- OnlyFans has boomed in the last two years, particularly for adult content creators.
- The subscription platform has become a lucrative way for many influencers to earn money.
- From DMs to selling courses, here's how creators make money from OnlyFans.
OnlyFans, the subscription-based social platform, has become a lucrative way for some influencers, particularly adult content creators, to earn money.
There are a number of ways that OnlyFans' 2 million creators monetize.
The most basic way is through subscriptions. In order to unlock content, users must pay a monthly or annual fee. The creator takes home 80% of that revenue, while the company gets the other 20%.
How much to charge for subscriptions is up to the creator and can be a challenging number to determine.
Morgan Edwards, an OnlyFans star known as "Kitty K," said she was "in the dark" when deciding how to price subscriptions to her content. But once she gained some experience, she built a successful OnlyFans career, charging nearly $70 for three months of access.
Another way to make money on the platform — for many the most profitable way — is direct messaging with fans who pay a per-message fee or flat fee, and creating custom content. Audrey Aura, a creator with 3,000 subscribers, turned private messaging into her biggest income stream.
Read more about how much Aura made from each of her OnlyFans revenue streams in 2021
While direct messaging can be a top source of income for OnlyFans creators, it can be time-consuming, and some spend a large portion of their day answering fans. This is the case for Justine Jakobs, a creator with 36,000 OnlyFans subscribers.
Some creators have turned to outsourcing messaging, hiring "ghostwriters" from OnlyFans management agencies to answer messages on their behalf.
But there's more to the life of an OnlyFans model than time behind a screen. Edwards often takes trips to collaborate with other OnlyFans stars on content.
Here's a look at a recent workday when she shot new content in an LA mansion.
Some OnlyFans creators are also establishing private coaching businesses and course programs as another way to make money. Aura, for example, started an OnlyFans course after she started receiving an uptick in requests for advice on how to succeed on the platform.
Inside an OnlyFans coaching business and how creators network with each other
Here's our full coverage on how OnlyFans creators make money and manage their time.
How OnlyFans creators make money — and how much they make:
- Audrey Aura is a creator with 3,000 subscribers in the top 0.46% of OnlyFans earners. She shared how much she made in 2021 and broke down her various income streams.
- Morgan Edwards, known on OnlyFans as "Kitty K," has 5,000 subscribers. In two years, she built a business that made her $2.1 million.
From messaging fans to shoots at LA mansions, a day in the life of an OnlyFans creator:
- Justine Jakobs, a creator with 36,000 subscribers, is in the top 0.1% of OnlyFans earners. She shared what her schedule looks like on a workday.
- Edwards, the creator who made more than $2 million, let us in on what one of her days on the job is like.
Some OnlyFans creators have built businesses offering coaching and classes:
- Karly's Coaching, a program created by Karly Stokes, is now a business with over 150 clients.
- OnlyHustle MasterClass, a program created by Audrey Aura, had 2,600 people on the wait list before it launched.