Creators make money in ten main ways: ad revenue share, brand deals, affiliate commissions, memberships, digital products, courses, merch, tips and live gifts, licensing, and services. What separates them is who pays and how much the platform keeps. As of October 2026, YouTube pays creators 55% of net long-form ad revenue, Patreon keeps 10% from creators who published their page after August 4, 2025, and Ko-fi takes nothing from tips on its free plan.
We think every creator should pair one platform payout with at least one income stream they control, such as a membership or a product. Platform programs change fast. YouTube raises its entry bar for new partners on February 1, 2027, and X replaced its creator revenue sharing program in September 2026.
What are the main ways creators make money?
Creators earn from three groups of payers: platforms that share ad or subscription revenue, brands that buy promotion, and fans who pay directly. The table sorts the ten streams by who pays and where they run.
| Income stream | Who pays | Where it usually runs | Platform minimum |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ad revenue share and view rewards | The platform | YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, X, Snapchat | Yes, set by each program |
| Brand deals | A company | Any channel you post on | None, brands judge reach |
| Affiliate commissions | A merchant, per sale | YouTube Shopping, TikTok Shop, your own links | Some, such as 1,000 followers for TikTok Shop in the US |
| Memberships and subscriptions | Fans, every month | Patreon, Substack, YouTube, Ko-fi | Varies |
| Digital products | Fans, once | Gumroad, Stan Store, Payhip | None |
| Courses | Students | Kajabi, Teachable, Podia | None |
| Merch | Fans | Fourthwall | None |
| Tips and live gifts | Fans | YouTube, Twitch, Kick, TikTok LIVE, Ko-fi | Varies |
| Licensing | Brands and media buyers | Usage rights deals, Spark Ads, partnership ads | None |
| Services | Clients | UGC, editing, consulting | None |
Ad revenue gets the headlines, but it is the stream with the most gatekeeping. Fan payments and products have no follower minimum at all.
How much do platforms take from creators?
Most fan payment platforms take 0% to 10% plus card processing, while YouTube’s ad programs keep 45% or more. These are the published cuts as of October 2026.
| Platform and product | Creator keeps | Platform takes |
|---|---|---|
| YouTube long-form ads | 55% of net ad revenue | 45% |
| YouTube Shorts ads | 45% of revenue allocated from the Creator Pool | 55% |
| YouTube memberships, Super Chat, Super Thanks | 70% of net revenue | 30% |
| Twitch subscriptions | 50% standard, 60% or 70% in the Plus Program | 50%, 40% or 30% |
| TikTok Creator Rewards and LIVE Gifts | Not published | Not published |
| Patreon, pages published after August 4, 2025 | 90% before processing | 10% plus processing |
| Substack | 90% before Stripe fees | 10% plus Stripe processing |
| Ko-fi free plan | 100% of tips, 95% of memberships and shop sales | 0% or 5% plus processor fees |
| Buy Me a Coffee | 95% | 5% |
| Gumroad | 90% minus $0.50 on direct sales, 70% on Discover sales | 10% plus $0.50, or 30% |
| Stan Store | All sales before processing | 0%, plus a $29 monthly Creator plan |
| Kajabi | All sales before processing | 0%, plus plans from $143 a month billed annually |
| Fourthwall catalog merch | Your price minus the product’s base cost | No percentage on top |
Card processing is the cost people forget. Here is arithmetic on Substack’s published fees. If 100 readers each pay $10 a month, Substack’s 10% is $100, Stripe’s 2.9% plus $0.30 per US card payment is $59, and Stripe Billing’s 0.7% is $7. You keep $834 of the $1,000. Our guide to creator platform fees runs the same math across more platforms.
How does ad revenue sharing work?
Ad revenue sharing pays you a cut of the ads shown on your content, and YouTube runs the largest and most transparent version. YouTube says in its January 2026 CEO letter that it paid more than $100 billion to creators, artists and media companies over the previous four years, and its Partner Program has more than 3 million creators.
YouTube’s ad tier needs 1,000 subscribers plus 4,000 watch hours in 12 months or 10 million Shorts views in 90 days. From February 1, 2027, new applicants will need 8,000 watch hours or 20 million Shorts views. Our YouTube Partner Program requirements guide covers both tiers, and how much YouTubers make explains RPM.
TikTok pays through the Creator Rewards Program. Creators need 10,000 followers and 100,000 video views in the last 30 days, and videos must run over one minute. TikTok does not publish a rate per view. Our TikTok Creator Rewards Program guide explains how pay is calculated.
X is the newest rule change. Tubefilter reported in August 2026 that X would phase out Creator Revenue Sharing from September 8, 2026, replacing it with an Original Content Rewards Program that excludes reuploads. Our Facebook and Snapchat reviews cover those apps’ payout rules, and Spotify for Creators pays video podcasters through a Partner Program that Spotify said in September 2026 is expanding to more than 35 new markets.
How do brand deals work for creators?
A brand deal is a flat fee, product or both in exchange for content you make and post. Most deals are small. Collabstr’s 2026 report, based on more than 21,000 collaborations on its marketplace, found nearly 80% were priced below $300, with average payouts per engagement of $255 on YouTube, $193 on Instagram and $186 on TikTok, according to Storyboard18’s March 2026 coverage.
