A creator monetization platform fee is the percentage a platform takes from each transaction before the creator gets paid. On Fanvault vs Whop in 2026, the math is closer than the headlines suggest. Fanvault charges a flat 8%, leaving creators with 92%. Whop charges 3% on Discord-gated community sales plus 2.7% + $0.30 processing per Whop, blending to roughly 5.7% + $0.30 on a domestic card. Whop wins on raw fee math for a Discord-only community. Fanvault wins when the business depends on revenue streams Whop does not offer.
⚡ Key Takeaways
- Whop's 3% platform fee plus 2.7% + $0.30 processing blends to ~5.7% + $0.30 on a domestic card; Fanvault charges 8% flat with standard Stripe Connect on top.
- International cards and currency conversion add 1.5% and 1% on Whop, pushing effective processing to 5.2% + $0.30 and narrowing the gap.
- Whop prohibits adult content per its Prohibited Products policy; Fanvault allows verified 18+ creators with Sightengine moderation.
- Whop does not offer paywalled PPV posts, paid DMs, tips, wishlists, or authenticated memorabilia auctions; Fanvault offers all of them natively.
- Median Whop creator earns just $74/month and 88% of creators make nothing per Whop Trends' 2026 analysis of 191K products.
- Whop hit a $1.2B GMV run rate by May 2025 and $60.2M MRR by end of 2025; its scale validates the low-fee community-access category.
How do Fanvault and Whop actually compare on fees?
Whop's headline 3% sounds dramatically lower than Fanvault's 8%, but that is not the comparable number. Whop also charges Stripe-style payment processing of 2.7% + $0.30 per domestic card, +1.5% on international cards, and +1% on currency conversion per Whop. International, multi-currency sales push effective processing to 5.2% + $0.30 on top of the 3% platform fee.
Fanvault charges 8% flat. Standard Stripe Connect rates apply on top, with no additional platform surcharge for international cards or FX. For an internationally-paying audience, the gap narrows significantly.
| Dimension | Fanvault | Whop |
|---|---|---|
| Platform fee | 8% flat (creator keeps 92%) | 3% on Discord/Telegram-gated sales |
| Payment processing | Standard Stripe Connect | 2.7% + $0.30 domestic, +1.5% intl, +1% FX |
| Paywalled posts | Native photos, videos, gifs | Not natively supported |
| Paid DMs and tips | Native | Not offered |
| Authenticated memorabilia auctions | Native with proxy bidding, reserve prices, anti-snipe | Not offered |
| Adult / 18+ content | Allowed for verified creators with Sightengine moderation | Prohibited |
| Conversational automation | Storefront management via chat and Telegram | Not offered |
What can you sell on Fanvault that you can't sell on Whop?
Whop is a digital-products and community-access marketplace. It does not natively support paywalled photo or video posts, paid DMs, tips, wishlists, or physical-memorabilia auctions. It also prohibits pornographic and sexually explicit content per its Whop policy.
Fanvault includes all of those primitives in one account: tiered memberships, paywalled posts, paid DMs, custom requests, tips, wishlists, and a full storefront with auctions (proxy bidding, reserve prices, anti-snipe extensions) and buy-it-now drops for authenticated memorabilia. Verified 18+ creators can run age-gated content with Sightengine moderation.
The conversational layer is the other gap. On Fanvault, a creator can list items, schedule posts, triage DMs, and manage orders via chat in-app or on Telegram. Whop gates Discord and Telegram communities, but it does not offer creator-side automation of that depth.
What does the fee math look like at $1K and $10K per month?
For a domestic-only Discord community selling $1,000/month in subscriptions, Whop takes roughly $57 (3% platform plus 2.7% + $0.30 processing across ten transactions), leaving about $943. Fanvault takes 8% ($80) plus standard Stripe processing, leaving roughly $891. Whop wins by about $50/month at this scale on this specific business model.
At $10K/month, the gap widens proportionally, but only if every primitive Whop offers covers the creator's actual revenue mix. The instant a creator wants to layer in paid DMs, tips, PPV posts, or sell a signed item, Whop's column is $0 because the feature does not exist. Whop Trends data shows the median Whop creator earns just $74/month and 88% of creators make nothing, so single-product fee optimization rarely changes a creator's outcome.
Which platform fits which creator type?
Whop's scale validates the demand for low-fee community monetization: a $1.2B GMV run rate as of May 2025 per Sourcery, and $60.2M MRR by end of 2025 per Sacra. If the business is paid Discord access, trading signals, or a course, Whop offers the marketplace, the third-party app ecosystem, and the lower flat fee.
If the business depends on a creator-fan relationship across multiple revenue streams (subscriptions, PPV, DMs, tips, wishlists, plus physical drops), Fanvault's 8% buys access to a stack Whop does not offer. AI creators on Fanvault also plug into Content Capital, the sister platform that publishes across Instagram, TikTok, and X.
| Creator type | Better fit | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Paid Discord or trading community | Whop | Lower flat fee on a single-primitive product, mature community-gating |
| Course or digital-product seller | Whop | Marketplace discovery and Stripe-style processing favor the single-SKU business |
| Streamer or gaming talent monetizing fans | Fanvault | Subs, PPV, paid DMs, and tips in one account, plus a storefront for signed gear |
| Athlete or fitness creator | Fanvault | Authenticated memorabilia auctions and wishlists, no equivalent on Whop |
| AI or virtual creator | Fanvault | Native support plus the Content Capital agentic content engine |
| 18+ creator | Fanvault | Whop prohibits adult content; Fanvault offers verified 18+ access |
Should you pick Fanvault or Whop in 2026?
If the entire revenue model is one digital product or a paid Discord, run the fee math and Whop is usually the right answer on flat-fee economics. If the revenue model is the full creator-economy stack, with multiple ways a fan can pay across content, attention, and physical goods, the 8% Fanvault fee buys an entire toolset Whop does not sell. The two platforms compete for some of the same creators, but they are aimed at different revenue compositions.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Whop or Fanvault charge a lower platform fee in 2026?
Whop charges
Can you sell adult content on Whop?
No. Whop's Whop policy prohibits pornographic content, sexually explicit material, and adult services. Verified 18+ creators looking to monetize age-gated content cannot use Whop. Fanvault allows verified 18+ creators with age-gated access and Sightengine moderation, which is part of why the two platforms target different creator personas.
How much do creators actually earn on Whop?
Earnings are highly concentrated. Per Whop Trends analysis of 191K products, the top 1% capture
What can I sell on Fanvault that I can't sell on Whop?
Paywalled photo and video posts, paid DMs, custom requests, tips, wishlists, and authenticated physical memorabilia via auctions (with proxy bidding, reserve prices, and anti-snipe extensions) or buy-it-now drops. Whop is built for community access (Discord, Telegram) and digital products like courses and trading signals. It does not natively offer any of those creator-fan relationship monetization primitives, which is why creators who depend on a multi-stream revenue mix generally land on Fanvault.
Does Whop still take a 30% marketplace commission?
No. Whop eliminated its