FreelanceSites.net New to earning online? Check what you can join →
Earnings report

How much people earn online, platform by platform

Every figure below comes from a platform's own published numbers, annual reports or official pages, with a link to the source. Added together, they show the scale of the opportunity the internet has opened up.

$550B+paid to people through 33 platforms
$4.57T+sold through 22 marketplaces
$50.7B+raised on 4 crowdfunding platforms
At leasttotals are minimums, see how we counted
Find platforms you can join → How we counted

Sold through platforms: at least $4.57T

22 platforms

The value of everything sold or booked on these marketplaces, before fees. This is money flowing to sellers and service providers, not their take-home income.

  1. 1 Amazon $2.5T All-time · 55% of total Amazon says independent sellers have generated more than $2.5 trillion in sales in its store over 25 years of third-party selling. Source · 2025 ↗
  2. 2 Shopify $1.6T All-time · 35% of total Shopify merchants have sold $1.6 trillion in gross merchandise volume in total since the platform launched, per Shopify's investor relations page. Source · 2026 ↗
  3. 3 Shopee $127B 2025 · 2.8% of total Sea Limited reported $127.4 billion in Shopee gross merchandise value for full-year 2025, up 26.8 percent year over year. Source · 2025 ↗
  4. 4 eBay $80B 2025 · 1.8% of total eBay sellers generated nearly $80 billion in gross merchandise volume in full-year 2025, per eBay's 2025 Form 10-K. Source · 2025 ↗
  5. 5 MercadoLibre $65B 2025 · 1.4% of total MercadoLibre's 2025 10-K reports $65.04 billion in gross merchandise volume across its Latin American marketplace in 2025, up from $51.47 billion in 2024. Source · 2025 ↗
  6. 6 DiDi $64.5B 2025 · 1.4% of total DiDi's Core Platform gross transaction value was RMB450.8 billion (US$64.5 billion) in 2025, per its 20-F (rider spend, not driver take-home pay). Source · 2025 ↗
  7. 7 BigCommerce $31.7B 2025 Merchants on BigCommerce processed $31.7 billion of gross merchandise volume in 2025 (sales incl. shipping and tax, not profit), per its 2025 Form 10-K. Source · 2025 ↗
  8. 8 Upwork $30B All-time Upwork says it has facilitated more than $30 billion in total transactions and services since its founding (client spending, before fees). Source · 2026 ↗
  9. 9 CJ Affiliate $16B Per year CJ says it drives more than $16 billion in advertiser revenue annually (company claim of sales driven, not commissions paid to publishers). Source · 2026 ↗
  10. 10 Etsy $10.5B 2025 Buyers spent $10.46 billion with sellers on the Etsy marketplace in full year 2025 (gross merchandise sales, before fees). Source · 2025 ↗
  11. 11 StubHub $9.2B All-time StubHub's FY2025 results report $9.2 billion in gross merchandise sales, the ticket value sold on its marketplace, up 6 percent year over year. Source · 2025 ↗
  12. 12 Grubhub $8.7B 2020 Diners ordered $8.67 billion of food through Grubhub in 2020 (Gross Food Sales, not driver pay), per Grubhub's 2020 annual report on Form 10-K. Source · 2020 ↗
  13. 13 Whatnot $8B 2025 Whatnot's 2026 State of Live Selling Report says sellers made more than $8 billion in sales in 2025, more than double the 2024 total. Source · 2025 ↗
  14. 14 Squarespace $6.2B 2023 Squarespace sites processed about $6.21 billion of gross merchandise value in 2023 (seller sales, not profit), per its 2023 annual report on Form 10-K. Source · 2023 ↗
  15. 15 Vivid Seats $2.7B 2025 Vivid Seats reported $2.70 billion in Marketplace gross order value in full-year 2025, the total value of marketplace orders including fees. Source · 2025 ↗
  16. 16 Klook $2.5B 2024 Travelers booked US$2.5 billion of activities, tours and attractions on Klook in 2024 (gross transaction value, not merchant profit), per its SEC F-1 filing. Source · 2024 ↗
  17. 17 Depop $1.1B 2025 Depop gross merchandise sales were $1.07 billion in full year 2025, as reported by then-owner Etsy in its annual results. Source · 2025 ↗
  18. 18 Fiverr $1.1B 2025 Buyers spent $1.07 billion on the Fiverr marketplace in 2025 (marketplace GMV, before Fiverr fees), per Fiverr's 2025 annual report on Form 20-F. Source · 2025 ↗
  19. 19 Jumia $819M 2025 Jumia reported $818.6 million in gross merchandise value for full-year 2025, up 14 percent from $720.6 million in 2024. Source · 2025 ↗
  20. 20 Epic Games Store $400M 2025 Players spent a record $400 million, retail including taxes, on third-party PC games on the Epic Games Store in 2025, up 57% year over year. Source · 2025 ↗
  21. 21 Newegg Marketplace $164M H1 2026 Newegg reported $163.6 million in marketplace GMV sold by third-party sellers in the six months to June 30 2026, down from $173.0 million a year earlier. Source · 2026-06 ↗
  22. 22 Rover $150M 2016 Pet owners booked $150 million of care on Rover and DogVacay combined in 2016, with the companies keeping about 20% as fees, per TechCrunch cited on Wikipedia. Source · 2016 ↗

