--- title: "Creator membership platforms: Which brands are most popular in search?" description: "Compare platforms creators use to run paid memberships and recurring fan support. Share of Search among Patreon, Ko-fi, Buy Me a Coffee, Circle and Memberful, the creator membership platforms Brandwave compares worldwide, using the same methodology, market, and reporting period. Branded searches tell you how often people look for a brand by name or related terms. Comparing these searches across competitors helps you see how popular each brand is over time." canonical: "https://gobrandwave.com/demand/global-en/categories/creator-membership-platforms" publisher: "Brandwave" --- # Creator membership platforms: Which brands are most popular in search? Compare platforms creators use to run paid memberships and recurring fan support. Share of Search among Patreon, Ko-fi, Buy Me a Coffee, Circle and Memberful, the creator membership platforms Brandwave compares worldwide, using the same methodology, market, and reporting period. Branded searches tell you how often people look for a brand by name or related terms. Comparing these searches across competitors helps you see how popular each brand is over time. ## Key facts - **Competitive set**: Creator membership platforms - **Market**: Global - **Brands compared**: 5 - **Month measured**: Aug 2026 - **Highest Share of Search**: Patreon, 84.8% ## Which brand is most popular in search among creator membership platforms worldwide? - In August 2026, Patreon was the most searched among creator membership platforms worldwide, with an estimated 4.1M branded searches and 84.8% estimated Share of Search within this set. - Ko-fi is in 2nd place, 73.4 percentage points behind at 11.4% Share of Search. - Across the 11 months ending August 2026, Buy Me a Coffee’s estimated Share of Search among creator membership platforms worldwide increased from 2.8% to 3.4%. - Across the 11 months ending August 2026, Patreon’s estimated Share of Search among creator membership platforms worldwide peaked at 85.8% in June 2026 and was lowest at 83.2% in April 2026. - Across the 11 months ending August 2026, Ko-fi’s estimated Share of Search among creator membership platforms worldwide peaked at 13.7% in July 2026 and was lowest at 11.4% in August 2026. - Across the 11 months ending August 2026, Buy Me a Coffee’s estimated Share of Search among creator membership platforms worldwide peaked at 3.4% in August 2026 and was lowest at 2.3% in June 2026. - Across the 11 months ending August 2026, Patreon, Ko-fi, Circle and Memberful held steady: their estimated Share of Search among creator membership platforms worldwide each moved less than 0.5 percentage points. ## Compare search popularity between leading brands - [Patreon vs Ko-fi: compare search popularity](/demand/global-en/compare/ko-fi-vs-patreon): 84.8% against 11.4% Share of Search. - [Patreon vs Buy Me a Coffee: compare search popularity](/demand/global-en/compare/buy-me-a-coffee-vs-patreon): 84.8% against 3.4% Share of Search. - [Ko-fi vs Buy Me a Coffee: compare search popularity](/demand/global-en/compare/buy-me-a-coffee-vs-ko-fi): 11.4% against 3.4% Share of Search. ## How did search popularity change for creator membership platforms worldwide in August 2026? - In August 2026, Patreon gained estimated Share of Search among creator membership platforms worldwide, from 83.2% to 84.8%. - In August 2026, Buy Me a Coffee gained estimated Share of Search among creator membership platforms worldwide, from 2.7% to 3.4%. - In August 2026, Ko-fi lost estimated Share of Search among creator membership platforms worldwide, from 13.7% to 11.4%. - Estimated monthly branded searches for Memberful worldwide fell 45.8% over 11 measured months, from 2.4K to 1.3K in August 2026. - Estimated monthly branded searches for Circle worldwide fell 13.3% over 11 measured months, from 16.6K to 14.4K in August 2026. ## Share of Search ranking | Rank | Brand | Share of Search | Estimated monthly branded searches | Change vs prior month | Owned by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | Patreon | 84.8% | 4.1M | +22.1% | Patreon | | 2 | Ko-fi | 11.4% | 550K | 0.0% | Ko-fi | | 3 | Buy Me a Coffee | 3.4% | 165K | +50.0% | Buy Me a Coffee | | 4 | Circle | 0.3% | 14.4K | +2.1% | Circle | | 5 | Memberful | 0.03% | 1.3K | -18.8% | Memberful | ## Historical estimated branded-search demand | Month | Brand | Estimated monthly branded searches | Share of Search | Rank | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Oct 2025 | Patreon | 3.4M | 85.3% | 1 | | Oct 2025 | Ko-fi | 450K | 11.5% | 2 | | Oct 2025 | Buy Me a Coffee | 110K | 2.8% | 3 | | Oct 2025 | Circle | 16.6K | 0.42% | 4 | | Oct 2025 | Memberful | 2.4K | 0.06% | 5 | | Nov 2025 | Patreon | 3.4M | 85.3% | 1 | | Nov 2025 | Ko-fi | 450K | 11.5% | 2 | | Nov 2025 | Buy Me a Coffee | 110K | 2.8% | 3 | | Nov 2025 | Circle | 15.4K | 0.39% | 4 | | Nov 2025 | Memberful | 1.9K | 0.05% | 5 | | Dec 2025 | Patreon | 3.4M | 85.4% | 1 | | Dec 2025 | Ko-fi | 450K | 11.5% | 2 | | Dec 2025 | Buy Me a Coffee | 110K | 2.8% | 3 | | Dec 2025 | Circle | 12.6K | 0.32% | 4 | | Dec 2025 | Memberful | 2.4K | 0.06% | 5 | | Jan 2026 | Patreon | 4.1M | 85.3% | 1 | | Jan 2026 | Ko-fi | 550K | 11.5% | 2 | | Jan 2026 | Buy Me a Coffee | 135K | 2.8% | 3 | | Jan 2026 | Circle | 17.7K | 0.37% | 4 | | Jan 2026 | Memberful | 2.4K | 0.05% | 5 | | Feb 2026 | Patreon | 3.4M | 85.3% | 1 | | Feb 2026 | Ko-fi | 450K | 11.5% | 2 | | Feb 2026 | Buy Me a Coffee | 110K | 2.8% | 3 | | Feb 2026 | Circle | 15.9K | 0.4% | 4 | | Feb 2026 | Memberful | 2.4K | 0.06% | 5 | | Mar 2026 | Patreon | 4.1M | 85.3% | 1 | | Mar 2026 | Ko-fi | 550K | 11.5% | 2 | | Mar 2026 | Buy Me a Coffee | 135K | 2.8% | 3 | | Mar 2026 | Circle | 16.4K | 0.34% | 4 | | Mar 2026 | Memberful | 2.4K | 0.05% | 5 | | Apr 2026 | Patreon | 3.4M | 83.2% | 1 | | Apr 2026 | Ko-fi | 550K | 13.7% | 2 | | Apr 2026 | Buy Me a Coffee | 110K | 2.7% | 3 | | Apr 2026 | Circle | 15.9K | 0.39% | 4 | | Apr 2026 | Memberful | 1.9K | 0.05% | 5 | | May 2026 | Patreon | 4.1M | 85.4% | 1 | | May 2026 | Ko-fi | 550K | 11.5% | 2 | | May 2026 | Buy Me a Coffee | 135K | 2.8% | 3 | | May 2026 | Circle | 14.9K | 0.31% | 4 | | May 2026 | Memberful | 1.9K | 0.04% | 5 | | Jun 2026 | Patreon | 4.1M | 85.8% | 1 | | Jun 2026 | Ko-fi | 550K | 11.5% | 2 | | Jun 2026 | Buy Me a Coffee | 110K | 2.3% | 3 | | Jun 2026 | Circle | 14.9K | 0.31% | 4 | | Jun 2026 | Memberful | 1.9K | 0.04% | 5 | | Jul 2026 | Patreon | 3.4M | 83.2% | 1 | | Jul 2026 | Ko-fi | 550K | 13.7% | 2 | | Jul 2026 | Buy Me a Coffee | 110K | 2.7% | 3 | | Jul 2026 | Circle | 14.1K | 0.35% | 4 | | Jul 2026 | Memberful | 1.6K | 0.04% | 5 | | Aug 2026 | Patreon | 4.1M | 84.8% | 1 | | Aug 2026 | Ko-fi | 550K | 11.4% | 2 | | Aug 2026 | Buy Me a Coffee | 165K | 3.4% | 3 | | Aug 2026 | Circle | 14.4K | 0.3% | 4 | | Aug 2026 | Memberful | 1.3K | 0.03% | 5 | | Sep 2026 | Buy Me a Coffee | — | — | — | | Sep 2026 | Circle | — | — | — | | Sep 2026 | Ko-fi | — | — | — | | Sep 2026 | Memberful | — | — | — | | Sep 2026 | Patreon | — | — | — | ## What is being compared - **Buy Me a Coffee**: Measured on the search term “buy me a coffee”. - **Circle**: Measured on the search terms “circle community”, “circle community platform” and “circle.so”, summed into one figure. - **Ko-fi**: Measured on the search term “ko-fi”. - **Memberful**: Measured on the search term “memberful”. - **Patreon**: Measured on the search term “patreon”. - [Buy Me a Coffee](/demand/global-en/brands/buy-me-a-coffee) - [Circle](/demand/global-en/brands/circle) - [Ko-fi](/demand/global-en/brands/ko-fi) - [Memberful](/demand/global-en/brands/memberful) - [Patreon](/demand/global-en/brands/patreon) ## Methodology - [How is branded search demand measured?](/demand/methodology): Where the figures come from, what they compare, and how they may be reused. ## Frequently asked questions ### Which brand is most popular in search among creator membership platforms worldwide? In August 2026, Patreon was the most searched among creator membership platforms worldwide, with an estimated 4.1M branded searches and 84.8% estimated Share of Search within this set. These are worldwide searches for English-language branded terms. ## Cite this page Brandwave. "Creator membership platforms: Which brands are most popular in search?". https://gobrandwave.com/demand/global-en/categories/creator-membership-platforms This page is also available as HTML at https://gobrandwave.com/demand/global-en/categories/creator-membership-platforms. Brandwave publishes an index of its Markdown pages at https://gobrandwave.com/llms.txt.