Best Platforms for Paid Video Calls in 2026: 9 Options for Creators

Take-home includes payment processing (2.9% + $0.30). Amortized figures assume 4 sessions/month and include monthly subscription costs.

The DIY approach looks cheapest per session, but those monthly costs add up fast when you're starting out. And none of the DIY options include recording, AI summaries, or client management.

The 9 Best Platforms for Paid Video Calls

1. Talkspresso (Best Overall for Creators)

Talkspresso is purpose-built for creators and experts who sell their time through video. It's the only platform that combines scheduling, payments, built-in HD video, automatic recording, and AI session summaries in a single tool with no monthly subscription.

What makes it stand out: your Talkspresso profile IS your booking page. Clients see your services, pick a time, pay, and join the HD video call without ever leaving the platform. No Zoom link. No separate payment page. One flow.

Pricing: 10% platform fee + payment processing. No monthly subscription. No payout fees.

What you keep: $86.80 from a $100 session.

Included:

• Built-in HD video (1:1 + group sessions up to 500)
• Automatic session recording
• AI-generated session summaries and action items
• Native scheduling with Google Calendar sync
• Client management with session history
• Intake forms and booking approval workflows
• Digital product sales
• Turn recordings into sellable products
• Workshops and masterclasses
• Professional branded booking page

Best for: Creators who sell coaching, consulting, or expertise calls and want everything in one tool. Especially strong for creators who also run group sessions or workshops.

Limitations: No built-in email marketing. Newer marketplace (still building discovery). 10% fee is higher than DIY setups.

2. Popcall (Best for Pay-Per-Minute Fan Calls)

Popcall offers instant pay-per-minute video calls. Creators set their per-minute rate, fans call in, and the meter runs. It's like FaceTime but with a payment layer.

Pricing: 20% platform fee on all earnings.

What you keep: $76.80 from a $100 equivalent (after 20% + processing).

Included:

• Built-in video calling
• Pay-per-minute billing
• Instant and scheduled calls
• Text and voice messaging (also paid)
• Creator profile page

Best for: Creators with engaged fan bases who want quick, casual interactions. Good for entertainment creators, advice creators, and anyone whose audience will pay per minute.

Limitations: 20% fee is steep. Pay-per-minute undervalues longer coaching or consulting sessions (a 60-minute coaching call priced at $2/min = $120, but the per-minute framing feels transactional). No session recording. No AI summaries. No group sessions or workshops. No scheduling with calendar sync. No intake forms.

3. Topmate (Best for Professional Consultations)

Topmate positions itself as a platform for experts to offer paid consultations, mentorship, and advisory sessions. The interface is clean and professional, aimed at knowledge workers more than entertainment creators.

Pricing: 15% platform fee on paid services.

What you keep: $81.80 from a $100 session.

Included:

• Video call booking and hosting
• Calendar scheduling
• Multiple service types (1:1, priority DM, packages)
• Creator profile with reviews
• Webinar capabilities
• Analytics dashboard

Best for: Professional creators in tech, business, and career niches. Good for startup advisors, career coaches, and tech mentors. Strong marketplace for discovery in those verticals.

Limitations: 15% fee adds up quickly. Platform is heavily skewed toward tech/startup niches. Limited customization of booking pages. No automatic recording or AI summaries. No digital product sales beyond sessions.

4. Passes (Best for Large Creator Audiences)

Passes targets creators with large followings who want to monetize through paid DMs, video calls, and content. It positions itself as a premium creator platform with strong content protection.

Pricing: Creators keep roughly 90% of earnings (~10% platform fee).

What you keep: ~$87.00 from a $100 session.

Included:

• Paid 1:1 video calls
• Paid messaging
• Content monetization
• Screenshot blocking and watermarks
• Creator profile page

Best for: Creators with 100K+ followers who want premium fan interactions with strong content protection.

Limitations: Requires 100,000 followers across social accounts (exceptions reviewed case by case). This immediately disqualifies most creators. No scheduling features. No session recording or AI. No group sessions or workshops. No digital product sales. Content-protection focus signals an audience that's different from coaching/consulting buyers.

