Patreon turned fans into patrons. Membership tiers, members-only posts, community chats, a shop for one-off items, and native podcast and video delivery give creators steady income from the people who care most. It is the default word for creator memberships, and the tools have grown up with it.
Cardel provides a home for your craft. Share and sell your work, grow your audience, and bring your community together on a site of your own. Cardel is not a membership platform; there are no tiers, no paywall, and no recurring billing.
Patreon lives at patreon.com/yourname and gates most content. Cardel lives on your domain, open to search and readers, with blog, Showcase, Shop, Videos, and Schedule pages.
Patreon takes a percentage of membership revenue. Cardel charges a plan and a small Shop fee, and your audience list is yours to email from your domain.
Patreon messages patrons in-app. Cardel gives you campaign workflows and a Messaging Center for chat, contact forms, and email.
Choose Patreon when recurring fan support with tiers and members-only perks is the model.
Choose Cardel when you want a public home you own with site, audience, shop or bookings, and inbox in one place.
You are the Forgemaster. Cardel is your forge. What you build is yours.
Cardel is a home for your craft: a site of your own with a blog, newsletter, shop, community, and one inbox. It can replace Patreon when you want your work, audience, and sales in one place. The feature list below shows where the two overlap and where they part.
Yes. Cardel pages can link out to other products, so you can keep Patreon for what it does best and bring the rest of your work to Cardel.
Compare features
A check means that capability is available. Patreon is marked only when the offer is comparable, not the same product.
Compare plans, prices, and what it costs to get started.
Cardel
Build at no cost, then choose Starter, Pro, or Business when your site goes live.
Patreon
See what Patreon charges on their pricing page.
Forge your community
Looking for a Patreon alternative? Bring your work to a site of your own.
See how Cardel compares with other products.
You don't pay for Cardel until you publish. Choose Starter, Pro, or Business when your site goes live. Patreon sets its own prices, so check their pricing page below for current plans.
Start with Get Started, set up your site, and bring your work over at your own pace. You do not have to move everything on day one.
* Note: This table does not capture every feature of Cardel or Patreon, and is not intended as a comprehensive list. We keep this page current, but Cardel or Patreon may add or remove features that are not shown here.
