Are you a video creator thinking about starting to monetize your passion? You’re not alone! More and more creators are starting to understand there are more incomes to be made than those cents views on YouTube generate.
Sure, there are always collaborations and partnerships, but how fun is it to promote a product or service you have no feelings for? Your followers watch you because they like you and your excellent content. They are not interested in seeing you talk about some boring VPN service or the latest cryptocurrency.
But we have good news for you; there is a way to monetize your video creation without annoying commercial breaks and uncomfortable partnerships. There are multiple services where you can post your videos behind a paywall. That’s precisely what VOYD does. Our two main competitors are Patreon and YouTubes Membership.
Big comparison between VOYD, Patreon and YouTube
VOYD, Patreon and YouTube allow video creators to build an income from their hobby. But that’s where the similarities end. Patreon and YouTube are big companies based in the US. VOYD, on the other hand, is a Swedish startup founded by video creators.
We’ve looked at what matters for creators when it comes to these kinds of services, listing features, so it is easy for you to compare and see which alternative suits you and your needs best. Let’s go!
Office, support and customer service
No product or service is perfect, but that means it’s essential with a knowledgeable support department that answers fast. Sometimes there is no problem, but you want feedback on your latest video before publishing it to your followers.
Therefore we want to brag about our cool office, where our creators are always welcome to plan, get inspired, or just chill. The office also has a studio to which the creator has access. It is the best one in northern Europe!
But enough with the brag now and back to the comparison…
 |  |  | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Headquarter | 🇸🇪 SWEDEN | 🇺🇸 USA | 🇺🇸 USA |
| Swedish support | ✅ Yes | ❌ No | ❌ No |
| Response time How long it takes for support to answer. | ✅ Max 24 hours | ❌ Max 1 week | ❌ Max 3 days |
| Studio access | ✅ Yes | ❌ No | ❌ No |
Requirements, Account and Get started
Getting started and uploading content to a new service can be challenging. The service could have requirements, e.g., you need x number of followers to use it. One example is YouTube Membership, which requires you to have at least 1 000 subscribers and 4 000 yearly viewed hours.
| | | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Requirements | ✅ No | ✅ No | ❌ Yes 1 000 subscribers 4 000 viewed hours |
| Personal demo | ✅ Yes | ❌ No | ❌ No |
| Content restrictions | ✅ No | ✅ No | ❌ Yes |
Neither VOYD nor Patreon has requirements of who can and cannot register. What VOYD does have, though, is the opportunity to get a free demo of the service with our Customer Success Managers, Ida and Linnea. Many of our most successful creators have used this golden opportunity to kick-start their new channel.
Pricing, payments and payouts
Invoicing is never fun, but what’s fun is receiving the payment. Stuff like that should just work. The same thing applies to your followers. Giving them payment options that they recognize and feel safe using is essential.
How you package and sell your content also matters. For example, some of your followers are only interested in a single video. Others might want to avoid committing to membership due to other reasons.
| | | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Share | ❌ From 20% | ✅ 5-12% | ❌ 30% |
| Membership Sell content by membership | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Pay Per View Sell content by PPV | ✅ Yes | ❌ No | ❌ No |
| Pay What You Can Sell content by PWYC | ✅ Yes | ❌ No, not tied to content | ❌ No |
| Paket (bundles) Sell content as bundles | ✅ Yes | ❌ No | ❌ No |
| Presentkort Sell content by gift card | ✅ Yes | ❌ No | ❌ No |
| Discount codes Offers discount codes | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes | ❌ No |
| Minimum payout | ✅ None | ❌ $10 | ❌ $100 |
| Invoice companies | ✅ Yes | ❌ Nej | ❌ Nej |
Product, features and community
Maybe you “feel it” one day and want to start a podcast. Then it is a great advantage to be able to could to that on the same platform that you and your followers are familiar with from before. What’s also important is how your content is promoted. As the only alternative in the comparison, VOYD allows you to create trailers and connect them to content. Many of your followers are probably curious about your content but need some “sneak peek” before pushing the purchase button. They want to know what they’re buying.
| | | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Publish videos | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Publish audio/podcasts | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes | ❌ No |
| Free promotion | ✅ Yes | ❌ No | ❌ No |
| Trailers Connect trailers to your content | ✅ Yes | ❌ No | ❌ No |
| “Sneak peek” on content Show selected parts of content to curious buyers | ✅ Yes | ❌ No | ❌ No |
| Available by app | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes | ❌ No |
| Community | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes | ❌ No |
| Personal thank you message | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes | ❌ No |
Another good thing about VOYD when it comes to promoting is that the creators get advertised in VOYDs different channels, completely free! So if you publish a video for example, ping us, and we’ll share it in stories and posts, contributing to a broader reach 🚀.
Summary and winner
Now we have compared VOYD, Patreon and YouTube in 25 different relevant aspects for video creators looking to monetize and here are the results:
- VOYD: 23/24
- Patreon: 10/24
- YouTube: 2/24
Hopefully, we succeeded in convincing you about the differences and similarities between us, Patreon and YouTube. So, if you want to try us out, just start a channel for free and get going!
