Capped revenue share, explained with real numbers

A revenue share, also called a transaction fee or platform fee, is the cut a platform takes from each payment members make to you. It is separate from the monthly subscription and separate from payment processing. Stripe's processing fee (2.9% + $0.30 per transaction) is charged on top on HiveLearn, as it is almost everywhere, and an honest comparison lists it separately.

Revenue shares are popular with platforms because they let them offer a low or zero monthly price. They are popular with new creators because you pay little until you earn. The catch is what happens when you earn a lot.

A cap is a ceiling on the revenue share for one billing month. Every month starts fresh: the share is taken on each sale as usual, and once the total for the month reaches the cap, anything collected above it is refunded to you after the month closes. Nothing carries over. A huge month does not earn you a credit, and a quiet month does not use up next month's allowance.

That monthly reset matters for launches. If you sell a cohort once a quarter, most of your revenue lands in a single month. A cap catches exactly that kind of spike: you pay the normal rate in your ordinary months and a fixed amount in the big one.

The formula to keep: share = min(rate × monthly revenue, cap). The cap triggers at cap ÷ rate. For a 4% rate and a $2,000 cap, that is $50,000 of revenue in a month.

Starter: $0 a month, 6%, no cap. There is no monthly fee until you monetize. On a $1,500 month the share is $90. Starter is designed for getting started, not for scale, and it has member limits. Math example, not a customer outcome.

Growth: $39 a month, 4%, rev share capped at $2,000/month. On $10,000 the share is $400. The cap triggers at $50,000. On a $90,000 launch month the share would be $3,600 uncapped; it stops at $2,000, an effective rate of about 2.2%. Math example, not a customer outcome.

Pro: $99 a month, 2%, rev share capped at $3,000/month. On $20,000 the share is $400. The cap triggers at $150,000. On $250,000 the share stops at $3,000, an effective 1.2%. Math example, not a customer outcome.

Scale: $249 a month, 1%, rev share capped at $4,000/month. On $100,000 the share is $1,000. The cap triggers at $400,000. On $600,000 it stops at $4,000, an effective 0.67%. Enterprise: $499 a month, 0.25%, rev share capped at $5,000/month, which triggers at $2,000,000. Math example, not a customer outcome.

Most community platforms charge a percentage with no ceiling (prices verified June 2, 2026). Circle Professional is $89 a month with a 2% transaction fee; Circle Business is $199 with 1%; Circle Plus is custom with 0.5%; none is capped. Mighty Networks Launch is $79 with 2%, Scale is $179 with 1%, Growth is $354 to $425 with 0.5%, again with no monthly cap. Patreon takes 10% of income, uncapped, plus processing, currency conversion and payout fees.

At $250,000 in a month, Circle Professional's 2% is $5,000 plus $89. HiveLearn Pro's 2% stops at $3,000 plus $99. At $600,000, Mighty Networks Scale's 1% is $6,000 plus $179; HiveLearn Scale stops at $4,000 plus $249. At $20,000 a month, Patreon's 10% is $2,000 before its other fees. Math example, not a customer outcome.

Honestly: most of the time, for most communities. A cap only changes your bill in months where revenue passes the trigger point. If your community earns $8,000 a month, no HiveLearn cap ever applies to you, and what you should compare is the rate and the subscription.

On those terms the competitors are fair fights. Circle Professional and HiveLearn Pro both charge 2%, and Circle's subscription is $10 a month lower, so below about $150,000 a month Circle Professional costs slightly less in fees. HiveLearn Growth at 4% costs more in fees than a 2% plan once you pass about $2,500 a month; its advantage is the $39 entry price, not the rate. Math example, not a customer outcome.

Fees are also only one line. If one platform needs a second tool for quizzes, certificates, event tickets or email, that subscription belongs in the comparison too.

A cap turns an open-ended cost into a known worst case. You can write the maximum platform fee into a budget, a forecast or a pitch to a business partner, and it holds whether your launch does twice as well as planned or ten times.

It also changes the incentive. With an uncapped fee, the platform earns more every time you grow, forever. With a cap, the platform's take stops rising at a set point, so the upside of a breakout month is yours.

Find your typical month and your best month. Pick the plan with the lowest subscription plus rate for your typical month. Then check what your best month would cost on that plan, and on the uncapped alternatives you are considering. If your best month is several times your typical one, weight the cap heavily. If your revenue is steady and well below the trigger, ignore the cap and compare rates.

HiveLearn's paid plans come with a 14-day free trial, no credit card, and annual billing saves 17%. Plug your own numbers into the calculator before you commit to anything.