Buy Me a Coffee vs Passes
Side-by-side comparison on fees, payouts, monetization, and audience ownership.
Platform fee
5% · of revenue
10% · of revenue
Payout speed
weekly
instant
Minimum payout
$10
$50
Countries
Stripe- or PayPal-supported
Primarily US, Stripe-supported
Email list export
Full access
Limited
Custom domain
No (buymeacoffee.com/you)
Yes (subdomain)
Community features
DMs, comments
DMs, group chats, 1:1 video calls
Best for
Visual artists, beginners, small audiences, fee-sensitive creators
Mainstream creators, influencers, coaches wanting low-fee subs and merch
Buy Me a Coffee vs Passes: which one wins?
Buy Me a Coffee charges 5% (of revenue) versus Passes at 10% (of revenue).
On payout speed, Buy Me a Coffee pays weekly while Passes pays instant. For creators where cashflow matters, the faster cadence usually wins.
For audience ownership, Buy Me a Coffee offers full access email export and Passes offers limited. Email portability matters most for creators planning to migrate later or build a list independent of any single platform.
Best for: Buy Me a Coffee suits visual artists, beginners, small audiences, fee-sensitive creators. Passes fits mainstream creators, influencers, coaches wanting low-fee subs and merch.