YouTube
TikTok
ClickBank
CJ Affiliate
Medium
Hashnode
Steemit
Printful
Spring
Teelaunch
Skillshare
Udemy
Maven
TikTok Shop
Amazon Live
WhatnotCompiled with AI-assisted research from the official pages and studies listed at the end. Earnings vary widely — the figures show what is typical, not what is guaranteed. Spotted something out of date? Tell us.
Tip: not every platform here accepts people in every country. Check which ones you can join with your country and age before you sign up anywhere.
Most creators earn from several sources at once: platform ad shares, fan payments, brand deals and affiliate links, rather than one payout program. YouTube pays 55% of watch-page ad revenue once you have 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watch hours, and TikTok's Creator Rewards needs 10,000 followers plus 100,000 views in 30 days. Large surveys find about half of creators earn $15,000 a year or less, so plan for a slow start.
How to choose
- Skills: video (filming, editing, speaking to camera), audio, or writing. Pick the format you can keep producing every week for a year, because every payout program rewards consistency.
- Startup cost: a recent phone is enough for YouTube, TikTok and UGC work. Newsletters on
Substack are free to start. - Time to first payment: UGC work for brands pays per approved video with no follower threshold. Fan payments and paid newsletters can pay from your first supporter. Ad revenue programs only start after you pass their audience thresholds, which usually takes months.
- Where you live: TikTok Creator Rewards only runs in 8 countries (the US, UK, Germany, Japan, South Korea, France, Mexico and Brazil). The YouTube Partner Program requires you to live in a country where it is available. Newsletter and membership tools pay out in most countries.
Video platforms
YouTube
- Requirements: 1,000 subscribers plus either 4,000 public watch hours in the last 12 months, or 10 million Shorts views in the last 90 days. You also need no active Community Guidelines strikes, 2-Step Verification and an AdSense for YouTube account.
- Revenue share: creators get 55% of net ad revenue from their long-form watch pages and 45% of their share of the Shorts creator pool.
- Getting paid: finalized earnings for the previous month land in AdSense for YouTube between the 7th and 12th, and are paid by the 21st to 26th once you reach your local payment threshold.
TikTok
- Requirements: 18 or older, in one of the 8 program countries, with 10,000 followers and 100,000 views in the last 30 days, on a personal account.
- What earns: original videos longer than one minute. Duets, Stitches, Photo Mode posts and sponsored videos do not qualify, and views only count after 5 seconds of watching.
- Pay: TikTok publishes no fixed rate per 1,000 views, because pay depends on viewer location, content language and retention. Withdrawals go to PayPal, Pix or a bank account and are typically processed within 72 hours.
- Full walkthrough: how to earn TikTok Creator Rewards.
Other social and live platforms
Instagram, 
Facebook, 
Snapchat and 
Rumble run their own bonus, subscription and ad-share programs, with rules that change by country. Live streamers earn subscriptions, tips and ads on 
Twitch and 
Kick. Compare them on the best social platforms list.
Newsletters, memberships and fan support
These pay you directly from your audience, so a small but loyal following can earn more than a large casual one.
- Substack: free to publish, and writers keep 90% of paid subscription revenue minus card fees.
Patreon: takes 10% of what you earn, plus payment processing, currency conversion and payout fees.
beehiiv and 
Ghost: newsletter platforms with their own subscription pricing, useful once your list grows.
Ko-fi and 
Buy Me a Coffee: simple tip jars and memberships.
Gumroad: sells digital products such as presets, templates and guides.
See the best creator platforms list.
Brand deals and UGC
Brand deals are sponsorships on your own channel. User-generated content (UGC) is different: brands pay you to film product videos they post on their own ads and pages, so you need no following at all.
Billo pays for every approved video twice a month, mid-month and month-end, by PayPal only. A task that includes 4 photos adds $40.
Collabstr, 
Insense and 
JoinBrands are marketplaces where creators list packages and brands order them.
Sponsorships still reach relatively few creators. In Linktree's survey, 67% of creators had never collaborated with a brand. Browse the best UGC marketplaces.