Raised by creators and causes: at least $50.7B

4 platforms

Money pledged to projects and fundraisers, or lent to small businesses.

  1. 1 GoFundMe $40B All-time · 79% of total GoFundMe says $40 billion has been raised through its platform since 2010 by fundraisers helping people and causes. Source · 2026 ↗
  2. 2 Kickstarter $8.7B All-time · 17% of total Backers pledged a cumulative US$8.71 billion on Kickstarter, from 24.1 million backers, to fund 277,302 projects as of April 2025. Source · 2025-04 ↗
  3. 3 Kiva $2B All-time · 3.9% of total Kiva lenders have crowdfunded more than $2 billion in loans to borrowers since the platform launched in 2005. Source · 2026 ↗
  4. 4 itch.io $216K 2022 The 2022 Queer Games Bundle on itch.io raised US$216,000 for the 431 creators who took part. Source · 2022 ↗

Right now, online

Live estimates from published yearly totals How we estimate →
— paid to people today by 9 platforms that publish yearly payouts
— paid out since you opened this page
— spent on freelance work on Upwork and Fiverr today
— Uber trips completed today
— DoorDash orders delivered today
— Airbnb nights and seats booked today
— Instacart orders delivered today
154M–435M people do online gig work worldwide, 4.4%–12.5% of all workers (World Bank, 2023)

About $2,329 is paid to people on these platforms every second, based on at least $73.5B a year in published payouts. Real activity rises and falls through the day, so read these as a sense of scale.

How the live estimates work

The "Right now, online" counters above take published yearly totals and spread them evenly across the year: a yearly total divided by the seconds in a year gives a per-second rate. Real activity rises and falls through the day and week, so they show the scale of what is happening, not a live feed.

