Startled by Patreon’s fascinating $4 billion entrepreneurial journey? From a go-to creator platform to a billion-dollar enterprise, Patreon has democratized content creation in many ways. Creators have found a great way to rake in additional revenue rather than solely on live performances, albums, and side gigs!
Are you an entrepreneur planning to follow a similar stride and launch a trailblazing subscription platform? Then, you might be curious to know more about the cost to develop an app like Patreon!
Several factors, such as feature complexity, geographical factors, niche, etc., affect the overall cost. In this blog, we walk you through the detailed Patreon App development cost breakdown and also the practical approaches to developing an app like Patreon.
So, let’s jump straight away!
Table of Contents
- 1 Why Develop an App Like Patreon?
- 2 How Much Does it Cost to Develop an App Like Patreon?
- 3 What are the Key Factors that Affect Patreon like App Development Cost?
- 4 What is the Essential Tech Stack for Developing an App Like Patreon?
- 5 Final Few Words
- 6 FAQ-Related to the Cost to Develop an App Like Patreon
Why Develop an App Like Patreon?
Before delving deeper into the development cost for a Patreon like app, you might be wondering if it is worth building a similar app.
Here are some key reasons proving that building a Patreon clone is a worthwhile:
- Patreon attracts 100+ million monthly website visits in June 2024
- The number of creators has increased to around 279,566 in November 2024.
- Patreon has paid around $8 billion to its creators.
- Around 42.85% of the platform’s audience is between the ages of 18 and 24, followed by 29.95% in the 25- to 34-year-old group.
- The platform makes a revenue between $50 – $75 million.
- Patreon creators collectively earn around $100 million per month.
- Patreon earned $413.3 million in total funding over 10 rounds.
(Source: SimilarWeb, Influencer Marketing Hub, Backlinko)
Now, let’s move on to the actual cost calculation!
How Much Does it Cost to Develop an App Like Patreon?
Building a Patreon-like app would involve creating a dynamic feature set and functionalities that connect creators to their raving fan tribe! From exclusive membership tiers to selling digital products, you need an exciting feature set to simulate a similar app.
Thus, the overall development cost for a Patreon-like app comes to approximately $40,000 – $90,000.
User & Profile Management
One of the essential aspects of creating a subscription app like Patreon is making it simple and secure. Creators and users can sign up using email or a password, or they can sign up using Google or Facebook accounts.
Development Time: 4 weeks
Cost: $6400
User & Age Verification
Age verification is a prerequisite for creator platforms like Patreon. You can leverage third-party identity verification platforms like Sumsub, Ondato, Jumio, Verifymy, Yoti, etc. These verification systems leverage technology to verify age through government-issued documents. This is especially essential if your platform involves adult content involving age restrictions.
Development Time: 2 weeks
Cost: Based on the verification platform and search volume
Subscription & Membership Tiers
Creators can set free or tiered subscriptions for fans to access exclusive content.
Typically, creators start with single-tiered subscriptions. They can diversify to two-tiered or three-tiered subscriptions later. The higher the cost, the more benefits users can access!
You can integrate two types of subscription tiers:
- Price Based: Levels of tiers distinguished by prices
- Feature-based: Tiers offering unique perks and benefits
Development Time: 12 weeks (feature-based)/ 4 weeks (price-based)
Cost: $6400- $19200
Selling Digital Products
Selling digital products is another key feature you can’t miss if you wish to create a loyal community! Your creators can transform their passion into a creative business. They can monetize from anything and everything — videos, music albums, podcasts, tutorials, wallpapers, etc.
Development Time: 4 weeks
Cost: $6400
Creator Analytics
While creators are busy brewing the next big content idea for their raving fans to groove to, analytics and reporting help them monitor their membership growth. Integrate resources and tools that offer detailed insights on membership, earnings, shops, posts and traffic.
Development Time & Cost: Depends on the complexity of the feature
Content Creation & Upload
Offer a rich and easy-to-use UI for creators to share exclusive content like videos, podcasts, polls, posts, and more! Creators can choose whether to offer free, paid (for specific tiers), or publicly discoverable content to anyone who visits their profile.
Development Time: 4 weeks
Cost: $6400
Messaging System
Whether it is an exciting welcome message, news about benefit upgrades, or a deal-breaking discount, conversations are a direct line of communication between creators and fans! You can offer features to start a private chat or send bulk messages.
