Patreon has emerged as the leading platform for creators to build membership businesses around their content. By providing exclusive benefits to subscribers, creators are able to monetize their talents like never before.
In this comprehensive article, we will explore the key Patreon statistics around creators, users, revenue, website traffic, funding and more. The goal is to provide deeper insights into Patreon‘s growth, business model and overall impact on the creator economy.
As an experienced tech professional covering online privacy and cybersecurity, I will highlight the most important metrics with data-driven analysis and commentary. My perspective is shaped by years of evaluating tech platforms and business models.
Let‘s start by answering the key question – what exactly is Patreon?
Contents
- What is Patreon and How Does it Work?
- Key Patreon Statistics 2023
- Detailed Analysis of Patreon Users and Creators
- Top Content Categories on Patreon
- Patreon Revenue Stats and Projections
- Patreon Website Traffic and Mobile App Stats
- Patreon‘s Total Funding and Valuation
- Patreon Company Size and Employee Overview
- Conclusion and Predictions
- Sources:
What is Patreon and How Does it Work?
Patreon is a membership platform that provides business tools for creators to run a subscription service for their fans. Creators offer exclusive benefits and perks to their subscribers (patrons) in exchange for monthly payments.
This allows creators to receive predictable recurring income so they can dedicate more time to content creation. Patreon takes a 5-12% commission on creator earnings.
The platform is used by a wide range of creators – musicians, YouTubers, podcasters, writers, streamers, photographers and more.
Patreon features various membership tiers that patrons can choose from to get access to exclusive content, early access, bonus material, merch discounts and more. Top creators even offer personal interactions through messages or video calls.
Now that we understand Patreon‘s membership model, let‘s analyze the key growth metrics.
Key Patreon Statistics 2023
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250,000+ creators are on Patreon as of January 2023, with around 195,000 having at least 1 patron
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Monthly active patrons on Patreon stand at over 6 million
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47.4% of creators are focused on Video, Podcasts, Music or Gaming
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Patreon‘s estimated annual revenue was ~$160 million in 2021
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Over $100 million earned by creators per month, totaling $2 billion+ annually
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80 million+ monthly visits received by the Patreon website
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Total funding raised – $413.3 million over 7 rounds
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Currently over 200 full-time employees at Patreon
Below we analyze each of these metrics in detail to better understand Patreon‘s business performance.
Detailed Analysis of Patreon Users and Creators
Patreon has two key user groups – the creators offering content and patrons paying for subscriptions. Let‘s look at the data for each category:
Creators on Patreon
According to Patreon, there are over 250,000 creators using the platform as of January 2023. The number of creators has increased 5.58X since September 2016.
Drilling down further:
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Around 195,000 creators (78%) have at least 1 paying patron
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Over 79,556 new creators (30% of total) joined in the past 2 years showing accelerating growth
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The total number of creators grew 18% from Sept 2020 to Sept 2021
This data highlights the exponential growth in creators adopting Patreon. More creators are realizing Patreon‘s potential for predictable recurring income.
Many creators are fleeing the volatility of ad revenue and demonetization on other platforms. Patreon offers far more control and stability.
The number of creators on Patreon will easily cross 300,000 by the end of 2023 if current growth rates persist.
Patrons on Patreon
Patreon currently has over 6 million monthly active patrons supporting creators on the platform. This is up 100% from just 2 million in 2017.
A few interesting highlights about Patreon‘s patrons:
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Data shows relatively high engagement among patrons, with most supporting 5-10 creators on average.
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The majority of patrons are based in the US (around 70%), with other top countries being Canada, UK, Australia and Germany.
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Most patrons are young millennials between 25-34 years old according to Patreon surveys.
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The average monthly spend per patron is around $7 per month based on total monthly creator earnings. Top patrons easily spend $50-$100/month.
The two user groups clearly demonstrate Patreon‘s exceptional growth over the past 4-5 years. Next, let‘s analyze the top creator categories driving this growth.
Top Content Categories on Patreon
While creators span hundreds of niches on Patreon, the platform is dominated by a few core categories:
Video
With over 54,000 creators, video is the most popular category on Patreon (25.8% of total). Monthly revenues for video creators exceed $6.4 million. Top video genres include vlogs, animation, educational content, and film/television.
Podcasts
Podcasts are second biggest on Patreon with around 16,000 creators (14.9% of total) earning approximately $3.6 million per month. Patreon has become the go-to platform for popular podcasters to offer bonus episodes, ad-free content and exclusive support.
Music
Over 15,500 musicians use Patreon, generating around $5 million in monthly revenues. Artists are able to connect with superfans and earn income through song releases, virtual concerts, merch and more.
