Can You Unlock Patreon Posts Without Paying?

By John Adebimitan

Let’s say you have been loving this creator’s work and you’ve been dying to see certain types of content they produce, say videos, research pieces, or some insider information on something you’re passionate about. They tell you that you can get this information by going on their Patreon page, you did find your way to the page and then are hit by a paywall, and you’re unable to view this content unless you pay something to the creator to gain access to that information. Can you unlock Patreon posts without paying? Can you view content behind paywalls without having to give off your credit card?

Can You Unlock Patreon Posts Without Paying?

Yes, we have seen a few software and websites that unlock Patreon posts without paying. But should you use them? Well, for one, it’s against the Patreon TOS to try accessing content on their website that is behind a paywall with third-party tools, hence it will be illegal to try to unlock Patreon posts without paying.

While this might not be a legal question for some of us, it’s more an ethical question. If a creator has put in enormous work into creating a piece of content, and they request a few dollars from their supporters as a way of supporting their craft, it just might not be in the best interest of these creators to use some third-party software to try unlocking the posts without paying.

Your best bet of viewing Patreon posts without paying might be to use the account of someone who already has it paid for. Just like with your Netflix subscription, when a person subscribes, a few others might be able to view the content using the person’s account. Hence, you’re not having to short-change the creator and you don’t have to commit, especially if it’s content that you don’t plan to consume for long.

Read also: What does The Subscriber You Have Dialed Is Not in Service mean

What To Do If You Joined a Creator’s Page but Can’t Unlock Posts?

What if you’ve paid to join a creator’s Patreon and you are legally supposed to be able to access content but you can’t unlock posts? What are some things you can do to have this cleared?

Check that you are logged in

The first thing you should do if you’re unable to unlock Patreon posts is to confirm that you are logged into the website with the correct login details. After accessing your account successfully, click the Check it out button on posts, and you should be able to view them.

Are you on the right tier?

If you are unable to unlock or view posts on Patreon, maybe you’ll need to confirm what tier you’re in, as many Patreon creators have different tiers, which is a fancy term to say some Patreon page members can’t view certain content, especially if their membership fee doesn’t cover it. So check what tier you are on, and confirm if the content you’re trying to unlock is allowed on your tier.

Often, when you’re on the correct membership tier, you should be able to unlock Patreon posts seamlessly.

Ask the creator for access

Whether you’ve paid, or you want to unlock Patreon posts without paying, depending on your relationship with the creator or the purpose for which you’d like to see the content, you can simply ask the creator to give you access to view the desired content.

If you paid, then chances are that the creator might not have granted your membership tier access to that post. They will probably have to unlock the post to certain tiers from the creator’s dashboard. There are cases where people on lower tiers have access to content you don’t, in which case you just need to reach the creator, and they’ll unlock those posts for you without you paying anything more. Here is a way to send a message to creators if you’d like to request access.

Was your plan canceled recently?

If you have canceled your membership recently, say you already paid for the month but canceled the membership to stop Patreon from billing you in the next month, chances are that the creator set their post to patron-only, and you would need an active membership to continue to view them. If this is the case, you might need to reach the creator directly to have this rectified so that you can continue viewing said content.

How Does Patreon Work?

Patreon allows content creators to showcase their content while their fans (patrons) donate to them through the platform.

To begin using Patreon, you need to register an account and create content like arts, write-ups, videos, or infographics. Your fans can then sign up to become patrons while they support you by paying a monthly subscription fee or pledging some money for each post.

Since creators generate their income entirely from donations, they must look for patrons. Creators can do this by advertising their page on social media or reaching out to family and friends who might be interested in their work.

Patreon is not built for creators to increase their fan base but to help already established ones with a sizable fanbase to get support from their community.

You can also decide who sees your content by making them available to people based on a specific membership tier. To post on your page, follow the steps:

  1. Click on Post
  2. Select New from the sidebar menu
  3. Select the type of content you want to post.
  4. Follow the steps to post your content.
  5. You can also type into the text box.
  6. To post a video, host it on a streaming site like Vimeo before you follow the instructions to add the video to Patreon when you make a video post.
  7. You can choose to publish your content immediately or schedule another time with an automatic schedule date for the post.

