Patreon and OnlyFans differ most on what you are allowed to sell, so decide on content fit before you compare fees. Patreon's rules permit adult work only on verified 18+ pages, only behind the paywall, and never when it shows sexual activity involving real people, while OnlyFans' terms accept that the platform carries adult material and ask every creator for ID. On cost, Patreon's standard plan takes 10% plus processing and payout fees, and the OnlyFans terms set its fee at 20% of each fan payment.
This page compares only these two platforms, from their own published rules as they read on 1 October 2026. For a wider list of adult subscription sites, see our OnlyFans alternatives guide; for membership platforms without an adult focus, see our comparison of Patreon alternatives for creators.
Comparison matrix
Each row names the document it comes from. Where a platform's published rules say nothing on a point, the cell says so rather than filling the gap with a guess.
| Question | Patreon | OnlyFans | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sexual activity involving real people | Not permitted on any page, and selling access to pornographic material is banned | The terms acknowledge that some content on the site is adult material | Patreon Community and Commerce Guidelines; OnlyFans Terms of Service |
| Where adult work sits and who may view it | Only on Adult/18+ pages, behind the paywall, with profile, banner, tier descriptions and free posts kept clean | Fans must be 18 or older to open an account | Patreon Community Guidelines; OnlyFans Terms of Service |
| Creator identity checks | Age and ID verification for every Adult/18+ creator | A valid ID and two photos for every creator account | Patreon feature access article for 18+ creators; OnlyFans Terms of Service |
| Other people in your work | Written consent from every real adult shown in adult work, using a form Patreon supplies | Co-authors must be 18 or older, with proof of identity and written, informed consent | Patreon Community Guidelines; OnlyFans Terms of Service |
| Platform fee | 10% on the standard plan for pages published after 4 August 2025; legacy plans at 5%, 8% or 11% | 20% of the total fan payment | Patreon Creator fees overview; OnlyFans Terms of Service |
| Other deductions | Payment processing, a 2.5% conversion fee when the fan pays in another currency, payout fees, tax on fees, Apple's fee on iOS in-app purchases | No separate processing fee listed; refunds and chargebacks are taken back from earnings; your bank or e-wallet may add charges | Patreon Creator fees overview; OnlyFans Terms of Service |
| Ways fans pay | Monthly and annual memberships, one-time purchases of posts, collections and digital products, gifting | Subscriptions, pay-per-view content and other payments, including in direct messages | Patreon Creator fees overview and 18+ feature article; OnlyFans Terms of Service |
| Currency | Processing rates published for USD and several local payout currencies, including AUD, GBP and EUR | All fan payments and creator earnings are transacted in USD | Patreon Creator fees overview; OnlyFans Terms of Service |
| Native video | Patreon Video for All Audiences pages; not available to Adult/18+ creators, who link to an outside host instead | Photos, video, audio and livestream material are all content types the terms cover | Patreon 18+ feature article; OnlyFans Terms of Service |
| Discovery inside the platform | Search and explore; adult pages appear only to fans aged 18 or over who opt in | The terms say OnlyFans may use recommender systems, such as showing accounts followed by users with similar subscriptions | Patreon 18+ feature article; OnlyFans Terms of Service |
Content rules decide the shortlist
Patreon's Community Guidelines allow a wide range of sensual and suggestive work for paying members who have confirmed they are adults, but state plainly that Patreon is not a place for sexual activity by or between real or hyperrealistic subjects. Its Commerce Guidelines add a ban on selling pornographic material, including access to pornographic websites, and say they are enforced on benefits bought through Patreon even when they are delivered elsewhere. Illustrated, animated, written and audio adult work with fictional characters is permitted on Adult/18+ pages, within the consent and age rules our guide to Patreon adult content rules walks through.
Being an Adult/18+ page also changes which tools you get. Patreon's article on feature access for Adult/18+ creators says those creators must be ID and age verified, cannot use Patreon Video, get blurred image previews, and can be found in search and explore only by adult fans who have changed their settings to see them. Free trials, chats, gifting, discounts and one-time purchases are available to them, several only on subscription billing.
The OnlyFans Terms of Service take a different starting point. They tell users that some content on the site contains adult material, require creators to upload a valid ID and two photos, and require anyone appearing in co-authored content to be an adult who has given proof of identity and written, informed consent. The terms also incorporate an Acceptable Use Policy and Community Guidelines, which set the detailed content limits, so read those in full before you plan a content calendar there.
