Compare · checked 24 September 2026
A Topmate alternative for an ongoing subscriber feed
Topmate is built around booking a session: a call, a webinar, a course, a piece of written advice. It's genuinely good at that. Aura is built for something different — an ongoing relationship with an audience, through a membership feed, pay-per-view posts and paid DMs, alongside calls. If what you sell is a single expert session, keep reading to where Topmate is the better choice. If what you sell is a feed people subscribe to, here's how the two compare.
Aura vs Topmate at a glance
| Aura | Topmate | |
|---|---|---|
| Platform fee | 10%, plus about 2% processing | 10% on sales through your own link; 20% when a customer buys through Topmate's marketplace |
| Payment processing | 2% per payment, shown before you publish | A separate 2.9% transaction fee, per its own pricing page |
| Fans pay with | UPI, cards, net banking, in rupees | Not stated on its pricing or features pages as we checked |
| You're paid | Weekly in rupees once live payments are switched on | "Instant payouts," as advertised on its own pricing and features pages |
| Memberships | Yes — one-time monthly or yearly payment, no autopay | Not a named product type; some creators list recurring-style membership access as one of their own products |
| Pay-per-view posts | Yes | Digital Products — one-off sales (ebooks, templates, tools) with instant delivery, not a subscriber feed |
| Paid DMs and requests | Yes — held until you reply | Yes — Priority DM: pay to send, no calendar, the creator replies on their own time |
| Booked 1:1 video calls | Coming soon | Yes — its core product, with scheduling and calendar sync built in |
| Tips | Yes | Not stated on its pricing or features pages as we checked |
Topmate figures from topmate.io/pricing and topmate.io/features, checked 24 September 2026. Spotted something out of date? Tell us and we'll fix it.
Does Topmate work for Indian creators?
Yes — it's built for exactly this: consultants, mentors and experts selling their time. Its own pricing page advertises "instant payouts" and no upfront or recurring platform fees, and its features page centres on scheduling, session packages and priority DMs rather than a content feed. What its own pages don't state is which payment methods a fan pays with or a payout SLA, so this page doesn't claim either.
What Aura does differently
- A feed, not just a booking. Fans get ongoing membership content and pay-per-view posts between sessions, not only a one-off call or download.
- Five ways to earn in one place. Memberships, pay-per-view posts, paid DMs and requests, tips, and booked video calls (coming soon).
- No autopay surprises. A membership is one payment for a month or a year. We remind fans before it ends; nothing is charged without them.
- Paid DMs that protect the fan. The payment is held until you reply, and goes back if you don't.
When Topmate is the better choice
If your business is 1:1 bookings and consulting — calls, mentorship, expert sessions, courses and cohorts — Topmate is genuinely the better tool. Booked calls are its core, mature product with scheduling and calendar sync built in; on Aura, calls are still coming soon. If sessions are most of what you sell, stay on Topmate. If you also want an ongoing membership feed around those sessions, that's where Aura fits.
Switching over
There's no follower minimum and no application. Set up your tiers, post once, and share your Aura link with the fans you already have — you can keep your Topmate link live for bookings at the same time. For a wider look, read our comparison of creator platforms in India, or see how Aura compares to Patreon and Cosmofeed.
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