Monetization

How Much Does TikTok Pay You? (+Free TikTok Money Calculator)

by · Published Mar 27, 2024

Khaby Lame, Miss Excel, and Addison Rae — it may seem like these popular TikTok creators have little in common but the social media platform they’re active on. Take a closer look, however, and you’ll realize what else they share: each of these creators earns millions of dollars annually through TikTok. That’s right, millions.

While the massive payouts that TikTok superstars are pulling may be the exception to the rule, there are thousands of creators and micro influencers who are earning a sizeable income through the app. The sky’s the limit when it comes to how much money you can make as a TikTok creator. However, that large range also makes it difficult to hone in on a dollar amount.

So, how much does TikTok pay creators? In this article, we’re giving you the lowdown on just how much money TikTok pays, the different ways to make money on TikTok, and how to maximize your TikTok revenue.

Curious about how much you could make on TikTok? Jump to our TikTok Money Calculator to estimate your earnings!

How much does TikTok pay creators?

In the last few years, TikTok has launched multiple programs allowing creators to earn money directly through the app. While the TikTok Creator Fund is now defunct, the newer Creator Rewards Program (formerly known as the Creativity Program Beta) continues to pay creators a slice of TikTok’s revenue based on views.

According to reports from some creators, TikTok paysaround $0.50 to $1 per 1,000 views through the Creator Rewards Program. According to other sources, those numbers can get as high as $4.00 to $8.00 per 1,000 views, depending on the kind of audience you bring in, how original your content is, and other factors.

TikTok also allows creators to earn money through LIVE gifts, Series, affiliate marketing, and other programs, but the Creator Rewards program is the only one that pays creators directly just for posting content.

How much does TikTok pay through the Creator Rewards Program?

First launched in 2023 as the “Creativity Program Beta,” TikTok’s Creator Rewards Program is a new way to reward creators financially. According to TikTok, the program was developed to generate higher earnings for creators making “high-quality, original content that is over a minute long.”

Illustrations showing the onboarding journey for the TikTok Creativity Program Beta.
Image credit: TikTok

Just how much? TikTok has claimed that, through the Creator Rewards Program, creators can earn up to 20 times the amount of money they were making through the original Creator Fund. In a press release, TikTok also said that thanks to the Creator Rewards, creator earnings have jumped 250% from September 2023 to March 2024, and that the number of creators making $50,000 a month has nearly doubled.

In addition to TikTok’s official statements, many creators have gone on the record with payouts that are much higher than those from the Creator Fund. We’re talking amounts ranging from $0.50 to $1 per 1,000 views (compared to $0.02 to $0.04 cents per 1,000 views through the Creator Fund). Some creators have even reported earning up to $19,000 in just four months through the Creator Rewards Program.

Currently, the TikTok Creator Rewards Program is available to eligible creators in select countries, including the U.S., Brazil, France, Germany, Japan, Korea, and the U.K. That being said, the platform has plans to bring the program to more creators, worldwide. Keep your eyes on TikTok’s community blog or swipe on over to your Creator Tools page to stay updated.

TikTok Earnings Calculator

Use our TikTok Money Calculator to figure out your estimated earnings from the TikTok Creator Rewards Program and beyond.

How much do TikTokers make?

When the Creator Rewards program first launched, the TikTok team claimed that creator earnings more than doubled compared to the defunct Creator Fund, but didn’t give much specifics beyond that. It’s tough to tell exactly how much the average TikToker makes just from what the people at TikTok say.

While that’s the case, there are still bits of truth is still out there. From reports to surveys and independent analysis, we can get an idea of what the average TikToker brings in. Here are some of those numbers.

  • Nearly half of content creators made less than $15,000 a year across all social media platforms, with less than $5,000 of that coming from TikTok. (NeoReach survey of 2,000 creators)
  • TikTokers with 1,000-10,000 followers could expect to earn an average of $20-$150 per post. (Statista)
  • TikTokers with 10,000-50,000 followers make between $30-$400 per post on average. (Statista)
  • TikTok creators with 50,000-500,000 followers make an average of $80-$1650 per post. (Statista)
  • TikTokers with 500,000-1,000,000 can make anywhere from $150-$3,500 per post. (Statista)

Even though larger creators generally make more per post than smaller ones, the numbers can vary dramatically from creator to creator. That’s why so many creators typically use the $0.50-$1 per 1,000 views estimate floating around the internet.

