Upcoming Changes to Patreon

Hello everyone! Some confusing news.

I got an email from Patreon today regarding the model we are using.

As you may know you get choices on how to run Patreon.

1- Subscription model

2- Per creation model.

The first one just means that users get charged a flat amount per month to get acces to Patreon's perks and tiers. The second one means that you only get charged when the creator posts something.

Since the very start i have used "Per creation" as the model and i promised to limit my page posts to 2 per month. The months i have missed updates, you don't get charged for them, which is not something that would happen in the subscription model. I honestly think that "per creation" is way more fair for everyone.

Today i got an email:

"You're currently on a per-creation billing model, but Apple's in-app purchase system only supports subscription billing. Apple has made clear that if creators on Patreon continue to use unsupported billing models or disable transactions in the iOS app, we will be at risk of having the entire app removed from their App Store.  

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So, starting in November, your fans in the iOS app won't be able to purchase subscriptions to your membership until you switch to subscription billing. And, as a result of Apple's mandates and in order to make sure that you can continue getting new members in the iOS app, we've started a 16-month-long migration process to bring all creators onto subscription billing by November 2025. This means that your current billing model will be discontinued in November 2025. "

So basically due to Apple's demands and wanting to take a cut of 30% via iOS they are demanding the termination of the "Per creation" model from Patreon and pretty much forcing everyone to change to a subscription model. Patreon is giving creators a bit more than a year to have this change done.

So what can you do?

1- Stop using Apple iOS for pledging to Patreon. Cancel those subscriptions. Use any other browser to deal with Patreon, that way you remove Apple as a middleman taking a cut.

2- Eventually i will have to adapt my Patreon and tiers to a subscription model so i guess we have to keep an eye on what changes might be coming in the future.

3- Wait and see? Currently there is a big legal case between the EU and Apple. It seems changes like this one are meant to circunvent said legal issues. It is still going to be a year before everyone is forced to change to subscription model. So anything can happen.

As for now, i guess this is it. I just think that everyone should know about these forced future changes coming in about a year from now.

Stay safe!