A creator monetization platform is a service that bundles payments, audience access, and selling tools so creators can charge fans for content, communities, or products without building infrastructure from scratch. Fanvault and Whop both qualify, but they target different verticals. Fanvault charges 8% and is built for streamers, athletes, and AI creators who want subscriptions plus authenticated memorabilia auctions. Whop charges 3% on automated sales (plus Stripe processing) and is built for digital-product sellers running Discord communities, courses, and software resales.
⚡ Key Takeaways
- Whop charges 3% on automated sales (Discord, Telegram, TradingView); Fanvault charges a flat 8%, putting all-in fees on a $1K domestic month at roughly 5.7% on Whop versus 10.7% on Fanvault.
- Whop reports 18.4M+ users, 183,628 sellers, and ~$108M monthly processed across 28,000 active earners; Fanvault is invite-gated with a 24-country launch footprint and manually approved creators.
- A 2026 analysis of 191K Whop products found the top 1% of sellers capture 57% of platform revenue, the median seller earns $74/month, and 88% earn nothing.
- Whop bans pornographic and adult-services content; Fanvault is verified 18+ with AI moderation through Sightengine and a two-strike policy.
- Whop has no auctions, no authenticated memorabilia, no Shippo fulfillment, and no wishlists; Fanvault owns those categories entirely.
- Tether invested $200M in Whop in February 2026 at a $1.6B valuation, embedding Tether wallet rails into payouts.
What does each platform actually do?
Whop is a digital-product marketplace. Most sellers gate Discord servers, Telegram channels, courses, file templates, or trading bots behind a paywall through automated access tools. There is no storefront, no auctions, no physical-goods fulfillment, and no wishlists. Whop also bans pornographic and sexually explicit content per its prohibited products policy, with a PG-13 content ceiling enforced through its community guidelines.
Fanvault is a creator-economy platform with a full storefront layer. Creators run subscriptions, paywalled posts, paid DMs, tips, and wishlists, plus auctions with proxy bidding and buy-it-now drops on authenticated memorabilia. Shippo handles label printing and tracking. It is a verified 18+ platform with manually approved creators and AI moderation through Sightengine.
How do the fees actually compare in 2026?
On paper, Whop is cheaper for pure digital sales. Per Whop's fee documentation, the platform charges 3% only on automated sales routed through Discord, Telegram, or TradingView. Non-automated direct sales pay 0% platform fee. Stripe processing adds 2.7% + $0.30 on domestic cards, another 1.5% on international cards, and 1% on currency conversion. Fanvault charges a flat 8% platform fee, with Stripe processing applied on top of that.
| Dimension | Fanvault | Whop |
|---|---|---|
| Platform fee | 8% flat; creators keep 92% | 3% on automated sales (Discord, Telegram, TradingView); 0% on direct sales |
| Payment processing | Stripe Connect rates on top of platform fee | 2.7% + $0.30 domestic; +1.5% international; +1% FX |
| Revenue streams | Subscriptions, paywalled posts, paid DMs, tips, wishlists, auctions, buy-it-now drops, memorabilia | Subscriptions, courses, Discord/Telegram access, file downloads, software, bounties |
| Physical goods | Native auctions plus Shippo fulfillment plus authenticated signed inventory | Not supported |
| Content rules | Verified 18+; AI moderation; two-strike policy | PG-13; bans pornographic and adult-services content |
| Audience size | Launched 2025; 24-country footprint; invite-gated | 18.4M+ users; 183,628 sellers; 144 countries |
| Payout options | Stripe Connect with identity verification at onboarding | Stripe Connect with customizable cadence; crypto, Venmo, CashApp |
| Best for | Streamers, athletes, AI creators with memorabilia and fan-economy revenue | Course creators, Discord operators, digital template sellers, trading-bot resellers |
What does the fee math look like at $1K and $10K monthly?
Run the numbers on $1,000 of domestic card volume. On Whop's automated tier, the seller pays $30 platform plus roughly $27 + $0.30 Stripe, totaling around $57.30 in fees, or ~5.7%. On Fanvault, the seller pays $80 platform plus roughly $27 + $0.30 Stripe, totaling around $107.30, or ~10.7%. At $10K monthly, the gap widens proportionally. The difference is real, and it is the price of access to Fanvault's auctions, fulfillment, and curated 18+ audience.
| Monthly volume (domestic cards) | Fanvault total fees | Whop automated total fees |
|---|---|---|
| $1,000 | ~$107.30 (~10.7%) | ~$57.30 (~5.7%) |
| $5,000 | ~$535.30 (~10.7%) | ~$285.30 (~5.7%) |
| $10,000 | ~$1,070.30 (~10.7%) | ~$570.30 (~5.7%) |
Where does Whop genuinely win?