Gaming
There are nearly 14,000 creators focused on gaming content on Patreon. Key offerings include early access, private discord channels, gaming tips/guides and live streams.
These top four categories account for 47% of all Patreon creators. Other popular niches include comics, writing, photography, cosplay, cooking and adult content. Patreon caters to a diverse range of interests.
Now let’s shift our focus to the financial side of Patreon’s business.
Patreon Revenue Stats and Projections
Patreon has an attractive business model, generating revenues from commissions on creator earnings. Some key financial metrics:
Patreon’s Annual Revenue
Based on an estimated 8% average commission, Patreon likely generated around $160 million in revenue in 2021 given creator earnings of $2 billion.
This is up from just $50 million in 2019, highlighting 100%+ growth in two years. Revenues will continue rising given Patreon’s growth. I estimate 2022 annual revenues to reach $250 million.
Monthly and Annual Creator Earnings
The total monthly income for creators on Patreon stands at over $100 million as per latest data. Annually, this amounts to over $2 billion in 2022.
To provide perspective, creators earned around $500 million in 2019. So their revenues have doubled in just two years!
Creators are retaining 92-95% of earnings after Patreon’s commissions. The top 1% of creators make over $50k per month. Many creators are now earning livable incomes from Patreon.
This revenue data demonstrates the platform‘s effectiveness at enabling creators to monetize their audiences.
Next, we‘ll explore metrics related to Patreon‘s website traffic and engagement.
Patreon Website Traffic and Mobile App Stats
Let‘s start with some key website traffic stats:
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Patreon received over 80 million visits per month on average in 2021.
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Traffic peaked in July 2021 at 91 million visits, but has declined since then.
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Patreon‘s website ranked #372 globally in terms of traffic, as per Alexa data from November 2021.
Clearly, patron is driving significant visitor volumes highlighting its popularity. However, traffic is lower than competing platforms like YouTube, Twitch and TikTok.
Now turning to Patreon‘s mobile apps:
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The Patreon iOS app has over 1.5 million lifetime downloads, but saw only around 50,000 downloads in October 2022 (via SensorTower).
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Downloads were higher in the past – the app saw 470,000 downloads in June 2021. This aligns with website traffic trends.
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The Android app has been downloaded over 500,000 times lifetime. But monthly downloads have slowed.
In summary, Patreon is seeing declines in website visits and app installs in 2022 compared to 2021 highs. This suggests some saturation among creators. However, revenue growth remains strong for now.
Next, let‘s cover Patreon‘s massive funding to date.
Patreon‘s Total Funding and Valuation
As a VC-backed tech startup, Patreon has raised sizable capital to fuel its growth:
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Total funding raised: $413.3 million through 7 funding rounds
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Latest round in April 2021 raised $155 million at a $4 billion valuation
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Lead investors include Lone Pine Capital, Tiger Global, Woodline Partners
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Earlier rounds raised $60M in 2020 and $105M in 2019
Almost 60% of Patreon‘s funding was raised in the last two rounds as investors saw the growth opportunities.
But the recent slowdown in traffic and installs suggests Patreon may be maturing as a business. Raising at higher valuations could be challenging going forward.
Let‘s wrap up with a look at Patreon‘s human resources.
Patreon Company Size and Employee Overview
For a high-growth tech startup, Patreon maintains a relatively lean employee base:
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Patreon currently has over 200 full-time employees, as per LinkedIn data
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It has offices in San Francisco, New York, Seattle and Dublin (Ireland)
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Employees highlight work-life balance, growth opportunities and autonomy as key positives at Patreon
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Engineering and product teams comprise the bulk of roles, unsurprising for a tech platform
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However, there are also strong finance, sales, support and marketing teams
Despite its huge user and revenue base, Patreon operates with around 200 staff primarily focused on building out the product. However, this team may need to expand to keep up with user support needs at scale.
Conclusion and Predictions
In closing, the data highlights Patreon‘s meteoric rise to become the leading platform enabling creators to monetize through subscriptions. Within just 8 years, it has attracted over 200,000 creators who collectively earn billions in annual income.
Key factors driving Patreon‘s success include:
- Providing predictable income streams for creators
- Strong focus on the creator experience
- Commissions are relatively low compared to other platforms
- Favorable creator economics overall
- Rapid adoption among patrons willing to pay for exclusive content
However, Patreon may be nearing saturation among some creator verticals like video and podcasts. Website traffic and mobile downloads have slowed in 2022.
Looking ahead, I expect Patreon will aim for deeper penetration in international markets to tap into more creators. Addsitionally, exploring tie-ups with other creator platforms could expand their target market.
Overall though, the path ahead looks bright for Patreon as it leads the way in enabling the passion economy. With millions of creators now making a living online, Patreon provides the monetization model to sustain this community.
