Self-hosted Patreon alternative
The same pledge, worth noticeably more.
Patreon takes a cut of every pledge, and owns the relationship with the people making them. Running the same thing on your own site removes the commission and puts the list in your hands.
Fabrica Monetization Kit is a WordPress paywall and membership plugin. It runs recurring memberships, one-off contributions and crowdfunding campaigns on your own site, paid for inside the page through your own Stripe account, with no platform commission on any of it.
Read this first
Your patrons cannot be transferred. Be sceptical of anyone who says otherwise.
Patreon is the merchant of record. Your patrons gave their card details to Patreon, not to you. There is no subscription of yours to move and no card that can be transferred, so patrons do have to pledge again on your own site. That is a limit of how Patreon is built, not of Monetization Kit, and any tool promising a silent migration is promising something it cannot do.
What you can bring is the relationship. Export your patron list, invite them over, and keep both running for a billing cycle or two while people move at their own pace. Once they are here, the same pledge is worth noticeably more to you, because there is no platform commission – only Stripe’s fee – and you own the list from then on.
What you get instead
More ways to be supported than a monthly tier.
✓ Monetization Kit
- Recurring memberships – tiers, including benefits that are not content at all
- One-off contributions – for people who want to give something without committing monthly
- Crowdfunding campaigns – fund a specific piece of work, with a visible goal
- Paid access to individual pieces – for readers who are not supporters, but will buy the thing itself
- Apple Pay and Google Pay – on mobile, in the page, without an account first
- No commission – a flat annual licence, and Stripe’s fee on each payment
Questions worth asking
If yours isn’t here, email info@fabri.ca – we usually reply within a working day.
Can I import my patrons automatically?
No, and nobody can. Patreon holds the card details as merchant of record, so there is nothing to import. Export the list, invite them, and expect to run both for a cycle or two.
Can supporters give without creating an account?
Yes. A one-off contribution can be made in the page without an account. Recurring memberships need an account, which is created automatically as part of the payment.
Do you take a percentage of what I earn?
No. The licence is a flat annual fee, and Stripe takes its own processing fee. Nothing else is deducted.
Can I keep a free tier for people who cannot pay?
Yes. Access levels are yours to set, and nothing forces content behind a wall. A sign-up block can capture people who want to follow along without paying anything.
Try it on your own site
Coming from somewhere else? Compare with MemberPress or Substack.