How much does Ko-fi take from a $100 shop sale?

On a free Ko-fi account the service fee on a shop sale is 5%, so Ko-fi takes $5.00 and you keep $95.00. The same 5% applies to membership payments and commissions. With a Ko-fi Gold subscription the service fee is 0% and Ko-fi takes nothing. Your payment processor's own fee, around 3% + $0.30, is charged separately by PayPal or Stripe.

Does Ko-fi take a cut of tips?

No. Ko-fi's published rate on one-off tips is 0%: it states that you keep every tip you receive. The 5% service fee applies to shop sales, membership tiers and commissions, not to one-off tips. Only your payment processor deducts anything from a tip.

Why did Ko-fi charge 5% on a tip?

Because the account is in Standard mode, which Ko-fi turns on for new creators by default. Standard mode unlocks extra page features, such as supporter-only content and scheduled posts, in exchange for the same flat 5% fee on one-off tips. Turning it off in Settings, under Payment, returns tips to 0%. This calculator shows the 0% tip rate.

Is Ko-fi Gold worth $12 a month?

Gold costs $12 a month and drops the service fee from 5% to 0% on shop sales, memberships and commissions. It pays for itself once those payments pass $240 in a month, because 5% of $240 is $12. Below that the free account is cheaper. Tips are 0% on either plan, so tip income does not count towards the break-even point.

Does Ko-fi charge payment processing fees on top?

Ko-fi does not process payments. Supporters pay into your own PayPal or Stripe account and that provider takes its usual transaction fee, which Ko-fi says is typically around 3% + $0.30. Ko-fi calls the figure approximate because it varies with account type, location and currency. Switch on the processor toggle in the calculator to include it as an estimate.

How do I set a price so I keep a round amount?

Switch the calculator to "I want to net" and type the amount you want to keep. It finds the smallest price whose net, after Ko-fi's service fee and any processor fee you included, lands within one cent of your target, and shows the fee alongside it.

Ko-fi fee calculator

As of 3 September 2026, Ko-fi charges US creators a 5% service fee on shop sales, memberships and commissions, 0% on one-off tips, and 0% on everything with Ko-fi Gold at $12 a month.

Verified 3 September 2026 against Ko-fi’s official fee page. Effective from 3 September 2026. ChangelogSingle source

Your country

What you're paid for

Ko-fi charges in USD; your bank’s conversion is not included.

Ko-fi Gold subscriber ($12 a month)

Gold drops the service fee to 0% on shop sales, memberships and commissions. Its $12 monthly cost is a subscription, not a per-payment fee, so it is not part of this breakdown.

Include the payment processor's fee

PayPal or Stripe charges this on your own account, on top of Ko-fi's fee. Ko-fi calls the figure approximate: it varies with account type, location and currency, so treat the result as an estimate.

You keep

$95.00

You charge

$100.00

Shop sales (free account): $5.00
Total fees: $5.00
Effective rate: 5%

Ko-fi fees by country

Every rule on Ko-fi’s official schedule for United States, the market this calculator covers, as of 3 September 2026. Ko-fi never holds the money: supporters pay into your own PayPal or Stripe account, so the processor's fee is charged by them and is off by default here. New creators start in Ko-fi's Standard mode, which charges the same 5% on one-off tips until it is switched off in Settings.

United States

Ko-fi fees for United States, effective 3 September 2026. Amounts in USD.
Fee	Applies to	Rate
Shop sales (free account)Corroborated by the secondary source's fee-breakdown table ("Ko-fi Shop sales \| 5% \| 5%"), which shows this rate is the same whether Standard mode is on or off — only the tip rate changes between those two states.	Shop sales	5%
Service fee on shop sales with a Gold subscriptionApplies while the seller has an active Ko-fi Gold subscription, $12/month flat (the pricing page's plan-comparison figure). Single-sourced to the primary page — the secondary help-centre article's breakdown table does not cover Gold.	Shop sales	No fee
Membership tiers (free account)Corroborated by the secondary source's fee-breakdown table ("Membership tiers \| 5% \| 5%").	Membership tiers	5%
Service fee on membership tiers with a Gold subscriptionSame $12/month Gold subscription as the shop and commission Gold rules. Single-sourced to the primary page.	Membership tiers	No fee
Commissions (free account)Corroborated by the secondary source's fee-breakdown table ("Ko-fi Commission sales \| 5% \| 5%").	Commissions	5%
Service fee on commissions with a Gold subscriptionSame $12/month Gold subscription as the shop and membership Gold rules. Single-sourced to the primary page.	Commissions	No fee
One-off tips and donationsThis is the rate for a Ko-fi account with Standard mode switched off. Ko-fi's help-centre article notes that new creators now start with "all of Ko-fi unlocked" (Standard mode) from day one, which charges a flat 5% fee on tips too in exchange for extra page features (supporter-only content, scheduled posts, and similar); a creator has to opt out in Settings > Payment to get the 0% tip rate modelled here. Not modelled as a separate calculator state — out of this build's scope.	One-off tips and donations	No fee
Optional and sender-paid fees (not deducted unless selected)
Payment processor fee (PayPal or Stripe)Not deducted by default. Both components come from the same quoted clause, which Ko-fi states as approximate and varying by account type, location and currency ("which will vary based on the type of account, location, and currencies used"); it is PayPal's or Stripe's own transaction fee on the creator's connected account, never collected by Ko-fi. Treat the result as an estimate, not a contractual rate.	All payments	3% + $0.30

