Future Subscription Billing Changes

Most people have probably heard it already, but Patreon is discontinuing some of their older billing cycles, including their non-charge upfront method that I've been using up until this day. Once November rolls around, my account will automatically be switched to monthly subscription billing.

If you're already subscribed, then nothing is going to change for you, as billing will still happen at the beginning of every month. However, if you're a new subscriber then you'll be charged from the moment you subscribe and then every 30 days or so. There's an option for me to further delay the switch, but from what I gathered, it seemingly locks out everyone using Patreon through the iOS App Store, which brings me to the next point...

Starting next month, there will be an additional 30% Apple tax for everyone using the iOS Patreon app. I'm somewhat uncertain how many people are actually using Patreon through iOS, but should you do so, then I highly recommend switching to the more common web browser subscription method. I believe there's an option for every creator to tank the 30% from iOS subscriptions themselves and I'll be considering it, but for now I want to strongly incentivize anyone currently using it to switch to desktop.

Losing the non-charge upfront payment cycle is a bit of a bummer. I'm aware it could easily be abused, but it was a system that just worked for me, which is why I've never touched it. On the bright side, one of the Patreon emails also mentioned something of an upcoming 14-day trial period that creators can implement, so I'll be looking into that option once it becomes available. It probably won't be as liberal as the previous system, but it should make it possible for people to see what they're signing up for at least.