What is Fanvue?
Fanvue is a subscription platform company based in the UK that offers content creators around the world an inclusive environment to share their content. Fanvue encourages users to sign up to their platform regardless of their chosen niche, meaning both adult creators and mainstream ones, can benefit from this diverse platform and its useful range of tools and features, specifically crafted to grow your presence as a content creator. With an already diverse variety of creators on their platform, ranging from Models and Adult creators to chefs and Photographers, you’ll feel right at home sharing your content with all the fans that are eager to see your content, whatever that may be.
What is Patreon?
Patreon on the other hand is an American-based company that provides very similar services to Fanvue, with a few key differences. Patrons on this platform are still able to share their content in the same way, but Patreon has banned adult content, meaning that adult creators are not welcome to post any explicit content. Although Patreon isn’t a suitable solution for adult creators, it is a bustling platform for mainstream ones, making both Patreon and Fanvue contenders in this market.
While we’ve only just touched on what these platforms do, there are many advantages to using a subscription platform company like these two, including significant boosts to your earnings and a greater following of fans. Now it’s time to get into the specifics by comparing the differences between both platforms, as well as any unique features that could make one of these companies the perfect match for your needs.
How do these platforms work?
Content creators have traditionally resorted to social media as a way to get exposure for their content, but now creators are discovering platforms like Fanvue and Patreon, which allow them to share all their content in one location that is already filled with eager fans willing to pay to see their content. Both sites have millions of users and have a creator-friendly design that allows their users to reach out and network with other creators, and all of their fans. These platforms target the right communities and help you market your content more effectively to your target audiences.
Whether you’re an artist who wants to show your art to the world or a chef wanting to share your culinary creations, you’ll find yourself right at home on these platforms. From day one you have total control over your earnings as a rising star in the creator-field, with both sites having customisable monthly subscription prices that you can set at whatever price you feel reflects your talent. Connecting and linking your social media accounts to your chosen platform can also reflect positively on your brand, this helps your account get seen and can help migrate your social media following into paying consumers.
While the majority of users get their income from the monthly subscription costs, some creators take a per-creation approach by charging users to see individual posts. This method is especially great for creators from musician and artist niches who are likely to post less content every month, but intend to charge more when they do. You could also provide free content to your everyday subscribers while charging extra for premium content, which provides a steady stream of income from the subscriptions and larger earnings from the pay-per-view content.
You might be wondering how these platforms are all that different from social media, well, the ability to post your photos and videos to a welcoming audience is only the beginning of what these services offer. We understand how hard it is for creators to juggle all of their responsibilities and manage their public image, that’s where these platforms come in. Mass messages allow you to talk directly to your fans without having to message everyone individually, and it goes right to their inboxes giving you maximum exposure, and in turn, better engagement. If this doesn’t already sound like something you’ve been missing out on, then let’s get into the detailed comparison.
Differences between Fanvue and Patreon
Service and Transaction Charges
Fanvue has a much simpler approach to their fee structure as opposed to Patreon, by taking a 15% cut of service and transaction fees for your first 12 months on their platform. Patreon on the other hand has pricing tiers that range from them taking a 5% cut of your earnings, all the way to 12%, plus an average 3% processing fee on your payments. The problem is, to achieve the same functionality and features that Fanvue includes by standard, you’d need to choose Patreon’s highest-tier plan to avoid losing out on essential features and tools that aren’t included in the lower tiers. The winner here is down to your individual preference, but Fanvue’s clear-cut and simple pricing structure doesn’t make access to its tools dependent on choosing from multiple subscription plans.
Security and User Protection
Patreon launched 8 years before Fanvue existed with its launch back in early 2013. Fanvue, on the other hand, was created back in 2021, and have since vowed to take the security of its users and their content very seriously. While it wouldn’t be entirely fair to compare the security of platforms created so widely apart, it is important to mention that since its launch, Fanvue has had no issues with data breaches. Patreon on the other hand did suffer a big data breach in 2015, with lots of user accounts, passwords and even transaction history dumped online for the world to see.
