Patreon is a site for online creators to run a crowdfunding subscription service. Patreon is a significant source of income for YouTubers, artists, writers, musicians, and other form of online creators.

Patreon announced today that they now have 3 million “patrons” which are the Patreon users who pay online creators on a monthly basis.

In addition to the record number of patrons, Patreon stated it expects to pass $1 billion in creator payments in 2019.

millions and billions.

we’re so excited to announce that there are now more than 3 million patrons supporting creators on Patreon. and this year, we’ll pass $1 billion paid out to creators since the beginning of Patreon. 😍😭🎉

read more: https://t.co/7JwGnx62hd pic.twitter.com/j7c8kTgatY

— Patreon (@Patreon) January 23, 2019

Patreon was founded in May 2013 by musician Jack Conte, who wanted a way to make a living from his YouTube videos. He and Sam Yam developed the platform that allowed patrons to pay a certain amount when an artist created content.

In a blog post, Patreon stated:

“Reaching this milestone means creators and patrons are reimagining what it means to be a creator, and proving that a creative career is a viable one.”

While sites like YouTube do offer their own forms of monetization, Patreon allows for content creators from various sites to centralize their earnings to one platform.