Q&A with Patreon CEO Jack Conte on its relationship with Apple and exception from App Store's 30% cut, supporting creators across platforms, and more
The VergeNilay Patel
Context & Ripple Effects
At the time of this interview, Patreon occupied a rare position in the App Store economy: it held an exception from Apple's standard 30% cut, letting membership money flow to creators without the usual toll. Conte frames Patreon's job as supporting creators across platforms rather than locking them into any one distribution channel — a posture consistent with its acquisition of Memberful to own the membership infrastructure layer.
The exception is the story's ticking clock. Apple later revoked it: after Apple's threats, Patreon confirmed that iOS app memberships would fall under the 30% fee from November 2024, forcing creators onto subscription billing. That reversal retroactively makes this 2021 Q&A a snapshot of the terms before they collapsed.
First-order effects
Creators selling memberships through Patreon's iOS app were, at this moment, insulated from Apple's 30% take — the exception meant a patron's dollar reached the creator nearly intact, unlike in-app purchases elsewhere.
Second-order effects
When Apple ended the exception, Patreon had to restructure iOS memberships around subscription billing and absorb or pass through the fee — pushing the platform to deepen its cross-platform, off-Apple rails, the same independence logic behind its later native video hosting build-out that reduces creators' reliance on YouTube.
Third-order effects
The exception-then-revocation pattern shows Apple tightening its take-rate perimeter around creator-economy platforms, accelerating a structural shift: membership businesses like Patreon — now paying out $10B+ cumulatively to creators — are incentivized to treat app stores as one billing channel among many rather than the default.
The trend: Creator-economy platforms are being pulled from negotiated App Store exemptions toward regulated, uniform take rates, pushing them to build platform-agnostic infrastructure as insurance.
This week on Decoder, Patreon CEO @jackconte discusses the booming creator economy - and why creators should be skeptical of the big platforms trying to monetize them. This was a fun one https://www.theverge.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Patreon's Jack Conte tell us that the company doesn't have a special deal with Apple to avoid App Store fees... but it's still unclear why Patreon doesn't have to pay, while others do. https://www.theverge.com/...
@NathanG @reckless @Patreon No. That's for physical goods only. Dunno which one of the bullshit rules patreon qualifies for. Maybe the reader app rule.
The original vision for the web included micropayments — so much of the creator economy seems like trying to catch back up. More from Patreon CEO Jack Conte on Decoder this week: https://www.theverge.com/... https://twitter.com/...
“There's so much infrastructure that needs to be rebuilt for creative people in this new world, where there are 100s of millions of people being professional, full-time creators. That infrastructure is largely unimagined and certainly unbuilt right now.” https://www.theverge.com/…
@reckless @NathanG @Patreon I do.... If there is a semi plausible reason or means... they want 30% 😂 Patreon is not “delivered via Apple” if you will. And they would her horrible PR. So that's why imo
“While the first 20 years of the web was really about distribution and helping creators figure out how to reach people, the next 20 years of the web is going to be — as a society — rebuilding the financial engine to get creative people paid.” https://www.theverge.com/...
If you're a creator and you're only relying on Big Tech, it's time to have a Plan B. @michaelmalice explains why he prefers Locals to Patreon and Facebook. https://twitter.com/...
@rjonesy @reckless @Patreon I think their subscriptions are such a mix of so many content types that Apple didn't want to bother ✅ physical rewards ✅ thank you credits on YouTube ✅ PSD files/Patreon brushes/etc ✅ private Discord/Slack groups
I'm glad this is being said I'm so tired of “creator economy” bs without acknowledging this fact even I am restricted to monetize on Substack, can't paywall since I don't have access to Stripe, I've been able to get $ via @patreon bc it's more accesible to me living in Honduras h…
@reckless Since @Patreon isn't exclusively in-app digital goods, seems like Apple is following 3.13e for all their subscriptions. Does that sound right, @rjonesy? https://developer.apple.com/ ... https://twitter.com/...
Interesting interview with @jackconte about the value of owning your platform and your audience. A website you own with a custom domain is the best way to ensure you are not overreliant on platforms you don't control. https://twitter.com/...
“But I don't own that audience there. They're not really my fans. On those mass media companies, on those sites that are destinations — those are not solid platforms on which I can build a business as a creator.” https://www.theverge.com/...