How to use Buy Me a Coffee to fund your startup and sell to your fans
TL;DR
Buy Me a Coffee is a creator platform for one-time support, paid memberships and a shop. There is no monthly fee: it takes a flat 5% of each transaction, and Stripe charges 2.9% plus $0.30 per payment on top. It suits indie makers and founders who already have an audience.
What is Buy Me a Coffee?
Buy Me a Coffee gives you a page at buymeacoffee.com/yourname where supporters "buy you a coffee": a one-off payment with an optional message, sent without creating an account. On the same page you run membership tiers billed monthly or yearly, sell items in a shop (files, physical products, 1-to-1 calls, commissions) and publish posts for everyone, supporters or members only. Email to supporters is free and unlimited.
The company says more than 2,000,000 creators use it in 110+ countries. All payments run through Stripe.
The domain authority of 79 belongs to buymeacoffee.com. What you get is a working payment page and a direct line to your supporters.
Who should use Buy Me a Coffee?
- Indie makers with a free app, browser extension, open-source library or newsletter who want a tip jar.
- Founders who build in public and want early fans to back them through a monthly membership.
- Small teams selling e-books, templates, consulting calls or tutorials to an existing audience.
- Skip it if you need SaaS billing with seats, trials, usage pricing and invoices.
- Skip it if you have no audience yet. It collects payments from people who already follow you.
How much does Buy Me a Coffee cost?
From the Buy Me a Coffee help center:
- Platform fee: 5% per transaction, so you keep 95%. No monthly fee and no listing fee in the shop.
- Stripe processing: 2.9% plus $0.30 per successful payment.
- Extra charges: +1% on payments from outside the US, +0.5% on subscriptions, and 0.5% when Stripe pays out.
- Payouts: your account is reviewed once it reaches $10. After approval, payouts go to Stripe every Wednesday and reach your bank within 2 to 7 business days.
On a $5 payment, the 5% fee is $0.25 and Stripe's fixed $0.30 is even larger, so small tips lose a bigger share.
How do you share your startup on Buy Me a Coffee?
- Sign up at buymeacoffee.com and claim a page name that matches your startup.
- Connect Stripe for payouts.
- Write a short bio about what you build and who it helps, then add a cover image and your logo.
- Switch on what you need: one-time support, membership tiers, shop items or member-only posts.
- Add the button or QR code to your website, README, app footer, newsletter and social profiles.
Tips to get more out of Buy Me a Coffee
- Ask for several coffees at once in your page text, so the $0.30 fixed fee takes a smaller share.
- Offer a yearly membership next to the monthly one: fewer payments mean fewer fixed fees.
- Sell one paid item, e.g. a setup call or a template pack, so fans can pay for something specific.
- Send supporters a short monthly build update with numbers and next steps through the free email tool.
Our verdict
Buy Me a Coffee is the simplest way to put a tip jar, a membership and a small shop on one page, with a flat 5% fee and no subscription. Ko-fi is cheaper for pure tips, while Buy Me a Coffee keeps pricing predictable with one rate on everything. Use it as a payment page for an audience you already have.
More options: see all startup directories and launch sites. Planning the launch around this listing? The Fe/male Switch startup game walks women founders from idea to first customers.