HeroHero vs Patreon: fees, payouts and reach compared (2026)
What is HeroHero and what is Patreon?
HeroHero is a Prague-based membership platform founded by Vojtěch Otevřel and Vojtěch Knyttl. It has 1.6 million users, 400,000 of them paying, and around 7,000 creators, including Kovy, Čestmír Strakatý, Mikýř, Ondřej Novotný and Petr Mára (valid as of September 2026 · help.herohero.co).
Patreon is the global membership platform with roughly 300,000 creators and 80 million users. It has been running since 2013 and covers nearly every niche and language (valid as of September 2026 · support.patreon.com).
Both let fans pay you a monthly subscription for exclusive content. The differences are in fees, payout timing and where your audience lives.
How much does each platform take from a €10 pledge?
From €10, HeroHero passes on roughly €9 and Patreon roughly €8.60. HeroHero charges a flat 10 % plus VAT. Patreon charges creators who joined after August 4, 2025 a flat 10 % plus a 2.9 % + $0.30 payment processing fee per transaction; creators on legacy plans pay 5, 8 or 12 % depending on their tier (valid as of September 2026 · help.herohero.co, support.patreon.com).
HeroHero vs Patreon: side-by-side comparison
| HeroHero | Patreon | |
|---|---|---|
| Platform fee | 10 % + VAT | 10 % flat (new creators since Aug 4, 2025) · legacy 5/8/12 % |
| Transaction fee | included | 2.9 % + $0.30 per transaction |
| From a €10 pledge you keep | ~€9 | ~€8.60 |
| Payout | 1st working day of the month, via Stripe | 5th of the month, or manual payout |
| Users | 1.6 M (400 K paying) | ~80 M |
| Creators | ~7,000 | ~300,000 |
| Strongest region | Czechia, Slovakia, Central Europe | global |
| Content types | video, audio, text, livestream | video, audio, text, community |
| Public API for publishing | no | API v1 ends Oct 7, 2026 · v2 is read-oriented, no full media publishing |
All figures valid as of September 2026 (help.herohero.co, support.patreon.com).
When do you get paid?
HeroHero pays out on the first working day of each month via Stripe. Patreon pays out on the 5th of the month, and you can also trigger a manual payout. In practice the difference is a few days; neither platform holds your money for long (valid as of September 2026 · help.herohero.co, support.patreon.com).
Which platform has the audience you need?
Pick by where your fans already are. If your audience speaks Czech or Slovak, HeroHero's 400,000 paying users are concentrated exactly there and local fans already trust the checkout. If your audience is international, Patreon's 80 million users and global brand recognition make it the default choice. Many creators from Central Europe with mixed audiences run both.
Can you automate publishing on HeroHero or Patreon?
Not through official APIs. HeroHero has no public API. Patreon's API v1 shuts down on October 7, 2026, and API v2 is built for reading data, not full media publishing (valid as of September 2026). Stargaze Studio is the one tool that publishes directly to both, using its own publishing agent instead of a public API.
Questions people actually ask
For new creators, slightly. HeroHero's 10 % + VAT works out to roughly €9 kept from a €10 pledge, versus about €8.60 on Patreon after the flat 10 % plus 2.9 % + $0.30 transaction fee. Legacy Patreon creators on the 5 % tier keep more (valid as of September 2026 · help.herohero.co, support.patreon.com).
Yes. Neither platform requires exclusivity. Stargaze Studio publishes to both from a single upload, so running them in parallel does not double your work.
Yes, it supports international payments via Stripe. Its paying audience of 400,000 is concentrated in Central Europe, though, so reach outside the region is limited compared to Patreon.
Patreon API v1 shuts down on October 7, 2026. API v2 remains, but it is read-oriented and does not support full media publishing (valid as of September 2026 · support.patreon.com).
Stargaze uses its own publishing agent that posts content directly on your behalf. You connect your accounts once, review each post, and approve it before anything goes live.
Nothing during early access. You can connect HeroHero, Patreon and the other platforms and publish for free.
All figures valid as of September 2026. Sources: help.herohero.co, support.patreon.com. Fees and payout terms change, so every claim on this page is dated.
Do you have to choose between them?
No. With Stargaze Studio you upload once and publish to HeroHero and Patreon at the same time, alongside YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, X, LinkedIn and Spotify. Stargaze turns one upload into clips, subtitles, thumbnails and articles, processing starts while the file is still uploading, and nothing goes live without your approval. It is free during early access.
No card required · 11 languages · Your content is never used for training