Ko-fi Pricing & Free Plan Limits
Complete pricing breakdown for Ko-fi including all plans, hidden costs, and limitations.
Pricing score: 82/100
Is Ko-fi free?
Yes — the Free (Ko-fi Contributor) plan costs nothing. Paid plans start at $12.00/month (Ko-fi Gold).
The free plan includes
- Tips and donations
- Memberships
- Shop
- Commissions
- Direct PayPal or Stripe payouts
Free plan limits
- Users: Unlimited supporters
- Storage: Standard upload limits
- No custom branding, no analytics and insights, no early feature access, standard upload limits, basic support
Watch out: 0% Ko-fi fee on tips, 5% on shop sales, memberships and commissions. PayPal or Stripe processing fees (about 2.9% + 30c on Stripe) apply to every payment.
Plans & Pricing
- Tips and donations
- Memberships
- Shop
- Commissions
- Direct PayPal or Stripe payouts
User limit: Unlimited supporters
Storage: Standard upload limits
- 0% platform fee on shop, memberships and commissions
- Custom branding
- Analytics and insights
- Early feature access
- Higher upload limits
User limit: Unlimited supporters
Storage: Higher upload limits
Pricing Issues Reported by Users
Ko-fi takes 5% of shop, membership and commission sales without Gold
The free plan has no Ko-fi fee on tips but a 5% fee on shop sales, memberships and commissions. Stripe or PayPal processing (about 2.9% + 30c on Stripe) is charged on top. Creators with steady sales are pushed toward paying for Gold.
Ko-fi Gold costs $12 a month for new creators
Third-party summaries and Ko-fi's help center say Gold is $12/month for new subscribers, while some older creators pay $6 or $8. Gold removes the 5% fee, so it only pays off above roughly $240/month in shop or membership sales.
Supporters confuse Ko-fi membership billing and cancellation
Guests who paid without an account cannot cancel in Ko-fi, and Ko-fi will not cancel on their behalf. They must link the subscription to an account or cancel through PayPal.
Memberships taken before switching to Gold keep paying the 5% fee
Ko-fi's help center says memberships started before a creator upgrades to Gold continue to carry the 5% fee (stated for Stripe memberships). Upgrading does not remove the fee on existing members.
Stop paying for features you don't use
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