Ko-fi is a great crowdfunding platform similar to Patreon and Buy Me a Coffee. It offers a variety of ways for creators to connect to their followers and for followers to support them in return.

One of these options is to create memberships. Memberships give your supporters a choice of how much they want to fund you and what they are receiving from you in return. It’s an inclusive way to build a community around your work and give people the opportunity to help your creativity thrive.

What Are Ko-fi Membership Tiers?

Ko-fi offers many benefits for creators and memberships are just one of them. Membership tiers contain perks of different levels that you believe your followers are interested in. It gives your supporters the chance to become a member and gain access to content that non-paying supporters can’t.

It is completely up to you what content you want to feature in each membership. The options are endless: exclusive bonus content, monthly live Q&As, merchandise, and shoutouts are just a few ideas.

Become a member slogan with choose a membership button, three icons listing some of the perks

Membership tiers are also a great way to make extra money while already doing what you love. On Ko-fi, memberships are a month-long subscription, so the more members you have signing up for a subscription, the more you’ll get paid monthly.

When Will Supporters Be Charged and You Get Paid?

The first time supporters pay for a membership, they will be instantly charged. From there, the funds will be available in either your Stripe account or your PayPal account—this is based on which payment system you set up and how the supporter pays for their membership.

Unless a member cancels their membership, they will be charged on the same monthly date they originally paid for the membership. For example, if someone pays for a $10 membership on the fourth of the first month, every month on the fourth, you’ll get paid again from the member. Your payments will immediately show up in Stripe or PayPal.

Platform Fees: Free vs. Gold

Ko-fi does have a free version for creators to use. However, for every membership that a supporter buys, Ko-fi will take a 5% platform fee. That means if a membership is $10, Ko-fi takes $0.50.

There is a way around this, though. If you pay $6/month for Ko-fi Gold, Ko-fi takes 0% in platform fees, among various other deals within the program.

Ko-fi gold features explained

Another fee is the transaction fee that comes from PayPal and Stripe—there’s no way around these fees. Stripe will take 2.9% of the transaction amount, plus $0.30 cents per transaction. PayPal has the same transaction fees unless the member is using their personal PayPal account—then the $0.30 fee is waived.

Adding Sales Tax

Ko-fi does not add sales tax or VAT to any purchase. However, it is important to make sure that proper taxes are added. It is the creator’s responsibility to know how much tax should be charged. When in doubt, it is advised you speak to a tax specialist.

Set Up a Payment System

Before you can create membership tiers, Ko-fi requires you to set up one or both options for a payment method. This is so that when supporters start signing up for one of your memberships, the funds are deposited immediately into your account.

Welcome to Ko-fi Memberships payment method setup

Set Up a PayPal Account

PayPal is a safe way to receive online payments. If you already have a PayPal account and want to tie it to your Ko-fi account, you can. Additionally, it is important to know that you do not have to create a business PayPal account for Ko-fi—an individual account can work just fine.

If you already use your email for PayPal, it will simply ask for your login credentials, and you’ll be well on your way.

Setting Up PayPal for Kofi front screen

If you’re using a new email, the process is easy. The first step is adding your email and country. Then, you’ll enter your personal information, create an account, and allow Ko-fi to connect to your PayPal with the click of a button. Within PayPal’s website is where you’ll need to set up banking information, but you can do that at a later date.

Set Up a Stripe Account

If PayPal isn’t your thing, you can set up a Stripe account. It is also acceptable to set up Stripe in addition to PayPal to allow for more payment options. Stripe accepts card payments, Apple Pay, Google Pay, and more.

Setting Up Stripe for Kofi front screen

When you sign up, you will have to provide your email address, a strong password, and your phone number. Stripe will give you a code for safekeeping—this code is important because it will be used if your account is ever compromised.

Next is to input your business information, your personal information, and your professional details. With this comes your banking information too, so make sure you have your routing and account number available.

How to Create a Ko-fi Membership Tier

Follow the steps below to start creating membership tiers on Ko-fi:

  1. Select your Membership Mode. You’ll want to make sure the Membership Tiers option is selected. The Simple Monthly Donations option is for if someone wants to donate monthly without actually joining a membership.
    Membership Mode with drop down to select which mode
  2. Select Add Tier and choose a name and a price. The price you choose is just the minimum monthly fee—members can opt to pay more if they wish.
    Ko-fi membership nomad name and price
  3. Add the Benefits. These are the rewards and perks that members will get once they sign up for a membership. You’ll be able to choose from a preselected list of ideas and choose your own.
  4. Add a Description and a Tier Image. These aren’t required, but they will help to make your memberships more enticing for potential members.
  5. Create a Welcome Message. Once a new member completes payment, this will be the message they see. This is the best time to thank a new member for choosing to support you.
    Ko-fi membership message explaining how thankful the creator is to her supporters
  6. Select Enable Tier so it will show up on your Ko-fi page.
  7. If you have a Discord attached to your Ko-fi account, you can select the box to Enable Discord Roles. You can also request a member’s address if you plan to send physical items like stickers or postcards. Additionally, you have the option to limit the number of people per tier—this would help if there is one-to-one access or limited availability on items.
    Ko-fi Membership Options to select or unselect
  8. Click Save and your first tier has been created and will show up on your page.

Follow the above steps to create even more tier options.

Make Your Membership Tiers Stand Out

There are a couple of options to make your memberships stand out to anyone who visits your page. This is important because it’ll help to entice potential members to sign up for a membership and become a part of your creative process.

Default Your Membership Options to Show First

Instead of having the one-time donation option your default on your Ko-fi page, have your membership tiers show up first. To set this default, go to Settings > Payment > Default to Memberships. Switch the toggle to on and you’ll be good to go.

Default to Membership with toggle to turn off and on

Customize Membership Tiers to Fit Your Niche

Are you an artist or a writer? Do you have a travel YouTube channel? A musician or a woodworker? You can title your membership tiers to go along with your creative endeavors. It will help make your memberships a bit more fun and noticeable to supporters and potential members.

Ko-fi Membership Tiers with pricing and options

Having a hard time coming up with membership tier titles? Get creative with Chat GPT to help you.

Start Creating Memberships on Ko-fi

Adding memberships to your Ko-fi account is incredibly easy and worthwhile. Additionally, having more membership tiers makes it easier for supporters to choose what best fits their interests and budget. Creating memberships on Ko-fi is truly a great way to earn extra money while connecting with your followers.