I don't see too much wrong with Patreon. I support a variety of things I enjoy using it, and the folks who I support get to do what they love while giving me content I love. Maybe we need some Patreon competition? I don't know honestly.
Patreon's fine and lots of people make a living with it, but it can be a tough sell. The rewards rarely make it worth it (sorry, I get no use out of the Drawfee discord), so you have to be willing to part with $5-10 a month for something you'd otherwise be getting free. That's an unjustifiable expense for anyone who doesn't have money to spare.
Yeah, but I'd argue those who don't have money to spare aren't going to have it for whatever alternative we propose either.
Right now I'm paying $50 a month (highest tier) for a group of writers / comedians I really love, and I don't see an alternative to Patreon that would allow me to support them at that level. I don't get anything extra out of it beyond knowing they can support themselves.
I think there are probably those with money to spare, but it's probably like the prisoner's dilemma and they don't want to be the one's contributing if others can get it for free.
Depends on your definition of free. Most of the Patreons I support have a minimum threshold to get their stuff. For example I support someone which makes software available only through Patreon. It is not available for free outside of that. So it's basically like I'm paying for software but through Patreon as their vendor instead of Stripe or PayPal.