  • Paid to people: at least $73.5B a year, about $2,329 a second. The sum of single-year payout totals from 9 platforms: YouTube $32B (2024), DoorDash $20B (2025), Grab $15.3B (2025), Facebook $3B (2025), Roblox $1.5B (2025), Taboola $1.2B (2025), iStock $220M (2025), Udemy $168M (2025), Ghost $100M (Per year). Platforms that only publish all-time or quarterly totals are left out, so the real figure is higher.
  • Uber trips completed: 13.6B a year, about 430 a second. Completed Uber Mobility rides and Delivery orders worldwide in full year 2025 (13567 million) as reported in Uber's 2025 Form 10-K. Source · 2025 ↗
  • Uber trips completed: 3.8B a quarter, about 475 a second. Completed Uber Mobility rides and Delivery orders in the fourth quarter of 2025 (3751 million) per Uber's Q4 and full year 2025 results release. Source · 2025-Q4 ↗
  • Spent on Uber rides and deliveries: $193B a year, about $6,130 a second. Uber Gross Bookings for full year 2025 (193454 million USD) as reported in Uber's 2025 Form 10-K. Source · 2025 ↗
  • Monthly active Uber consumers: 202M. Uber Monthly Active Platform Consumers in the fourth quarter of 2025 (202 million) as reported in Uber's 2025 Form 10-K. Source · 2025-Q4 ↗
  • DoorDash orders delivered: 3.2B a year, about 101 a second. Total Orders completed through DoorDash Marketplaces and Commerce Platform in 2025 (3172 million) per DoorDash's 2025 Form 10-K. Source · 2025 ↗
  • Spent on DoorDash orders: $102B a year, about $3,233 a second. DoorDash Marketplace Gross Order Value for 2025 (102018 million USD) per DoorDash's 2025 Form 10-K. Source · 2025 ↗
  • People who dashed for DoorDash: 9M a year, about 0.3 a second. DoorDash says over 9 million people dashed in 2025 (stated as a floor of over 9 million) in its 2025 Form 10-K. Source · 2025 ↗
  • Earned by DoorDash Dashers: $20B a year, about $634 a second. DoorDash says people who dashed in 2025 earned a total of over 20 billion USD (stated as a floor) in its 2025 Form 10-K. Source · 2025 ↗
  • Airbnb nights and seats booked: 533M a year, about 17 a second. Airbnb Nights and Seats Booked in 2025 (533 million) per Airbnb's 2025 Form 10-K. The metric replaced Nights and Experiences Booked. Source · 2025 ↗
  • Booked on Airbnb: $91.3B a year, about $2,892 a second. Airbnb Gross Booking Value for 2025 (91273 million USD) including host earnings and fees per Airbnb's 2025 Form 10-K. Source · 2025 ↗
  • Airbnb hosts: 5M. Airbnb describes a global community of over 5 million hosts (stated as a floor) in its 2025 Form 10-K filed February 2026. Source · 2025 ↗
  • Instacart orders delivered: 339M a year, about 11 a second. Instacart (Maplebear) orders in 2025 (338.8 million) per its 2025 Form 10-K. Source · 2025 ↗
  • Spent on Instacart orders: $37.2B a year, about $1,180 a second. Instacart (Maplebear) Gross Transaction Value for 2025 (37224 million USD) per its 2025 Form 10-K. Source · 2025 ↗
  • Instacart shoppers: 600K. Instacart says it offered approximately 600000 shoppers an earnings opportunity as of December 31 2025 in its 2025 Form 10-K. Source · 2025 ↗
  • Active Etsy sellers: 5.6M. Active sellers on the Etsy marketplace as of December 31 2025 (5.6 million) per Etsy's 2025 Form 10-K. Source · 2025 ↗
  • Active Etsy buyers: 86.5M. Active buyers on the Etsy marketplace as of December 31 2025 (86.5 million) per Etsy's 2025 Form 10-K. Source · 2025 ↗
  • Sold on Etsy, Depop and Reverb: $11.9B a year, about $378 a second. Etsy Inc consolidated Gross Merchandise Sales for 2025 (11916.9 million USD) across Etsy, Depop and Reverb per its 2025 Form 10-K. Source · 2025 ↗
  • Spent on Upwork freelance work: $4B a year, about $128 a second. Upwork Gross Services Volume for 2025 (4028386 thousand USD) across all Upwork platforms per Upwork's 2025 Form 10-K. Source · 2025 ↗
  • Active Upwork clients: 785K. Upwork active clients as of December 31 2025 (785 thousand) per Upwork's 2025 Form 10-K. Source · 2025 ↗
  • Lyft rides completed: 946M a year, about 30 a second. Rides completed on Lyft's multimodal platform in full year 2025 (945.5 million) as reported in Lyft's 2025 Form 10-K. Source · 2025 ↗
