Topmate earned its place: a clean storefront, scheduled 1:1 sessions, webinars, courses, Priority DM, and a published 10% commission with no monthly fee as of 2026. But "selling your time" covers a lot of ground, and a calendar-first booking tool is only one shape it can take. Maybe you want live per-minute calls instead of appointments. Maybe you want a lower fee, or marketplace discovery, or just fewer moving parts. Here are seven alternatives worth knowing, with fees verified as of 2026 — though platforms change their rates, so always confirm on the platform's own pricing page before you commit.
1. Cheddify — best for live, per-minute calls from one bio link
We'll state our bias up front: this is our platform. Here is the honest case for it. Cheddify is built around a different premise than Topmate: instead of buyers booking a slot on your calendar, they tap your link and call you right now. You set a per-minute rate, toggle yourself available, and your phone rings through a native iOS/Android app with real system-level ringing — a full-screen incoming call, not a notification. A live meter runs during the call, buyers can tip and send gifts mid-call, and booked sessions and fixed-price blocks are there as the upsell. Paid DMs with per-message pricing filter your inbox. Buyers pay as guests in the browser — no account, no app download — which is exactly what impulse buyers arriving from a TikTok or Instagram bio need. In effect it replaces a Calendly + Zoom + Stripe stack, except live and per-minute.
Fees: 20% + $2 per call, with the buyer paying ~3% processing on top; paid DMs are 20% + ~3% card fee on the seller side (you keep roughly 77%). Worked example: at $4/minute, a 15-minute call bills $60; Cheddify takes $12 + $2 and you keep $46. Free to claim, no monthly fee, Stripe payouts, PG-13 across the board. The honest caveat: it's a higher percentage than Topmate's 10%, and there's no marketplace — your own audience is the demand, which is a feature if you have an audience and a problem if you don't. See pricing and how it works for details, or the direct comparison at Cheddify vs Topmate.
2. Topmate — still the best if scheduled expert sessions are your whole business
Before you leave, be sure you should. Topmate remains an excellent choice if your income is scheduled, high-ticket 1:1 work — mentorship, consulting, portfolio reviews — and you want webinars, courses, and digital products in the same storefront. The 10% commission (plus processing) is one of the better published rates among full-featured platforms, and Topmate's scale brings discovery and social proof that smaller tools can't match. Its limits are the flip side of its design: no per-minute billing, no live call-now mode, and calls happen over integrated meeting links rather than a native calling app. If none of that bothers you, staying put is a legitimate answer.
3. Superpeer — video-native sessions and livestreams
Superpeer built its reputation on paid 1:1 video calls with the video layer included — no Zoom handoff — plus livestreams and channel subscriptions. As of 2026 its published platform fee is around 10% plus Stripe processing (roughly 2.9% + $0.30), with paid tiers that reduce the take. One thing to verify before committing: Superpeer's features have been migrating toward Skillshare following its acquisition, so check what's currently supported for new signups. Best for: creators who want scheduled video sessions with the video built in. More in our Superpeer alternatives guide.
4. Intro.co — marketplace exposure for high-ticket experts
Intro.co is a curated expert marketplace — think celebrity founders, designers, and investors selling booked video sessions at premium prices. As of 2026 its take is structured around where the booking came from: roughly 30% on calls booked through Intro's marketplace and about 10% on calls booked through your own channels. That 30% stings, but it's buying you something Topmate only partially offers and Cheddify deliberately doesn't: the platform sourcing buyers for you. Best for: recognizable experts who want inbound demand and can command rates that absorb the fee. See Intro.co alternatives for the full breakdown.
5. Minnect — per-minute expert Q&A with an app ecosystem
Minnect (from the Valuetainment/Patrick Bet-David orbit) sells expert access by the minute — text, audio, and video — with an 80/20 split as of 2026: experts keep 80%. It's one of the few platforms besides Cheddify that treats per-minute billing as the core product, and it has a real marketplace of experts. The trade-offs: it's built around its own app ecosystem and expert directory, business/advice-flavored, and both sides live inside Minnect's apps rather than your own link and brand. Best for: consultants who want per-minute billing plus marketplace discovery. Compare more options in Minnect alternatives.
6. Calendly + Stripe — the DIY stack
The build-it-yourself answer: Calendly for scheduling (free tier available; paid plans add payment collection), Stripe for payments (standard processing around 2.9% + $0.30), and Zoom or Meet for the call. No platform commission at all, which on paper beats everyone on this list. In practice you're the integrator: no per-minute billing, no paid DMs, no tips, no unified storefront, and when something breaks between three tools, you're support. Best for: established consultants with steady scheduled bookings who want maximum margin and don't need live or per-minute anything. We wrote up the trade-offs in Calendly alternatives for paid calls.
7. Talkspresso — scheduled calls with built-in video and recordings
Talkspresso is a newer entrant selling paid video calls with the video, recordings, and AI session summaries built in. As of 2026 its published pricing is a 10% fee on the free plan, or $29/month for a 0% platform fee, plus standard payment processing either way. It's scheduled-session-shaped rather than live-per-minute, so it competes more with Topmate and Superpeer than with Cheddify. Best for: coaches who want recordings and summaries without assembling a stack. More in Talkspresso alternatives.
How to choose
- You want live, right-now, per-minute calls from your bio link: Cheddify.
- You want scheduled sessions plus courses and webinars at a low fee: stay on Topmate.
- You want the platform to bring you buyers: Intro.co or Minnect, and price in the higher take.
- You want video-native scheduled sessions: Superpeer or Talkspresso.
- You want zero commission and don't mind being your own IT department: Calendly + Stripe.
One comparison table to keep it honest:
| Platform | Fee (as of 2026) | Per-minute live calls | Native call app | Paid DMs | In-call tips + gifts | Guest checkout |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cheddify | 20% + $2/call (buyer pays ~3% processing) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Topmate | 10% + processing | No | No | Priority DM | No | Booking flow |
| Superpeer | ~10% + Stripe | No | No | No | No | Booking flow |
| Intro.co | ~30% marketplace / ~10% own-channel | No | No | No | No | Booking flow |
| Minnect | 20% (80/20 split) | Yes | Minnect's own apps | Paid questions | No | Requires app/account |
| Calendly + Stripe | 0% platform + Stripe processing (+ tool subscriptions) | No | No | No | No | Booking flow |
| Talkspresso | 10% free plan, or $29/mo for 0% + processing | No | No | No | No | Booking flow |
Fees move. Every number above was checked against published sources as of 2026, but treat each platform's own pricing page as the source of truth. And if the thing you're really deciding is whether your audience would rather book you or call you, start with what Cheddify is — it's a five-minute read.