Tips and digital tip jars
Patreon keeps your members. GigTag meets tonight's crowd.
Every gig puts you in front of people who could become fans, and you have until the last song to give them a way in. GigTag does that with one scan: your music links, your next dates, a request, a booking enquiry. Patreon, which you were looking at, comes later, when some of those people want to become members.
- No app for your audience
- Free to start
- One code that never changes
Why GigTag
What you miss at gigs with Patreon alone
Patreon is a membership platform, and GigTag does not replace it. What GigTag adds is the gig itself: a printed code on your mic stand that gives a room of strangers a way to follow, request and enquire, with no app or account for them. Members can come afterwards.
- 1
The first step for a new fan
A membership is a big step for someone who heard you an hour ago. Scanning a tag is a small one. Your GigTag page opens in the browser and gives them your music links and socials, so the people who liked the set can follow you home. Patreon is one of those links, ready when they are.
- 2
Tour dates in their calendar
Every gig you add appears on your page, and a fan can save any of them. On a run of dates, the person who caught you in one town can bring friends to the next. All gigs and residencies are on the free plan.
- 3
The audience helps choose the set
Open requests and people can ask for the track they found online, or pick from your list. It appears in a live queue on your phone, and you can drop it into tonight's set. That exchange happens in the room, while you are still on stage.
- 4
Festival and venue enquiries
Bookers go to gigs. The enquiry form on your page lets a promoter send a date while they watch, and it waits on the website or the GigTag app. On Pro you invoice in your own design. GigTag takes no commission on bookings and is not an agency.
- 5
One tag for the whole tour
The code never changes. The tag that went on your stand on the first night works on the last, and after a rename too. Solo sets, a duo and the full band can each have a page on one account with Pro, and band members can join.
In short
Patreon and GigTag, in four lines
- Patreon is a membership platform: fans pay regularly for a creator's exclusive work and community.
- GigTag works at the gig: one scan gives a new listener your links, dates and a way to request.
- Booking enquiries reach you through your GigTag page, and GigTag takes no commission on bookings.
- Our recommendation: use GigTag at every show and keep Patreon for members. GigTag tips work in every country, with 0% taken.
Side by side
GigTag vs Patreon, topic by topic
The relationship
One scan, no account, a new follower
A fan scans once, with no account, and can request a song, follow your links or note your next date.
PatreonFans become members of a creator's page and then stay in touch through posts, group chats, comments and direct messages.
What is shared
Your song list, dates and music links
Your page shares what a live audience needs: your song list for requests, your gigs and residencies, and links to your music.
PatreonCreators post exclusive work for their members, and its site lists video, podcasts, writing, art and music among the formats it hosts.
On the phone
No app for fans: it opens in the browser
Fans need no app: the page opens in the browser. You manage the act from the website or the GigTag app.
PatreonPatreon has its own apps for iOS and Android, mentioned on its site alongside the website as places to use it.
Selling single items
Keep Patreon for this; GigTag sends invoices
GigTag is not a store. On Pro it handles invoices for bookings, which clients pay online, in your own design.
PatreonIts site describes a shop where creators can sell individual digital products, such as a single video or a podcast episode.
Finding new people
Every gig audience can find your page
New people find your page by scanning the tag at a gig. GigTag is not a marketplace and does not find clients for you.
PatreonSee its site for how it handles this.
The quick view
| GigTag | Patreon | |
|---|---|---|
| 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% | – |
| 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 Patreon, not that it is missing: see what Patreon offers above, or ask on its site.
A Patreon alternative
Where GigTag is different from Patreon
Monthly members, one-night audiences
Patreon is about a long relationship with a smaller group of committed fans. GigTag is about a short one with whoever is in the room. A stranger scans the tag on your mic stand, your page opens in the browser, and they can ask for a song, follow your socials or see your next gig. No account is needed on their side, and there is nothing to download.
Exclusive work, live requests
On Patreon the fan gets something made for members. On GigTag the fan gets a say in the set. They pick a song from your list, or ask for anything if you open requests, and it joins a live queue on your phone. You deal with it between songs. That is part of GigTag Pro, along with tips, invoices and more than one act.
Income from fans, income from bookings
Patreon brings income from fans directly. Much of what GigTag brings is work. The person at table six who is planning a wedding scans the tag and sends a booking enquiry. You reply, agree the date, and on Pro send an invoice in your own design that they pay online. GigTag is not an agency or a marketplace: these are people who watched you play.
A night with GigTag
A support slot on a small tour
You are third on the bill in a town you have never played, six dates into a short tour. Nobody here knows your songs. The GigTag tag is on your mic stand, the same one that has been on it since the first night. You tell the room it is there. By the last chorus of your second song people are scanning. Your page opens in their browsers and they find your music links, so they can keep listening on the way home.
You have opened requests, and someone who looked you up before the show asks for a track by name. It appears in your live queue and you swap it into the set. At the merch table later, a couple who run a small festival send a booking enquiry from your page while you are talking to them. Others open your gigs and add tomorrow's date in the next town to their calendar. Your Patreon is in your links for the ones who want more.
About Patreon
What is Patreon?
Patreon is a membership platform. Fans join a creator's page, usually paying regularly, and in return get exclusive work and a place in the community around it. Its site speaks to podcasters, video creators, musicians, visual artists, writers and game developers, and presents it as a way to reach your fans directly, without adverts or anyone standing in between. The stress is on making creative work pay over the long run.
