TikTok has made a lasting impression on the social media landscape, changing how we view and create content online.
We know that TikTok is making Byte Dance (their parent company) and advertisers plenty of money. In the last two years alone, the brand value of TikTok has jumped from $18.75 billion to just under $66 billion.
But what about the people making all the content that's made TikTok so popular? Does it pay to be a content creator, on TikTok, and if so, how much?
TikTok does pay creators directly, through the TikTok Creator Fund. The Creator Fund isn't necessarily the best way to make money on TikTok, though. Let's break down how much the Creator Fund pays to explain why.
How Much Does TikTok Pay Per View?
TikTok is pretty vague about how much the Creator Fund pays per view, but we have some insights from actual TikTok creators.
How Much Does TikTok Pay Per 1,000 Views
According to creators, TikTok pays $0.02 to $0.04 for every 1,000 views, regardless of how large your account is.
That means the pay per individual view is a fraction of a cent so small that it's basically just a string of zeros. And not the good kind of string of zeros. The truth is that TikTok pays way less per view than other social media platforms.
Take YouTube, for instance, the undisputed king of ad revenue sharing. YouTube pays out an average of $0.18 per view which makes it much easier to earn money on YouTube. The average is slightly higher when looking at how to monetize YouTube Shorts.
To make a single dollar from TikTok's Creator Fund, even the most popular content creators need at least 50,000 views. To make a buck on YouTube, a creator of the same size would need about five views.
Related Article: The Full Guide to TikTok Hashtags in 2024
How Much Does TikTok Pay You for 1 Million Views
Update: As of last December, the TikTok Creator Fund has been shut down. Creators can still choose to monetize their longer TikTok content with the Creativity Program, still in Beta.
With a rate of $0.02 - $0.04 per 1,000 views, your estimated earnings for 1 million views on TikTok would be between $20 and $40. Let's look at a real life example.
TikToker Jenn Leach, aka @MillenialNextDoor, earned 1.6 million views from a single TikTok. That month, her Creator Fund payout was $88. But that $88 wasn't for just the TikTok that went viral. That payout included all the videos she'd created during that 30-day reporting period (around 30 TikToks). Based on the average rate, that means she only made between $32 and $64 on that viral video.
Again, compare this to YouTube where 1 million views might earn you up to $180,000.
Is it harder to get 1 million views on YouTube? Of course. Making the video takes longer, viewer retention is trickier with longer videos, and organic reach works differently on YouTube than the TikTok algorithm. But still. That's a pretty incredible difference.
And keep in mind — most TikTok videos don't get 1 million views. Besides, getting more views on TikTok doesn't change the low pay-out rate.
Related Article: The Ultimate Guide to TikTok Playlists (with Examples)
How Much Does TikTok Pay Their Top Creators?
The TikTok Creator Fund pays the same amount per 1,000 views for every creator in the fund, regardless of how many followers they have. We know this because big creators like Hank Green have shared how much money they make from the TikTok Creator Fund. And it's $0.02 to $0.04 for every 1,000 views.
You might be thinking that doesn't quite track with the net worth of the top TikTok creators. Let's take a look.
Who Are the Highest Paid Creators on TikTok?
The most recent data we have comes from Forbes's report at the beginning of 2022, tallying earnings and follower counts from the previous year. Here's the rundown of the highest paid TikTok influencers and what they were making as of January 2022:
- Charli D'Amelio: In 2022, she had a net worth of $17.5 million with 133 million followers. At the time of writing this, her TikTok account now has 150.4 million followers.
- Dixie D'Amelio: In 2022, she had a net worth of $10 million with 57 million followers. At the time of writing this, her TikTok account now has 57.3 million followers.
- Addison Rae: In 2022, she had a net worth of $8.5 million with 86 million followers. At the time of writing this, her TikTok account now has 88.8 million followers.
- Bella Poarch: In 2022, she had a net worth of $5 million with 87 million followers. At the time of writing this, her TikTok account now has 92.9 million followers.
- Josh Richards: In 2022, he had a net worth of $5 million with 26 million followers. At the time of writing this, his TikTok account still has 26 million followers.
- Kris Collins: In 2022, she had a net worth of $4.75 million with 42 million followers. At the time of writing this, her TikTok account now has 48.9 million followers.
- Avani Greg: In 2022, she had a net worth of $4.75 million with 39 million followers. At the time of writing this, her TikTok account now has 43.1 million followers.
Of course, they didn't earn all of that money from the Creator Fund. Even though a single TikTok video from Charli D'Amelio gets around 10 million views on average, that's still only between $200 and $400 per video. A drop in the bucket compared to the millions of dollars she's earning elsewhere.
