Short answer: yes, both pay a character account, and both are cheaper than Patreon. Ko-fi and Buy Me a Coffee are tip-jar and membership pages: fans send a one-off tip, join a monthly tier or buy something from your shop. Neither bans AI-made content. What they ban:
Passing AI work off as human-made. Ko-fi: "Presenting AI-generated content as your own human-made work to potential buyers goes against Ko-fi's Terms". Buy Me a Coffee bans anything "false, misleading or deceptive".
AI that copies a real person. Buy Me a Coffee: "Do not use AI-generated voice, image or video to impersonate someone without their clear consent." Ko-fi bans AI of a celebrity's likeness for adult purposes or with nudity.
AI adult material. Both. Buy Me a Coffee names "AI-generated adult material"; Ko-fi bans AI models trained for adult content and NSFW AI chatbots.
Fees. Ko-fi takes 0% on one-off tips and 5% on everything else on its free option. Buy Me a Coffee takes 5% of each payment. Payment processing comes on top of both.
Yes, on both, with different limits. Etsy allows AI art you prompted yourself if the listing says so, but bans AI-written how-to guides, prompt bundles and mass-generated listings. Gumroad has no AI-content ban but won't let you sell AI generation as a service. Fees: Etsy $0.20 a listing + 6.5%, Gumroad 10% + $0.50 (30% through its marketplace).
A tip jar for a character: small, honest payments from people who already like the posts.
The rules at a glance
Question
Ko-fi
Buy Me a Coffee
Is AI-made content allowed?
Yes. "Rather than deciding which tools are acceptable, we focus on making sure all content on Ko-fi meets copyright law and our content guidelines."
Yes. No AI ban; the rules are about honesty, rights and adult content
Can you pass AI work off as human-made?
No. E.g. "marketing AI-generated reference images for commissions as hand-drawn"
No. Bans anything "false, misleading or deceptive"
AI of a real person?
No for a celebrity's likeness in adult content or with nudity
No without "their clear consent"; labelled parody is fine
AI adult content?
No (AI models trained for adult content, NSFW AI chatbots)
No ("AI-generated adult material")
AI in contests?
No. AI work isn't eligible for Ko-fi giveaways, challenges or contests
Not covered
Platform fee
0% on one-off tips and goals, 5% on memberships, monthly tips, shop and commissions (free option)
5% on each payment
Processing
PayPal or Stripe, "usually around 3% + $0.30"
Stripe's own fees, which "can vary by location, currency and payment method"
Minimum age
18
18
What Ko-fi's AI rules say
Ko-fi has a whole help page on AI, and it is more relaxed than most platforms. It says plainly why it doesn't ban AI: "the ways people create are more varied than ever", so it checks copyright and its content guidelines instead of the tools you use.
The rules that matter for an AI influencer:
Be honest about how it's made. "Creators on Ko-fi are responsible for being honest about their work and how it was made." Ko-fi's own examples are selling AI images as hand-drawn and AI writing as your own writing. For a character account, put "AI character" in the page name or about section.
No copying artists. Section 3.19 of the content guidelines bans "AI-generated content which can be proven to have directly infringed on an artist's copyrighted work".
No adult AI. Also banned under 3.19: "AI models that have been trained for prohibited adult content purposes" and AI of celebrities or public figures "for NSFW purposes". The NSFW tag page adds: no AI of a known person's likeness with nudity of any kind, no NSFW AI chatbots, and for photorealistic AI, even lightly sensual content must be "substantially covered/censored".
No illegal uses. Using AI for "identity theft" or other illegal purposes "will result in an account ban and may be reported".
No contests. "AI-generated work is not eligible for giveaways, challenges, or contests on Ko-fi".
Your payment provider's rules apply too. Ko-fi pays straight into your own PayPal or Stripe account, and "creators must stick to the rules set by PayPal and Stripe".
One more thing to know: Ko-fi sometimes runs "a verification check to understand why money is being received through a Ko-fi page". If that happens, you show where the money comes from, for example by linking the character's Instagram or TikTok profile where your Ko-fi link is posted. A page that says openly what it is passes that check easily.
Ko-fi takes nothing from one-off tips on its free option; the payment processor still takes its cut.
What Buy Me a Coffee's rules say
Buy Me a Coffee rewrote its Terms of Use and Community Guidelines in plain language (both dated 10/12/2026). Section 4 of the guidelines, "Be honest about who you are and what you offer", is the one to read before opening a page for a character:
No AI impersonation. "Do not use AI-generated voice, image or video to impersonate someone without their clear consent. Parody and fan content are fine as long as they are clearly labelled as such and do not deceive anyone." An original character who looks like nobody real is fine; one who looks like a real person is not.
No false identity. Don't "set up a page to collect money under a false identity or false cause". Say the character is AI-made and who runs it; the terms also say "do not impersonate anyone".
No AI adult content. Buy Me a Coffee "is not a platform for sexually explicit material", and the list names "AI-generated adult material".
Sell only your own work. "Everything you sell should be your own work, or something you clearly have the right to sell." Resold ebooks, courses, templates and presets you didn't make are banned.
