In case you didn’t see it, I had a chat with comics buddy Jade, creator of Ask the Werewolves and Fox Me Gently. In the video (now on YouTube), we discussed why we left Patreon and alternatives to the platform we found.
I highly recommend giving it a watch! It’s less than an hour and a half long. But if you need cliff notes, here are some highlights.
Jade and I Both Left for Security Reasons
I left Patreon in 2018-ish, returned in 2021, and then left again last year. And I did that because Patreon had laid off their security team.
Jade left on March 1 (just over a week ago!) for the same reasons. On top of that, she found out that Patreon is outsourcing its security to an outside company. One that may sell the data of any NSFW creators at any time.
Not only that – Patreon requires creators who make NSFW content to post their IDs for face recognition software (already a YIKES). But patrons are not scrutinized to the same level. Any patron can check off a box saying, “Yes, I’m over 18,” even if they aren’t. If Patreon’s goal was to stop underage consumption of NSFW content, this policy is a failure.
What a Platform Deems as NSFW is Often Never Defined Until You’re Punished
Ko-Fi is a Patreon alternative, but it has its faults. The first of which is that yes, you can mark your page as NSFW. But you’re not allowed to post NSFW content on Ko-Fi.
This is already a “…What?” But don’t worry, it gets worse.
I’ve shared this story in multiple places, but I’ll repeat it here – back in August 2022, my Ko-Fi page got taken down by the platform. They did not email me about it. They did not tell me why they did it. I had to reach out to them and ask why. They only responded, “You’re posting content we disapprove of. Please remove it.”
No specifics. No details. Just that.
By process of elimination, I figured it had to be one of two posts I did shortly before the take-down. It was either this page of The Legend of Jamie Roberts that dared to show off male nipples. Or it was a product listing with the words “Fuck off” in the title.”
To be safe, I removed both. And my page was immediately up.
That scared the hell out of me. So I researched alternative platforms in earnest.
Alternatives DO Exist.
Thankfully, there are sites like Buy Me A Coffee, Stripe, and Big Cartel. Jade and I discuss other options in the video (which you really ought to watch). But we do hope that these are just the start. We both hope that there are innovators out there who want to build alternatives to Patreon and Ko-Fi.
(And now for the shameless plug.)
I chose to build my own alternative from scratch, using Stripe to process payments. I’m calling this Subscribe.
By going to Subscribe, you can choose a Club that works best for you and your budget! To check out the options, head over to Subscribe. Members get early webcomic updates, exclusive crowdfunding rewards, and discounts on commissions. The more you pledge, the more rewards you get.
That’s all for now. Thanks for reading!
You. Are. Awesome.
