Tips and digital tip jars
Ko-fi for your followers, GigTag for the room
Playing live, you meet people who have never heard of you and may never see you again unless you give them a way to follow, request and book. GigTag gives you that in one scan from the mic stand, with no app. Ko-fi, which you were looking at, does a different job: support from the followers you already have online.
- No app for your audience
- Free to start
- One code that never changes
Why GigTag
Why gigging musicians add GigTag to Ko-fi
Ko-fi is where online supporters pay you. GigTag is where a live audience meets you: a printed code that opens your song list, your gigs, your links and a booking enquiry form. Keep Ko-fi for online tips, shop and memberships. GigTag takes tips in the room, and it has no store.
- 1
It reaches people new to you
A Ko-fi page is shared with your followers. A GigTag tag is seen by everyone in the room, most of whom met your music tonight. They scan, your page opens in the browser, and they can follow your socials and music links before the last song.
- 2
Requests for tonight's set
Fans choose from your song list, originals included, or type anything if you open requests. It appears in the live queue on your phone and you can play it in the same set. Ko-fi commissions are for work made to order. GigTag requests are for the song someone wants now.
- 3
Your next gig goes home with them
Your page shows your next gig and weekly residencies, and a fan can add them to their calendar on the spot. That is a simple way to see the same faces twice. Gigs and residencies are on the free plan.
- 4
Promoters and hosts can ask directly
The booking enquiry form means a promoter, or someone planning a house concert, can send a date without waiting to catch you. On Pro you send an invoice in your own design, paid online. GigTag takes no commission on bookings.
- 5
Free to start, yours to keep
The tag design and print file, the page, links, gigs and booking form are free for one act. The printed code never changes, so the tag you make this year still works next year, even if you rename the act.
In short
Ko-fi and GigTag, in four lines
- Ko-fi is a creator page for tips, memberships, a shop and commissions, paid straight to your PayPal or Stripe.
- GigTag reaches people who do not follow you yet: one scan from the mic stand, no app.
- Requests for tonight's set, your next gig saved, and booking enquiries all come through the same GigTag page.
- Our recommendation: add GigTag for gigs and tips in the room, and keep Ko-fi for online support.
Side by side
GigTag vs Ko-fi, topic by topic
Being paid
Tips in the room, 0% taken
Tips work in every country: card or Apple Pay, into your own Stripe or Ziina account, with 0% taken by GigTag.
Ko-fiSupporters pay through the creator's own PayPal or Stripe connection. The guide notes that Stripe adds options such as Apple Pay and Google Pay.
Sharing the page
A tag the whole room can scan
The page is reached from the QR code on the tag on your mic stand, so the audience in front of you is who finds it.
Ko-fiThe guide tells creators to add the page to social profiles and link in bio, and to mention it at the end of videos, threads and posts.
Custom requests
Requests for tonight, in a live queue
A fan asks for a song from your list, or anything if you open requests, and it reaches a live queue during the set.
Ko-fiCommissions let a supporter ask for original work or a service, and the creator manages the available slots and any add-ons.
Goals and progress
Your next gig, saved to a calendar
GigTag shows what is coming up instead: your next gig and weekly residencies, which a fan can add to their calendar.
Ko-fiA creator can add a goal to the page and share it, so supporters see what their payments are going towards.
Selling things
Keep Ko-fi for this; link it from GigTag
GigTag is not a store or a membership platform. Its page links to your website and music, wherever you sell them.
Ko-fiA Ko-fi Shop sells digital or physical items from the same page, and memberships offer tiers with rewards for monthly supporters.
The quick view
| GigTag | Ko-fi | |
|---|---|---|
| A QR code your audience scans | Yes, one that never changes | – |
| Song requests from the crowd | Yes, on Pro | – |
| Tips by card or Apple Pay | Yes, on Pro, into your own Ziina or Stripe. GigTag takes 0% | Yes |
| Booking enquiries | Yes, on the free plan | – |
| Your gigs and weekly residencies | Yes, on the free plan | – |
| Invoices for bookings | Yes, on Pro | – |
| A printed tag for your mic stand | Yes, in your own design | – |
| Works without an app for the audience | Yes, it opens in the browser | – |
A dash means we did not confirm it for Ko-fi, not that it is missing: see what Ko-fi offers above, or ask on its site.
