A Buy Me a Coffee alternative that takes bitcoin
Priya has read the same free newsletter about home espresso every Sunday for two years. This week's issue fixed her grinder, and she'd like to say thanks. At the bottom there's a Buy Me a Coffee button. She taps it and gets a card form. Her card is in the other room; her phone has a Lightning wallet with sats in it. She closes the tab and replies to the email instead: "I'd happily buy you a coffee, but I'd rather send sats. Do you take bitcoin?"
Theo, who writes it, looks through Buy Me a Coffee's settings. There's no bitcoin option.
What Buy Me a Coffee takes
Buy Me a Coffee's FAQ lists what supporters can pay with: credit and debit cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Cash App "and other global payment methods". Stripe and Wise handle the money, and you're paid to your bank account. It charges a 5% transaction fee and no monthly fee. There's no bitcoin or Lightning option anywhere in it. That's as we read it on 26 October 2026.
If you search for crypto versions you'll find hackathon projects and lists of "crypto Buy Me a Coffee" sites. Most take on-chain coins on Ethereum-style networks, ask the fan to connect a wallet, or keep a cut. That's not what a fan with a Lightning wallet on their phone is looking for.
What a bitcoin tip page does instead
The thing a Buy Me a Coffee button does well is make supporting you a tap or two. A bitcoin tip page does the same with sats.
With Bitcoin Tip Jar you get a link like bitcointipjar.com/theo. The fan opens it and sees your name, a few amounts you choose, each with its value in their own money, an Other tile, and a box for their name. They tap one. On a phone their wallet opens with the amount already filled in; on a laptop the page shows a QR code for exactly that amount, and they scan it with their phone. The tip goes straight from their wallet to yours. Nothing holds it in between, and we take no cut. If your wallet confirms payments, the page says Paid ✓ the moment it lands, and your tip list shows the fan's name beside it.
Want the coffee feel? Set your first amount to about what a coffee costs where your readers live, the second to two, and the third to "the good beans". The page shows each one in the fan's own money, so nobody has to work out what 5,000 sats is.
What it doesn't do
Buy Me a Coffee is more than a button, and it's fair to say what a tip page isn't.
- No memberships. Buy Me a Coffee can bill supporters monthly. Bitcoin can't be pulled from someone's wallet, so a tip page takes one-off tips only.
- No shop or commissions. Buy Me a Coffee sells digital products and takes commissions. A tip page has optional rewards that unlock after a tip, on Pro, but it isn't a store.
- Card fans need one more step from you. Fans without bitcoin can still tip by card, but only once you connect your own Stripe account, and Stripe's fee comes out of each card tip.
Side by side
Read on 26 October 2026 from each product's own pages.
| What | Buy Me a Coffee | Bitcoin Tip Jar |
|---|---|---|
| Fan pays with | Card, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Cash App | Any Lightning wallet, or a card if you connect Stripe |
| Fee | 5% of each payment | No cut of bitcoin tips; Stripe's fee on card tips |
| Money goes to | Buy Me a Coffee, then your bank | Your own wallet, straight away |
| Memberships and shop | Yes | No |
| Fan's name and note | Yes | A name box, if your wallet takes notes |
| Account for the fan | No | No |
| Cost to you | Free to start | Free; Pro is $50 once |
When to use which
- Most of your supporters pay by card. Keep Buy Me a Coffee. Add a tip page underneath for the ones who'd rather send sats: "Prefer bitcoin? Tip in sats."
- Your audience is bitcoiners. A tip page alone is enough, and every tip lands in your own wallet with nothing taken off.
- You want to drop the 5%. A tip page with Stripe connected takes cards too, at Stripe's fee only. You'd give up memberships and the shop.
Setting one up takes about ten minutes: how to make a bitcoin tip jar. If you don't have a Lightning address yet, start with how to get a Lightning address, and pick a wallet from the wallet table if you'd like Paid ✓ and names. Weighing up Ko-fi as well? See does Ko-fi take bitcoin?
Sources: Buy Me a Coffee's FAQ, read on 26 October 2026. Fees and features are theirs to change.