Patreon introduces subscription gifting and discounts

Subscriptions are the main way creators on Patreon make money, as they must build an audience willing to shell out a few dollars a month to access their writing, podcasts, or videos. The company announced today that creators and their fans can now give away gift memberships, which could be a powerful way for creators to grow their subscriber base.

Patreon said earlier this year it was working on a gifting subscription feature similar to what already existed on other subscription-powered platforms like Substack (which, incidentally, has been pushing deeper into the creator space beyond newsletters). Gifting is also a core part of Twitch’s streaming platform, where fans and streamers often give away subscriptions based on specific goals or as a part of events.

Patreon creators make money through subscriptions and paid exclusive content, though the platform also has a free content tier option for creators who want open access to their work.

Fans can gift memberships of whatever tier and duration they choose: for example, the cheapest subscription tier locked in at the one-year rate. For creators who want to give a new fan a freebie, they can set the complimentary membership to last anywhere from one month to a year. In addition to free trials, creators will also be able to send discounts and sales to fans and fine-tune who’s eligible — they could offer a half-off rate only to members on the free tier to encourage them to become paying members, for example.