A Ko-fi alternative
Where GigTag is different from Ko-fi
Followers online, strangers in the room
Ko-fi is shared in profiles, bios and posts, so it reaches people who already follow you. GigTag reaches people who have never heard of you until tonight. The code is on a tag on your mic stand. They scan it from their table, your page opens in the browser, and within a minute they can follow you, see your next gig or ask for a song.
A commission and a request
Ko-fi commissions are for made-to-order work, delivered later. A GigTag request is for right now. The fan picks a song from your list, or types anything if you have opened requests, and it drops into a live queue on your phone while you are still on stage. You play it in the next set, not next month. Requests are part of GigTag Pro.
Where each one handles tips
Ko-fi tips go through PayPal or Stripe, wherever you and your supporters can use them. GigTag tips work in every country too: card or Apple Pay at the gig, into your own Stripe account, or your own Ziina account in the UAE, with 0% taken by GigTag. So Ko-fi stays your jar for online supporters, and GigTag takes the tips in the room along with everything a gig needs around them.
A night with GigTag
An originals night for a singer-songwriter
It is a listening room night: three acts, half an hour each, an audience that came to hear songs they do not know yet. Your GigTag tag is on the mic stand when you walk on. You mention it once. During the second song phones come out quietly and people scan it. Your page opens in their browsers, and there are your music links and your socials, so the people who like what they hear can follow you before your set has even finished.
You have opened requests tonight, so someone types the title of the old song you posted online last year, and it appears in the live queue on your phone. You play it as the closer. Afterwards a promoter from the next town sends a booking enquiry through the page instead of trying to catch you at the bar. Others add your next gig to their calendar. Your Ko-fi page is among your links for anyone who wants to support the recording you are working on.
About Ko-fi
What is Ko-fi?
Ko-fi is a page where supporters can pay a creator directly. It began with tips, framed as buying someone a coffee, and its help centre describes more ways to earn: memberships with tiers, a shop for digital or physical items, commissions for custom work, and alerts for live streams. Artists, writers, podcasters, streamers, developers and musicians all appear among its examples, and its guide describes the page as a kind of home online.
To start, you connect PayPal, Stripe or both, because the money goes from the supporter straight to you. Then you add a photo, a bio and perhaps a goal, and share the page wherever your followers are: social profiles, a link in bio, the end of a video. Its guide for new creators leans on sharing the page often. Commissions let a supporter request original work, a custom song for example.
- Where
- Worldwide
- Website
- ko-fi.com
How Ko-fi works
- 1
Connect a payment method. In Payment Settings you connect PayPal, Stripe or both. Its guide for new creators puts this step first, since payments from supporters go to you directly.
- 2
Set up the page. You add a profile picture, a bio and links to your social profiles, pick a colour, and can upload a cover image or an intro video.
- 3
Tell your followers. You share the page on your social profiles and in your link in bio. The guide suggests posting about it regularly, and adding a goal so supporters know what they are contributing to.
- 4
Add other ways to earn. When you are ready you can open a shop, set up membership tiers, take commissions or connect a stream. You choose which of these visitors see first.
Who Ko-fi is for
Artists, writers and makers. Its guide lists artists, cosplayers, writers, podcasters, developers, video creators and musicians, each with example pages. What they have in common is an audience that follows their work online and would like a way to say thanks with a small payment.
People who stream. For people who broadcast live, the help centre describes connecting Twitch or YouTube, showing alerts when someone pays, putting a goal on screen and displaying payment messages in chat. The page becomes part of the stream.
Creators who sell. Shops, memberships and commissions are for creators with something to offer in return: a download, a physical item, monthly rewards, or a piece of custom work such as a tutorial, an artwork or a song.
The verdict
GigTag or Ko-fi: which should you choose?
The bottom line
If you play to live audiences, you need GigTag as well as Ko-fi. The strongest reason is reach: the tag puts your page in front of people who have never followed you, with no app to install, and lets them request a song, save your next gig or send a booking enquiry. Ko-fi stays the right place for online tips, a shop and memberships, none of which GigTag replaces, while GigTag takes the tips at the gig. Use both and link them.
Very easily. Keep Ko-fi for online supporters, your shop and memberships. Put GigTag on the mic stand for requests, dates and booking enquiries, and add your Ko-fi page to the links on your GigTag page. Someone in the room can tip you on the GigTag page itself, or follow that link.
