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Ko-fi Fee Calculator

Tips and shop sales are charged differently. This splits them, then solves the Gold break-even. Ko-fi charges tips and shop sales on separate rules, and Contributor status, which puts 5 percent on your tips, is on by default for every new account. Enter both streams and this page prices them apart, then solves whether Ko-fi Gold at 12 dollars a month pays for itself on your numbers.

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Against the other four platforms. On a 29 dollar product sold 100 times, Ko-fi Shop on a free plan nets 2,640.90 dollars, the same as Payhip's free plan, and 80.90 dollars more than Gumroad, because Ko-fi's 5 percent is half Gumroad's 10 percent even after your own Stripe bill. Run your own numbers in the five platform payout comparison.

Selling licences or subscriptions instead? The Lemon Squeezy fee calculator models the full surcharge stack, including the cart recovery and affiliate fees.

Ko-fi fee questions

Ko-fi says tips are fee free, so why is 5 percent coming off mine?
Because of Contributor status, and because Ko-fi switches it on for you. The Ko-fi help article on Contributor status defines a Contributor as "someone who shares 5% of their tip income with Ko-fi", and then states plainly: "Everyone who joins Ko-fi now starts with Contributor status". The pricing page says the same thing from the other side, labelling the 5 percent Standard tier "default for new creators" and reserving the 0 percent tip rate for a plan it calls Ko-fi free. So the fee free tip headline is true only after you go to Settings, then Payment, and toggle Contributor off. Ko-fi is explicit that you can opt out at any time, and that Contributor status affects tips only. Untick the box above to see what turning it off is worth on your own tip income.
Does turning Ko-fi Contributor off make my shop sales free too?
No, and this is the part that catches people who switch it off expecting a bigger saving. Ko-fi's own FAQ answers it directly: being a Contributor "only impacts one-time tips", while "Memberships, Shop and Commission sales incur a 5% service fee". The pricing page repeats it, showing 0 percent on tips and 5 percent on Memberships, Shop sales and Commissions for the free tier. Only Ko-fi Gold at 12 dollars a month takes shop sales to 0 percent. That is why the calculator above asks for tips and shop income on separate lines rather than one revenue number: switching Contributor off changes one of those lines and leaves the other exactly where it was.
At what income does Ko-fi Gold pay for itself?
Gold costs 12 dollars a month and takes the 5 percent service fee to 0, so it breaks even at 240 dollars a month of fee bearing income, because 5 percent of 240 dollars is 12 dollars. The catch is what counts as fee bearing, and that depends on your Contributor setting. With Contributor on, both tips and shop sales carry the 5 percent, so 240 dollars of combined monthly income is the line. With Contributor off, your tips are already at 0 percent, so only shop, membership and commission income counts, and you need 240 dollars a month from those alone before Gold beats a free plan. Processor fees are identical on every plan, so they cancel out of the comparison entirely. The solver above applies this to your numbers and tells you which side of the line you are on.

Where every rate on this page comes from

All four pages last checked on 7 September 2026. Platform pricing changes without notice, and processor rates outside the United States can differ. Ko-fi's own page notes it does not process payments, so confirm your Stripe or PayPal rate in your own account.