For the top earning creators on the platform, how much TikTok pays them doesn't actually matter because the majority of their earnings come from brand partnerships, their own clothing lines, even television series they've landed because of their TikTok reach.
And you don't have to be the next Charli D'Amelio to make money on TikTok outside of the Creator Fund. Let's talk about how much influencer marketing and branded content on TikTok can pay.
How Much Does Influencer Marketing on TikTok Pay?
Brands are willing to pay for your influence, and you don't need a million or more followers to start making money this way. Here's how much you can make on TikTok with brand partnerships at each follower count milestone (on average):
- Nano Influencers (1K - 9K followers): $1105 per sponsored post
- Micro Influencers (10K - 49K followers): $1600 per sponsored post
- Mid-tier Influencers (50K - 199K followers): $3500 per sponsored post
- Macro Influencers (200K - 499K followers): $5K per sponsored post
- Mega Influencers (500K - 999K followers): $5.5K per sponsored post
- Web Celebrities (1M+ followers): $5.8K per sponsored post
These are just averages, of course. Prices will likely vary across content verticals and with video length (a brand would pay more for a 10-minute TikTok than a 30-second TikTok ad).
As you can see, after around the 200K follower mark, the cost per sponsored post doesn't increase all that much. That's because on average, smaller accounts have higher engagement rates.
Tip: Learn how to track your own engagement rates with TikTok analytics to grow faster on the platform.
That's why even big brands are willing to pay nano-influencers. High engagement rates mean you have your audience's attention and trust. That's easier to convert into dollars, from a brand's perspective, than a large but unengaged following.
This means you can command higher prices that you might think from branded content early on in your journey to start making money on TikTok.
Speaking of brands, how does TikTok help brands earn more money now?
Does TikTok Pay Brands for Creating Content?
TikTok is a great place for potential users to discover a product or service from a brand they don't know about yet. Let's look at ways to make money on TikTok for brands.
How Can Small Businesses Make Money on TikTok?
One way to earn money on TikTok outside of the Creator Fund is by selling your own product. This is one of the best ways for small businesses to leverage the channel.
According to a report by Hello Alice, 59% of small businesses on TikTok in 2022 said that being on the app helped them grow their company's revenue. 42% said that TikTok had helped them stay in business during the Covid-19 pandemic. And 32% of small businesses surveyed said that TikTok has even helped them raise capital.
Individual case studies of small businesses on TikTok show ever more incredible growth. Take Dasha Derkach's business, Enchanted Scrunch, for example. She uses a combination of FYP and TikTok Live videos to reach her customers and now 90% of her sales come from the @enchantedscrunch TikTok account.
FAQs: How Much Does TikTok Pay?
1) How much does TikTok pay per like?
The TikTok Creator Fund payouts are based on number of views, not number of likes. The average Creator Fund rate is $0.02 to $0.04 per 1000 views.
2) How much does TikTok pay for 1 million followers?
While there's no increase in pay per view from the Creator Fund based on follower count, creators with more than 1 million followers can command higher rates when negotiating for brand deals and sponsorships. In 2022, the average cost per sponsored post for TikTok creators with 1M+ followers was around $5,800.
3) Does TikTok pay monthly?
Yes. The TikTok Creator Fund payments are processed for the previous 30-day period.
4) Who pays more, TikTok or Instagram?
Although TikTok pays less than other channels, it does pay creators more per view than Instagram. That's because the Instagram Reels Play program was recently discontinued, so Reels creators now make no money directly from Reels views and must rely on brand partnerships, sponsored posts, and other means of monetization, like selling merch or products of their own.
5) Why does TikTok pay so little?
Unlike YouTube, which pays creators a portion of ad revenue on their videos, TikTok doesn't share ad revenue directly with creators. That's because on TikTok ads don't play on your video; instead, they play on the FYP between creator videos as part of a user's scroll. Instead of ad share, TikTok pays creators through the Creator Fund, which is a pool of money they've set aside. Hank Green theorized that the more creators join the Creator Fund, the less the payouts will be for each individual, since they are increasingly smaller slices of a fixed pie.
6) How much will I get paid on TikTok?
Your actual income from TikTok will vary depending on many factors. If you are part of the Creator Fund, you can expect $0.02 to $0.04 for every 1,000 views. On top of that, though, you can run sponsored content on your channel and charge anywhere from $1000 to $5000 per post, depending on your follower count and engagement rate. Additionally, if you livestream on TikTok, your viewers can pay you gifts directly during the live session. You can convert these gifts to money.
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