A creator posts work to members: video, audio, writing, art or music. Members talk in group chats, comments and direct messages, and Patreon has apps for iOS and Android. Its site also describes selling individual digital items, such as a single video or episode, from a shop. The rhythm is regular work for people who have chosen to follow you closely.
- Where
- Worldwide
- Website
- patreon.com
How Patreon works
- 1
Start a page. You create a page for your work and describe what members will get. Its site presents the page as your own space, reached by fans directly.
- 2
Offer membership. You invite fans to become members. They join your page and, in return, are given access to the work and conversation you keep for them.
- 3
Post for members. You publish as you go: video, audio, writing, artwork or music. Members see it on the web or in the Patreon apps for iOS and Android.
- 4
Run the community. Group chats, comments and direct messages keep members talking to you and to each other, and a shop lets you sell single digital items as well.
Who Patreon is for
Podcasters and video makers. Podcasters and video creators are prominent on its site. They publish regularly, and membership gives their keenest listeners and viewers exclusive work, a closer line to the creator and a community to be part of.
Musicians with fans. Musicians are among the creators its site features. For a musician, a membership is a way to share music and other work with the fans who care most, and to hear from them directly in chats and comments.
Artists and writers. Visual artists, writers and game developers are also named. The site describes hosting writing, art and newsletters as well as audio and video, so the same membership idea covers all these very different kinds of creative work.
The verdict
GigTag or Patreon: which should you choose?
The bottom line
Play live and you need GigTag as well as Patreon. The strongest reason is timing: GigTag works in the hour when a stranger decides whether to follow you, and it needs only a phone camera. It gives them your links, your next dates, a way to request a song and a way to book you. Patreon is the right place for monthly members and exclusive work, a job GigTag does not do at all. The two are steps on the same path, so use both.
They fit together well, because neither does the other's job. Keep Patreon for members and exclusive work. Put GigTag on the mic stand, and add your Patreon to the links on your page. Some of the people who scan to request a song will follow that link, which is one way a live audience turns into members.
- Step 1
Keep members on Patreon
Membership, exclusive posts and community chats all stay on Patreon. GigTag has no membership features of its own and is not trying to replace them.
- Step 2
Take the tag on the road
Set up your GigTag page with your song list, tour dates and music links, and put the tag on your mic stand at every show.
- Step 3
Send the keen ones on
Add Patreon to the links on your GigTag page. The people who scan and want more than one night of your music then have somewhere to go.
Choose GigTag if
You gig, and you want tonight's audience to request songs, see your next date and book you. GigTag is not a membership platform, so pair it with one if you want members.
Start freePatreon may still suit you if
You make music, video or writing regularly and want fans to pay monthly for exclusive work and a community around it.
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.
Should a gigging band choose GigTag or Patreon?
They are not alternatives, but if you play live, start with GigTag at the gig. It gives every audience a code to scan for your links, dates, requests and booking enquiries, on a free plan. Patreon is for the fans who then want to support you monthly. GigTag has no memberships, and its tips are one-off, at the gig.
What does GigTag do for a band that Patreon is not built for?
It works in the room. A tag on the mic stand opens your page in the browser, where a listener can request a song into your live queue, save your next gig to their calendar, follow your links or send a booking enquiry. Patreon is built for members online. GigTag is built for the audience in front of you.
Is GigTag an alternative to Patreon?
No, and it does not try to be. Patreon is a membership platform where fans pay regularly for a creator's work and community. GigTag is a page for a live act, opened from a QR code on the mic stand, for song requests, gigs, links and booking enquiries. GigTag has no memberships.
Can I link my Patreon from my GigTag page?
Yes. Your GigTag page carries your socials, website and music links, and Patreon can be one of them. Someone who scans your tag at a gig can request a song, check your next date and then go on to your Patreon page if they want to support you every month.
I use Patreon for monthly support. Can GigTag take one-off tips at gigs?
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%. Tips and the rest of the page work everywhere: requests, gigs and residencies, links and booking enquiries.
What does my audience need for Patreon and for GigTag?
Patreon members join your page, and its site describes iOS and Android apps for following your work. A GigTag page needs only a phone camera: the fan scans the tag, the page opens in the browser, and there is no app, no account and nothing to download.
How do touring bands collect fans at gigs?
One practical way is a code people can scan from where they stand. A GigTag tag on the mic stand opens your page in the browser, with your socials, website and music links, your next dates and a request option. No account is needed, so there is little to stop someone following you.
Can I list a whole tour on GigTag?
Yes. Every gig you add appears on your page, and all gigs and residencies are included in the free plan. Someone who scans the tag in one town can see the dates that follow and add any of them to their calendar. The tag itself stays the same for the whole run.
Does Patreon have a mobile app?
Yes. Its site mentions apps for iOS and Android. GigTag works differently for the audience: there is nothing to install, because the page opens in the phone's browser when the tag is scanned. The performer can manage requests, gigs and booking enquiries from the website or the GigTag app.
Can an originals band use GigTag for song requests?
Yes. The song list on your page is your own, so an originals band can list its own songs and let the audience pick. If you open requests, people can type any title. Requests arrive in a live queue on your phone and are part of GigTag Pro. Patreon can stay in your links for members.
Looking for Patreon itself?
This page is GigTag's. Patreon's sign-in, prices, reviews and support are on its own site.
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Patreon is the name of its owner's product; GigTag is not connected with it. What is said about Patreon 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.