Ko-fi Fees at a Glance
Ko-fi charges its fees on each payment received.
| Fee | Percentage | Flat | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Platform fee | 5% | — | Free plan; 0% on Ko-fi Gold |
| Payment processing | 2.9% | $0.30 | — |
What You Keep
The flat component is what makes small sales expensive. The same fee schedule costs a very different effective rate depending on the order size:
| Sale | Fees | You receive | Effective rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| $5.00 | $0.70 | $4.31 | 13.90% |
| $20.00 | $1.88 | $18.12 | 9.40% |
| $50.00 | $4.25 | $45.75 | 8.50% |
| $100.00 | $8.20 | $91.80 | 8.20% |
| $500.00 | $39.80 | $460.20 | 7.96% |
Donations Are Free, Everything Else Is Not
Ko-fi's headline claim is true but narrow. One-off donations on the free plan carry no platform fee at all — only whatever PayPal or Stripe charges to move the money. The 5% applies to the parts of Ko-fi that behave like a shop:
| Income type | Free plan | Ko-fi Gold |
|---|---|---|
| One-off donations | 0% | 0% |
| Shop sales (digital or physical) | 5% | 0% |
| Commissions | 5% | 0% |
| Memberships | 5% | 0% |
Where Ko-fi Gold Breaks Even
Gold removes the 5% for a fixed monthly subscription. The arithmetic is a single division: divide the monthly cost by 0.05 and you get the shop-and-membership revenue at which it starts paying. Below that number you are buying features, not saving money — and the features (custom branding, a shop with more than a handful of items, scheduled posts) are worth paying for on their own terms.
Payouts Go Direct
Ko-fi is unusual in paying creators directly to their own PayPal or Stripe account rather than holding a balance and paying out monthly. The money is yours the moment a supporter sends it, which is a genuine cash-flow advantage over platforms that settle on a schedule — and it means the processing fee is charged by your provider, not by Ko-fi.
Charging to Hit a Target Payout
Adding 7.90% to your price under-recovers, because the percentage then applies to the larger amount as well. The correct gross-up divides:
``
charge = (target + flat fees) ÷ (1 − percentage rate)
``
| To receive | Charge |
|---|---|
| $100.00 | $108.90 |
| $1,000.00 | $1,086.10 |
Reducing What You Pay
- Raise average order value. The flat fee is fixed, so bundling two $20.00 orders
- Watch the optional surcharges. International and currency-conversion fees stack on top
- Negotiate at volume. Most processors will discuss custom rates once you are processing
- Do not migrate for 0.2%. The engineering and support cost of changing platforms
Free plan takes 5% on shop, commission and membership income; donations are 0%.