Symphony Clarke
TikTok has created a new generation of digital stars who have built massive audiences on the app.
But many creators are still figuring out how to use TikTok to make money.
Here’s how much TikTokers earn from brand deals, song promotions, livestreams, and its Creativity Program.
TikTok ushered in a new wave of digital stars. But for many creators, it can be difficult to make money from TikTok alone.
Unlike YouTube, which has a well-established ads program that shares a percentage of ad revenue for longer videos with qualifying creators, TikTok has only recently begun experimenting with splitting ad dollars with some influencers.
Outside of ad-revenue sharing, TikTok has several built-in monetization tools like virtual “gifts,” as well as a Creativity Program fund that rewards creators for posting longer content. It also launched a $6 million fund for augmented-reality effect creators in the middle of 2023.
Read more about how much seven TikTok influencers earned from the Creativity Program
It previously operated a Creator Fund for users that met certain follower and view count criteria, but sunsetted the program in December.
Despite its early tests in ad-revenue sharing and a slew of different payment programs, many TikTok creators still rely on brand deals for the bulk of their earnings.
Alex Ojeda, a waterpark creator who has around 8.4 million followers on TikTok, told Business Insider in 2022 that his rate for a single sponsored video on the app was $20,000.
Read more about how Ojeda is using TikTok to make money and build a career in the waterpark industry
How much TikTokers make from its ad-revenue sharing program, Pulse
TikTok shares some ad revenue with creators through a contextual-advertising program called Pulse.
In May 2022, the company announced brands could buy ads alongside “the top 4%” of content in different categories like cooking, beauty, and fashion. It said it would split 50% of the revenue with the creator whose video appeared before the in-feed ad. Only creators with at least 100,000 followers qualify for the program.
Early payments from TikTok Pulse were disappointing, creators told BI in 2022.
Eight influencers who shared their monthly payouts, view counts, and revenue for every 1,000 video views (RPM) from Pulse earned between a few pennies and $17 in their first two monthly payments. The creators had between a few hundred thousand and a few million followers; Several make content around gaming, while others film lifestyle videos.
Read more about how much TikTokers are earning from Pulse as the app starts to share ad revenue
TikTok is testing new funds to pay longer-form and AR creators
In 2023, the company introduced two other fund-based programs designed to encourage specific types of content creation.
The first, its Creativity Program meant to reward creators that post videos longer than one minute, is restricted to users that have at least 10,000 followers and have achieved 100,000 video views in the past 30 days.
Unlike the sunsetted Creator Fund or Pulse, early participants in the Creativity Program have scored huge paydays since its rollout, with some garnering five-figure earnings in a single month.
“The money we’ve been earning has been life-changing, and we just really hope it continues,” said lifestyle creator Hunter Cordle.
Read more about how the Creativity Program is helping some creators earn tens of thousands of dollars
TikTok’s Effect Creator Rewards program, announced in May, offers augmented-reality creators payment for effects that appear in at least 500,000 videos. At launch, the $6 million fund was only available to users who were at least 18 years old and based in the US, the UK, France, Italy, Spain, and Germany. The company later expanded the program in October to make it available in more regions and to a wider group of creators by lower the threshold for payment to effects that appear in at least 200,000 videos.
Read more about TikTok’s fund for augmented-reality creators
The TikTok Shop affiliate program
As part of its e-commerce platform, Shop, TikTok offers an affiliate program where creators can earn a commission for sales they help drive by tagging products in videos or livestreams. Influencers can also package products from various sellers into a dedicated catalog on their profiles for their followers to browse.
Creators told BI that TikTok Shop commissions have meaningfully contributed to their earnings.
Jeneen Sahtout, who posts beauty and shopping videos to around 751,000 TikTok fans, earned a little under $6,000 in commissions in April 2023 after driving around $40,000 in product sales, according to her talent manager Shawn Jacobson. BI viewed documentation to verify her earnings.
Read more about how much creators are making from TikTok Shop’s affiliate program
Other built-in TikTok monetization features
Some TikTokers also make money by receiving virtual “gifts” during livestreams or in other parts of the app, which can be converted into cash. ASMR content creator Lucy Davis told BI she earns between $20 and $300 each time she goes live, for example.
Jakey Boehm, an Australian creator who livestreams on TikTok while he sleeps, earned $34,000 from TikTok Live in a single month.
“It’s seriously life-changing money,” he told BI. “The first week I made about $5,000 dollars, and that’s where I thought ‘This is big, I can do something really crazy here.'”