Development Time: 8 weeks
Cost: $12,800
Payment Gateway Integration
To facilitate payment processing on your Patreon-like app, you must integrate trusted payment gateways. Consider integrating with secure payment gateways like Stripe( for non-adult platforms) and CCBill(for adult transactions). Popular payment methods are credit card, debit card, Paypal, Venmo, Sofort, etc.
Development Time: 2 weeks
Cost: $3,200
Search and Filters
Creator discoverability is a crucial feature for connecting fans with the right creators. Provide an easy and efficient search tool where fans can find creators using names, keywords, or specific niche categories. Patreon also added an additional category for displaying popular and top creators.
Development Time: 4 weeks
Cost: $6,400
Admin Panel and Analytics
A dedicated panel is essential for offering a bird’s-eye-view of your business and managing your platform.
Here are some key aspects of the admin panel:
- Patron management
- Creator management
- Subscription management
- Payment management
- Rewards management
- Setting Commissions
- Alert Management
- Customer Support
Development Time: 8-12 weeks
Cost: $12,800 – $19,200
Notifications
Patreon sends notifications for different membership and fan activities, such as likes, comments, membership upgrades, downgrades, cancellations, post edits, etc.
Development Time: 3 weeks
Cost: $4,800
Live Streaming & Video Calls
Live-streaming sessions are an indispensable feature if you’re building a platform to empower creators. Whether it’s an exclusive live performance, interactive Q&A, or engaging interviews, a live streaming session is a powerful tool to foster a strong creator-fan connection!
Development Time: 4-6 weeks
Cost: $6400 – $9600
Pledge management
Lastly, if you’re building an app like Patreon, you can’t neglect the crowdfunding aspect. Custom pledges & “no tier” status are excellent ways to support creators on Patreon. Fans can donate money other than the subscription tiers. You can set a minimum pledge limit and keep track of the custom pledges through the admin panel.
Development Time: 8-12 weeks
Cost: $12,800 – $19,200
*(The development cost might vary based on customization)
Overview of Cost Breakdown Based on Features
| Patreon Feature | Development Time (40 hours/ week) | Cost ($40 per week) |
| User & Profile Management | 4 weeks | $6,400 |
| User & Age Verification | 2 weeks | Based on platform and search volume |
| Subscription & Membership Tiers | 12 weeks | $6,400 – $19,200 |
| Selling Digital Products | 4 weeks | $6,400 |
| Creator Analytics | 4 weeks or more | Depends on complexity |
| Content Creation & Upload | 4 weeks | $6,400 |
| Messaging System | 8 weeks | $12,800 |
| Payment Gateway Integration | 2 weeks | $3,200 |
| Search & Filters | 4 weeks | $6,400 |
| Admin Panel & Analytics | 8-12 weeks | $12,800 – $19,200 |
| Notifications | 3 weeks | $4,800 |
| Live Streaming & Video Calls | 4-6 weeks | $6,400 – $9,600 |
| Pledge Management | 8-12 weeks | $12,800 -$19,200 |
| Total Patreon App Development Cost | 9-12 months | $91, 200 – 113,600 |
This is an approximate estimate, and the actual cost might vary based on the developer rates and feature-set.
Detailed Breakdown of Cost Based on Location & Developer Rates
If you are planning to reduce the overall Patreon app development cost, you can switch to offshore and near-offshore development. For example, the development rates across Western Europe and North America are higher, while they’re lower for Eastern Europe and Asia.
Poland, India, China, and Mexico are the top outsourcing destinations worldwide. By availing yourself of the best talent at budget-friendly rates, you can reduce the overall development cost.
The below table lists the region-wise development rates:
| Destination | Development Rates |
| North America | $65- $90 |
| Western Europe | $40 -$60 |
| Eastern Europe | $27-$40 |
| South Asia | $22-$35 |
| Africa | $49 -$97 |
Patreon Cost Breakdown based on Team Composition
Apart from developers, the Patreon like app development cost also depends on the complexity of the team structure. Your project management approach decides your team size. For example, if you plan to build an advanced Patreon app, you need a considerably large development team.
Let’s take a look at the common development roles and their hourly rates!
| Development Role | Hourly Rate |
| Front-end Developer | $46 – $67 |
| Back-end Developer | $55 -$72 |
| Project Manager | $55 – $86 |
| UI/UX Designer | $45 – $86 |
| QA/Tester | $15 – $62 |
Post-Development & Ongoing Maintenance Costs
Now, the cost of developing your app is not limited to the development phase. Several ongoing activities occur post-development, such as maintenance, fixing bugs, updates, technical support, hosting, security patches, etc.
