Patreon
Summary
A platform for creators to collect recurring revenue from supporters of their work.
Type of organisation: Privately-owned company (or group)
Market share: Market dominance
Pricing: 5% of monthly income plus payment processing fees)-2% of monthly income – minimum of $300
Factors driving pricing: Additional features, More users (publishing-side)
Skills needed to set-up: Plug & play (any non-technical user can do it)
Skills needed to use: Plug & play (any non-technical user can do it)
Requires audience sign-in to use: Yes, sign-in compulsory
Type of organisation: Privately-owned company (or group)
Market share: Market dominance
Pricing: 5% of monthly income plus payment processing fees)-2% of monthly income – minimum of $300
Factors driving pricing: Additional features, More users (publishing-side)
Skills needed to set-up: Plug & play (any non-technical user can do it)
Skills needed to use: Plug & play (any non-technical user can do it)
Requires audience sign-in to use: Yes, sign-in compulsory
Pros
Open Source alternatives available
Releases new features regularly
Shares product roadmap
Transparent pricing model
Plain English TOS
Clear data policies
Allows data deletion
Shares diversity data
Cons
Newsworthy business issues/challenges - Patreon ups its revenue cut, but grandfathers in old creators, Patreon raises $60M Series D, targets international growth and more customization, Patreon sells off Kit, a merch-distribution startup
Lacks accessibility statement
Full Product Data Collection
Data collected January-February 2020
| Product name | Patreon |
| Product URL | https://www.patreon.com/ |
| Parent organisation | N/A |
| Workflow category | Audience engagement & monetisation |
| Date product founded | 2013 |
| Product description | A platform for creators to collect recurring revenue from supporters of their work. |
| What type of company or organisation is the product owned by? | Privately-owned company (or group) |
| Is the company profit-making? | No, loss-making |
| How is this product funded? | Subscriptions, VC investment |
| What market share does the tool have? | Market dominance |
| Is there an Open Source alternative in this product space? | Yes. Liberapay |
| When did the company last release new features? | December 2019: Preview box showing paid content to non-paying audience, to encourage them to start paying. |
| Have they shared details of the product roadmap? | Yes. 2020: Support for discount codes, annual memberships, and gifting. |
| Is there talk of the product raising further investment? | No |
| Is there talk of the product being acquired? | No |
| Have there been any newsworthy business issues or challenges in the last 12 months? | Yes. Patreon ups its revenue cut, but grandfathers in old creators, Patreon raises $60M Series D, targets international growth and more customization, Patreon sells off Kit, a merch-distribution startup |
| Is there a pricing model listed on the website? | Yes |
| How clear & transparent is this pricing model? | Very: full pricing listed |
| What is the range of prices offered? | Lite: 5% of monthly income plus payment processing fees Pro: 8% of monthly income plus payment processing fees Premium: 12% of monthly income – minimum of $300, volume discounts available plus payment processing fees Payment processing = 2.9% + 30¢ per successful payment over $3, 5% + 10¢ per successful payment $3 or less. |
| What factors drive higher pricing? | Additional features, More users (publishing-side) |
| What skills are needed to get this tool set up & usable? | Plug & play (any non-technical user can do it) |
| What skills are needed to USE this tool day-to-day? | Plug & play (any non-technical user can do it) |
| Does this tool use proprietary file formats for saving documents & outputs? | Cannot tell |
| Is the product reliant on 3rd-party APIs or interoperability to function? | No |
| Have there been any newsworthy technical issues in the last 3 years? | No |
| How clear is the Terms of Service for users (i.e. publishing customers)? | Simplified, plain English TOS |
| Does the product have a data collection & usage policy on its website? (Can be a GDPR statement)? | Yes, comprehensive. |
| Is their data policy “GDPR everywhere”? | Yes, GDPR compliant globally |
| Does the product require your audience to sign-in to use it? | Yes, sign-in compulsory |
| IF SIGN IN REQUIRED: Does audience sign-in use 3rd party platforms? | Yes. Facebook authentication, Google authentication, User account also available |
| Does the public product website mention how to export or transfer your data to another service? | No / cannot tell |
| Does the public product website mention how to delete your data? | Yes: for both publisher and audience data |
| Have there been any newsworthy security breaches with this product in the last 3 years? | No |
| Does the company have an accessibility statement on its website? | No / cannot find |
| Does the company release information on the diversity of the workforce? | Yes |