5. Loki (Best for Chat-First Monetization)

Loki offers paid audio calls, video calls, and text chats where creators set their price per minute or per session.

Pricing: 15% platform fee.

What you keep: $81.80 from a $100 session.

Included:

• Paid video and audio calls
• Paid text chat
• Per-minute or per-session pricing
• Creator profile

Best for: Coaches, consultants, and therapists monetizing access through multiple channels (chat + calls).

Limitations: Smaller platform with less discovery. No session recording or AI summaries. No group sessions. No scheduling with calendar sync. No intake forms. No digital products.

6. Intro.co (Best for Celebrity/VIP Pricing)

Intro.co connects users with high-profile experts for 1:1 video calls. The platform curates its roster, so not every creator can join.

Pricing: 25-30% platform fee (varies by creator tier).

What you keep: $66.80-$71.80 from a $100 session.

Included:

• Curated expert marketplace
• Video call hosting
• Scheduling system
• Professional expert profiles

Best for: Established experts who want a premium marketplace positioning and don't mind the high fee for curation and audience.

Limitations: 25-30% fee is the highest on this list. Invitation-only for some tiers. Limited creator control over branding. No AI or recording features. No group sessions. No digital products. The curation model means you're trading revenue for marketplace positioning.

7. Stan Store + Zoom (Best for Digital Product Sellers Who Add Calls)

Stan Store is a creator storefront with booking features via Calendly integration. You still need Zoom for the actual call.

Pricing: $29/month (Creator) or $99/month (Creator Pro). 5% fee on Creator plan, 0% on Creator Pro. Plus Zoom Pro at $13.33/month.

What you keep: $91.50 per session before subscriptions. After amortizing $42.33/month across 4 sessions: $81.27 effective take-home.

Included (Stan Store):

• Storefront for digital products
• Booking via Calendly integration
• Upsells and funnels
• Community features
• Clean checkout

Not included: Video calls, session recording, AI summaries, client management, intake forms. You need Zoom ($13.33/month) and possibly Calendly ($10/month).

Best for: Creators who already sell digital products on Stan Store and want to add 1:1 calls as an upsell. Not ideal as a primary video call platform.

Limitations: $29-42/month in subscriptions before your first booking. No built-in video. Multiple tool chain. Stan Store is a storefront, not a session platform.

8. Calendly + Zoom + Stripe (Best DIY Setup)

The classic stack: Calendly for scheduling, Zoom for video, Stripe for payments. You own the experience but manage three tools.

Pricing: Calendly ($10/month) + Zoom Pro ($13.33/month) + Stripe processing (2.9% + $0.30). Total: $23.33/month + ~3.5% per transaction.

What you keep: $96.50 per session before subscriptions. After amortizing $23.33/month across 4 sessions: $90.67 effective take-home.

Included: Scheduling, video calls, payment processing (across three separate tools).

Not included: Session recording (need Zoom Pro recording or separate tool), AI summaries, client management, intake forms, digital products, workshop ticketing.

Best for: Creators who value low per-transaction fees and are comfortable managing multiple tools.

Limitations: $23-47/month in subscriptions. Three separate logins. Clients get links from three different brands. No recording unless you remember to hit the button. No AI. No unified client history. Every additional feature (intake forms, contracts, CRM) is another tool and another subscription. If Calendly is the piece you want to replace, see our roundup of Calendly alternatives for creators and coaches.

9. DIY (Own Website + Payment Processor)

Build your own booking page with tools like WordPress, Squarespace, or a custom site. Use Stripe or PayPal for payments. Use Zoom or Google Meet for video.

Pricing: Website hosting ($10-50/month) + domain ($12/year) + video tool ($13/month) + scheduling plugin ($0-30/month) + payment processing (2.9% + $0.30).

What you keep: Highest per-session amount, but $50-200/month in infrastructure costs.

Best for: Tech-savvy creators with significant volume who want full control over their brand and client experience.

