OnlyFans vs. Patreon: Which Is Better?

Creators and fans of creators live in a digital paradise today compared to times past. There are so many options for paid social media that allow people to support their favorite creators while also building strong, direct connections with them. But with many choices comes difficult decisions.

That’s why many people today wonder which is better, OnlyFans or Patreon?

The answer won’t be the same for every creator or every supporting fan. It comes down to examining the specific advantages of each platform and the specific differences between them.

Below, we get into all of that.

OnlyFans vs. Patreon At-a-Glance

The table provides a quick overview of the differences between OnlyFans and Patreon in terms of costs, payout, income, emphasis, content policy, and features.

The Basics

Let’s start by getting a basic understanding of the two platforms.

OnlyFans

Tim Stokely launched this platform in 2016. Since then, it has exploded in its user base, especially during the Pandemic years. Today, there are 3.5 million active creators, which means there is a ton of content being produced all the time.

What sets OnlyFans apart? Since the beginning, it has allowed creators to include explicit adult content – an extremely rare benefit that makes OnlyFans the go-to choice for many. And if you want to build a career in the adult industry, the platform’s content policy is of the utmost importance.

But simply having a more open content policy doesn’t account for the incredible rise of the platform. Stokely’s team combined that openness with a lot of functionality that adult content creators can use to generate income. As you’ll see more in-depth below, features like pay-per-view and pay-per-DM give creators interesting ways to upsell to their fans.

This functionality facilitates long-term, one-on-one connections between creators and fans, which pairs so well with the adult genre. And while many platforms have since come around looking to copy and innovate on the formula, OnlyFans remains the number one platform for independent creators looking to monetize adult content.

We could summarize the major takeaways of OnlyFans as:

• A platform where creators offer memberships and transactions to monetize their work
• Allows adult content
• Facilitates strong one-on-one connections between fans and creators

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Patreon

Jack Conte and Sam Yam founded Patreon in 2013, driven by Conte’s own experiences as an independent musician struggling to monetize his creative output. From humble beginnings, Patreon has grown into the de factor home for online creators looking for money. It now hosts more than 250,000 active creators, supported by over 8 million patrons – establishing it as a central hub for artists, podcasters, writers, and indie media of all stripes.

And ultimately, that’s what sets it apart. Patreon managed to appeal equally to creators of all kinds. That’s allowed it to make a name for itself across a wide range of content niches, so it is trusted almost anywhere you go.

Patreon’s flat subscription model helped set the standard for what people expect from indie creators – that you will enjoy perks and exclusive experiences in return for a small, monthly donation rather than buying things a la carte.

The key points of Patreon are:

• A membership-based way for creators to monetize content
• Serves creators in just about any field you can imagine (podcasts, blogs, musicians, and more)
• No explicit adult content allowed

The Major Differences Between OnlyFans and Patreon

For fans, the biggest ways to differentiate between the two platforms come down to the kinds of content you can expect and the way that content is distributed.

For creators, those two differences are worth considering. But there are two other differences that are just as (if not more) important: the cut the platform will take from your earnings and how fast payouts are processed.

Let’s look through all of these.

Style of Content

Because OnlyFans allows for explicit adult content, this kind of offering has come to dominate its reputation. But it should be noted that you can find all sorts of accounts on the platform, though adult accounts are the majority.

Patreon is notable for just how diverse the content is. You really can find creators in just about any niche here. Despite that range, they do prohibit explicit adult material, which is a major limitation for many creators. And it is this very limitation that created the opening for a platform like OnlyFans to grow into the behemoth it has become.

Transactions vs. Membership

The culture and predominant form of support on OnlyFans and Patreon are significantly different.

OnlyFans is very transactional. This is supported by the platform itself—where creators can monetize messages and create pay-per-view content, among other kinds of limited sales. This incentivizes creators to come up with highly coveted experiences and special content that fans can’t resist. But it also leads to a highly transactional platform.

