Buy Me a Coffee popularised the idea that supporting a creator should feel as casual as buying them a drink. It works — but it isn't the only option, and for a lot of creators it isn't the best one. If you're weighing up where to send your supporters, here's an honest look at the field and what actually matters when you choose.
What to compare (and what to ignore)
Most "best tip jar" lists rank tools by feature count. That's the wrong lens. Supporters don't see your feature list — they see a checkout. The things that move your income are boring and specific:
- Checkout friction. Every extra tap, field, or forced account loses supporters. The gap between a six-second Apple Pay tap and a card form with an email signup is enormous at scale.
- Fees and payout speed. A low headline fee means little if payouts are slow or a platform cut stacks on top of card processing.
- Recurring support. One-off tips are lovely; memberships are what make income predictable.
- Where the link lives. You want one link that carries tips, memberships, posts, and goals — not four scattered accounts.
The main options
Buy Me a Coffee — the default. Clean, well-known, one-off "coffees" plus memberships. The trade-off is a platform fee on top of processing, and a checkout that still nudges supporters toward accounts.
Ko-fi — generous free tier, no platform fee on one-off tips, shop and commissions built in. The interface does a lot, which is either flexibility or clutter depending on your taste.
Patreon — built for membership businesses with tiers and gated feeds. Powerful, but heavyweight for someone who mostly wants a tip jar, and its fees climb with the fancier plans.
thx.so — one short link for tips, memberships, posts, and goals, with an Apple Pay and Google Pay checkout that clears in about six seconds and asks supporters for no account. It's the option to look at if checkout friction is what's costing you.
How to actually choose
Pick the two metrics that match your situation and ignore the rest:
- Mostly one-off tips from a broad audience? Optimise for checkout speed and no-account payment. Friction is your tax.
- Building recurring income? Optimise for memberships and payout reliability.
- Selling downloads or physical goods too? You want a shop attached to the same link.
Whatever you choose, keep your existing supporters in mind: a good platform lets you move without forcing anyone to re-subscribe or migrate data. You keep your old link alive as long as you want, and point new traffic at the new one.
The one-link test
Here's a quick gut check. Open your current support page on your phone, as a supporter would. Count the taps from "I want to say thanks" to "done." If it's more than three, you're leaving money on the table — and that's the single biggest reason to look past the default.
Want to try the low-friction version? Claim your link and see how a six-second tip feels from the other side.