8 examples of top-earning TikTok creators

So now that you have an idea of what average TikTok creators get paid, let’s start dreaming. What do some of the big players bring in through their TikTok following and their other ventures? Forbes puts out a yearly list of top-earning creators, and here are just a few of the TikTokers who made the list.

Charlie D’Amelio: $23 million

@charlidamelio

i got sharpie on my hoodie 🙁 dc @Baron

♬ suara asli – -Al – BoJes

Matt Rife: $25 million

@matt_rife

A therapist/psychic breaks me down and helps me contact my dead grandpa! #comedy #standup #standupcomedy #funny #mattrife #crowdwork #improv #therapy #ghost

♬ original sound – Matt Rife

Brent Rivera: $17.5 million

Khaby Lame: $16.5 million

@khaby.lame

I was just doing a little check on your car windows #learnfromkhaby #comedy

♬ original sound – Khabane lame

Huda Kattan: $13 million

Dixie D’Amelio: $11.5 million

Zach King: $13 million

@zachking

Who watched to the very end?

♬ original sound – Zach King

Drew Desbordes (Druski): $10 million

9 Alternate ways to make money on TikTok

While TikTok’s Creator Rewards Program offers creators a way to earn money directly through the app, there are many other ways to make even more money on TikTok.

Read on to learn about nine alternate ways you can make money through TikTok, including selling digital products and merch, and even monetizing your livestreams.

1. Create and sell digital products

how much does tiktok pay

From templates to ebooks, a digital product is anything you can sell online as a downloadable file. With the digital media market poised to reach $560 billion in 2024, there’s never been a better time to create and sell digital products. Basically, if it’s downloadable, it’s profitable.

Selling digital products requires relatively little investment to produce and sell — there’s no need to rent a brick-and-mortar store or maintain a physical inventory. And because you only need to make a digital product once before selling it multiple times, it’s also a powerful source of passive income. After you’ve uploaded a digital product to your online storefront and linked it to your TikTok following, you can sit back and watch the downloads (and cash!) roll in.

image

Create and sell digital products in minutes using The Leap!


2. Go live on TikTok 

how much does tiktok pay

Livestreams are a great way to interact with your audience in real-time, but did you know you can make money by going live on TikTok?

TikTok’s LIVE Gifting feature allows creators to essentially monetize a live session. By activating the LIVE Gifts feature on their account, content creators can begin collecting virtual gifts from fans, including TikTok Diamonds, which can be redeemed for money.

Just how much money? According to reports, TikTok users sent over $250 million in LIVE Gifts in Q3 2023 alone. That’s a lot of gifts — and cash!

Want to earn money on TikTok LIVE? Head over to TikTok to learn more about its LIVE Gifting feature — and to start monetizing your live videos.


3. Partner with a brand

how much does tiktok pay

Brand partnerships are one of the most popular and sought-after ways to earn money on TikTok. In this kind of influencer marketing campaign, a third-party brand will enlist and pay a content creator to promote a brand’s products or services through sponsored content. On TikTok, these partnerships can take many different forms depending on the circumstances, but, generally, the brand and creator will agree on a set rate per sponsored TikTok video.

The amount of money you can make through a brand partnership varies depending on a number of factors, including your follower count and engagement rate. It almost goes without saying that TikTok creators with more followers and a higher rate of engagement will earn more money through brand partnerships.

To earn the most money possible through these influencer marketing campaigns, you should focus on increasing your TikTok engagement and growing your audience.


4. Become an affiliate marketer

how much does tiktok pay

TikTok’s affiliate program makes it easy to earn money by promoting products and brands you love through the app. Browse through TikTok’s marketplace of over 10,000 products, request samples from brands, and recommend your favorite products in your videos and livestreams.

For every purchase made through an affiliate link, you’ll earn a percentage in commission from the sale. Neat!


5. Create UGC for brands

how much does tiktok pay

User-generated content (UGC) is a great way to earn money as a creator, no matter how large (or small) of a following you have. Brands looking to hire a UGC creator aren’t necessarily interested in a large following, but in the creator’s ability to create high-quality, engaging content.

