# QuietJar compared with Ko-fi, Buy Me a Coffee, Stripe, and GitHub Sponsors

# How QuietJar compares.

Every tool here does something well. The question is what happens to your visitor after they decide to support you.

## Ko-fi

Ko-fi charges 0% on one-off tips (checked September 2026), and that is a real advantage. Your visitor clicks your button, lands on Ko-fi's page, and pays there with PayPal or a card. How many of them finish the trip?

## Buy Me a Coffee

Buy Me a Coffee has the friendliest brand in the space and a huge installed base on blogs and READMEs. It takes a flat 5% platform fee with no cap (checked September 2026), and payment happens on its page, not yours. Does a coffee cup fit your site, and how many of your visitors finish the trip?

## Stripe direct

Stripe is the best payment infrastructure there is, and you can build the button yourself on it: 1.5% + €0.25 per EU card and €0.29 per iDEAL payment (checked September 2026). Payment Links redirect to Stripe's page; Embedded Checkout stays on yours and needs real code. How many weekends, and who maintains it after?

## GitHub Sponsors

GitHub Sponsors is the right default for maintainers, and it takes 0% (checked September 2026). It lives on github.com, both sides need a GitHub account, and support is recurring by default. How many of your readers ever open the repo? Use both.

|  | Platform fee | Monthly fee | Payment happens on your page | Apple Pay | iDEAL and Bancontact | Steps back after giving | Who can use it |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| QuietJar | 5% (Sep 2026) | None | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Anyone with a site |
| Ko-fi | 0% tips, 5% memberships and shop (Sep 2026) | Gold plan optional | No | No | No | No | Anyone |
| Buy Me a Coffee | 5% (Sep 2026) | None | No | Limited | No | No | Anyone |
| Stripe direct | 0% platform, processing on top (Sep 2026) | None | If you build it | Yes | Yes | No | Anyone technical |
| GitHub Sponsors | 0% (Sep 2026) | None | No | No | No | Not applicable | GitHub users |

Fees checked September 2026. Tell us if something changed.

Processing fees apply on top for every row.