The Pros and Cons of setting up a Patreon vs Your Own Membership Website.
Are you considering opening up your services to a paying audience and you are unsure whether you should use your website or Patreon? Or maybe you are an artist looking into generating an income through your music band website? You have come to the right place!
The increased digitization of recent times has created endless options for bloggers and creators to generate income streams through what they love most. With platforms like Patreon becoming more popular and offering some of the same functions covered by professional websites, it’s not uncommon for creators to hesitate. Navigating through the many options can be a bit confusing at times – but we are here to help!
In this article, we will explore the individual benefits of leveraging Patreon vs membership websites along with pointing out the pros and cons of both options. Beside helping you choose between the two, we will also look into Patreon alternatives.
Pros and Cons of Patreon
To help you solve your “website vs Patreon” dilemma, it is important to run a list of pros and cons for both. Let’s start by looking at the benefits of using Patron to promote your content.
Pros
- Patreon offers a consistent payment method
Designed to carry out automated payments each month, Patreon is a reliable platform allowing you to keep a record of your earnings. Bonus point is virtually all users confirm they are getting their payments on time.
- Patreon has an effective payment protection policy
Not unlike similar tools, Patreon has an extensive payment protection policy that seamlessly takes care of declined payments, missed charges, and other inconveniences so you don’t have to.
- Patreon boasts a professional look
Along with its very effective functions, Patron offers creators well-organized and functional platforms allowing for versatility, creativity, and the freedom to interact with their audience through their favorite channel. This helps foster relationships between the artist/creator and the public.
Cons
- Patreon has somewhat high fees
The very effective payment method offered by Patreon comes at some cost. In fact, between commission and processing fees, the platform usually takes up to 10% off your earnings each month.
- You are trusting Patreon with your content
Something you need to understand when employing a membership platform is you will inevitably withdraw some of the control you have on your content. As a result, Patreon might well decide to change their policy on short notice and leave you with limited time to work out an alternative.
Pros and cons of using own membership website
Much like using Patreon, using your own website can also bring its unique benefits and challenges.
Pros
- Your own website allows more personalization
One of the advantages of not subscribing to a closed platform is the complete freedom to personalize the way you choose to deliver your content. From design to domain and everything in between, the choice is yours.
- You can still connect your existing Patron account to your website
Through user-friendly integration, you will be able to run your membership beyond Patreon and throughout the whole web. Integrating Patron into your existing website can be as easy as adding a button to your website homepage.
- Your website provides you with more agency over your own content
Your web, your rules. Running your own site means complete agency over your revenue and the way you choose to streamline it. And, of course, lower to no fees.
Cons
- Running your own web means you’ll work hard for your buck
Owning your own website and brand generally means you have to spend more time setting things up. This allows for more agency, for sure, but also requires you to spend more time setting things up and ensuring everything runs smoothly.
- You’ll rely on yourself to get the word out
Similarly, choosing to fly solo means you’ll have to do without all the publicity offered by the subscription platform. This makes marketing yourself a bit harder, yet not impossible.
Patreon Alternatives
We have already taken a look at the ins and outs of website building and, by now, you’ll hopefully know what works best for you. Notwithstanding, you might still want to look further and see if there are better options out there. After all, creating your online audience and revenue streamline is no easy task. Before you take the leap, you’ll want to make sure you have considered all your options.
There is no shortage of Patreon alternatives to monetize your audience. Below, we have gathered a few for your consideration.
Buy Me A Coffee
Originally a WordPress plugin, Buy Me A Coffee is a donation-based platform for creators. A favorite among freelance writers, BMC offers the opportunity to ask newsletter subscribers to chip in for their content.
Among BMC pros, we find ease of use, convenience, real-time revenue processing via Paypal or Stripe.
Cons include the niche nature of the platform and smaller donations. This is due to the fact that the platform is designed to provide pocket money to creators rather than an income.
Indiegogo
A quite popular crowdfunding platform, Indiegogo is designed to raise funds from a variety of initiatives ranging from start-ups, product launches, and everything in between.
Among the advantages of Indiegogo, we find increased flexibility, the possibility for personalization, and an easy screening process. Moreover, the platform also allows creators to keep the entirety of their earnings.
On the less positive side, we find a reduced campaign time (2 months tops) and exclusive availability for one-off crowdfunding.
Kickstarter
Among the globally renowned platforms, Kickstarter is a go-to for all one-off crowdfunding campaigns. This option might not be ideal for those looking for ongoing donations but might still serve you on an on-need basis.
Kickstarter’s pros include a trusting user-base, reliability, and ease of use.
On a less positive note, the platform requires you to send out physical gifts to contributors, and, most importantly, you risk losing all donations unless you reach the desired goal.
Memberful
Not quite an alternative as it now belongs to Patreon, Memberful is a website plugin allowing people to access exclusive content behind a paywall.
Memberful’s pros include a free starter plan, reduced or no fees, and membership versatility.
As for the cons, the platform asks you to sell your content to them, losing part of all ownership.
Website Builders with Membership Tools
If autonomy and having control over your own content are important to you, you might want to consider website builders with membership tools such as Ning. As an innovative social media platform, Ning offers you the possibility to not only build your own customized social website but also provide you with the space to interact with your audience through a variety of channels.
Ning might be your best option if you are planning on effortlessly managing all aspects of your brand, from presentation to audience interaction and advertising.
Web designers willing to grow and monetize their audience might take advantage of platforms like Webflow. This is designed to provide software for outstanding website building and hosting and has recently even added an extension for a responsive eCommerce site.
Conclusion
Whether you are a musician, a designer, a freelancer, or a creator, choosing the right platform for subscribers to pay to get access to your content is no cakewalk. We hope that with our advice you’ll find exactly what works best for you! Good Luck!
