Have you looked into Hatreon?

I understand much of the problems with having a site that takes credit card payments and disperses moneys to people. Basically, CCs have a huge laundry list of suspicious activities you can't do. Such as Pr0n, psychic readings, bitcoins. (Unfortunately, CCs have no qualms about fraud sites)

And as you have said, Patreon is really going the way of fleabay. They say they are giving an upgrade, when really they mean they are going to charge more.

Further, it would be in their best interest to provide searches. Get similar content in front of people that are paying already is lucrative.

There are many artists (mostly webcomics) that I would love to support, but using Patreon... the hoops to jump through, since I am unbanked are just too many. And in the end, too pricey.

I will be glad when more artists are easily donated to through cryptos. And wallets that allow for sending (mostly) automated payments per works produced.