Recurring donations and memberships are great, but they’re just the tip of the iceberg for making money in your business.

Patreon lets you set up a storefront where you can sell video, audio, image, or downloadable files to your audience.

Podia allows you to create and sell different product types, including online courses, digital downloads, webinars, and coaching.

If you’re certain you’ll only ever need a recurring donation membership platform with basic digital product types, Patreon works just fine. But for most creators, there’s no telling what you’ll want to make in the future.

Tacking on extra ecommerce or online course platforms is frustrating, costly, and time-consuming. By going with an all-in-one option now, you can confidently create whatever products you want down the road – without spending weeks learning new software.

Create your own website

Your website is your virtual home base on the internet. It’s where audience members and prospective customers can learn more about you, view your products, sign up for your email newsletter, and get in touch.

Patreon gives you a creator page where you can share your profile image, a cover photo, and a description of your Patreon program. You can also display a preview of the content inside.

With Podia, you can build a full website with unlimited pages to promote your online business. Our stress-free website builder makes it easy to set up a beautiful home page, storefront, about page, membership site, and beyond.

You can also build unlimited landing pages to promote your products and encourage people to donate.

Running your website on the same platform where you sell products and accept donations means all your essential tools are connected by default.

No need to deal with outside web hosting, plugins, themes, checkout tools, and other hassles that distract you from your best creative work.

Integrated marketing features

On the marketing front, both Podia and Patreon allow you to offer coupons or special offers to attract new customers.

Podia lets you promote products through live or pre-recorded webinars, run your email marketing campaigns, build an affiliate program, chat with prospective customers, and so much more.

Since everything is built-in, you can manage your marketing efforts without having to find, vet, and pay for additional software.

With Patreon, you can host live streams and webinars through integrations with Crowdcast. You can build your email list through integrations with email marketing platforms like ConvertKit and Mailchimp.

You can do a lot, but using excessive integrations isn’t always the best move.

First, many come at an extra cost. Crowdcast, for example, starts at $49/month and has a 5% transaction fee on paid live streams. ConvertKit is free for your first 1000 subscribers, but prices start at $29/month once you cross that threshold.

All these add-ons get pricey fast, plus you’ll still be paying Patreon’s high transaction fees.

Second, you or someone on your team will be responsible for connecting and maintaining these tools. That means multiple support centers to deal with if something breaks and a lot of set-up on the front end.

Bottom line: Patreon comes with integrations to get marketing tools and functionality. Podia also has integrations, but you probably won’t need them because Podia includes your entire marketing stack in one place.

Pricing and transaction fees

Patreon is free to use, and you won’t pay a flat monthly fee. Instead, you’ll pay transaction fees on every sale you make, which could become prohibitively expensive as your business grows.

Patreon pricing:

• Pro: 8% transaction fee
• Premium: 12% transaction fee

Podia has a free plan and three paid plans. The transaction fees decrease as you upgrade, and there are no fees on the Shaker plan so you’ll just pay a flat rate.

The free plan comes with a website, an online community with unlimited membership tiers, one digital download, and one coaching product.

Podia pricing:

• Free (10% transaction fee)
• Starter plan: $9/month or $4/month when paid annually (8% transaction fee)
• Mover plan: $39/month or $33/month when paid annually (5% transaction fee)
• Shaker plan: $89/month or $75/month when paid annually

Here’s how this could shake out by the numbers:

Let’s say you’re earning $2,000 per month.

On Patreon’s Pro plan, you’ll pay $160 per month in transaction fees ($2,000 x 8% transaction fee = $160).

On Podia’s Shaker plan, you’ll only pay $89 per month with no transaction fees. You’ll also get email list-building tools, a website, and the ability to sell unlimited courses, downloads, and coaching.

Now let’s say your brand blossoms, and you’re consistently earning $4,000 per month for an entire year.

Here’s what you’d pay each month on Patreon:

• Patreon Pro: $320/month
• Patreon Premium: $480/month

And on Podia’s Shaker plan:

• Shaker: $89/month

If you were on Patreon’s Pro plan earning $4000 per month for an entire year, you’d pay a total of $3840 in transaction fees.

But if you used Podia’s Shaker plan, you’d only pay $1068 per year (or a cool $900 per year when you pay annually).

When you choose Patreon over Podia, you pay over three times more each year to use a “free” platform with fewer features.

As your business grows, Podia quickly becomes the more affordable option and gives you a bigger toolbelt.

Plus, with Podia’s selling tools like email marketing, upsells, affiliate management, and your own website, you’ll have everything you need to hit those revenue goals much, much faster.

if you’re looking for an all-in-one platform that makes running your online business simple and affordable, whether you’re just starting or growing fast, we built Podia just for you.

Make your free Podia account today, or take a video tour to see all these features in action.

Why creators choose Podia over Patreon

Here are some reasons creators choose Podia instead of Patreon to power their businesses.

Run your entire business under one roof

Connect with fans in the same place you manage your email, run your affiliate marketing program, and sell digital downloads, courses, webinars, and coaching products. With no separate logins or distractions, Podia is an all-in-one platform that helps creators replace 3-6+ tools and simplify their lives.

Build a custom website

Your Patreon creator page is plastered with Patreon’s branding, and you get very few customizations. Podia lets you create an entire website for your brand, complete with unlimited sales pages.

Reward your members with beautiful products

Show your followers how much you appreciate their support. With Podia, each community tier can be bundled with online courses, downloads, coaching sessions, and other exciting digital products.

The happiest customers on the internet

Podia’s customer satisfaction (NPS) scores are in the top 0.01% of all companies on the internet. Feel free to Google Podia reviews and see for yourself!

Podia vs Patreon – Feature comparison

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