You've built an audience. They value your work. Now you want to monetize that relationship without relying solely on advertising or hoping for sponsorship deals. Enter membership platforms: Substack and Patreon dominate the creator economy's recurring revenue landscape.
But which platform actually fits your content, audience, and goals? The answer isn't simple—each excels in different scenarios. Choose wrong and you'll fight the platform's limitations for years. Choose right and the platform amplifies your monetization potential.
Let's break down the real differences beyond marketing copy, with specific use cases and revenue projections based on actual creator data from 2025.
The Core Difference: Publication vs Community
This fundamental distinction guides every other decision:
Substack is a publication platform. It's built around written newsletters delivered via email, with a website as secondary infrastructure. Think digital magazine meets personal newsletter. Your relationship with readers happens primarily through their inbox.
Patreon is a membership platform. It's built around tiered access to exclusive content and community, delivered through a web app with optional email notifications. Think fan club meets private content library. Your relationship with supporters happens primarily on their platform.
Everything else flows from this distinction.
Substack: Deep Dive
Best For
- Writers and journalists: Long-form essays, analysis, reporting
- Thought leaders: Business insights, industry commentary, newsletters
- Educators: Explainer content, deep dives, tutorials in text format
- Anyone whose primary medium is written word
Revenue Model
Fee structure: Substack takes 10% of subscription revenue. No additional fees—they cover payment processing, email delivery, hosting, and infrastructure.
Pricing flexibility: You set your own monthly and annual subscription prices. Most successful Substacks charge $5-15/month or $50-150/year (annual typically offers 15-20% discount).
Free + Paid model: Essential strategy for growth. Publish free posts to attract subscribers, reserve premium analysis/content for paying members. Typical conversion rates: 5-10% of free subscribers convert to paid.
Platform Strengths
Email-first approach: Posts land directly in subscriber inboxes. Open rates average 40-50% for newsletters (versus 2-5% for social media posts). Your content isn't buried in algorithmic feeds.
Discovery network: Substack's homepage, recommendations, and leaderboards drive significant traffic to popular publications. Established writers report 20-30% of new subscribers come from Substack's internal discovery.
Subscriber ownership: You can export your entire subscriber list at any time. No platform lock-in—your audience goes with you if you migrate elsewhere.
Clean reading experience: Beautiful typography, fast-loading pages, minimal distractions. Readers enjoy consuming long-form content on Substack.
Built-in podcast hosting: Upload audio directly to Substack. Subscribers can listen in-app or via RSS feed. Single platform for written and audio content.
Platform Limitations
Limited content types: Primarily text and podcasts. Video support exists but isn't core to the experience. If your content is visual or interactive, Substack feels constraining.
No tiered memberships: Everyone pays the same price for the same access. You can't offer bronze/silver/gold tiers with different benefits. All paid subscribers get identical content.
Minimal community features: Comments exist but don't approach true community forums or chat. Subscriber-to-subscriber interaction is limited.
Less frequent touchpoints: Newsletters typically publish 1-4 times per month. Compared to daily content platforms, this means less ongoing engagement with your audience.
Real Revenue Example: Substack Newsletter
Scenario: Business strategy newsletter, $10/month ($100/year)
- Free subscribers: 5,000
- Paid subscribers: 350 (7% conversion rate)
- Monthly revenue: $3,500
- Substack's cut (10%): -$350
- Net monthly income: $3,150
Publishing cadence: 2 newsletters per week (8/month). Time investment: ~12-15 hours/month. Effective hourly rate: $210-260/hour.
Patreon: Deep Dive
Best For
- Visual creators: Artists, illustrators, photographers, designers
- Video creators: YouTubers, streamers, video essayists
- Podcasters: Ad-free episodes, bonus content, early access
- Game developers and writers: Serialized fiction, development updates, beta access
- Anyone creating frequent, varied content types
Revenue Model
Fee structure: Patreon offers tiered pricing:
- Lite: 5% platform fee + payment processing (~3%)
- Pro: 8% platform fee + payment processing (~3%)
- Premium: 12% platform fee + payment processing (~3%)
Most creators use Pro tier for analytics and tiers functionality. Effective total fees: ~11%.
Membership tiers: Create 3-10 membership levels with different prices and benefits. Example: $3 tier (early access), $10 tier (exclusive content + Discord), $25 tier (personal feedback on work).
Per-creation vs monthly billing: Choose whether patrons pay monthly or per post/video/creation. Most creators use monthly for predictable income.
Platform Strengths
Tiered membership flexibility: Create sophisticated value ladders. Casual fans pay $3, super fans pay $50+. Capture revenue from different commitment levels.
