How to accept tips online as a creator

If people already enjoy what you make, some of them would happily pay you for it. A tip page gives them an easy way to do that. This guide walks through what you need, what it costs, and how to set it up so it actually gets used.

What "accepting tips" means

A tip is a one-off payment a fan sends because they want to, not because they are buying something. There is no product to deliver and no ongoing commitment on either side. That makes tips a good fit if you:

• publish work for free (articles, code, videos, music, tutorials, streams)
• don't want to manage a shop, shipping or subscriber-only content
• want a low-pressure way for people to say thanks

If you want people to pay every month in exchange for extra content, that is a membership, which is a different setup. See one-off tips vs memberships for an honest comparison.

What you need

To accept tips online you need three things:

1. A page people can pay on. A simple, trustworthy page with your name, a short note about what you do, and a clear way to pay.
2. A payment processor. Something that takes card payments securely and sends the money to your bank.
3. A link you can share. One short URL you can put everywhere your audience already is.

Option 1: a tip page service

The quickest route is a hosted tip page. On Croissant, you sign in with Google, claim an address like croissant.beffa.xyz/yourname, and connect Stripe so payouts go to your bank. Supporters pick how many croissants to send, add an optional name and message, and pay with Stripe Checkout. They don't need an account.

The getting started guide covers each step, and connecting Stripe explains the payout setup.

Option 2: build it yourself

You can also set up your own payment links or checkout through a payment processor. This gives you full control, but you handle the page, receipts, messages and any edge cases yourself. For most creators, a hosted page is less work for the same result.

Understand the fees

Every tip has some cost attached. Two kinds are common:

• Platform fee. What the tip service keeps. Croissant takes 1% of each tip and has no monthly fee.
• Payment processing. What the card processor charges. With Stripe, this is around 2.9% + 30¢ for US cards, and it varies by country and card type.

Because the fixed part of processing (the 30¢) is the same on every payment, very small tips lose a bigger share to fees. That is one reason to think about your price per croissant. The fees page has worked examples, and pricing has the summary.

Set up your page so people trust it

People are more likely to tip when the page clearly belongs to you. On Croissant you can customise your page with:

• your display name and avatar, matching what people see elsewhere
• a short bio that says what you make and what support helps with
• a cover image and accent colour
• a thank-you message shown after someone pays

Keep the bio specific. "I write a free weekly newsletter about urban gardening. Tips cover hosting and seeds for experiments" tells people exactly where their money goes.

Share your link where people already are

A tip page nobody sees doesn't get tips. Put the link in the places your audience already looks:

• your website header or footer
• your link-in-bio page
• video and podcast descriptions
• the footer of every newsletter
• a project README if you write code

The guide on adding a support link to your website has copy-and-paste examples, and sharing your page covers the rest.

Ask, occasionally and plainly

Most people don't tip because it simply doesn't occur to them. A short, honest mention now and then makes a big difference. You don't need a speech. Something like this is enough:

If this was useful, you can buy me a croissant at croissant.beffa.xyz/yourname. It helps me keep making these.

For more wording ideas, read how to ask fans for support.

Say thank you

When someone tips, they often leave a message. Replying makes the moment feel personal and is one of the nicest parts of having a tip page. On Croissant you can reply to supporter messages from your dashboard. See how to thank your supporters for ideas.

A simple checklist

• Claim your page and fill in your name, bio and avatar
• Connect Stripe so payouts can reach your bank
• Choose a price per croissant that suits your audience
• Publish the page
• Add the link to your website, bio and descriptions
• Mention it once in a while, and thank the people who tip

That's it. You can sign in and have a page ready in a few minutes.