Why Kajabi Is A Powerful Patreon Alternative For Artists, Bands, DJs, & Music Producers

If you’re an artist or producer, there’s a good chance you’ve either tried Patreon or thought about it. It’s become the default answer when musicians talk about memberships and fan support.

But after years of experimenting with Patreon, Bandcamp, Discord, Shopify, and more, we ended up building our main fan platform and app on Kajabi instead.

This post explains why we see Kajabi as a powerful Patreon alternative for serious artists and producers.

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The Problem With Only Living On Patreon

Patreon does a lot of things well:

• It gives you a quick way to collect recurring support
• It has built‑in messaging and content posts
• It gives fans a familiar interface

But it also has some real limitations if you’re thinking long‑term:

• Platform fees: Patreon takes around 10–15% of your revenue when you add up platform fees + payment processing + add‑ons. At $1,000/month, that’s $100–$150 gone every month.
• No real ownership: Your page, layout, and community all live inside Patreon’s ecosystem and brand.
• Their priorities, not yours: The app and homepage are designed to promote Patreon and its creator marketplace, not to make your project the center of the universe.

For some artists, that’s fine. For others, especially those who want a real business around their art, it starts to feel limiting fast.

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What Kajabi Does Differently

Kajabi is an all‑in‑one platform where you can run:

• Your website
• Memberships and subscriptions
• Courses and coaching programs
• Email marketing and automations
• And now, a custom branded mobile app

Instead of taking a percentage of your revenue, Kajabi charges a flat subscription fee. You still pay normal payment processing fees (like Stripe/PayPal), but you’re not losing an extra 10–15% to the platform itself.

For us, that flat pricing mattered because:

• The more we grew, the more that Patreon cut hurt
• We wanted to reinvest as much as possible back into the music, art, and fan experience
• We wanted a foundation we could build everything on, not just a tip jar or fan club page

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Our Real-World Setup: PLURTH On Kajabi

We’ve been on Kajabi since 2014, and over time it became the backbone of almost everything we do:

• Our PLURTH website
• Our fan memberships and community
• Our education and coaching offers
• Our digital products and experiences
• Our white‑label PLURTH app that fans install on their phones

We were also part of the beta program for Kajabi’s custom mobile app, giving feedback as they developed it. That means we weren’t just reading feature lists; we were testing it with real fans and real releases.

Now that the app is available to everyone, we’re using Kajabi as our version of:

• A Patreon alternative
• A direct‑to‑fan community hub
• A launchpad for both digital and IRL experiences

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Why Kajabi Makes Sense As A Patreon Alternative

Here’s how Kajabi stacks up when you think like a serious artist or producer:

• Revenue:

  • Patreon: Percentage‑based platform fees that grow as you grow
  • Kajabi: Flat subscription, normal processing fees, more of your fan income stays with you

• Ownership:

  • Patreon: You’re a profile inside someone else’s platform
  • Kajabi: Your own domain, your own branding, your own email list, and now your own app

• Flexibility:

  • Patreon: Mainly memberships and posts
  • Kajabi: Memberships + courses + coaching + bundles + digital products + live experiences

• App experience:

  • Patreon: One app where your page sits next to everyone else’s, optimized for their ecosystem
  • Kajabi: A white‑label app experience where your fans tap on your icon and enter your world

We still respect what Patreon has done for creators, but for us, Kajabi is a better home base.

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How We Use Kajabi And Patreon Together

This isn’t always an either/or decision.

Some artists:

• Keep a lightweight presence on Patreon for discovery or low‑tier support
• Move their core membership, premium content, and deeper community to Kajabi
• Use Kajabi as the hub that connects out to Bandcamp, Spotify, Discord, Shopify, etc.

We think of it like this:

• Spotify / Bandcamp / playlists → discovery
• Patreon (optional) → surface‑level support
• Kajabi → home base, app, and real business backend

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The 50% Off Deal And Our Artist Bonuses

At the time of writing this, Kajabi is running a 50% off for 12 months promotion. That alone makes it a strong time for artists to experiment with building their own platform.

Because we’re part of the Kajabi Partner Program, we created a dedicated page for:

• Artists and producers who want to use Kajabi as a Patreon alternative
• A breakdown of Patreon vs Kajabi in plain language
• A look at how we use Kajabi for PLURTH and our app
• Details on the exclusive bonuses we offer if you start Kajabi through our link:
  • Our “Patreon‑Style Kajabi Setup” course
  • Custom templates that give Kajabi pages a Patreon‑style layout and flow, tuned for music and fan memberships

We may earn a commission if you sign up through our link, but we’ve been building on Kajabi since long before the Partner Program existed. This is the platform we actually use every day.

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Is Kajabi Right For Every Artist?

No platform is perfect for everyone.

Kajabi makes the most sense if you:

• Want to build a real, owned platform for your music and community
• Care about keeping more of your fan revenue instead of giving up a percentage forever
• Like the idea of having your site, app, memberships, coaching, and digital products all in one place
• Are willing to treat your art like a business, not just a hobby

If you’re just starting with zero fans and want a tip jar, Patreon can still be useful. But if you’re feeling the limits of rented platforms and want your own world, Kajabi is worth a serious look.

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Where To Go Next

If this resonates and you want to see a real example, start here:

• Our Patreon Alternative for Artists & Producers page on PLUR things
• It breaks down:
  • The fee math
  • Our PLURTH app setup
  • The current 50% off Kajabi deal
  • The bonuses we give artists who start through our link

Even if you don’t make the switch right away, seeing what’s possible with your own platform and app can change how you think about the future of your music career.