The story of Patreon
2013
Over a decade ago, musician Jack Conte was looking for a solution to his problem: millions of people loved his videos on YouTube, but only hundreds of dollars were hitting his bank account. This didn’t add up. So he called his friend Sam Yam and together they started Patreon: a new way to connect people making incredible things to the people who want to pay for them. Since then, the Patreon team has been on a mission to put creators in control of their work and their futures by strengthening the bond between them and their communities.
TODAY
Patreon is the best place for creators to build community with their biggest fans, share exclusive work, and turn their passions into lasting creative businesses. Starting a Patreon is free for creators and their fans. If they want to start earning an income, they can choose to launch their own digital shop or run a paid membership. Here, creators get a direct line to their communities. That means they never have to worry about ads or algorithms getting in between them and the people who matter most.
Our numbers
Founded by a creator, with creators in mind. We make every decision with one goal in mind — to get creators paid.
8 million+ monthly active members
Members support the creators they love in exchange for exclusive benefits.
250,000+ creators on Patreon
Our platform provides thousands of creators the opportunity to create on their own terms.
$3.5 billion paid out to creators
Since 2013, we have paid out over 3.5 billion dollars to Patreon creators.
Our mission
We’re proud and motivated that creators come to Patreon for creative freedom and ownership. We take that responsibility seriously, and have fun fulfilling that mission together.
At Patreon, we spend every day building toward a future where creators are in control and real community thrives. It’s a future where creators can make what excites them most without having to worry about feeding an unpredictable, ever-changing algorithm. And it’s a future where fans and creators have a direct line of access to one another, with nothing standing in between.
If you want to dive even deeper into our vision, we’ve partnered with creators Theo Garnot and Gregcicle’s Greg Edwards to build an interactive artwork, narrated by Jack, all about the biggest problems creators face… and how we’re planning to solve them.