No get-rich-quick products. The list of things you can't sell includes "passive income claims" and "get-rich-quick programmes". So "how my AI influencer makes $10k a month" courses don't belong there.
No posting to game visibility. It bans "repetitive content to game visibility". Post what your supporters signed up for, not volume.
If you're not sure, Buy Me a Coffee asks you to email it "before you post or publish it. We would much rather answer a question than remove your work later."
What it costs: fees in 2026
Ko-fi has two options, both free with no monthly cost:
Free: 0% on one-off tips and crowdfunding goals; 5% on monthly tips, memberships, shop sales and commissions.
Standard: 5% on everything, including one-off tips, in return for perks such as supporter-only content and scheduled posts. Ko-fi says new creators "now start with all of Ko-fi unlocked from day one", so check which one you are on under Settings > Payment.
Processing by PayPal or Stripe on top, "usually around 3% + $0.30". Set your Ko-fi currency to the one most supporters pay in to avoid conversion fees (USD, EUR, GBP, AUD, CAD and five more).
Buy Me a Coffee: "When a creator receives a payment, we charge 5%." Stripe processes payments and payouts, with its own processing, payout and conversion fees on top. Buy Me a Coffee gives at least 30 days' notice before any fee increase.
A worked example. A $5 one-off tip on Ko-fi's free option: Ko-fi takes $0, processing about $0.45, so you keep about $4.55. The same $5 as a monthly membership on Ko-fi: $0.25 to Ko-fi plus about $0.45, so about $4.30. On Buy Me a Coffee, $0.25 goes to the platform, then Stripe's fee. On Patreon, a new page pays 10% before processing (see our Patreon guide). Tax comes after all of them: see tax on AI influencer income.
Getting paid: a real person behind the page
Both sites pay the person or business running the character, never the character. Both need you to be 18 or older. Ko-fi pays straight into your own PayPal or Stripe account, which checks your identity when you set it up. Buy Me a Coffee says creators "may need to verify their identity and provide tax and payout details before receiving funds". The public page can still carry the character's name and face; the payout account is yours.
Ko-fi or Buy Me a Coffee: same idea, slightly different fees and rules.
What to offer supporters
A tip page works once people already care about the character, so build the audience first on Instagram, TikTok or YouTube, then put the link in the bio. Things that fit both sites' rules:
A plain tip button. "If you like the posts, buy her a coffee" is the whole pitch. On Ko-fi's free option, one-off tips cost you nothing but processing.
Supporter-only posts. The full photo set behind a reel, early. (On Ko-fi this needs the Standard option.)
Behind the scenes. How a scene was planned and why some frames were thrown out. Honest about the AI, which keeps you clear of both sites' misrepresentation rules.
Your own digital products. Wallpapers or a style guide you made. Nothing resold, and no "passive income" courses on Buy Me a Coffee.
Commissions, labelled. A custom scene for a supporter is fine if you sell it as AI-made. Selling it as hand-drawn is exactly what Ko-fi's AI page forbids.
Influgen posts to Instagram, TikTok and X today, not to Ko-fi or Buy Me a Coffee, so download the post and its caption and share the supporters' version there yourself.
FAQ
Does Ko-fi allow AI-generated content? Yes. Ko-fi doesn't ban AI tools. It bans presenting AI work as human-made, AI that infringes an artist's copyright, AI adult models and NSFW AI chatbots, and AI of real people in adult content. AI work can't enter Ko-fi's contests.
Does Buy Me a Coffee allow AI-generated content? Yes. Its rules ban AI adult material, AI that impersonates someone without their consent, and anything false or misleading, not AI itself.
Can an AI influencer have a Ko-fi or Buy Me a Coffee page? Yes, if the page says it is an AI character, the character doesn't copy a real person, and there's no adult content. The person or business behind it gets paid.
Which is cheaper, Ko-fi or Buy Me a Coffee? For one-off tips, Ko-fi's free option (0% plus processing). For memberships and shop sales, both take 5% plus processing. Patreon's new pages take 10%.
Can I sell an AI influencer course on Buy Me a Coffee? Not one built on income promises: Buy Me a Coffee bans "passive income claims" and "get-rich-quick programmes", and anything you sell must be your own work.
For every platform's rules in one place, see the short answers on /rules.
Make yours
Influgen gives every AI influencer a small team: a head writer for the ideas, a creative director and stylist for each scene, a critic who rejects frames before they post. Every post is made fresh for your character and labelled as AI, and you approve it before it goes out. Start here, or try the free tools first.
Yes. Patreon allows AI-generated people on pages for all audiences, as long as there is no nudity or adult material and the page is honest about what it is. New pages pay a 10% platform fee plus processing, and the person behind the character verifies their own identity to get paid. Here is each rule, read on Patreon's own pages.
Mostly not from Snapchat itself. Snapchat's revenue share needs 50,000 followers, 15,000 hours of view time in 28 days and a Snap Star badge, and Snap Star and Brand Partnerships both ask for an account that "represents a real person". AI-made content can earn if it's labelled, but a character account doesn't fit those programs as written. Here is each rule, read on Snapchat's own pages, and what an AI account can do instead.