Fees: compare the whole stack, not the headline
The headline percentages are not like for like. Patreon's Creator fees overview charges its platform fee on the payment before tax and lists processing, conversion and payout fees on top. The OnlyFans terms describe their fee as 20% of the total fan payment, deducted from each payment, and list no separate processing charge. Fill in the worksheet with your own prices and plan rate instead of relying on anyone's averages, ours included.
| Line | Patreon | OnlyFans |
|---|---|---|
| A. Price the fan pays | ____ | ____ |
| B. Platform fee | A multiplied by your plan rate, found under Plan details | A multiplied by the fee rate in the terms |
| C. Processing | The rate for your payout currency and the fan's payment method | None listed in the terms |
| D. Currency costs | The conversion fee whenever the fan pays in a different currency from your payout currency | Whatever your bank or e-wallet charges to convert USD |
| E. Withdrawal costs | The payout fee for your method, spread across the month's payments | Charges from your bank or e-wallet provider |
| F. Net per payment | A minus B, C, D and E | A minus B, D and E |
Two Patreon-only adjustments are easy to miss. Purchases made inside Patreon's iOS app carry Apple's fee instead of Patreon's processing fee, which changes line C, and legacy-plan creators lose their rate in line B if the page is ever unpublished. Our breakdown of Patreon fees for creators lists every rate, and for the OnlyFans side our page on OnlyFans pricing covers how creators set their prices.
How fans pay and how you get paid
Patreon is organised around memberships. New members are billed when they join and then on that date each month, annual plans are available to eligible pages, and the shop sells posts, collections and digital products one at a time, as our guide to selling one-time purchases on Patreon explains. Patreon pays out in your chosen currency where it supports one; timing, methods and holds are in our guide to how Patreon pays creators.
The OnlyFans terms define a creator interaction as a subscription, a payment for pay-per-view content, or any other payment between a fan and a creator, including in direct messages, and say subscriptions renew automatically for the same period unless cancelled. Earnings can be withdrawn once they meet a minimum payout amount that the terms mention without stating, through the payout option you register. The same terms allow OnlyFans to deduct the creator's share of a refunded or charged-back payment, and to suspend or delete accounts, in some circumstances without notice, so keep records of your own. The payout routes themselves are covered on our OnlyFans payment methods page.
Content-fit decision tree
Answer the questions in order and stop at the first one that settles it:
- Does any paid work show sexual activity involving real people, or hyperrealistic images of people? If yes, Patreon's guidelines rule it out; compare OnlyFans with the adult platforms in our alternatives guide. If no, go on.
- Does any work include nudity or sexual themes in any format, including illustration, writing or audio? If yes, Patreon is possible only as an Adult/18+ page with ID verification, a strict paywall, clean public spaces, outside video hosting and opt-in search visibility. If your work is mostly video, weigh that hosting limit heavily. If no, go on.
- Are fans paying to support ongoing work such as episodes, chapters, art or lessons? If yes, Patreon's All Audiences category keeps the tools adult pages lose, including Patreon Video and the teaser campaign, which Patreon's Autopilot guide limits to All Audiences pages.
- Do you plan to sell individually priced items through messages? The OnlyFans terms name payments in direct messages and pay-per-view content; Patreon sells single items through its shop instead. Pick the selling style you actually want to run every week.
- Which currency should your earnings arrive in? OnlyFans transacts in USD, while Patreon publishes rates for local payout currencies, which matters if your costs are in AUD, GBP or EUR.
- Still level? Run the fee worksheet on your real prices, then pick the platform whose rules you can follow without living on the edge of them.
Running both without breaking Patreon's rules
Some creators keep a Patreon for all-audience work and a separate OnlyFans page. Patreon's off-Patreon activity guidance sets the boundaries. It prohibits leading people from Patreon to outside sites unless the guidance allows it, using Patreon as lead generation for other services, asking for payment outside Patreon and requesting fans' contact details. It also lists OnlyFans, with Vimeo and YouTube, among the outside hosts 18+ creators may link to for video, because Patreon Video is closed to them.
Read that permission alongside the Commerce Guidelines, which ban selling access to pornographic websites and apply to benefits delivered off Patreon. The cautious reading is that linking to a hosted video is allowed only when the video itself would be permitted on Patreon, and that a Patreon tier must never be a paid doorway into an explicit page elsewhere. Promote each page through its own public channels; our plan for how to promote your Patreon covers the Patreon side.
Limitations of this comparison
This comparison reads published rules, not enforcement. Both platforms review accounts case by case, change their documents without much notice and apply detailed policies, such as OnlyFans' Acceptable Use Policy, that go beyond the summaries here. The OnlyFans terms we read were marked as last updated in August 2024, and Patreon revises its guidelines and help articles often, so check the current versions before you rely on any row. Nothing here covers earnings potential: neither platform publishes figures that would let anyone predict what a given creator will make.
Both platforms put tax compliance on the creator, and the OnlyFans terms say so explicitly, so talk to a registered tax agent or accountant about income and GST or VAT before you launch. If you choose OnlyFans and later want help running it, SirenCY is an OnlyFans management agency based in Melbourne, and our page on OnlyFans management explains what that involves.