Post-Development Cost
| Post-Development | Cost |
| QA & Testing | $4000-$6000 |
| Deployment (Cloud & Hosting services,Dev Ops Cost ) |
|
| Marketing & Maintenance | $10,000 on average |
Detailed Cost Breakdown Based on App Complexity
Are you planning to build a basic Patreon App clone or a complex one with premium features?
When testing your new business idea, launch a basic app with core features. You can then deploy the app, gather user feedback, and launch upgrades with additional features.
Here’s our estimate for the development cost for a Patreon-like app based on app complexity:
| App Complexity | Features | Cost |
| Basic |
|
$40,000 – $60,000 |
| Intermediate |
|
$60,000 – $80,000 |
| Advanced |
|
$80,000 – $96,000 |
What are the Key Factors that Affect Patreon like App Development Cost?
Patreon is a great subscription platform that allows creators to monetize from exclusive content and perks. It offers many resources & tools for selling subscriptions, digital products and monetizing from the same.
Creating a Patreon-like app would involve creating a dynamic feature set and functionalities that connect creators to their raving fan tribe! However, the overall development cost varies depending on several factors, some of which are as follows.
-
Features & Functionality
A complex app requires more time and effort than a basic app with limited features. This, in turn, drastically impacts the overall app development cost. For example, an extensive project timeline would involve a premium app version that includes two-way user authentication, advanced analytics, and real-time group chats.
-
Platform & Compatibility
If you’re developing a cross-platform app, you can deploy it across iOS, Android or the web. However, this would involve more development time for platform-specific development and compatibility requirements.
-
Developer Rates & Team Composition
Development rates vary across various regions and countries worldwide. For example, rates are higher in Western Europe and North America. The development cost also depends on the complexity of your team structure.
-
Development Approach
The overall cost of mobile development depends on whether you’re in for native or cross-platform app development.
Other factors, such as third-party integrations, maintenance, and marketing costs, also affect the cost of building an app like Patreon.
What is the Essential Tech Stack for Developing an App Like Patreon?
Choosing the right technology stack also influences your development budget significantly. For example, if you’re looking for quick deployment and launch, you can choose an agile framework. Similarly, you can use reusable frameworks and libraries that reduce your coding time and effort.
Here’s the recommended tech stack for developing an app like Patreon:
- Front-End Development: React, Javascript, HTML, CSS
- Back-End Development: NodeJS, Ruby on Rails/ Django
- Database: PostgreSQL, MySQL, MongoDB
- Android Development: Kotlin
- iOS App Development: Swift
- Cross-platform Development: React or Flutter
- Other Tools: Docker, Kubernetes, AWS(DevOps)
Final Few Words
Building an app like Patreon is a profitable endeavor! Several factors affect your overall development cost. We have discussed how much it costs to develop an app like Patreon. You need the right mix of technology, business acumen, and innovation to build an app like Patreon from scratch!
Moreover, it costs around $40,000 – $90,000 and around 9-12 months. Leverage one of the best Patreon clone scripts like Fanso.io with a one-time payment and no recurring and hidden charges, and build your business on the go! You can offer unique subscription experiences, empower the creator tribe, and create a loyal community without the hassles of development!
So, what’s your million-dollar business idea to roll out the next disruptive creator platform?
FAQ-Related to the Cost to Develop an App Like Patreon
1. How much does it cost to develop an app like Patreon?
The cost to develop a Patreon like app is approximately 40,000 to 90,000. Factors like features and functionality, geographic location, tech stack, developer rates, and developmental approach influence the development cost.
2. How do you build an app like Patreon?
To start with, here are the essential steps to develop an app like Patreon:
- Identify a profitable niche
- Understand the market scenario & competitors
- Determine your business model
- Choose the right tech stack & development approach
- Perform quality assurance checks & testing
- Deployment & maintenance
- Market & promote your app
3. What factors determine the cost of building an app like Patreon?
Project complexity, niche, developer rates, platform selection, development approach, team size and tech stack are factors affecting the Patreon app development cost.
4. How can I minimize the Patreon app development cost?
Initially, plan to launch a Minimum Viable Product (MVP), use open-source tools, leverage ready-made clone scripts, hire skilled offshore development tools, and use cross-platform frameworks like Flutter and React.