Ko-fi vs Buy Me a Coffee
Ko-fi and Buy Me a Coffee are the two go-to tools for letting fans support you with a quick tip, and both add memberships and simple product sales on top. The real difference is in their fee models and how much control you get over payouts.
Quick answer
Ko-fi is the stronger choice if you want to avoid platform fees, since its free plan takes 0% on tips and pays into your own PayPal or Stripe. Buy Me a Coffee is beautifully simple but charges a flat platform fee on every transaction. If you want to sell products, take bookings and collect emails from one link while keeping 100% of your sales, OneSol is a free all-in-one alternative that pays straight to your own Stripe.
Ko-fi vs Buy Me a Coffee at a glance
| Feature | Ko-fi | Buy Me a Coffee |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Cut on earnings | 0% on tips | Flat platform fee |
| Sell products / downloads | Yes | Yes |
| Memberships | Yes | Yes |
| Payments to your account | PayPal / Stripe | Via Stripe |
| Email capture | Limited | Yes |
| Ease of use | Simple | Very simple |
Competitor features and pricing can change — check their current plans before deciding.
Ko-fi vs Buy Me a Coffee: what each one actually costs
Sell a $29 product 25 times — $725 of sales in a month — and Ko-fi leaves you $27.55 more than Buy Me a Coffee. Both rates come from the platform’s own published pricing, on the dates below.
“Ko-fi Free - Pay 0% on one-time tips. A flat 5% service fee applies to anything else, such as shop items, memberships, monthly tips, and commissions.”Ko-fi pricing — checked 2026-09-17
“We charge a 5% transaction fee, and creators keep 95% of the earnings.”Buy Me a Coffee pricing — checked 2026-09-17
For reference, OneSol takes no cut of sales at all — customers pay into your own Stripe or PayPal — and Pro is a flat $9 a month. Run your own numbers across 18 platforms.
1. Who Ko-fi suits best
Ko-fi fits creators who want to keep as much of every tip as possible, since its free plan takes no platform fee on donations and pays into your own PayPal or Stripe. It also handles a shop, commissions and memberships without forcing an upgrade. If low fees and payout control matter most, Ko-fi is hard to beat.
2. Who Buy Me a Coffee suits best
Buy Me a Coffee wins on polish and speed — its clean, friendly interface makes accepting tips, memberships and extras almost effortless to set up. Built-in supporter emails make follow-up simple. The trade-off is a flat platform fee applied to every transaction, whatever your volume.
3. The cost that's easy to miss
Buy Me a Coffee's flat fee looks small on a single coffee but scales with everything you earn, including memberships and product sales. Ko-fi is cheaper on tips yet reserves some features for its paid Gold tier. Add payment processing on both sides before you compare the true cost.
The verdict
Both tools are excellent for simple fan support, with Ko-fi edging ahead on fees and Buy Me a Coffee on polish. If you want more than tips — selling products, taking bookings, running forms and getting paid from one link while keeping 100% of every sale — OneSol does it all free and drops the money straight into your own Stripe.
FAQ
Which takes a smaller cut, Ko-fi or Buy Me a Coffee?
Ko-fi charges no platform fee on tips on its free plan, whereas Buy Me a Coffee applies a flat platform fee to every transaction. Check current pricing on each site before deciding.
Can I move my supporters between them?
Both let you export supporter emails, but you'll need to re-invite members and rebuild memberships manually, so switching platforms isn't fully automatic.
Do payouts go to my own account?
Ko-fi supports PayPal or Stripe payouts to your own account, while Buy Me a Coffee pays out through Stripe on its schedule.
Is there a free all-in-one alternative?
Yes — OneSol lets you sell products, run forms, book clients and capture emails from one link for free, with payments going straight to your own Stripe and no cut on sales.