3-6 weeks for typical $1k-$20k MRR creator
Migrate from Patreon to Reign.
Patreon takes 8-12% cut + hides patron emails. Reign + MemberPress + Stripe keeps 100% of recurring revenue + owns the email list forever.
Reign is the design layer at $99/year or $249 lifetime, and it is the only thing you have to buy. The plugins that rebuild your community here are ours: BuddyNext for members and groups, Learnomy for courses, Jetonomy for forums and Q&A, MediaVerse for member media. 11 of them install free, each with its own Pro plan for when one part of the community starts earning. No monthly platform fee replaces the one you are leaving.
Set expectations before you start.
- Patron list (Patreon does provide emails to creators).
- Pledge amounts + tier structure.
- Post archive (manual export from creator dashboard).
- Stripe billing setup.
- Tier-gated content (rebuild on MemberPress with matching tiers).
- Welcome email sequence.
- Patreon-style benefits framework (replicate via MemberPress restrictions).
The migration walkthrough.
Export patron list from Patreon
Patreon dashboard > Patrons > Export CSV. Includes email, pledge amount, tier.
Set up Reign + MemberPress
The theme plus BuddyNext, free to install, for community-driven Patreon creators. MemberPress handles the paid tiers. The BuddyPress Community Bundle is the third-party route.
Recreate tier structure
For each Patreon tier, create matching MemberPress level with same price + benefits.
Migrate billing to Stripe
Patreon does NOT support customer migration - patrons must re-subscribe via Stripe on your site. Offer a transition incentive (1 month free or 10% off first 6 months).
Communicate migration to patrons
Email patrons 30 days out. Explain why (cost, ownership, email list). Most patrons appreciate creators keeping more revenue.
Phase out Patreon
After 90 days, cancel Patreon. Some patrons will not migrate; that is expected (typical 60-80% migration rate).
Before you start.
Export your patron list, which is the only asset you can take, and do it before anything else in case access changes. Then build the thing that will make people move: a course, an archive, a community space that does not exist on Patreon. Asking patrons to re-enter card details for exactly what they already have is asking them to do work for nothing, and most will not.
What to check once it is live.
Process one real subscription end to end with your own card and refund it, because payments are the part that must be correct. Confirm the welcome email arrives and that the new member lands somewhere worth being rather than an empty dashboard. Then track the conversion rate weekly, since that number decides when it is safe to close the Patreon tier.
Where this one usually goes wrong.
Closing Patreon before enough patrons have moved. Subscriptions cannot transfer, so income drops the day you switch off and only recovers as people re-subscribe one at a time. Run both for months, move tiers gradually, and let the numbers rather than a chosen date tell you when the Patreon page has stopped earning.
Migration questions.
Why does Patreon hide patron emails?
Patreon does NOT actually hide emails - creators can export them. The myth comes from members thinking emails are hidden. Use the export to migrate to Stripe.
What if patrons refuse to migrate?
Typical migration rate is 60-80%. The 20-40% who do not migrate were not engaged anyway. Net revenue usually goes UP after migration because you keep the 8-12% Patreon cut.
Can I run Patreon + Reign in parallel?
Yes for transition. Long-term hybrid is rare - most creators fully migrate within 6 months.
Can I keep charging the same amount?
Yes, and you keep more of it. Stripe takes around 2.9 percent against Patreon's 8 to 12 percent on top of processing, so the same price nets you noticeably more. Some creators pass part of that back as a lower price to encourage the move.
What if only some patrons move?
That is what happens, and it is normal. Run both, let the Patreon tier decline naturally, and close it when it stops earning enough to justify the percentage. Forcing a deadline is how creators lose income they do not get back.
Have us migrate you from Patreon. $699 flat.
Wbcom team handles every step. You wake up to a live community on Reign with members migrated + billing on Stripe + welcome emails firing.