Liberapay
Recurring donations platform for creators and open-source maintainers
About Liberapay
Liberapay is a nonprofit, open-source recurring donations platform that lets supporters fund creators, free software developers, and other contributors with weekly, monthly, or yearly payments. It charges zero platform fees — only standard Stripe or PayPal processing costs apply — and is itself funded by donations from its community.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Zero platform fees — keeps significantly more of each donation than Patreon or similar
- Fully open-source and nonprofit-operated with transparent finances
- Donor anonymity protects supporters from harassment or influence pressure
- Recurring weekly cap discourages dependence on a few whales
- Simple, ad-free interface focused purely on donations
Cons
- Smaller audience and discoverability compared to Patreon or Ko-fi
- No tiered rewards, paid posts, or membership perks for backers
- Limited creator tools — no built-in messaging, content hosting, or analytics
- PayPal fees are noticeably higher than Stripe for many regions
- UI and branding feel minimal/utilitarian rather than polished
Key Features
Recurring Donations
Supporters set up weekly, monthly, or yearly contributions to creators they value.
Zero Platform Fees
Liberapay takes no commission — only payment processor fees (Stripe ~3.1%, PayPal ~5.1%) apply.
Anonymous Donations by Default
Recipients don't see donor identities unless donors choose to make themselves public.
Donation Cap
A weekly cap per donor (around €100) prevents undue influence from large single backers.
Stripe & PayPal Integration
Donations are routed directly to the recipient's connected Stripe or PayPal account.
Teams & Shared Income
Multiple contributors can form a team and split incoming donations transparently.
Open-Source Codebase
The entire platform is licensed under CC0 and developed publicly on GitHub.
Multi-Currency Support
Donations can be sent and received in multiple currencies including EUR, USD, GBP, and more.
Public Profiles & Stats
Recipients get a public profile showing their work, goals, and optional income transparency.
Pricing
- Unlimited recurring donations
- Anonymous donor support
- Stripe and PayPal payouts
- Teams and shared income
- Public donor/recipient profiles
- No platform commission
Best For
Funding Open-Source Maintainers
Individual developers and FOSS projects collect recurring contributions to sustain ongoing work.
Supporting Independent Writers & Artists
Creators receive predictable weekly or monthly income from readers and fans without commission cuts.
Nonprofit & Activist Funding
Small collectives and activist groups accept recurring donations transparently and ethically.
Team-Based Projects
Multi-person open-source teams pool and split donations using Liberapay's team feature.
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