Several places, and ignoring them would be dishonest.
- Distribution. Whop reports 18.4M+ users and 183,628 sellers, with roughly $108M monthly in processed volume across 28,000 active earning creators per Sourcery's analysis.
- Take rate on digital products. 3% + Stripe is the floor for hosted creator monetization right now.
- Payout flexibility. Per Whop's payout documentation, creators choose daily, weekly, monthly, or specific-weekday Stripe payouts, with crypto, Venmo, and CashApp also supported.
- Crypto rails. Tether's $200M investment at a $1.6B valuation in February 2026 embedded Tether wallet infrastructure across Whop.
Where does Fanvault genuinely win?
Fanvault owns categories Whop does not sell. There are no auctions on Whop, no proxy bidding, no anti-snipe extended bidding, no authenticated signed inventory, no physical-goods fulfillment, and no wishlists. For a streamer auctioning stream-worn gear or an athlete selling signed gloves, Whop is not a fee comparison. It is a non-starter.
Fanvault is also a verified 18+ platform with AI moderation through Sightengine, which means a wider content surface than Whop's PG-13 ceiling. The conversational setup layer, available in-app and on Telegram, replaces the manual profile, listing, scheduling, and DM-triage work every Whop seller still does themselves. For creators who would rather operate than admin, that is the actual product.
How do earnings really distribute on each platform?
Averages mislead in marketplaces. A 2026 analysis of 191,000 Whop products by Whop Trends found the top 1% of sellers capture 57% of platform revenue, the median seller earns $74/month, and 88% earn nothing. That is the standard shape of an open marketplace, similar to early Etsy or Gumroad.
Fanvault is invite-gated by design. Every creator is manually approved at onboarding, with a 24-country footprint at launch. The funnel is smaller, but the share of zero-revenue accounts is structurally lower. Neither model is objectively better. They optimize for different things: discovery volume on one side, per-creator economics on the other.
Which platform fits which creator type?
| Creator type | Better fit | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Twitch or Kick streamer with stream-worn gear | Fanvault | Native memorabilia auctions; Shippo fulfillment; verified 18+ |
| Discord community operator | Whop | 3% on automated access; built-in Discord integration |
| Combat athlete with signed apparel | Fanvault | Authenticated memorabilia, proxy bidding, anti-snipe |
| Course creator selling cohort programs | Whop | 0% on direct sales; native course tooling |
| Trading bot or template reseller | Whop | TradingView integration; file-download delivery |
| AI creator built on Content Capital | Fanvault | Storefront, subscriptions, AI-native onboarding |
| Fitness creator with paid DMs and custom plans | Fanvault | Paid DMs, tips, wishlists, verified 18+ |
The honest answer to which platform pays creators more in 2026 is not a single fee number. Per Goldman Sachs Research, the creator economy will roughly double to $480B by 2027, and take rates will keep compressing. The question is which side of two trade-offs the creator sits on: digital files versus authenticated memorabilia, and open marketplace versus curated 18+ network. Pick the platform that matches the product, not the fee table.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the actual platform fee on Whop in 2026?
Per Whop's official fee documentation, the platform takes
Can I sell physical memorabilia or run auctions on Whop?
No. Whop is a digital-product marketplace. There is no auction engine, no proxy bidding, no anti-snipe, no authenticated inventory, and no shipping integration. Fanvault was built around exactly this gap, with native auctions, buy-it-now drops, authenticated signed and stream-worn inventory, and Shippo-powered fulfillment as part of every creator storefront.
Is Whop adult-friendly?
No. Whop's prohibited products policy bans pornographic, sexually explicit, and adult-services content. The ceiling is roughly PG-13. Fanvault is a verified 18+ platform with AI moderation through Sightengine and a two-strike content policy, broader than Whop's ceiling but still narrower than fully adult platforms like Fanvue.
Which platform pays out faster?
Whop has more flexibility on payout cadence. Per Whop's payout documentation, creators can configure daily, weekly, monthly, or specific-weekday Stripe Connect payouts, plus crypto, Venmo, and CashApp options. Fanvault uses Stripe Connect with regulated identity verification at onboarding. Standard Stripe payout timing applies on both platforms.
Why is Fanvault more expensive than Whop on pure digital sales?
Because Fanvault is not optimizing to be the cheapest pipe for digital files. The