Buy Me a Coffee fee calculator

Winning a dispute doesn't make you whole

Buy Me a Coffee runs on Stripe, so a chargeback carries Stripe's standard $15 dispute fee. If you contest it and win, the disputed transaction amount comes back to you.

The $15 fee itself never comes back, win or lose. Prevention — refunding before a dispute is filed — is the only way to avoid it entirely.

The platform fee is a flat 5% on every transaction — tips, memberships, and shop sales. No tiers, no way to reduce it.

Payment processing (via Stripe) is 2.9% + $0.30, rising to 3.9% + $0.30 for cards issued outside the US. Recurring membership charges add another 0.5% on top.

A 0.5% payout-processing fee applies when your balance transfers to your bank account. This is genuinely easy to miss — it's a separate line item from the 2.9% processing rate, and most fee calculators skip it entirely.

Supporters can opt to cover the processing fee themselves, in the creator's settings — when enabled, the creator receives the full tip amount instead of absorbing the fee.

On a chargeback, Stripe's standard $15 dispute fee applies and is never refunded, win or lose. If the creator wins the dispute, the disputed transaction amount itself is recovered — only the $15 fee is permanently gone.

What percentage does Buy Me a Coffee take?

A flat 5% platform fee on every transaction — tips, memberships, and shop products alike — plus Stripe's payment processing on top (2.9% + $0.30 domestic, 3.9% + $0.30 international).

Is there a fee for transferring my Buy Me a Coffee balance to my bank?

Yes — a 0.5% payout-processing fee, separate from the 2.9% payment processing rate. It's confirmed in Buy Me a Coffee's own Help Center but rarely shows up in third-party fee calculators.

Do memberships cost more than one-time tips on Buy Me a Coffee?

Slightly. Recurring membership charges add an extra 0.5% in processing on top of the standard rate, similar to the subscription surcharges Stripe and Lemon Squeezy also charge.

Can supporters cover the processing fee for me?

Yes. There's a setting that lets supporters opt to cover the payment processing fee themselves, so the creator receives the full amount. Many creators never enable it and lose the fee unnecessarily.

What happens to fees if a supporter disputes a charge?

Buy Me a Coffee runs on Stripe Connect, so Stripe's standard $15 dispute fee applies. That $15 is never returned, whether the creator wins or loses the dispute. If the creator wins, the disputed transaction amount is recovered — the fee itself is the only permanent loss.

Is Ko-fi cheaper than Buy Me a Coffee?

For tips, yes — Ko-fi charges 0% on tips once its default Contributor status is switched off, versus Buy Me a Coffee's flat 5% on everything. On a $5 tip, that's about $0.25 more kept on Ko-fi.