- Step 1
Keep Ko-fi as it is
Your Ko-fi page, shop and memberships stay exactly where your online supporters already know to find them. Nothing about GigTag replaces any one of those.
- Step 2
Make a page for gigs
Build your GigTag page with your song list, your gig dates, your socials and your music links, then design a tag to take on stage.
- Step 3
Put Ko-fi in your links
Add your Ko-fi address to the links on the GigTag page. People who discover you at a gig can then go on to support you online afterwards.
Choose GigTag if
You play live and want the people in the room to request songs, see your next gig and book you, from one code on your stand.
Start freeKo-fi may still suit you if
You have followers online who want to support you, and you also want to sell downloads, take commissions or run a membership.
GigTag FreeYour page, your tag design, every gig and residency, a booking form. One act.
GigTag ProSong requests, tips, invoices, more than one act. AED 30, £11.99 or $15.99 a month.
GigTag Printed tagFrom AED 100 in the UAE, £24.99 in the UK or €28.99 in the EU, delivered free, with a large size for more; $32.99 elsewhere, plus postage from the UK. Or print your own, anywhere, for free.
Is GigTag better than Ko-fi for playing live?
For the gig itself, yes. GigTag is built for a live act: a printed code on the mic stand, song requests in a live queue, your gigs and residencies, your links and a booking enquiry form, all opened in the browser. Ko-fi is built for online support. Keep it for online tips, shop and memberships, and let GigTag take tips at the gig.
What am I missing at gigs if I only have Ko-fi?
A way for the room to act while you are playing. With GigTag a listener can request a song, save the date of your next gig, follow your links and enquire about booking you, from one scan. None of that needs an account. Ko-fi keeps doing what it does for your supporters online, and your GigTag page can link to it.
What is Ko-fi?
Ko-fi is a page where supporters pay a creator directly, through the creator's own PayPal or Stripe account. It covers tips, memberships, a shop, commissions and tools for streamers. Musicians are among the creators it is aimed at. For prices and supported countries, see its site.
Can I use Ko-fi for tips at a live gig?
A Ko-fi page is a link, so you can share it wherever you like, a gig included. If you also use GigTag, add your Ko-fi page to your links. A fan scans the tag on your mic stand, requests a song or checks your dates, and can tap through to Ko-fi to leave a tip.
Is GigTag a Ko-fi alternative?
Not really: they do different jobs. Ko-fi is for online supporters, with tips, a shop and memberships. GigTag is for the gig: one QR code on your mic stand for song requests, your next gig and residencies, links and booking enquiries. GigTag is not a store or a membership platform, so there is a good case for keeping both.
Does GigTag handle tips like Ko-fi does?
For tips at the gig, yes. A fan tips by card or Apple Pay from your GigTag page, the money goes to your own Stripe account, or your own Ziina account in the UAE, and GigTag takes 0%. For online supporters, keep your Ko-fi page and link to it.
How do I get people at a gig to follow me online?
Make it one scan. A GigTag tag on your mic stand opens your page in the browser, with your socials, website and music links on it. Nobody has to spell your name or search for you. Links are part of the free plan, along with your gigs and the booking enquiry form.
Can I take requests for my own songs?
Yes. The song list on your GigTag page is your own, so it can be all originals, all covers or a mix. Fans choose from it, or type any title if you have opened requests, and it reaches your live queue. Song requests are part of GigTag Pro.
Is a Ko-fi commission the same as a song request?
They are different things. Its help centre describes commissions as requests for original work or services, such as a custom song, arranged through your Ko-fi page. A GigTag request is a song someone in the audience would like to hear tonight, sent from your page to a live queue on your phone.
Does Ko-fi work with Stripe and PayPal?
Yes. Its guide for new creators says you connect PayPal, Stripe or both, and that payments go from the supporter to you. GigTag is separate: its tips are paid into your own Stripe account, or your own Ziina account in the UAE, with 0% taken by GigTag.
Looking for Ko-fi itself?
This page is GigTag's. Ko-fi's sign-in, prices, reviews and support are on its own site.
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Ko-fi is the name of its owner's product; GigTag is not connected with it. What is said about Ko-fi here comes from its own public website, checked on 7 October 2026. Products change: if something here is out of date, tell us and we will correct it.
For musicians
One code on your stand. Requests, tips and the next gig behind it.
No app for your audience, nothing to download. Free to start.