YouTube, Meta and TikTok each run a brand marketplace. YouTube’s BrandConnect is now called YouTube Creator Partnerships, Meta runs its Creator Marketing Hub for Instagram and Facebook, and TikTok runs TikTok One. Our guides cover how brand deals work, how to price sponsored posts and how to make a media kit.
In the US, the FTC expects you to disclose any paid or gifted relationship in the post itself. A platform’s paid partnership label helps, but the FTC says responsibility rests with the creator and the brand.
How does affiliate marketing pay creators?
Affiliate programs pay a commission when someone buys through your link or product tag, at a rate the merchant sets. You earn nothing on views, only on sales.
YouTube opened its Shopping affiliate program in March 2026 to all Partner Program creators with at least 500 subscribers who meet its eligibility rules. Brands set their own commission rates, YouTube pays through AdSense 60 to 120 days after the purchase, and returns reverse the commission. Since August 2026, eligible US creators can also tag Amazon products.
TikTok Shop’s US affiliate program requires 1,000 followers. Creators under 5,000 followers start in a pilot program of at least 30 days with limited features. The FTC says “paid link” next to an affiliate link is an adequate disclosure, while “affiliate link” alone is not.
How do memberships and subscriptions work?
Memberships pay you a recurring monthly fee from fans, and the platform usually keeps 5% to 10%. Patreon takes 10% from new creators, Substack takes 10%, Buy Me a Coffee takes 5%, Ko-fi takes 5% of memberships on its free plan, and YouTube channel memberships pay creators 70%.
Writers should read how to start a paid newsletter and our Patreon vs Substack comparison. If owning your member list matters most, compare Memberful and Ghost. For paid communities, see Discord and Skool. Our best platforms for memberships list ranks the options.
How do creators sell digital products and courses?
Digital products and courses pay you the full price minus a platform fee or a monthly plan. The choice is between a percentage and a flat subscription.
Gumroad charges 10% plus $0.50 per direct sale and 30% on sales through its Discover marketplace, with no monthly fee. Stan Store charges 0% transaction fees but costs $29 a month on its Creator plan. By our arithmetic for $10 products, Gumroad’s 10% + $0.50 per sale costs the same as Stan’s $29 plan plus one cash out at about $200 a month in sales, so above that Stan costs less. Our Gumroad vs Stan Store comparison has the full picture, and Payhip is another option.
Course platforms cost more up front. Kajabi takes no revenue share but its Basic plan costs $179 a month, or $143 a month billed annually. Teachable and Podia are the usual alternatives, compared in Kajabi vs Teachable and our best platforms for educators.
How does merch make money?
Merch pays you the gap between your sale price and the cost of making the item. Fourthwall deducts a flat base cost per catalog product and says it adds no extra percentage on top.
As an example with made-up numbers, a shirt you price at $30 with a $15 base cost leaves you $15 before card processing. Fourthwall lists US card processing at 2.9% plus 30 cents and charges 5% on memberships. Merch works best once you have fans who want to show they are fans, which is why we rank it after tips and memberships for small channels.
How do tips and live gifts pay?
Tips are one-off payments from fans, and live gifts are virtual items viewers buy during a stream. Platforms keep anywhere from nothing to a share they do not publish.
YouTube pays creators 70% of Super Chat, Super Stickers and Super Thanks revenue. Twitch pays 50% of subscription revenue as standard, and its Plus Program raises that to 60% or 70% for qualifying streamers. TikTok LIVE Gifts require you to be 18, or 19 in South Korea, and TikTok’s LIVE monetization guide does not say how much of a gift’s value reaches the creator. Ko-fi takes 0% of tips on its free plan.
Streamers should compare Twitch vs Kick and read our best platforms for streamers. Kick is the main alternative, with its split covered in its own review.
What are licensing and services?
Licensing means a brand pays to reuse your content, and services means you sell your skills rather than your audience. Neither needs a big following.
Licensing usually rides on a brand deal. Later’s July 2026 pricing guide says usage rights typically add 30% to 50% to a creator’s base rate. On TikTok, brands run your post as a Spark Ad using a code you generate, valid for 7, 30, 60 or 365 days. Charge more for longer windows.
Services include user-generated content, or UGC, made for a brand’s own channels rather than yours. UGC made up 35% of campaigns on Collabstr’s marketplace in its 2026 report, and UGC campaigns grew 133% year on year. Editing, consulting and coaching round out the list.
Which income stream should you start with?
Start with what has no follower minimum, then add platform payouts as you qualify. That is our editorial view after comparing the published rules.
- With under 1,000 followers, use tips, one low-priced digital product and affiliate links where you qualify.
- With 1,000 to 10,000 followers, add brand deals, UGC and a membership tier.
- Once you pass the platform thresholds, add YouTube or TikTok payouts, but keep the products and memberships that you control.
Our best platforms for beginners list and how to choose a creator platform guide help with the next step. How to become an influencer covers growth, creator economy statistics has the market numbers, and creator taxes basics explains what you owe once the money arrives.