Updated September 2026

Patreon vs Substack (2026)

Patreon is best for creators building recurring membership income from their most engaged fans; Substack is best for writers and podcasters building a paid subscription newsletter with built-in reader discovery. Patreon starts at Free + 8% fee and Substack at Free + 10% fee on paid subscriptions.

Patreon

Free

Monetization · Newsletters

Membership platform letting creators offer paid subscription tiers, exclusive content, and community perks directly to fans.

Substack

Free

Newsletters · Monetization

Newsletter publishing platform letting writers monetize via paid subscriptions with a built-in discovery network.

	Patreon	Substack
Best for	creators building recurring membership income from their most engaged fans	writers and podcasters building a paid subscription newsletter with built-in reader discovery
Starting price	Free + 8% fee	Free + 10% fee on paid subscriptions
Free trial	—	—
Platforms	—	—
Free plan	Yes	Yes
Users	80M+ users reported	5M+ paid subscriptions (vendor claim)
Key features	Membership tiers, Native video and livestreaming, Email newsletters, Chats, DMs and comments, Member analytics, Podcast RSS distribution	Newsletter publishing & website, Paid subscriptions, Podcast/video hosting, Notes (social feed), Recommendations network, Substack Chat
Integrations	Discord, Shopify, Zapier, Spotify	Stripe (payments), Apple/Spotify podcast distribution
Founded	2013	2017

Questions people ask

+Is Patreon or Substack cheaper?

Patreon starts at Free + 8% fee; Substack starts at Free + 10% fee on paid subscriptions.

+What does Patreon have that Substack doesn't?

Membership tiers, Native video and livestreaming, Email newsletters, Chats, DMs and comments, Member analytics, Podcast RSS distribution.

+What does Substack have that Patreon doesn't?

Newsletter publishing & website, Paid subscriptions, Podcast/video hosting, Notes (social feed), Recommendations network, Substack Chat.