Limitations: Significant setup time (days to weeks). Ongoing maintenance. No session recording or AI unless you add more tools. No marketplace discovery. You're responsible for every piece of the puzzle. At low volume, the monthly costs make this the most expensive option despite the lowest per-transaction fees.

Full Feature Comparison

How to Choose: Decision Framework

The right platform depends on three things: your audience size, your session format, and whether you want simplicity or control.

If you have under 10K followers:

Skip Passes (100K minimum). Start with Talkspresso or Topmate. Both let you sign up immediately with no follower requirements. Talkspresso is better if you do coaching/consulting and want recording + AI. Topmate is better if you're in a tech/startup niche and want marketplace discovery.

If you want pay-per-minute calls:

Popcall is the clear choice. The per-minute model works well for short fan interactions, advice, and entertainment-style calls. Just know you're giving up 20% and you won't get recording, scheduling, or group features.

If you do coaching or consulting:

Talkspresso is the strongest fit. Built for coaches and consultants, it includes scheduling, video, recording, AI summaries, and client management. The 10% fee covers everything. No Zoom subscription. No Calendly. No note-taking app. If you want a coach-specific deep dive, see our breakdown of the best coaching booking software for 2026.

If you sell digital products AND calls:

Stan Store + Zoom makes sense if digital products are your primary revenue and calls are supplementary. But expect $42+/month in subscriptions.

If you want the lowest per-transaction fee:

DIY (Calendly + Zoom + Stripe) gives you the lowest per-transaction cost, but monthly subscriptions of $23-47 eat into that advantage at low volumes. Below 8-10 sessions per month, Talkspresso's 10% with no monthly fee is actually cheaper overall.

If you have 100K+ followers:

Passes is worth evaluating for the content protection and premium positioning. But compare the total feature set, not just the fee percentage. Talkspresso offers more session management features at the same 10% rate without the follower gate.

Revenue Projections: What Creators Actually Earn

Let's model three scenarios to show how platform choice affects monthly income. The numbers below are conservative versus the actual median rates across 173 creators in our 2026 pricing dataset.

Scenario 1: Fitness Creator, 8 Sessions/Month at $75

At this volume, Calendly+Zoom edges out on raw dollars, but you're managing three tools and don't get recording or AI.

Scenario 2: Business Coach, 15 Sessions/Month at $150

Calendly+Zoom wins on dollars, but you're spending 5-10 hours/month managing tools, remembering to record, writing session notes manually, and sending follow-ups. If your time is worth $150/hour, that tool management costs more than the fee difference.

Scenario 3: Career Consultant, 20 Sessions/Month at $200

At 20 sessions/month at $200, the DIY stack saves ~$370/month over Talkspresso. That's real money. But at this volume, you're also spending significant time on admin. The question becomes: would you rather keep $370/month and manage three tools, or invest that $370 into automatic recording, AI summaries, and client management?

The Bottom Line

For creators selling paid video calls in 2026, the best platform depends on what you value:

• Simplest all-in-one with the most features: Talkspresso. 10% fee, no monthly cost, built-in video + recording + AI.
• Best for quick fan interactions: Popcall. Pay-per-minute model, but 20% fee and no session management.
• Best for professional consultations: Topmate. Clean interface, good marketplace in tech/business niches, but 15% fee.
• Lowest per-transaction cost: DIY (Calendly + Zoom + Stripe). But $23-47/month in subscriptions and you manage everything yourself.

The platform that makes you the most money isn't always the one with the lowest fee. It's the one that books the most sessions, retains the most clients, and saves you the most time. Recording and AI summaries make your sessions more valuable. Seamless booking converts more visitors. Client management keeps people coming back.

Pick a platform. Set your price. Go live. Every week without a booking page is a week of followers who wanted to pay you but couldn't.

Create your free Talkspresso booking page. No monthly fee, no commitment.

Related reads:

• How Creators Sell Paid Video Calls to Their Followers (2026 Guide)
• Best Booking Platforms for Coaches in 2026
• The Best Link-in-Bio Tools for Creators Who Sell Services
• Why Creators Are Moving Past Linktree's 12% Fee
• Cameo alternative for business advice
• Is Linktree's free plan actually free?

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