We score each platform from 1 to 10 on five criteria, then combine them into one number using fixed weights. The inputs are the platform's own published pricing pages, help center articles and terms of service, checked on the date shown on each review. Where a platform publishes nothing, we say so instead of guessing.
What we score and how much it counts
Earnings carry the most weight because take-home pay is the reason creators pick a platform. Discovery and ownership count equally, since a platform that finds you an audience but keeps it from you is a trade, not a win.
| Criterion | Weight | The question it answers |
|---|---|---|
| Earnings | 30% | How much of what fans pay reaches you after platform cuts, processing and plan costs? |
| Discovery | 20% | Does the platform show your work to people who don't follow you yet? |
| Ownership | 20% | Can you export your fans' emails, use your own domain and leave without starting over? |
| Payouts | 15% | How fast, how often and with what minimum does money reach your bank? |
| Ease of use | 15% | How long from sign-up to your first payment, and what eligibility gates stand in the way? |
What a 10, a 7, a 4 and a 1 mean
Scores are judged against fixed anchors so a 7 means the same thing on every page. A 10 is rare by design.
| Score | Earnings | Discovery | Ownership | Payouts | Ease |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | Keep 95% or more of fan payments | Algorithm reaches millions of non-followers | Full email export, custom domain, your own payment processor | Instant or daily, no minimum | Earning within 10 minutes |
| 7 | Keep about 85 to 90% | A recommendation network that sends real traffic | Email export with some lock-in | Weekly or on demand, low minimum | Earning within a day |
| 4 | Keep about 60 to 70%, or an ad revenue share | Little discovery, some marketplace | Partial export, the platform owns the relationship | Monthly with a threshold | Real setup work or eligibility gates |
| 1 | Keep under 50%, or no direct earning | None, you bring every fan | No contact export | Slow, high thresholds, few methods | Weeks or months before you can earn |
The $1,000 test
To compare fees across platforms that price in very different ways, we run one scenario everywhere. A creator in the United States collects $1,000 from fans as 100 card payments of $10, through the platform's main fan payment product. We subtract the platform's cut, card processing, any per-transaction fees, the fee for one standard payout to a US bank account where the platform charges one, and one month of the cheapest plan that can accept those payments.
Where a platform fixes the price, as Kick does with $5 subscriptions, we use that price and enough payments to reach $1,000. For tip platforms like Ko-fi and Buy Me a Coffee, the test uses one-off tips, their main product. Each review names the product it priced and shows the math line by line.
The result is the "keep of $1,000" figure on each review, with the full arithmetic beside it. Real results differ with your country, payment sizes, refunds and taxes, but the test shows the relative cost of each platform on equal terms. Ad revenue programs like YouTube's Partner Program don't fit the test, so they show "n/a" there and get their earnings score from the published revenue share instead.
Where the numbers come from
We read each platform's pricing page, help center, terms of service and official announcements. Every review lists the pages it relies on, and every number on the page traces back to one of them. When a platform is silent, we fall back to reporting from established outlets and name them.
We don't publish earnings claims from anonymous creators, survey data without a named source, or rate cards we can't trace.
How CreatorPaper makes money
Right now it doesn't. There are no affiliate links, sponsored placements or paid reviews on this site, and no platform has seen a review before publication. If that ever changes, any page with a paid link will say so above the first paragraph, and paid relationships will never change a score.
Updates and corrections
Creator platforms change fees often. We recheck a platform when it announces a change, and every page shows the date its numbers were last verified. The current data was verified on October 20, 2026.
If you spot a number that's out of date, email hello@creatorpaper.com with a link to the source. We fix confirmed errors and update the verification date.