Quick answer
The same $5,000 of audience income is worth $4,780 through Stripe alone, $4,413 on Etsy, $4,380 on Patreon Pro, $4,245 on Substack and $4,155 on Gumroad — but only $2,750 from YouTube long-form ads and $2,250 from Shorts. Platform choice alone can more than double what a creator keeps.
How the Platform Fee Visualizer works, step by step
Enter a gross income figure and the number of transactions it came in as. The visualizer ranks eight platforms by what each leaves after its share: YouTube long-form (45% to YouTube), YouTube Shorts (55% total deductions on pool revenue), Patreon Pro (8% platform plus 2.9% plus $0.30 per pledge), Substack (10% plus Stripe 2.9% plus $0.30 plus 0.7% Billing), Twitch subscriptions (50%), Gumroad (10% plus $0.50 per sale plus 2.9% plus $0.30 card processing), Etsy (6.5% transaction plus 3% plus $0.45 per sale) and Stripe alone (2.9% plus $0.30).
Payment processing sits underneath several of these numbers. Where it is separate (Patreon, Substack, Stripe alone), a processing line of 2.9% plus $0.30 per transaction is shown, because on small transactions it exceeds the platform fee itself. At 250 transactions on $5,000 — a $20 average — the fixed $0.30 costs $75; at a $5 average across 1,000 transactions it costs $300. At the defaults the average transaction is $20, so the fixed $0.30 fee is a small line and the percentage fees dominate the ranking.
The point of the comparison is not that one platform is 'best'. Each fee buys something: YouTube's 45% buys the audience and the ad sales operation; a marketplace's fee buys traffic and trust; Patreon's smaller cut assumes you bring the audience yourself. The right comparison is net income per unit of your effort, including audience building.
The model simplifies some fine print. Gumroad Discover sales cost a flat 30% with processing included, and the visualizer models direct sales only. Etsy Offsite Ads add 12 to 15% on some orders. Substack's 0.7% Stripe Billing fee on recurring charges is included in its row.
Re-run the comparison at your actual transaction size, because fixed per-transaction fees punish small payments and the ranking of platforms changes with the amount. The common pattern is layering: keep discovery on the high-fee platforms, and offer the committed audience a lower-fee home (memberships, your own store) as an additional option.
The formula
Net kept = gross - platform fee - processing fees where charged separately. Percentage fees scale with gross; fixed per-transaction fees scale with transaction count, so the ranking changes with average transaction size.
Worked example — try it on the calculator above
Worked example: $5,000 of monthly audience income, eight ways
Stripe alone: $220 of fees, net $4,780. Gumroad: $845 of fees ($500 platform, $125 per-sale, $220 card processing), net $4,155. Etsy: $587.50, net $4,412.50. Patreon Pro: $620, net $4,380. Substack: $755, net $4,245. YouTube long-form ads at 45%: $2,250, net $2,750. Twitch subscriptions at 50%: $2,500, net $2,500. YouTube Shorts at 55% deductions: $2,750, net $2,250. The spread between the best and worst is $2,530 a month on identical gross audience spending — the audience's $5,000 does not change; the toll does. Cut the average transaction to $5, with 1,000 transactions for the same $5,000, and Stripe's fee rises to $445 while Patreon's rises to $845 — the fixed fee reshuffles the middle of the ranking.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which platform takes the smallest cut?
Of the major creator platforms, direct payment links and your own store take the least (payment processing only, about 2.9% + $0.30). Among audience platforms, Patreon's 5 to 12% and Substack's 10% are the lowest headline shares, but both assume you supply the audience. YouTube's 45% and Twitch's roughly 50% fund discovery and ad sales. Gumroad takes 10% plus $0.50 per sale, plus card processing.
Why does YouTube take 45%?
The share funds the ad marketplace, hosting and delivery of video at scale, and the recommendation system that supplies most views. Whether it is fair depends on the counterfactual: the same videos self-hosted would reach a fraction of the audience. Creators keep 55% of long-form ad revenue and 45% of the pooled Shorts revenue.
Are platform fees tax-deductible?
Yes, for creators filing as self-employed or through a business: platform shares and processing fees are ordinary business expenses. Report gross income and deduct the fees (or report the net your platform statement shows, consistently). This is general information, not tax advice — keep the platform's annual summary with your records.
Should I move my audience to the cheapest platform?
Only the part that will actually move. A 35-point fee saving on the 20% of your audience willing to follow you to a new platform loses money against staying. The common pattern is layering: keep discovery on the high-fee platforms, and offer the committed audience a lower-fee home (memberships, your own store) as an additional option.
Estimates, not advice. This calculator provides educational estimates based on the inputs you enter and the assumptions shown on this page. It is not financial, tax or investment advice, and it cannot see your full situation. Verify important figures against official sources, and consider a qualified professional for decisions about your own money. See our Disclaimer and Methodology.