Freelancer & Creator Fee Calculators
The commission is only half the picture, and it varies more than the headline rates suggest. Pick one to see the real fee on your income, plus the payout step that comes after.
Fee calculators by platform
0%–15% per contractUpwork Fee CalculatorA 0%–15% freelancer service fee, set per contract and shown on the offer; free ACH/PayPal/Payoneer payout, $50 U.S. dollar wire.Open calculator
Flat 20%Fiverr Fee Calculator20% of every order including tips and extras; $1–$3 withdrawal, plus FX on non-USD cash-outs.Open calculator
10% + processingPatreon Fee Calculator10% platform fee plus 2.9% + $0.30 per pledge, whatever its size.Open calculator10% vs 5% / 2% / 0%Gumroad vs Payhip Fee CalculatorGumroad takes 10% + $0.50 plus card processing; Payhip takes 5%, 2%, 0% by plan plus Stripe or PayPal. See which keeps you more.Open calculatorFrom $39 a monthTeachable vs Thinkific vs KajabiEvery plan of the three course platforms priced on your own course sales: Teachable from $39 plus 7.5% on Starter, Thinkific from $54, Kajabi from $179, plus card fees.Open calculator
0% to 2.5% to withdrawDeel Fee CalculatorWhat Deel charges contractors to withdraw: instant card 0.75%, max $25 in the US or 2%, max $15 elsewhere, Payoneer 1%, min $12, PayPal 2.5%, min $0.25, and nothing by local bank, Wise or Revolut.Open calculatorHow the platforms compare
The big freelancer and creator platforms charge in completely different shapes. Upwork takes a service fee set per contract, from 0% to 15% of what you bill (at 10%, for example, $100 of a $1,000 contract). Fiverr takes a flat 20% of every order, tips included. Patreon splits its cost into a 10% platform fee plus payment processing on each pledge, which is why a page full of $2 patrons loses 27.9% rather than 10%. Whop is the odd one out and worth knowing about: it takes no commission and charges a per-transaction fee instead, 2.7% + $0.30 on domestic cards.
The last row compares differently from the three above it. Upwork, Fiverr and Patreon take a commission out of income you earn on their platform; Whop takes none and charges a per-transaction fee on what you sell yourself, so the two are only comparable once you know which model you are working under. Its 3% app fee is not on Whop's pricing page and applies per product rather than per account: the Discord and Telegram app listings each state that adding the app to a product subjects that product's payments to it. A Whop product using neither app does not pay it.
Which one fits depends on the work. Fiverr’s flat 20% is all-in and simple, which suits small, one-off productized gigs. Upwork’s fee is set per contract (0%–15%), so the rate on the offer, not a headline figure, is the one to compare. Patreon is built for recurring membership income rather than project work, and there the per-pledge processing, not the 10% platform fee, is what decides your take-home. Run your own numbers in each calculator rather than trusting the headline rate. Choosing between the two biggest? See Upwork vs Fiverr.
Selling physical goods instead of services? The cut works differently on marketplaces. See the marketplace seller fee calculators for Etsy, eBay, Amazon and resale platforms.
The fee after the fee: your payout
Most freelancers and creators on these platforms are paid in USD but bank somewhere else. Moving earnings from the platform to a local account carries a currency conversion with its own markup, PayPal’s published 3%–4% spread or a bank’s unpublished one. It’s the cost no platform dashboard shows you, and it’s our specialty. After you’ve sized up the platform cut, check the real payout with the Payoneer, Wise and PayPal calculators. Those are general rails that work whatever platform paid you; if your earnings are sitting on Whop, the Whop payout calculator prices that specific route, which runs from $2.50 for next-day ACH to 4% + $1.00 for an instant bank deposit, with Venmo and crypto at 5% + $1.00 and bank wires at $23. For the full playbook, read how to get paid as a freelancer.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which freelance platform has the lowest fees?
There is no single headline answer. Upwork sets its freelancer service fee per contract, between 0% and 15%, and shows it on each offer; Fiverr keeps a flat 20% of every order; and Patreon’s 10% platform fee plus payment processing comes to 18.9% of a $5 pledge and 13.5% of a $50 one. Fiverr’s 20% is all-in for small one-off gigs, while Upwork’s rate depends on the contract, so compare the fee on the offer in front of you. And for every platform, the payout currency conversion can change the answer.
Do these platforms charge payment processing on top of the commission?
It varies. Upwork and Fiverr roll everything into their service fee, so the client’s card processing is not your cost. Patreon is different: its 10% platform fee is separate from payment processing (2.9% + $0.30 per pledge), so creators pay both, and small pledges feel the fixed fee hardest.
What happens to fees after the platform takes its cut?
The payout is a second charge in its own right. Upwork, Fiverr and Patreon all pay in USD, so if you bank elsewhere the conversion takes its own cut on the way out: PayPal’s published 3%–4% conversion spread, or a markup your bank doesn’t publish. Choosing the cash-out route is as consequential as choosing the platform.
Can I avoid freelance platform fees altogether?
Only partly. Working with clients directly off-platform avoids the platform’s cut (up to 20% on the platforms here), but you lose the platform’s payment protection, dispute handling and discovery, and most platforms prohibit taking contacts off-site. A common middle path is to win a client on the platform, then move a long-term relationship to direct invoicing once trust is built. Even then you’ll pay a processor like PayPal, Stripe or Wise to get paid.
Which costs more: the platform fee or getting paid out?
It depends where you bank. If you’re in the US and the platform pays USD into a US account, the platform fee dominates and the payout is essentially free. But if you earn in USD and bank in another currency, the payout conversion is a second cost on top of the platform fee: PayPal publishes a 3%–4% conversion spread, and a bank doesn’t publish its markup at all. That is why every calculator here links to the Wise, Payoneer and PayPal payout tools.