The Most Underrated Income Stream for Creators

What Creators Are Making on Patreon

We were digging into creator income data (as we do), and found an interesting bit of information—Patreon income.

We’re always looking at how creators monetize so we can share it here with you. Here’s what we decided to look at:

How Much Can You Make on Patreon?

Across all follower counts, the median monthly income from Patreon was $1,957. This means that half of the creators using Patreon make more, and half make less.

Creators making the most from Patreon earn around $200,000 per month (from Patreon alone).

Even smaller creators (<100k followers on other platforms) can make around $3,000 per month on Patreon.

And for those with active Patreon accounts, what they earn from subscriptions makes up roughly 17.28% of their total income (on average).

What Platform is Best for Patreon Promotion?

The creators in our database indicate which platform is their primary platform. This is where they focus their efforts or put out the most content.

We found that those whose primary platform was YouTube made the most from Patreon.

Patreon is a community-based platform. For users to subscribe, they need to feel connected to you and your online community.

You could argue that YouTube is one of the best, if not the best, platforms for building community online. The long-form content allows you to share more with your audience, giving them more to latch onto and connect to.

We imagine this is one of the reasons YouTubers find more success with Patreon, but we’d love to hear other opinions.

Is Patreon a Consistent Form of Revenue?

In comparison to other income sources, like platform payouts and brand deals, Patreon income is incredibly consistent. The one caveat is that we’ve seen an overall decline in Patreon income between 2020 and 2024.

We aren’t surprised to see this. Given that it’s a subscription, it can become a fairly steady stream of income (as long as people stay subscribed).

What Can We Take Away from This?

These are our big takeaways:

1. Patreon is underutilized.

2. It’s a smart way to make up for the seasonality of brand deals.

3. It’s one of the few consistent income streams for creators.

The data shows that most active Patreon users are making at least some extra cash. Are some making barely anything? Sure. But over half of the creators in our database make $2k+ per month. Not bad.

As as creator, it’s normal for income to fluctuate. There’s an element of seasonality in brand deals, platform payouts, digital product sales, etc. Yet Patreon is one of the most consistent income streams we’ve seen.

Is it going to be your most profitable? Mm, maybe not. But is it nice to have a consistent income stream to rely on? Absolutely.

Approved Bill Takes TikTok Ban One Step Closer

Almost a month after the controversial TikTok ban first passed, the House of Representatives voted last Saturday to pass a Senate amended version of the bill.

Its second version allows ByteDance an extension from 180 days to divest to 270 days. There’s an additional option to extend the deadline by 90 days should ByteDance find a potential buyer.

So what happens next? The bill, which passed overwhelmingly in the House with 360 votes in favor, now moves to the Senate which returns from recess April 29.

TikTok CEO, Chew Shou Zi, continues to stand by his previous statement, that ByteDance will not sell. A stance that has gained support this weekend from social media competitor Elon Musk, who took to ‘X’ to declare his support against the TikTok ban, “even though such a ban may benefit the X platform.”

We’ll be sure to keep you updated with the ban’s future as well as any updates from TikTok.

Quick Links

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💰 WNBA athlete strikes 8-figure deal for off-court content.

🚨 A Word of Caution on Sponsored Posts

ICYMI, there’s been a ton of content lately calling creators out for sponsored posts that aren’t properly disclosed. Viewers claim non-disclosed partnerships erode trust, which is an issue in an of itself. The larger issue for creators is the FTC.

Last year, the FTC released updated guidelines around sponsored posts. The main points we see creators overlook:

1. Don’t mix your disclosure into a group of hashtags or links.
   ❌ #hysa #fintok #sofipartner #money
   ✅ #sofipartner #hysa #fintok #money

2. If making an endorsement in a video, the disclosure should be in the video and not just in the description uploaded with the video.
   Yes, this means that you should mention verbally or overlay text in the video that states it’s a sponsored post.

3. Don’t use vague or confusing terms like “sp,” “spon,” or “collab,” or stand-alone terms like “thanks” or “ambassador,” and stay away from other abbreviations and shorthand when possible.
   ❌ #spon
   ✅ #DovePartner

The FTC has and will fine creators to the tune of $50,000+ per violation. Please disclose your partnerships appropriately.

See ya next week,

Karat