Getting paid on Draftl
Set up Stripe Connect, understand the 10% platform fee, and track your earnings and payouts.
Updated July 2, 2026
Why Stripe Connect
All the money you earn on Draftl — essay review purchases and meeting bookings alike — flows through your own Stripe Express account. Draftl never holds your funds; Stripe routes each payment to you directly, minus the platform fee.
Connecting Stripe isn't optional if you want to sell reviews: your marketplace listing cannot be submitted for approval until Stripe Connect is set up and charges are enabled. If you're building your listing, see Creating your marketplace listing; if you're working through your launch end to end, follow the consultant launch checklist.
Set up your Stripe Express account
Go to Payments at /dashboard/organization/payments and click Start setup. You'll be handed off to Stripe Express onboarding, where you provide:
- Business details (or individual details if you operate solo)
- A bank account for payouts
- Identity verification
If you leave partway through, the button changes to Complete setup so you can pick up where you left off. Once everything is verified, a View dashboard button appears, which opens your Stripe Express Dashboard for the full payments view Stripe provides.
The Payments page tracks your account's progress with a few status flags: whether your account is connected, whether your details are submitted, whether charges are enabled (you can accept payments), and whether payouts are enabled (Stripe can send money to your bank). Charges enabled is the milestone that matters most — it's what unlocks marketplace approval and your Earnings section.
Tip: Have your bank account details and a government ID handy before you start — onboarding takes just a few minutes when you have everything ready.
The platform fee
Draftl keeps 10% of every transaction, whether it's an essay review or a paid booking. The rest is yours.
| Transaction | Draftl fee (10%) | You receive |
|---|---|---|
| $100 essay review | $10 | $90 |
| $50 booking | $5 | $45 |
| $0 offering or package | $0 | $0 |
There are no monthly fees or listing fees — you only pay when you earn. Free ($0) review offerings and booking packages skip Stripe checkout entirely, so nothing is charged and no fee applies.
Track your earnings
Once charges are enabled on your account, the Payments page shows an Earnings section with:
- Available balance — funds ready to pay out
- Pending balance — funds still settling with Stripe
- Gross earnings — total charged before fees
- Platform fees — Draftl's 10% cut
- Net earnings — what you actually keep
- Counts of paid bookings and reviews
You can filter these figures by this month or all time, and a list of your most recent paid bookings appears below the totals.
Payouts
Withdrawals are handled entirely by Stripe on your Express account. Use the Payout Dashboard link on the Payments page to view your balance and move money to your bank. Payout timing and schedules follow your Stripe Express account settings.
Tip: "Pending" isn't money lost — recent charges spend a short time settling before Stripe moves them to your available balance.
What feeds your earnings
Two revenue streams flow into the same account: marketplace essay reviews and 1-on-1 session bookings. Reviews come from any student on Draftl who purchases one of your offerings; bookings come from your organization's clients. To grow each side, see Delivering essay reviews and Offering meetings with booking packages.