Rich content support: Upload videos, images, audio, polls, text posts—all natively supported. Creators mix content types freely based on what makes sense.
Community features: Comments, patron-only posts, live streams, integration with Discord for dedicated community spaces. Foster true fan engagement and patron-to-patron connection.
Frequent engagement: Creators often post 10-20+ times per month—behind-the-scenes content, works in progress, polls, updates. Keeps patrons engaged between major content releases.
Established ecosystem: Patreon's been around since 2013. Creators recognize it, trust it, and understand how it works. Less friction getting supporters to sign up.
Platform Limitations
Weaker discovery: No equivalent to Substack's homepage or recommendation engine. Growth relies almost entirely on you driving traffic from external platforms.
Platform dependency: Your patrons must log into Patreon to access content. Unlike email newsletters that land in inboxes, Patreon requires intentional visiting. This creates engagement friction.
Higher fees: 11% total (platform + payment processing) versus Substack's 10% all-in. On $3,000 monthly income, that's $30 extra per month ($360/year).
Complex tier management: More flexibility means more decisions. Creators often struggle to price tiers correctly or deliver promised benefits consistently.
Real Revenue Example: Patreon Creator
Scenario: Podcast with patron-only bonus episodes and Discord community
- $5 tier (early access): 150 patrons = $750
- $10 tier (bonus episodes): 80 patrons = $800
- $25 tier (Discord + Q&A): 20 patrons = $500
- Total monthly revenue: $2,050
- Patreon fees (11%): -$225
- Net monthly income: $1,825
Content cadence: Weekly main episode (public), 2 bonus episodes/month (patron-only), daily Discord engagement. Time investment: ~20 hours/month. Effective hourly rate: $91/hour.
Head-to-Head Comparison
Ease of setup: Substack wins. Create account, write first post, set price, launch—10 minutes. Patreon requires tier configuration, benefit planning, and reward fulfillment strategy.
Growth potential: Substack wins for writers. Internal discovery drives meaningful traffic. Patreon wins for video/visual creators who already have YouTube/Instagram audiences to convert.
Revenue per subscriber: Patreon wins if you utilize tiers well. Capturing $3-50+ from different supporter levels maximizes revenue from existing audience. Substack's single-price model leaves money on the table from super fans.
Content flexibility: Patreon wins. Native support for all content types versus Substack's text-and-podcast focus.
Reading/consumption experience: Substack wins for written content. Email delivery and clean web reading beats logging into Patreon app.
Community building: Patreon wins. Comments, Discord integration, patron interaction features foster stronger communities than Substack's comment sections.
Platform independence: Substack wins. Full subscriber export means genuine audience ownership. Patreon exports are more limited.
Decision Framework: Which Platform For You?
Choose Substack if:
- Your primary content format is written essays/analysis/reporting
- You value email delivery and inbox-based distribution
- You want platform discovery to supplement your own marketing
- You prefer simplicity—single price point, no complex tiers
- You're comfortable publishing 1-4 substantial pieces per month
Choose Patreon if:
- You create visual content, videos, art, or mixed media
- You already have significant following on other platforms to convert
- You want tiered pricing to capture revenue from casual and super fans
- You'll publish frequently (10-20+ times/month) across different content types
- Community interaction is central to your value proposition
The Hybrid Approach
Some creators successfully use both platforms for different purposes:
- Substack for primary content: Weekly newsletter to broad audience
- Patreon for super fans: Exclusive bonus content, early access, community Discord
This maximizes both platforms' strengths but requires careful communication so audiences understand where to find what content. Generally recommended only after you've proven one platform successfully.
Alternative: Self-Hosted Membership
Both Substack and Patreon take 10-11% of revenue. For creators earning $5,000+/month, self-hosting a membership on Journaleus paired with payment tools like Stripe may offer better economics—but requires more technical setup and your own audience-building strategy.
Action Steps: Getting Started
Week 1: Choose your platform based on content type and format
Week 2: Research successful creators in your niche on your chosen platform—what price points, posting frequency, and tier structures work?
Week 3: Plan your launch—minimum 3 pieces of free content demonstrating value, then introduce paid tier with specific benefits
Week 4: Launch to existing audience (email list, social followers) with clear value proposition and limited-time founding member discount
The creator economy rewards consistent value delivery more than platform choice. Both Substack and Patreon enable sustainable creator businesses—pick the one that fits your content and commit to serving your subscribers excellently for at least 6-12 months before evaluating results.
Ready to build recurring revenue? Start by publishing consistent free content on Journaleus or your platform of choice, proving your value before asking audiences to pay. The membership follows the trust.