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 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.
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 a set of programs that allow 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 pays around $0.50 to $1 per 1,000 views through the Creator Rewards Program.
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.”
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.
8 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 eight 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
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 is a fairly low-effort way to maximize your profits as a TikTok creator. Firstly, digital products require relatively little investment to produce and sell — there’s no need to rent a brick-and-mortar store or maintain a physical inventory.
Additionally, because they only need to be produced once, digital products are 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.
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2. Go live on TikTok
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
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
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 favourite 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 (+ join the TikTok Creative Challenge)
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. Rather than focusing on your engagement rate and follower count, the key to maximize your income as a UCG creator is to focus on your content creation game by continuously improving the quality of your videos.
Earn money through the TikTok Creative Challenge
Did you know that TikTok has its own UGC program? That’s right! The platform 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, allegedly, 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
In 2023, TikTok launched a new monetization feature called Series. This new tool lets creators share exclusive, premium content with their audience — nd make bank in the process.
How it works is that Series allows creators to place collections of videos (“Series,” get it?) behind a paywall and charge viewers access to them. Something interesting to note is that Series lets you upload videos up to 20 minutes long, which is twice as long as the maximum length of standard TikTok videos. On top of that, a single Series can include up to 80 videos. So, if you want to cash in, you’ll have to get your (smartphone) cameras rolling!
Wondering how much you stand to cash in on? Series allows creators to set their 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. Exactly how much you can earn through Series really comes down the size and habits of your following. So if you’ve got a diehard TikTok fanbase, Series might be the monetization tool for you.
7. Apply for the TikTok Effect Creator Rewards
TikTok has a new $6 million pie. Want a slice? Then you’ll want to scoop the platform’s new Effect Creator Rewards. As its name suggests, this new monetization tool lets creators earn money while making innovative VR effects through the platform’s Effects House tool.
TikTok’s Effect Creator Rewards program compensates creators based on their effects’ performance, with popular and viral effects earning creators the most money. 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.
This means that if you want to really rake it in through the Effects Creator Rewards program, your effects will need to go very viral, very quickly. However, if you have what it takes, then you stand to earn a fair chunk of change through this new feature.
8. Sell merch
Selling merch is also a great way to both engage and monetize your TikTok following. It’s a win-win situation! 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.
Today, with the number of print-on-demand (POD) services widely available online, it’s easier than ever to start selling merch as a creator. Simply design your logo, and the POD company will print the product and send it off to the buyer. No need to keep an inventory or deal with shipping logistics. Easy peasy! Alternatively, you can also consider selling your merch on TikTok Shop.
Top tips for getting paid on TikTok
Want to max out your TikTok revenue? Follow these tips:
Create engaging content
Audience engagement is the key to becoming a successful creator. And that’s exactly what programs like TikTok’s Creator Rewards Program promote.
Get — and keep — your audience’s attention by creating catchy hooks, starting conversations, and asking questions. To maximize your engagement, you’ll also want to make sure your content is relevant. That could mean jumping on meme trends, bumping trending songs, or weighing in on the latest pop culture news.
TikTok has also stipulated that, in order to partake in its Creator Rewards Program, creators will need to start creating longer videos (over a minute long). So get those cameras rolling!
Post consistently
Setting up a regular posting schedule will get you on your way to earning more money fast. Posting TikTok videos consistently not only keeps your audience engaged, but it also shows potential brand partners that you’re hard-working, diligent, and that you take your work seriously.
If you’re not already posting content on a regular basis, you’ll want to create yourself a content calendar to get you on track.
Optimize your profile
In addition to optimizing your content, you’ll want to optimize your TikTok profile for the platform’s powerful search and discovery functions. This means adding relevant hashtags and keywords to your profile bio, and also linking to your other social channels.
In doing this, you’ll boost your TikTok presence and increase your likelihood of being discovered by more users, while upping your follower count in the process.
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 the all the 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.
Ready to start earning? Download our free guide on How To Make Money on TikTok for more tips.
FAQ
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 per 1 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, that means creators stand to earn $500 to $1000 dollars per 1 million views through the program.
Follow The Leap on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube for more monetization tips for creators. We also make a newsletter.
Further reading
- How To Make Money on TikTok in 2024: 9 Effective Ways
- TikTok Is Shutting Down the Creator Fund. What Now?
- TikTok Creator Rewards (Formerly Creativity Program): How To Join the New Creator Fund
- How To Make Passive Income Selling Digital Products
- TikTok Series: Everything To Know About TikTok’s Paywall Feature
This article was originally published in April 2023, and updated in March 2024 with additional information.
