A creator platform subscription fee is the percentage a platform deducts from every paid subscription, tip, paywalled post, or DM a creator earns from fans. In 2026, those rates cluster into three tiers: 8 to 10% at the low end, 15 to 20% in the middle, and a flat 20% at the top. On $10,000 of monthly gross, that spread is roughly $1,200 in take-home between the cheapest and most expensive option.
⚡ Key Takeaways
- Fanvault charges 8%, the lowest published transactional fee in the named competitive set in 2026
- Patreon reset to a flat 10% for any creator who joined after August 4, 2025; legacy tiers persist only while a page stays continuously published
- Fanvue charges 15% for the first 12 months post-KYC, then resets to its 20% standard rate
- Passes confirmed 10% in its April 2026 rebrand to 'creator accelerator'; Fanfix and OnlyFans both take a flat 20%
- The 8% vs 20% take-home gap is roughly $1,200 a month on $10K of gross revenue, or $14,400 a year
- Goldman Sachs projects the creator economy at roughly $480B by 2027, driving continued fee compression
What does each major creator platform charge in 2026?
The published platform fees for the named competitive set sit at 8% on Fanvault, 10% on Passes, 10% flat for new Patreon creators per the Patreon Help Center, 15% on Fanvue for the first 12 months and 20% after per the Fanvue Help Centre, roughly 20% on Fanfix per the Fanfix Creator Terms, and 20% on OnlyFans per Supercreator.
| Platform | Platform fee | Creator keeps | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fanvault | 8% | 92% | Flat, no promotional decay |
| Passes | 10% | 90% | Payment processing included |
| Patreon (new) | 10% flat | 90% | Plus ~2.9% + $0.30 processing |
| Fanvue (intro) | 15% | 85% | First 12 months post-KYC |
| Fanvue (standard) | 20% | 80% | After the 12-month window |
| Fanfix | ~20% | 80% | Same rate across all earnings |
| OnlyFans | 20% | 80% | Flat across subs, PPV, tips, DMs |
How did Patreon's August 2025 fee reset change the math?
Patreon abandoned its old Lite/Pro/Premium ladder of 5%/8%/12% for one flat 10% rate applied to every creator who joined after August 4, 2025. Legacy creators keep their original rate, but only while their page stays continuously published. Unpublishing and republishing bumps a legacy creator to the new 10% flat fee permanently.
That reset rewrote the mid-tier benchmark. With Passes already at 10% and Patreon now flat-10%, the messaging around the April 2026 Passes rebrand as "half the typical platform cut" reads differently. Ten percent is the new mid-market default, not the floor.
What does the fee look like on $1K and $10K of monthly earnings?
The sticker-fee spread compounds fast at scale. Here is what a creator actually keeps before payment-processing fees at two common monthly gross-revenue checkpoints.
| Platform | Take-home on $1K/mo | Take-home on $10K/mo |
|---|---|---|
| Fanvault (8%) | $920 | $9,200 |
| Passes (10%) | $900 | $9,000 |
| Patreon new (10%) | $900* | $9,000* |
| Fanvue intro (15%) | $850 | $8,500 |
| Fanvue standard (20%) | $800 | $8,000 |
| Fanfix (20%) | $800 | $8,000 |
| OnlyFans (20%) | $800 | $8,000 |
(*Patreon take-home is before the additional ~2.9% + $0.30 Stripe charge per transaction.) At $10K monthly, the gap between an 8% take and a 20% take is $1,200 a month, or roughly $14,400 a year.
Why is the headline fee not the whole story?
Three real costs hide behind the headline rates:
- Payment processing. Patreon's 10% sits on top of roughly 2.9% + $0.30 in Stripe fees per transaction, pushing the all-in cut past 13%. Passes folds processing into its 10% headline rate.
- Promotional decay. Fanvue's 15% intro rate jumps to 20% after the 12-month window, by which point a creator's switching costs (audience, payout history, content library) are high enough that staying usually wins.
- Payout fees and minimums. Fanvue charges a $0 to $5 payout fee depending on method and country, with a $20 to $50 minimum balance and a 3 to 7 business day delay. Passes offers instant, 1-day, and 2 to 5 business day tiers with a $50 minimum on the instant option.
The honest comparison for a working creator is effective take-home per $100 of gross, not the platform-fee sticker. A 10% headline that is actually 13.2% all-in is a worse deal than an 8% headline with processing included.
Where is the creator-platform fee market heading?
Fees are compressing as the category scales. Goldman Sachs Research estimates the creator economy will grow from $250 billion in 2024 to roughly $480 billion by 2027. As total addressable revenue doubles, platforms competing for creator supply discover that 92/8 wins the acquisition narrative even when 80/20 wins the unit economics.
Direct-fan monetization is scaling at platform level too. Fanfix went from $250M in cumulative payouts in March 2026 to $300M by June, a $50M jump in three months, with 38 creators on the platform passing the $1M individual mark. Patreon and Passes have consolidated at 10%. Fanvault sits below them at 8% with no promotional decay back to a higher rate, and pairs the standard subs/PPV/DMs/tips/wishlists stack with an authenticated-memorabilia storefront the others do not offer.
For a creator picking a platform in 2026, the four questions worth asking before the headline rate are:
- What is the all-in fee once payment processing is included?
- Does the promotional rate decay, and how long until it resets?
- What revenue streams beyond subs and PPV does the platform unlock?
- How fast, and how cheaply, do payouts actually arrive?
Those four answers move the take-home number more than any sticker comparison.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the lowest creator platform fee in 2026?
Fanvault charges
Fanvue runs a 15% intro rate for the first 12 months post-KYC that jumps to 20% afterward per the Fanvue Help Centre. Fanfix and OnlyFans both charge a flat 20%.
Did Patreon really raise fees for new creators?
Yes. As of
Unpublishing and republishing a legacy page bumps the creator to the new 10% rate permanently. Most newly-active creators on Patreon in 2026 are paying the flat 10% plus payment processing.
Why does Fanvue advertise 15% but get described as 20%?
15% is the promotional Creator Earning Rate for the first 12 months after KYC verification. After month 12, the rate resets to the
By that point most creators have built enough audience, payout history, and content library on the platform that switching costs win the retention argument. The intro rate is a creator-acquisition tactic, not a permanent price.
Does the headline platform fee include payment processing?
It depends on the platform. Passes folds payment processing into its 10% headline rate, and Fanvault's 8% sits inside a Stripe Connect stack that handles processing on the platform side.
Patreon adds Stripe's
How big is the creator economy in 2026?
Goldman Sachs Research estimates the creator economy at roughly
That growth is one reason fees are compressing. When total addressable revenue doubles, platforms compete harder on creator economics to win supply, which is how 92/8 became a viable position in the market.
Which platforms accept AI creators?
Fanvault accepts AI creators (with on-platform content built via its sister platform Content Capital), Passes accepts AI creators, and Fanvue accepts AI creators. Fanfix does not, marketing itself toward brand-safe human talent and brand partnerships.
That split signals a fork in the market between AI-inclusive platforms and brand-safe-human-only platforms, with fee economics roughly tracking that divide rather than the older subs-vs-PPV split.