Source: ko-fi.com/pricing, verified 3 September 2026.

How much does Ko-fi take from a $100.00 payment?

For shop sales in United States, Ko-fi charges 5% of the amount. Each fee line is rounded half-up to the nearest cent, as the platform bills it, and what you keep is the amount minus the sum of those lines.

A shop sale on a free Ko-fi account: on $100.00 you pay $5.00 (shop sales (free account)), and keep $95.00, an effective rate of 5%.

The same shop sale on Ko-fi Gold: on $100.00 you pay $0.00 (service fee on shop sales with a Gold subscription), and keep $100.00, an effective rate of 0%.

The same shop sale with the payment processor's fee included: on $100.00 you pay $5.00 (shop sales (free account)) and $3.30 (payment processor fee (PayPal or Stripe)), $8.30 in total, and keep $91.70, an effective rate of 8.3%.

A one-off tip on a free account: on $5.00 you pay $0.00 (one-off tips and donations), and keep $5.00, an effective rate of 0%.

Frequently asked questions

How much does Ko-fi take from a $100 shop sale?: On a free Ko-fi account the service fee on a shop sale is 5%, so Ko-fi takes $5.00 and you keep $95.00. The same 5% applies to membership payments and commissions. With a Ko-fi Gold subscription the service fee is 0% and Ko-fi takes nothing. Your payment processor's own fee, around 3% + $0.30, is charged separately by PayPal or Stripe.
Does Ko-fi take a cut of tips?: No. Ko-fi's published rate on one-off tips is 0%: it states that you keep every tip you receive. The 5% service fee applies to shop sales, membership tiers and commissions, not to one-off tips. Only your payment processor deducts anything from a tip.
Why did Ko-fi charge 5% on a tip?: Because the account is in Standard mode, which Ko-fi turns on for new creators by default. Standard mode unlocks extra page features, such as supporter-only content and scheduled posts, in exchange for the same flat 5% fee on one-off tips. Turning it off in Settings, under Payment, returns tips to 0%. This calculator shows the 0% tip rate.
Is Ko-fi Gold worth $12 a month?: Gold costs $12 a month and drops the service fee from 5% to 0% on shop sales, memberships and commissions. It pays for itself once those payments pass $240 in a month, because 5% of $240 is $12. Below that the free account is cheaper. Tips are 0% on either plan, so tip income does not count towards the break-even point.
Does Ko-fi charge payment processing fees on top?: Ko-fi does not process payments. Supporters pay into your own PayPal or Stripe account and that provider takes its usual transaction fee, which Ko-fi says is typically around 3% + $0.30. Ko-fi calls the figure approximate because it varies with account type, location and currency. Switch on the processor toggle in the calculator to include it as an estimate.
How do I set a price so I keep a round amount?: Switch the calculator to "I want to net" and type the amount you want to keep. It finds the smallest price whose net, after Ko-fi's service fee and any processor fee you included, lands within one cent of your target, and shows the fee alongside it.

Sources and last verified

Every rate above is quoted from Ko-fi’s official fee page and checked by a person on 3 September 2026. Cross-checked against the official page at help.ko-fi.com/hc/en-us/articles/360002506494-Does-Ko-fi-take-a-fee. Single source: not every rate is restated by a second official page, so some rest on the official page alone.

Standard published rates only. Your account may have negotiated, promotional or legacy pricing, and the platform can change fees at any time. Confirm figures that matter with Ko-fi before relying on them. See the methodology and disclaimer.

Cite this page

Fees.tools. "Ko-fi fee calculator". https://fees.tools/ko-fi-fee-calculator. Fee data verified 2026-09-03.

APA: Fees.tools. (2026). Ko-fi fee calculator. Retrieved 2026-09-03, from https://fees.tools/ko-fi-fee-calculator