Patreon, on the other hand, is more about community. The platform makes it easier for creators to build a group of fans who interact with one another—usually by offering a private Discord, Q&As, etc. These sorts of events bring fans together. The main way creators on Patreon upsell fans is through membership tiers, with each higher tier including more and more available content.

To be clear, both platforms allow creators to offer fans paid memberships. But the structure of OnlyFans means there will be lots of upselling content over and above what is included in your membership. Meanwhile, Patreon emphasizes membership tiers and community engagement over and above transactions.

The Cost for Creators

It’s easy for people to start monetizing content on OnlyFans because the platform has no account fee, it only takes a percentage from the money you make. So if you aren’t making any money yet, you won’t owe any either. That gives creators a no-risk entry point as they start to try and monetize their work. But once you start earning, OnlyFans takes a large cut of 20%. That’s a fifth of all the revenue a creator generates going to the platform.

Like OnlyFans, Patreon has no flat fee and it is free to get started. Once they start making money, Patreon will take a cut from their earnings based on the membership plan they choose. Lite is 5%, Pro is 8% (adds in workshops, analytics, and other tools), and Premium is 12% (adds in merch, team accounts, and a direct partner manager for your account).

Payout Processing

OnlyFans is very creator-friendly in terms of payouts. These are processed every day, and they typically drop right into your bank account within a few business days.

Patreon pays out monthly. This makes sense given that the cash flow comes from monthly subscriptions, rather than individual transactions.

What Does OnlyFans Have That Patreon Doesn’t?

There are a lot of reasons that creators and fans alike flock to OnlyFans. Sure, the platform has a more open content policy, but it also services fans with a wider range of tools for creators. That means there are a lot of ways you can interact with creators that you simply can’t on Patreon.

Pay-Per-View

These images and videos allow you to start enjoying a creator’s content with very limited spending. No need to sign up for a membership. Simply check things out if you are curious.

Patreon requires paying for a month of full membership to unlock all the content available to your membership tier all at once. That’s not very friendly to exploration.

Livestreaming

While Patreon is in the early phases of experimenting with livestreaming, OnlyFans has a great option ready to go, which even includes ticketing right in the platform. Livestreaming is one of the best ways to experience interesting, interactive content, so its presence on OnlyFans is a major bonus.

Direct Messaging

Because OnlyFans allows creators to attach a price to DMs, you can end up actually chatting with your favorite models. That level of connection is highly prized by many fans.

Which Platform is Right for You?

For creators, deciding between OnlyFans and Patreon ultimately hinges on your content type, audience engagement style, monetization strategy, and long-term goals.

For fans, the major reason to pick one over the other is on a creator-by-creator basis. But because of the greater options and wider content available on OnlyFans, it has become the most popular choice. But fans also don’t really need to pick one over the other. They simply subscribe to OnlyFans profiles they’re interested in and do the same on Patreon.

Choose OnlyFans If:

• Your content is explicitly adult or heavily transactional.
• You value flexibility in payment structures, such as pay-per-view options.
• Direct, personal interactions (like paid DMs or custom content) are central to your offering.
• You prefer immediate payout schedules and straightforward monetization without tiers.

Choose Patreon If:

• Your primary goal is building a community around your content.
• You prefer clear, structured membership tiers with defined perks.
• Brand safety and mainstream appeal are critical for your external collaborations.
• You desire detailed analytics, merchandise fulfillment, and deeper integrations with platforms like Discord.

The Bottom Line

Neither OnlyFans nor Patreon is universally better – they serve very different niches within the creator economy. An ideal platform for any given creator depends on their personal needs and audience’s expectations. And for fans, the type of content available is always going to be the number one priority.

Some creators might even find success in leveraging both platforms: using Patreon as their community hub and content home base, while supplementing OnlyFans for transactional content and additional monetization avenues.

In the end, the right choice is whichever platform best matches your content style, monetization approach, community-building strategy, and long-term objectives. Weigh these factors carefully, and you’ll set yourself up for sustained success, no matter which you choose.

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