Recurring revenue decision tool · assumption-led

Creator Membership Platform Fee Comparator

Compare monthly take-home across Direct Stripe, Patreon, Substack, and App Store subscriptions. See the winner, the delta versus direct billing, and the price each platform would need to charge to match your current direct-web take-home.

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1. Set your monthly scenario

Use the default baseline if you just want a fast directional answer. Open the advanced section when you need to override fee assumptions.

Membership price (monthly) Active members Refund rate (%) Direct ops cost (monthly)

App Store Small Business Program active (15% baseline commission)

App Store long-term subscriber share (%) Ignored when Small Business mode is on. Otherwise, this blends 30% and 15% commission.

Advanced assumptions

Direct Stripe fee rate (%) Direct Stripe fixed fee Patreon platform fee (%) Patreon processing fee (%) Patreon fixed fee Substack platform fee (%) Substack processing fee (%) Substack fixed fee Substack recurring billing fee (%)

Baseline assumptions are editable because platform pricing and payment mixes change. Patreon iOS purchase-path behavior is explicitly excluded in v1.

2. Snapshot

Gross monthly billings

$0.00

Refunded billings

$0.00

Net billings after refunds

$0.00

Winner net take-home

$0.00

Waiting for inputs App Store effective commission note will appear here.

Assumption posture

Direct Stripe may still require ops and tooling cost. Patreon and Substack defaults are editable baseline assumptions. App Store output is an effective-rate approximation, not legal or tax advice.

3. Comparison by platform

The winner badge only marks the top take-home. It does not hide how much the other options trail or exceed direct billing.

4. Copy summary

Use this as a planning note, memo, or handoff snippet for pricing discussions.

FAQ

Why can App Store change so much? Because the effective commission depends on whether Small Business applies or how much of your billed subscription base has aged into Apple’s lower long-term rate.
Why can direct Stripe lose despite lower raw fees? Because low-ticket memberships amplify fixed per-member fees and your own direct ops cost.
Why are Patreon and Substack defaults editable? Because fee structures, geographies, payment mixes, and platform pricing can shift over time.

Scope limits

No country-specific tax remittance modeling.
No payout timing or failed-payment simulation.
No Patreon iOS purchase-path offset modeling in v1.
No YouTube memberships in v1.