PublicaNow
Create account

Publica Now vs Ko-fi

Ko-fi or Publica Now? Ko-fi is cheaper. Here's when that isn't the point.

Ko-fi charges 5% on the free plan and nothing at all on Ko-fi Gold (USD 12/month) — well below our 20%. The difference is what each one is for, and who carries the tax.

TL;DR — in 3 lines

  • On fees Ko-fi wins outright: 5% free, or 0% on Ko-fi Gold at USD 12/month, plus Stripe or PayPal processing on top. Our 20% is higher and we are not going to pretend otherwise.
  • Ko-fi is not Merchant of Record: you are responsible for your own VAT and sales tax on every cross-border digital sale. We invoice the buyer, collect and remit, and pay you a clean net figure.
  • Ko-fi is a tip jar that can also deliver a file. Publica Now is a storefront for works — a reader, multiple formats, DRM, and a curated profile that groups your whole catalog.
  • If your income is tips and small file sales and you are comfortable handling your own tax, use Ko-fi. It is the cheaper tool and the right one for that job.

Publica Now vs Ko-fi across 10 dimensions

Table built with data verified May 13, 2026. Sources are in each quote below.

Supported formats Publica Now Ko-fi
Platform fee 20% 5%
Effective total cost ~22.4% ~8%
Free tier Yes Yes
Handles taxes (MoR) Yes No
Supported formats books, music, photography, video, courses, zines, poetry, design tips, digital_files, memberships, commissions
Multi-format Yes No
Subscriptions Yes Yes
Membership tiers Yes Yes
DRM / protected delivery Yes No
Content ownership 100% creator-owned Creator-owned

Why each difference matters

Real pricing and fees

Ko-fi takes 0% on tips and 5% on shop sales, memberships and commissions on the free plan; Ko-fi Gold costs USD 12/month and removes that 5%. Stripe or PayPal processing (roughly 2.9% + USD 0.30) is charged on top in every case, because it is the processor's fee and no platform can waive it. Publica Now charges 20% + USD 0.30 per paid transaction with processing included. On a pure fee comparison Ko-fi is clearly cheaper, and at any meaningful volume Ko-fi Gold is cheaper still.

Handles taxes (MoR)

This is the line that matters most and it is easy to miss. Ko-fi pays you directly through your own Stripe or PayPal account, which makes you the seller of record: EU and UK VAT on digital goods, plus US sales tax where it applies, are your obligation to register for, collect and remit. Publica Now operates as Merchant of Record — we are the seller on the buyer's invoice, we handle the VAT and sales tax, and you receive one net payout. Whether that is worth 20 points of margin depends entirely on whether you sell across borders and what your accountant charges.

Supported formats

Ko-fi sells tips, digital files, memberships and commissions. That covers a lot of creator income, but a file download is not a reading experience: there is no in-browser reader, no format conversion, and no DRM. Publica Now is built around works — books, music, photography, video, courses, zines, poetry and design — with a reader, multi-format delivery and DRM. If what you sell is a PDF as a thank-you, Ko-fi is fine. If what you sell is the book itself, the delivery is the product.

Discovery and organic reach

Ko-fi has no marketplace and no discovery algorithm: traffic is whatever you bring to your own page, which is a deliberate and defensible design. Publica Now includes a curated multi-format marketplace by category, with organic discovery around your catalog and no surcharge for it. Neither model is automatically better — but if you have no audience yet, a page nobody can stumble onto is a real constraint.

Ownership and control of your work

Both platforms are good on the fundamentals: you keep your rights, there is no exclusivity, and you can leave. Ko-fi lets you export supporters and it does not stand between you and your payment processor. The difference is structural rather than ethical: Ko-fi gives you a page with buttons, Publica Now gives you a creator profile under your own URL that aggregates every work you publish, with our explicit no-AI-training policy attached to it.

When each platform fits

When Ko-fi is the better choice

  • Anyone whose income is mostly tips and donations — 0% is unbeatable
  • Creators who want the lowest possible cut and will handle their own tax
  • Selling the occasional file or commission alongside a community
  • Creators who already have an audience and need no marketplace discovery

When Publica Now is the better choice

  • Selling across borders without wanting to register for and remit VAT yourself
  • Books and works that need a reader, format conversion or DRM rather than a raw download
  • Creators with no audience yet, since there is no marketplace or discovery algorithm
  • Building one catalog page that groups many works under a single curated profile

A worked numerical example

You sell USD 2,000/month of digital work across 40 sales. Ko-fi figures include Stripe processing at 2.9% + USD 0.30, which Ko-fi does not absorb.