UGC creators get paid by brands to create TikTok content that captures the authenticity of true user-created content. Unlike brand partnership content, a UGC creator’s content is typically posted to the brand’s social media channels, rather than the creator’s TikTok account. Creating UCG for brands can be just as lucrative as promoting products through brand deals.

Earn money through the TikTok Creative Challenge

TikTok quietly launched a UGC program called the Creative Challenge back in early 2023. The program is a new in-app monetization tool that allows creators to submit UGC video ads to brand challenges and receive rewards based on their submissions’ performance.

To sum it up, TikTok’s Creative Challenge pays creators to make UGC ads for brands on TikTok. And, apparently, the payouts are pretty great.

How great? Early reports have claimed that the Creative Challenge’s payouts are in the hundreds of thousands, with creators allegedly earning between $22,000 to $34,000 per month through the program alone. That’s a ton of cash!


6. Create a Series

tiktok money calculator income revenue estimate engagement rate calculate how much money can you make

Series allows creators to put a collection of TikTok videos behind a paywall and charge viewers to access them. Each video can be up to 20 minutes long and a single Series can include up to 80 videos.

Wondering how much you stand to cash in on? You can set your own rates, ranging from $0.99 to $189.99 per subscription to a single Series. Followers can purchase access to a Series via in-video links or through a creator’s profile. It’s a great way to share premium content while making bank!


7. Apply for the TikTok Effect Creator Rewards

how much does tiktok pay

TikTok’s new Effect Creator Rewards lets creators earn money while making innovative VR effects through the platform’s Effects House tool.

According to TikTok, you can start earning from the program if your effect is used in 100,000 or more qualified videos within 90 days of publishing. What’s more, you can potentially make up to $14,000 from a single effect if it reaches 10 million unique video publishes.


8. Sell merch 

how much does tiktok pay

Think of TikTok merch like a sports jersey. These pieces of physical merchandise — like T-shirts, mugs, and tote bags — are branded with a creator’s name or slogan, and are purchased by followers as a show of support.

You can either sell your merch through print-on-demand (POD) services that do it all for you or put a bit more work in to sell directly through TikTok Shop.


9. Use a platform like Patreon

A photo of a game of tic-tac-toe on the pavement, with dollar and cent signs.

While TikTok has more than a few ways to reward creators it’s not the only platform that can help you earn. Patreon, the popular membership platform, is a great addition to your content creation game. By setting up paid memberships in exchange for exclusive content or products, you can create a new income stream that’s independent of TikTok’s constantly evolving rewards programs.

So, how much money can you make on TikTok?

There’s no definite answer to how much money you can make as a TikTok creator. It all depends on how much work you’re willing to put into learning every platform’s particularities, and creating the most engaging content you possibly can.

TikTok’s Creator Rewards and Effect Creator Rewards initiatives offer creators a means to earn money directly through the app, paying them a cut of the platform’s revenue in exchange for views. But beyond these programs, there are also many other ways to make money on TikTok. Think selling digital products, partnering with brands, and creating UGC content. With all these options, there’s really no limit to how much money you can earn from TikTok.

how to make money on tiktok

How to Make Money on TikTok

Your pocket guide to making TikTok work for you.

FAQ 

Does TikTok pay you?

Absolutely! TikTok has more than a few options for rewarding creators, from the Creator Rewards program to LIVE gifts and an affiliate marketing program. That said, the Creator Rewards program is the only one that pays creators just for creating content that racks up views.

How much does TikTok pay per view?

The team at TikTok hasn’t made any official numbers available, but according to reports from top creators, TikTok pays between $0.0005 and $0.001 per view.

How much does TikTok pay per 1,000 views?

According to top creators, TikTok pays creators between $0.50 to $1 per 1,000 views through the TikTok Creator Rewards Program.

How much does TikTok pay for a million views?

Top creators say that TikTok pays contributors between $0.50 and $1 per 1,000 views through the TikTok Creator Rewards Program. Doing the math, creators stand to earn $500 to $1000 dollars per 1 million views through the program.

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Further reading

This article was originally published in April 2023, and updated in December 2024 with additional information.

kelsey mclellan
About the author

Kelsey McLellan

Kelsey McLellan is a writer and editor based in Toronto.
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