Alternatives guide
Best Ko-fi alternatives
Tips first, shop second. The cheapest way to be supported.
Best Ko-fi alternatives compared
The platforms people most often weigh against Ko-fi, and what each one is actually best at. Unlockable is one row, including what it does not do.
| Platform | Best for | Fees |
|---|---|---|
| Ko-fi | Tips first, shop second. The cheapest way to be supported. | See their pricing page |
| Unlockableours | One link for one piece of content. Not a storefront, and no recurring memberships. | 10% + 10% buyer fee |
| Unlockt | The closest product to Unlockable, and the one to compare properly. | See their pricing page |
| Patreon | Built for recurring membership, not one-off sales. | See their pricing page |
| Gumroad | The established digital-product store, with tax handled for you. | 10% + $0.50 direct |
Fees are shown only where we have checked them against the provider’s own page. For the rest, follow the link rather than trusting a number.
Unlockable vs Ko-fi
Unlockable
10% + 10% buyer fee
10% of your list price, plus a 10% privacy & security fee added to the buyer total. Card processing is covered, so £40 of content pays you £36 and the buyer pays £44.
- Platform fee
- 10% creator-side + 10% buyer-side
- Card processing
- Covered by Unlockable
Ko-fi
0–5%
No fee on one-off tips on the free option, 5% on shop sales, commissions and memberships, with payment-processor fees on top.
- Platform fee
- 0% tips / 5% shop
- Card processing
- Additional
On Unlockable a £40.00 sale pays you £36.00: the buyer covers the privacy & security fee, and card processing comes out of our share. Platform fee and processing are shown separately for Ko-fi because a percentage that excludes processing is not comparable to one that includes it.
When Ko-fi is the better choice
On tips, Ko-fi charges nothing where we take 30%. On shop sales it charges 5% where we charge 10% from you and add 10% to the buyer’s total. It also handles commissions, memberships and physical goods. For a creator whose income is mostly donations from people who already like them, Ko-fi is materially cheaper and there is no honest way to argue otherwise.
When Unlockable is the better choice
Ko-fi is built around people giving you money because they want to support you; we are built around people paying for a specific thing. If you have an audience that wants to tip, Ko-fi is cheaper and better suited. If you have a piece of content with a price on it, the framing is different — and a gated link you can send is a cleaner way to sell than a shop page.
- You keep £36.00 on a £40.00 sale — processing is our cost, not yours
- The buyer pays the fee, so your listed price is what you intended to charge
- No monthly fee and no membership: nothing is charged until something sells
- Expiring links, view caps and unlock caps, for a drop rather than a download
- A voice note on the link, so a sale arrives with a person attached
Where the two actually differ
Only the rows with a different answer. Everything else is the same on both.
Voice notes
- Unlockable
- Yes
- Ko-fi
- No
Limited or expiring content
- Unlockable
- Yes
- Ko-fi
- Partly
Recurring memberships
- Unlockable
- No
- Ko-fi
- Yes
Courses
- Unlockable
- No
- Ko-fi
- Partly
Coaching / calls
- Unlockable
- No
- Ko-fi
- Partly
Community features
- Unlockable
- No
- Ko-fi
- Partly
Physical products
- Unlockable
- No
- Ko-fi
- Yes
yes · partly · no
The link goes wherever you already post
You send it yourself — we do not connect to these accounts or post on your behalf, and your buyer does not need an account to pay.
- TikTok
- X
- Telegram
- Discord
- Bluesky
- YouTube
Where these figures come from
Ko-fi’s fees were read from ko-fi.com/pricing on 26 September 2026. Pricing changes without notice, so check the source before making a decision on it. Unlockable’s own figures are our published 10% creator-side and 10% buyer-side fee, and Stripe’s UK card rate.
Try it on one piece of content
No monthly fee, no membership. Upload something, set a price, share one link.