TipMe Is Shutting Down in 2026 — Where Should Thai VTubers & Streamers Move Their Donations?

After more than 10 years in operation, TipMe — the on-screen donation alert platform used by a huge share of Thai streamers and VTubers — has announced it will permanently shut down during 2026.

If you’re a VTuber or streamer currently using TipMe, here’s everything you need to know: the exact shutdown timeline, how it affects your existing payment channels, and how to move to a new platform without confusing your fans or losing donations in the process.

TipMe Shutdown Timeline — Key Dates to Know

Important: TipMe is advising everyone to remove their TipMe donation links from every channel right now — bio, panels, video descriptions, stream overlays — not because the links disappear immediately, but because abandoned links left active are a known target for scammers to impersonate later.

Why “Wait and See” Isn’t a Safe Option

It’s tempting to assume there’s plenty of time, since customer support runs until the end of the year. But in practice, the actual payment rails your fans rely on are being switched off in stages:

• If your fans mainly pay via PromptPay → it stops working on June 1, 2026
• If your fans mainly pay via TrueMoney Wallet or LINE Pay → it stops working on August 31, 2026

That means your fans physically won’t be able to donate from those dates onward, even if your TipMe profile page is technically still online. This is why the move needs to happen before the payment method your audience is used to gets cut off — not on the last possible day.

What Are the Alternatives to TipMe in Thai for creators. vtubers?

The Thai market right now breaks down into some maiin options:

1. Ko-fi / Patreon — Established, globally recognized platforms, but fees are higher, not local payment gateway for local Thai Fan and neither has a built-in stream alert system — you’d need to bolt on a separate tool just to get on-screen notifications.
2. Gank — Built specifically for creators who need both real-time stream alerts and full control over profile privacy. For VTubers, that second point matters as much as the first: you can receive donations without exposing the identity behind the avatar.

For VTubers specifically, identity privacy isn’t a nice-to-have — it’s core to the job. A platform that lets you control exactly what information is public, while still triggering an instant on-screen alert during a live stream, covers the two requirements that neither competitor fully solves on its own. So Gank is the best option for Vtubers in Thailand who want to quickly find a proper alternative to Tipme.

A Closer Look at Gank

Gank is a content membership platform built for creators, with the core feature set most relevant to streamers and VTubers leaving TipMe:

• Real-time donation/tip stream overlay — alerts fire on-screen as the tip comes in, with a customizable overlay design so it matches your stream’s branding, rather than batching or delaying notifications. It is easier for you to thank you fans right at the time which help create better viewer engagement through stream alerts
• Supporters can donate without creating an account, easier and no obstacles for fan to donate you. Anonymous donations are available for fans.
• Thai and international payment available: Promtpay for local Thai, other ASEAN local payment gateway and international payment gateway (Paypal)
• Goals, milestones — your profile can show funding goals and shoutout contributors, which TipMe also offered and many creators will want to keep using after migrating.
• Privacy-respecting profile setup — you control what’s shown publicly, which matters most for VTubers who need to keep the person behind the avatar separate from their public-facing identity.
• More than just tips — Gank also supports memberships, digital goods, commissions, and merch sales in the same dashboard, so a streamer or VTuber can consolidate donation income and other monetization into one place instead of juggling separate tools.
• Post Tipping — fans can tip directly on a piece of content (a clip, an art post, etc.) and leave a visible message with it, which gives smaller or newer channels another way to earn outside of live streams.
• Free to use — there’s no platform fee just to set up and run a profile.

For a VTuber specifically, the combination that matters most is real-time overlay alerts plus public-profile privacy— without giving up the goal-tracking and supporter-recognition features that made TipMe popular in the first place.

How to Move from TipMe to Gank — Step by Step

1. Create your Gank account and set up your donation profile. Choose exactly what information you want visible publicly.
2. Connect the stream alert to your streaming software (e.g. OBS) and test it before your next live to confirm it fires in real time.
3. Tell your fans in advance across every channel — Twitter/X, Discord, community posts, end-of-video cards — that TipMe is shutting down and where donations are moving to.
4. Update your Gank links everywhere — bio, panels, video descriptions, link-in-bio pages, stream overlays.
5. Replace all old TipMe links with Gank link as soon as the move is complete, so fans don’t accidentally donate to the wrong place, and to prevent scammers from reusing the abandoned link later.
6. Check your remaining TipMe balance and plan around the regular payout cycle to make sure everything is settled before the September 2026 cutoff.

If you need help to move from Tipme to Gank, leave your contact at migration.ganknow.com and there will be local Thai staff who can assist you

Frequently Asked Questions

When does TipMe shut down? TipMe stops accepting new clients on June 1, 2026, and shuts down its payment channels in stages through the rest of 2026, per the timeline above.

TipMe is shutting down — what should I use instead? It depends on what you need. If you want both real-time stream alerts and control over profile privacy, Gank is built to cover both.

I use PromptPay with TipMe — what do I need to do? Move to a new platform like Gank before June 1, 2026. PromptPay donations is available on Gank.

Do I need to delete my old TipMe links? Yes, even though the link pages stay live until 2027. TipMe itself warns that abandoned links are at risk of being reused by scammers to impersonate creators.