Publica Now Ko-fi
Platform fee 20% after the fixed fee = USD 397.60 Free: 5% × 2,000 = USD 100 · Gold: USD 12
Payment processing Included 2.9% × 2,000 + 0.30 × 40 = USD 70
Transaction fees (40 sales) USD 0.30 × 40 = USD 12 None beyond processing
Total fees USD 409.60 (20.5%) Free: USD 170 (8.5%) · Gold: USD 82 (4.1%)
You keep USD 1,590.40 Free: USD 1,830 · Gold: USD 1,918
Who handles VAT / sales tax We do — you are paid net You do — register, collect and remit yourself

Ko-fi leaves you USD 239.60 more a month on fees, and that is the honest bottom line. Two things sit outside the table. First, tax: if any of those 40 sales crossed into the EU or UK, the VAT registration, collection and filing is yours on Ko-fi and ours on Publica Now — for many creators that single line is worth more than the margin. Second, what the buyer receives: a reader and multi-format delivery rather than a file in a folder. And as a Founding Author your rate is 15% + USD 0.30 for life, which brings this scenario to USD 410 in fees (20.5%) — still above Ko-fi Gold. If fees are your deciding factor, pick Ko-fi; we would rather you chose us for a reason that holds.

Migration

Migrating from Ko-fi to Publica Now

What DOES transfer

  • Your product files (download them from your Ko-fi shop)
  • Your supporter and member list via export
  • Your rights: you keep copyright and there is no exclusivity
  • Your prices and product descriptions, re-entered here

What DOESN'T transfer

  • Active memberships — recurring payment methods cannot move between platforms (a PCI rule, not a Ko-fi restriction), so members re-subscribe
  • Your ko-fi.com/<name> URL and any SEO attached to it
  • Historical tip and sales history
  • Ko-fi page customisation and gallery layout

Complexity

Low. Ko-fi does not lock your files or your list, so the export side is genuinely simple.

Estimated time

30-60 minutes for a small catalog. Re-subscribing members is the slow part and it depends on your audience, not on the tooling.

What creators say

Real complaints from Ko-fi users

Verbatim quotes from public reviews and creator communities in 2025-2026. Sources are linked.

  • Because Ko-fi pays through your own Stripe or PayPal, you are the seller of record: EU and UK digital VAT, and US sales tax where applicable, are yours to register for, collect and remit. Platforms that act as Merchant of Record absorb that work.

    Ko-fi documentation (creator is responsible for their own taxes)

  • The 5% on the free plan applies to shop sales, memberships and commissions but not tips, so the effective rate depends heavily on your income mix — and Ko-fi Gold at USD 12/month only pays for itself above roughly USD 240/month of non-tip sales.

    Ko-fi pricing (free plan vs Gold)

  • There is no marketplace and no discovery algorithm. All traffic is traffic you bring yourself, which makes Ko-fi excellent for converting an existing audience and ineffective at finding you a new one.

    Ko-fi product design (by intent)

FAQs about Ko-fi

Yes. On the free plan Ko-fi takes 5% plus processing, and Ko-fi Gold removes the 5% for USD 12/month. Both come out well below 20% + USD 0.30. We are more expensive because payment processing, VAT and sales-tax handling, multi-format delivery, the reader and marketplace placement are all inside that number — but if your priority is the lowest possible cut, Ko-fi is the better answer.
Yes. Ko-fi pays you through your own Stripe or PayPal account, so you are the seller of record and the VAT or sales-tax obligation on digital sales is yours. On Publica Now we are the Merchant of Record: we invoice the buyer, collect and remit where applicable, and pay you a net amount.
Yes, and it is a sensible split. Keep Ko-fi for tips and community support, where its 0% on donations is unbeatable, and publish the works you actually sell on Publica Now where the reader, formats and tax handling live. There is no exclusivity on either side.
Yes. Download your product files and export your supporter list from Ko-fi, then upload the works here. Active Ko-fi memberships do not transfer automatically — recurring payment methods cannot be moved between platforms, which is a PCI rule rather than a Ko-fi restriction, so members re-subscribe.

Ready to start?

Creating your account is free. Upload your first work today, or let's talk first if you have specific questions.

Create a free account