  • Spent on Lyft rides: $18.5B a year, about $586 a second. Lyft Gross Bookings for full year 2025 (18507.0 million USD) as reported in Lyft's 2025 Form 10-K. Source · 2025 ↗
  • Active Lyft riders: 29.2M. Lyft Active Riders in the fourth quarter of 2025 (29.2 million unique riders) as reported in Lyft's 2025 Form 10-K. Source · 2025-Q4 ↗
  • Spent on Fiverr gigs: $1.1B a year, about $34 a second. Total value of transactions ordered through the Fiverr marketplace in 2025 (1073.0 million USD) per Fiverr's 2025 Form 20-F. Source · 2025 ↗
  • Active Fiverr buyers: 3.1M. Fiverr annual active buyers (ordered a Gig in the prior 12 months) at end of 2025 (3.1 million) per Fiverr's 2025 Form 20-F. Source · 2025 ↗
  • Online gig workers worldwide (low estimate): 154M. World Bank Working Without Borders (2023) low estimate of global online gig workers from its data science method (154 million). Source · 2023 ↗
  • Online gig workers worldwide (high estimate): 435M. World Bank Working Without Borders (2023) high estimate of global online gig workers from its global survey method (435 million). Source · 2023 ↗
  • Share of global labour force doing online gig work (low): 4.4%. World Bank Working Without Borders (2023) says online gig workers are 4.4 to 12.5 percent of the global labour force. This is the low end. Source · 2023 ↗
  • Share of global labour force doing online gig work (high): 12.5%. World Bank Working Without Borders (2023) says online gig workers are 4.4 to 12.5 percent of the global labour force. This is the high end. Source · 2023 ↗
  • People doing online gig work as their main job: 133M. World Bank Working Without Borders (2023) says there could be about 132.5 million main online gig workers worldwide. Source · 2023 ↗
  • People doing online gig work as a side job: 174M. World Bank Working Without Borders (2023) says there could be about 173.7 million secondary online gig workers worldwide. Source · 2023 ↗
  • People doing occasional online gig work: 106M. World Bank Working Without Borders (2023) says there could be about 106.2 million marginal online gig workers (under 10 hours a week and under 25 percent of income). Source · 2023 ↗
  • Gig workers in developing countries working under 10 hours a week: 53%. World Bank Working Without Borders (2023) says 53 percent of online gig workers in non-high-income countries work less than 10 hours per week. Source · 2023 ↗
  • Share of gig platform traffic from developing countries: 40%. World Bank Working Without Borders (2023) says low- and middle-income countries account for 40 percent of traffic to online gig platforms. Source · 2023 ↗
  • Share of online gig workers who are women: 42%. World Bank Working Without Borders (2023) presentation says 42 percent of online gig workers are women. Source · 2023 ↗

How we counted

  • Published figures only. Each number is what the platform, its annual report or official page says. We link every source and haven't audited them.
  • One figure per platform. Where a platform publishes several, we use its largest. Sites that share one running total, such as Envato's marketplaces, are counted once.
  • Totals are minimums. Some platforms publish all-time totals, others only a single year or quarter. A single year is always less than the all-time total, so each sum is a floor: the real figure is higher.
  • Payouts and sales are kept apart. Sales through a marketplace are not anyone's income, so they are never added to money paid to people.
  • US dollars only. Figures published in other currencies, and counts that aren't money, are listed below but not added.

Not included in the totals: Allegro (~PLN 70 bn GMV in 2025), Flippa (450,000+ deals completed), Honeygain (1M+ payouts completed), Liberapay (€22,472 per week), PeoplePerHour (£100M+ all-time), Printful (143.9M items shipped), Sedo (700,000 domain sales), TeePublic (Tens of millions paid), Vinted (EUR 10.8B sold in 2025).

See how we verify data, or tell us about a newer figure.

Your first online income could start this week.

Tell us your country, age and what you have. See which platforms will accept you, what you still need, and how you'd get paid. Free, private, no sign-up.

Open the starter kit →