Although it’s expected for a much older company to have had issues with security, more than a newer company, it is still a data breach, which any new users should be wary of when signing up.
User Verification
Both Fanvue and Patreon are very similar in this regard, with both platforms only requiring your official government documents to provide proof of age and identity, with the only difference being that Fanvue requires a selfie as well, which only takes a few moments of your time. Most importantly is the time it takes to verify new creators, where Fanvue claims to respond to users in a matter of minutes, which cannot be rivalled by Patreon that is said to take around a day.
Payment Withdrawals
Patreon typically take 1 to 3 days to withdraw your money into your account, which is an improvement over some platforms, but not Fanvue! Fanvue’s dedicated team have been known to approve payments within a matter of minutes, which is perfect for busy creators to get their hands on their funds a lot quicker.
Customer Support
Patreon’s customer support response times do leave a lot to be desired, especially if you’re contacting them the traditional way through email. Their website says people can expect delays of up to a week given the extreme demand they are receiving, which isn’t great for creators experiencing issues. They do, however, advertise assistance through their Twitter, but unfortunately, this cannot be regarding payments or login issues and is only useful for general enquiries.
Fanvue’s customer support is the best in the market for this type of platform. With a team of dedicated support agents ready to help you from the get-go, their response times generally average a few minutes, making swift resolutions the norm for their company. If you aren’t in a talkative mood, they also have an extensive help centre with articles and guides about how to navigate your way through any issues and queries you may have, which is great for finding answers quickly to those burning questions.
Unique Features
One of Fanvue’s most notable features is its “Discovery” section. This section is unique to Fanvue, and although Patron has a similar feature, theirs is based on linking your social media to see your already suggested creators. This feature allows you to discover new users on the platform, which brings a wealth of new followers for creators, as well as collaboration opportunities.
Fanvue’s analytics tools are some of the best on market, with most platforms falling short of their expertise. They give detailed insights into everything from what your most popular videos are, to detailed tracking information for creators to make the most out of their content. One unparalleled benefit of Patreon’s premium membership tier is their option to create merch for your brand, which is easier than it sounds, as all you have to do is create your design and then Patreon manages everything from shipping to tracking and support, which is something Fanvue do not offer as of yet.
While this isn’t entirely a unique feature, much like Onlyfans, Fanvue allows users to send photos and videos over mass messages, while Patreon still limits users to standard text messages. This feature has become the standard for most platforms, so Patreon is lacking in this department which removes quite a significant feature for some creators. Finally, the channel promo feature, which is another Fanvue exclusive that helps take your creator profile to a new level. It might seem like a simple feature at first, but the ability to create a channel promo video as opposed to just a standard profile picture and bio can entice uncertain fans into making the leap and subscribing to your profile.
These are just a few of the Unique features Fanvue and Patreon offer, with many more features being present for all its users from day one. While Patreon is a contending rival for those outside of the adult creator industry, it may fall short for those who are looking for more freedom in supporter engagement, sales methods and content delivery.
Conclusion
Both platforms have made a significant impact on the subscription platform scene, but since its launch in 2021, Fanvue has made a very quick appearance and has surpassed its competitors in many aspects. The sheer size of Patreon’s fanbase does set it apart from Fanvue, but it comes with its own negative factors, such as delayed response times from support staff and slower withdrawal times. Fanvue hasn’t taken long to grow exponentially, as has since gathered a huge following of loyal fans and creators, which is expected to grow even more with time.
The other thing to consider is that Patreon has more restrictions over the types of content you can post, as well as outlawing explicit content. While this may be less of an issue for mainstream creators, it still rules out a significant portion of creators from posting on their platform. Fanvue takes the opposite approach and values inclusivity above all else, to ensure creators aren’t restricted and have the freedom to post what they want, which helps to further demonstrate Fanvue’s loyalty to its creators.
The staff at Fanvue are all personally invested in your work and are highly receptive to your feedback given its community-driven nature as a platform. Fanvue is always looking for ways to improve its services and features, to provide you, the creator, an optimal and smooth experience. If you haven’t already signed up for this platform, then head over to Fanvue today to start your journey as a content creator.
