Buy Me a Coffee Payout Calculator
Estimate Buy Me a Coffee fees and creator payout in USD
Buy Me a Coffee payout calculator FAQs
What fees does this Buy Me a Coffee calculator include?
This tool lets you combine the Buy Me a Coffee 5% platform fee with your payment processing fees as a single percentage, plus an optional fixed payout fee in USD. It then estimates total fees and your net payout from the gross earnings you enter.
How should I set the BMC + payment fee %?
Check your Buy Me a Coffee payout docs and Stripe dashboard, then add together the 5% platform fee and your card processing %. Many creators end up around 8–9% in total, which is why the calculator starts near that range by default.
What counts as gross Buy Me a Coffee earnings?
Use the total amount fans pay before fees in a period: coffees, one-off tips, memberships, and any extras or shop sales. You can model a single campaign, a typical month, or year-to-date — just keep all amounts in USD.
Does this include Stripe’s payout and international fees?
Not automatically. Those are approximated through the BMC + payment fee % and Other payout fees fields. If you know typical extra costs for payouts or international payments, bake them into those inputs for a closer estimate.
Is this an official Buy Me a Coffee calculator?
No. This is an independent estimation tool to help you understand take-home pay. Always rely on your Buy Me a Coffee dashboard, Stripe account, and tax advisor for final numbers and compliance decisions.
How to use this Buy Me a Coffee payout calculator
This Buy Me a Coffee payout calculator is for creators who want a fast, no-spreadsheet way to see what they actually keep from coffees, tips, memberships, and extras. Instead of mentally stacking the 5% platform fee and card fees, you can throw your numbers in, hit calculate, and get a clear USD snapshot of gross, fees, and net payout.
1. Start with your gross Buy Me a Coffee earnings
Begin by entering your gross BMC earnings in USD. This is the total before any platform or payment deductions — for example, a month of coffees, membership renewals, and extras. The calculator works for any time window as long as you’re consistent when you compare scenarios.
2. Add a net payout goal if you’re planning income
If you have a specific income target, use the “You want to receive after fees” field. The calculator then flips the math around and tells you the minimum gross earnings you’d need so that, after Buy Me a Coffee and payment fees, you still hit that net number.
3. Match the fee settings to your BMC and Stripe setup
Use the BMC + payment fee (%) box for your combined platform and processing rate, and Other payout fees (USD) for a typical flat Stripe or bank charge per payout. The defaults are a rough approximation; you can tune them to your real data from the Buy Me a Coffee and Stripe dashboards.
4. Read the payout summary to see what you keep
After you hit Calculate, the results card highlights one main figure — either your net payout on the gross you entered, or the required gross to hit a target net. Under that, you’ll see gross earnings, total fees, and the effective fee percentage, so it’s obvious how much of each supporter dollar stays with you.
5. Copy the summary for planning and platform comparisons
Use the Copy summary button to grab a text breakdown you can paste into your notes, budgeting sheet, or strategy doc. Run a few what-ifs: adjust fee %, add a payout fee, or bump your income goal, then compare Buy Me a Coffee against Ko-fi, Patreon, or your own checkout flow.
Remember that this calculator focuses on platform-style fees, not full profit. Your real business margin also depends on software, marketing, editing, and taxes. Treat this as a quick lens on the Buy Me a Coffee slice of your creator income, then layer in other costs separately.
How the Buy Me a Coffee payout math works
The Buy Me a Coffee payout calculator uses the same simple model as many creator platforms: a percentage fee plus an optional fixed payout fee. Let G be your gross BMC earnings in USD, r the combined platform and payment fee rate as a decimal (for example 0.084 for 8.4%), and f any fixed payout fee you choose to include.
Total modeled fees are:
Buy Me a Coffee fees = G × r + f
Your net payout after these fees is:
Net payout = G − (G × r + f)
When you enter a target net payout instead, the calculator rearranges the equation to find the gross earnings required. If N is your desired net in USD, then:
Required gross earnings = (N + f) ÷ (1 − r)
The effective fee percentage shown in the results is:
Effective fee % = modeled fees ÷ gross earnings × 100
All outputs are estimates in USD, rounded to two decimal places, and meant for planning only — they’re not official accounting or tax records.
References and further reading
- Buy Me a Coffee Help: How to calculate charges on your payment – Official breakdown of platform fee, Stripe processing, payout fees, and examples.
- Buy Me a Coffee FAQ – General information on how BMC works, payouts, and the 5% creator fee.