Creators on Patreon have earned more than $10 billion from fans since the company started in 2013, CEO Jack Conte told Axios. Today, over 25 million paid memberships exist on the platform, showing Patreon’s important role in the growing creator economy.
Each year, creators receive over $2 billion through Patreon. The company began by helping fans support creators financially on other platforms. Now, Patreon offers new tools that help creators build and grow their audiences directly on the site.
Patreon’s iOS app is now the main way fans engage with creators. This year, Patreon launched new podcast tools, such as managing multiple shows and syncing RSS feeds. It is also testing a feature for creators to upload ad-free live videos directly to the platform.
Last year, creators earned $472 million from podcasts alone, and fans watched more than 80 million hours of video on Patreon.
In 2023, Patreon began allowing creators to offer free memberships to grow their audiences. This change helped increase paid subscribers, with over 700,000 people converting from free to paid membership each month. The platform now has more than 100 million free memberships.
Patreon is still a private company and has no plans to go public yet. It has raised more than $400 million and was valued at over $4 billion in 2021. The company has also bought other businesses to expand, including a livestream platform called Moments and a subscription platform called Memberful.
With more AI content online, many creators are turning to platforms like Patreon that help them connect directly with paying fans. Conte, who was once a creator himself, says this is the best time ever to be a creator with control over your work and business.