Affiliate links, merch and courses
- Affiliate storefronts: the
Amazon Influencer Program, 
LTK and TikTok Shop's affiliate program pay a commission when viewers buy what you recommend. See affiliate networks. - Merch:
Fourthwall and other creator merch services print and ship products, and you keep the margin above the base cost. - Courses: once you teach something well on video, course platforms let you sell it in depth.
What creators really earn
- Linktree 2022 Creator Report (9,576 Linktree users, surveyed in 2021): among creators with under 12 months' experience, 59% had not earned anything yet and only 6% had earned over $10,000 a year. Among full-time creators, 46% earned under $1,000 a year and 12% over $50,000. Among part-timers, 68% earned under $1,000 and 3% over $50,000.
- NeoReach survey, published by Influencer Marketing Hub in 2023 (more than 2,000 creators): 48% earned $15,000 or less a year, and 44.9% described themselves as full-time creators.
The top earners are real but rare. Income usually grows only after a creator adds a second or third source, such as a newsletter, affiliate links or direct brand work.
Comparison table
| Option | Skills needed | Startup cost | Typical pay | First payout |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| YouTube Partner Program | Video, editing, consistency | Phone or camera | 55% of watch-page ad revenue, 45% share of the Shorts pool | After 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 hours or 10M Shorts views, then monthly |
| TikTok Creator Rewards | Videos over 1 minute that hold attention | Phone | No published rate, varies by audience | After 10,000 followers and 100,000 views in 30 days |
| Newsletter (Substack, beehiiv) | Writing, audience building | $0 | 90% of paid subscriptions on Substack, minus card fees | When your first readers pay |
| Memberships (Patreon, Ko-fi) | An existing fan base | $0 | Patreon keeps 10% plus processing fees | When fans join |
| UGC (Billo, Collabstr) | Filming products, no following needed | Phone | Per video, plus $40 for a 4-photo add-on on Billo | Twice a month by PayPal on Billo |
| Affiliate storefronts | Product recommendations | $0 | Commission per sale | Program-specific |
First steps this week
- Pick one topic you can make 50 videos or posts about, and one main platform where that audience already spends time.
- Publish three pieces this week and set a schedule you can keep, such as two videos a week.
- Turn on 2-Step Verification on YouTube now and keep your account free of strikes, so nothing blocks you at the threshold.
- Start a free Substack or beehiiv list and link it everywhere, so you own a way to reach your audience.
- Film three sample product videos and apply to Billo or Collabstr for paid UGC work while your channel grows.
- Add affiliate links only to products you actually use, with a clear disclosure.
What to avoid
- Buying followers or views. TikTok excludes fraudulent and paid views from rewards, and fake audiences ruin your engagement and your sponsor appeal.
- Reuploads and low-effort clips. TikTok names unoriginal clips with minimal edits, split screens, meaningless reactions and slideshows as common reasons videos are ineligible.
- Guideline strikes. An active Community Guidelines strike blocks YouTube monetization.
- Hidden sponsorships and affiliate links. A Princeton study of 515,999 YouTube videos and 2,140,462 Pinterest pins found only about one in ten pieces of affiliate content was disclosed. Disclose every paid post and link.
- "Brand ambassador" offers that ask you to pay. Real brands pay creators. Offers that require you to buy products or pay a fee first are sales pitches.
- Per-view pay calculators. TikTok publishes no standard rate per 1,000 views, so treat any fixed figure online as one creator's result.
Sources
- YouTube Help: YouTube Partner Program overview and eligibility
- YouTube Help: YouTube Partner Program revenue shares and payments
- TikTok Creator Academy: Creator Rewards Program
- TikTok Creator Academy: Getting your rewards from TikTok
- Substack: Going paid
- Patreon: Pricing
- Billo Help: Creator payments
- Linktree 2022 Creator Report
- Influencer Marketing Hub: Creator Earnings Benchmark Report 2023
- Mathur, Narayanan and Chetty: An Empirical Study of Affiliate Marketing Disclosures on YouTube and Pinterest