Read more about how creators are making money from TikTok’s built-in monetization features:
Manasi Arya, an artist and creator (about 43,000 followers), shares her Creator Fund earningsJakey Boehm (about 1.2 million followers) explains how he makes money by sleeping while going live on TikTokVi Luong (about 980,000 followers) shares her monthly earnings from the Creator Fund and brand deals ASMR creator Lucy Davis (around 609,000 followers) discusses how much she earns from TikTok livestreamsHank Green (8 million followers) and MrBeast (92.3 million followers) share how much they’ve earned from the Creator FundPersonal finance influencer Preston Seo (around 2.5 million followers) on Creator Fund earnings, affiliate revenue, and sponsorships Lifestyle influencer Victoria Paris (about 1.9 million followers) discloses her monthly Creator Fund earningsModel and student Rahan Alemi (about 413,000 followers) shares her Creator Fund earnings6 TikTok creators told BI how much they’ve earned from the Creator Fund8 creators share their TikTok Pulse payments
How TikTok creators make money from brand sponsorships
Because built-in TikTok monetization features don’t always cover a creator’s bills, many influencers turn to brand deals to earn money from their TikTok content. Rates for a sponsored post can vary widely depending on a creator’s follower count and content niche.
Colin Rocker, a TikToker who posts videos offering career advice, told BI in 2023 that he charges between $400 and $600 per sponsored post.
Other TikTok influencers earn money by making content for companies to use on a brand’s own TikTok account. Fitness creator Salha Aziz, for instance, charges hundreds of dollars to create UGC content for brands to use in marketing campaigns.
Here’s how much creators are earning from brand deals:
Paulina Perez (roughly 89,000 followers) charges between $1,250 to $1,750 for sponsored posts on TikTokColin Rocker (114,000 followers) shares his rates for sponsored TikTok videos and his monthly earnings from brand dealsSally Choi (205,000 followers), a medical resident, charges $1,500 for a TikTok endorsementCollege football player Jon Seaton (1.8 million followers) shares how much he made from brand deals in 18 monthsNaomi Melanie Leanage (about 513,000 followers) shares her minimum rate and earnings for sponsored contentSoftware engineer and creator Matt Upham (about 515,000 followers) shares his brand deal earningsBasketball creators Brandon (about 1.3 million followers) and Jayden Beloti (1.3 million followers) share their monthly earnings from the Creator Fund and brand dealsComedy creator Pooja Tripathi (about 58,000 followers) shares her earnings from sponsored postsLillian Zhang (about 72,000 followers), lists her rates for sponsored postsPersonal finance influencer Erin Confortini (around 284,000 followers) lists out her earnings from brand deals, UGC, and affiliatesJalyn Baiden (about 25,000 followers) is a TikTok nano influencer who charges around $1,000 for a sponsored postTejas Hullur (around 587,000 followers) said his fee for a sponsored TikTok post starts at $3,000 Salha Aziz (about 22,000 followers) charges brands $160 for a single videoDeanna Giulietti (around 1.8 million followers) made over $500,000 from brand partnerships across TikTok and Instagram in 2021College influencer Harry Raftus (about 1.3 million followers) explains how much he earns from song promos and alcohol-related brand dealsSymphony Clarke (about 207,000 followers), who makes videos about thrift shopping, shares her rates for brand sponsorshipsFashion creator Carolina Freixa (around 766,000 followers) tells us how much money she makes from brand campaignsSkincare influencer Young Yuh (about 1.7 million followers) shares how he calculates his pay rateDana Hasson (around 2.9 million followers), who posts recipes and lifestyle videos, explains how much she makes from brand dealsTikTok family The McFarlands (about 4.1 million followers) on how much they earn from brand deals
How TikTok creators make money from song promotions
Another popular way to earn money as a TikToker is by promoting songs in videos. Music marketers and record labels regularly pay TikTok users to post on the app in an attempt to make a new track go viral.
TikTok-creator trio Nicole, Natalie, and Nika Taylor, who have around 12.8 million followers on the app, told BI in 2021 they charge $750 to promote a song in a single video, $1,400 for two videos, and $2,000 for three videos.
Read more about how much TikTok creators get paid to promote songs on the app
Music producers can also make money on TikTok by creating sped-up, slowed-down, or remixed versions of tracks for artists and record labels.
Read more about how much creators get paid to promote new tracks on TikTok:
Music producers on TikTok reveal how much they get paid to make song remixes and mashupsCreators and marketers share how much song promotions cost on TikTokWhy creators who make hydraulic press videos and DIY slime posts are getting paid to post songsWhy TikTok music marketers are hiring micro influencers over superstars2 music marketers discuss how much TikTok influencers can earn from song promotions