You can also choose to sell your merchandise on Patreon. Patreon offers a lot of options. For example, you can give out Merch as a gift to your fans and get advice on which merchandise is best for different tiers.

  1. To create Merch, sign in to your account on Patreon and open a page editor.
  2. Click on the Merchant tab
  3. Create New Merch
  4. Follow the steps to select items like posters, T-shirts, stickers, etc.
  5. After you finish customizing the item, what’s next is to assign it to one or more membership tiers.
  6. Review the item and select Publish merchandise to make it available.

Patreon also allows creators to integrate their social media accounts into their Patreon accounts. You can do this on your profile:

  1. First, sign in to your account and hover over your profile.
  2. Once the menu opens, click on Profile Settings.
  3. Click on the Account tab and go to the Login section
  4. Follow the instructions to log in and connect your Patreon account to your preferred social media account.

Creators can decide to reward patrons based on their membership tier or how much they are willing to pay per month. Unfortunately, not all content creators offer membership tiers. For example, Patreon recommends paying creators $5, but you can pay as little as $1 monthly.

Patreon usually processes payments on the 1st of every month, and creators are advised to request payments as early as the 5th day of the month. You can fix the payout on a particular day every month.

Although you don’t pay to sign up on Patreon, it will take a percentage of your profit depending if you are using a Lite, Pro, or Premium plan. The higher your plan, the higher the cut they take. It is called the “Platform fee.” They also take a small percentage of your pledge as a processing fee. It is important to note that users can’t unlock Patreon posts without paying unless creators allow it.

How to Archive on Patreon?

Contents or files are automatically archived and hidden from view once you are done with them on Patreon. When you swipe right, you can see the download option. Swiping right on a file you downloaded shows the Remove from download option. Swiping left on content will show the Archive action.

Does Patreon Have Dark Mode? How to Activate and Change It

Patreon does not support dark mode for their iOS and Android apps. Therefore, you can only use Dark mode on their website from your mobile or computer system’s web browser.

Web browsers like Chrome allow you to switch to Dark Mode from the settings of the web browser:

  1. On your mobile phone, open the Chrome browser.
  2. Tap on the three dots on the top-right of your screen.
  3. Look for settings, then look for Themes.
  4. Open theme and select Dark Mode.

Other web browsers like Yandex allow you to download browser extensions like the Night Eye browser extension. Search for Night Eye browser extension or any other extension of your choice, add it to your browser, and you are done.

Patreon does not also support dark mode on their desktop app, but web browsers can allow you to switch to dark mode from the settings or download a browser extension like the Night Eye extensions for PC.

What Are Patreon Rewards? Can You Unlock Them Without Paying?

Patreon rewards are gifts from content creators to their loyal patrons or fans. How the rewards are given is mainly dependent on the creator. Usually, creators won’t unlock Patreon’s post without paying.

Offering rewards to your patrons is an excellent way of encouraging potential patrons to become patrons, even if most want to support your work.

Creators can offer rewards like Access to your Patron-only feed, photos, and videos of your creation process, allowing patrons to download your content and physical goods.

As a fan or patron, you can’t unlock Patreon posts without paying unless the creator allows it. Most times, content creators will give out Patreon rewards based on the membership tiers of their patrons or fans. So, the higher your membership tier, the more exclusive your reward will likely be.

Read also:Is Avast Premium Worth It?

2 Best Patreon Alternatives for Creatives

Ever since Patreon was launched, its demand has surged. As a result, new platforms are beginning to appear in the marketplace for monetizing audiences.

Here is my list of 2 Patreon alternatives creatives can choose from while comparing their features, pros, and cons.

Heights Platform

Height platforms is an e-learning platform that allows course creators to sell online courses using their own branded and personalized platform and custom domain.

It has built-in tools to help you manage payments, content, and learners. The downside is its lack of email marketing.

HYPAGE

This platform is designed to help creators create and manage content as a social media bio link. It not only serves as a place to keep your essential links, but also to sell digital products, collect donations, and manage membership.

It has a free plan and other unique features like easy membership and no commission on revenue, and it allows high-level customization. However, developers are yet to release its API.  

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