How TikTok creators make money in 2026
TikTok creators make money through six routes: the Creator Rewards Program, LIVE gifts, Subscription, TikTok Shop, Series and brand deals. Each has its own entry bar, from 500 followers for TikTok Shop in the UK to 10,000 for Rewards. How to make money on TikTok depends less on views than on which of these gates you have passed.
- Creator Rewards: 10,000 followers, 100,000 views in 30 days, videos over a minute
- TikTok Shop affiliate: 500 followers in the UK, 1,000 in the US
- LIVE gifts: aged 18 or over; TikTok publishes no follower number
- Subscription and Series: 10,000 followers, with other routes in for each
This is the hub for TikTok inside our Earn guides for content creators. Our guide to how Instagram creators make money is the Instagram equivalent. Every threshold below comes from TikTok’s own announcements or from trade reporting of them, dated, and checked in October 2026.
How do TikTok creators make money?
Six routes, and only three of them are paid by TikTok itself. Creator Rewards pays per qualified view on videos over a minute. LIVE gifts convert fans’ coins into diamonds you cash out.
Subscription charges fans a monthly price for perks. TikTok Shop pays a commission on products you sell in videos and LIVEs. Series sells a paywalled collection of your videos, and brand deals are paid by the brand, not by TikTok.
| Route | Who pays you | Minimum to start | Source and date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Creator Rewards Program | TikTok | Aged 18+, 10,000 followers, 100,000 views in the last 30 days, account in good standing, eligible country | TikTok’s Creator Rewards announcement, March 2024 |
| LIVE gifts | Fans, via TikTok | Aged 18+; “follower requirements” apply, but TikTok gives no number | TikTok’s LIVE explainer, May 2024 |
| Subscription | Fans, via TikTok | Aged 18+, 10,000 followers and 100,000 views in the past calendar month, or LIVE eligibility | TikTok’s Subscription expansion announcement, September 2024 |
| Series | Fans, via TikTok | Aged 18+, 10,000 followers (or apply with proof of premium content sold elsewhere), account 30+ days old, 3+ public videos and 1,000+ views in 30 days | TikTok’s Series announcement, June 2023 |
| TikTok Shop (affiliate) | Sellers, via TikTok | UK: 500 followers, aged 18+. US: 1,000 followers, aged 18+ | TikTok Shop’s UK creator page and TikTok Shop Seller University, both undated, read October 2026 |
| Brand deals | The brand | None set by TikTok | — |
Three of these six routes open at 10,000 followers. TikTok Shop opens at 500 in the UK, the lowest bar on the platform, and it is the route most "how to make money on TikTok" guides skip past.
The full checklist for each route, including what disqualifies you, is in our guide to TikTok monetisation requirements. This page is the map; that one is the fine print.
How much does TikTok pay per view?
TikTok has never published a per-view rate, for any country. Its Creator Rewards announcement says the dashboard shows your RPM, the revenue per 1,000 qualified views, and that it moves with originality, play duration, search value and audience engagement. Creators who have published their own dashboards show $0.55 to $1.20 per 1,000 qualified views; a rate quoted without a name behind it is a guess.
Two anchors are sourced. Digital Music News reported in November 2023 that the old Creator Fund paid about two cents per 1,000 views, roughly 1.5p. Social Media Today reported in September 2023 that TikTok pitched its replacement as paying up to 20 times that, which is a ceiling TikTok set, not an average anyone has verified.
Only videos over a minute long qualify. TikTok told TechCrunch in March 2024 that total creator revenue under the revamped programme rose by more than 250% in six months, and that viewers now spend half their time on videos over a minute. Worked examples per view, per 1,000 and per million are in our guide to how much TikTok pays.
What is the Creator Rewards Program?
The Creator Rewards Program is TikTok’s scheme that pays creators per qualified view, and it is the successor to the Creator Fund. It launched under that name on 18 March 2024, after a year in beta as the Creativity Program. The Creator Fund it replaced closed on 16 December 2023 in the US, UK, France and Germany.
The requirements, from TikTok’s own announcement: aged 18 or over, 10,000 followers, 100,000 views in the last 30 days, a personal account in good standing, and a country where the programme runs. Bloomberg Línea’s report on the Mexico launch in October 2025 put that at eight markets: the US, the UK, Germany, France, Japan, South Korea, Brazil and Mexico. Payment is per qualified view on videos over one minute, weighted by four signals: originality, play duration, search value and audience engagement.
Qualified view is TikTok's phrase, not ours. Views on videos under a minute, and views TikTok's filters reject, do not count. Your dashboard total and your Rewards total will differ.
Our guide to the TikTok Creator Rewards Program covers the payout formula, the quality signals and what creators report earning. If your account is under 10,000 followers, skip ahead to the next section first.
How many followers do you need?
There is no single number; each route has its own. TikTok Shop opens at 500 followers in the UK, LIVE has follower requirements TikTok does not put a number on, and brand deals have no threshold TikTok controls. Creator Rewards, Subscription and Series open at 10,000, though Series takes applications from smaller creators who can show they already sell premium content elsewhere.
Two routes work before you reach 10,000: TikTok Shop from 500 followers in the UK, and LIVE gifts once TikTok lets you go LIVE. Our guide to making money on TikTok with 1,000 followers covers both, with separate guides to TikTok Shop for creators and cashing out TikTok LIVE gifts.
What TikTok keeps from gifts is the open question. Fortune’s report on the BBC’s 2022 investigation found TikTok retained up to 70% of gift value in the BBC’s test; TikTok said its commission was “significantly less” without naming a figure. For what accounts at each size actually report earning, see our guide to TikTok earnings by follower count, and for the cross-platform picture, how much content creators make.
How do UK creators earn?
UK creators have access to all six routes, and the difference from the US is in the details, not a published rate. TikTok has never published a per-view rate for the UK or anywhere else, so any page giving a UK versus US RPM is comparing two guesses. What is documented is which doors are open.
| Route | Confirmed for the UK? | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Creator Rewards Program | Yes | Tubefilter reported the Creativity Program’s expansion to the UK in September 2023; it became Creator Rewards in March 2024 |
| LIVE gifts | Yes | TechCrunch’s December 2021 report listed the UK in the first wave |
| Subscription | Yes, for eligible creators | TikTok’s September 2024 announcement is global, with region-by-region rollout |
| Series | Yes, for eligible creators | TikTok’s June 2023 announcement is global, by application |
| TikTok Shop (affiliate) | Yes | TikTok Shop’s UK creator page: 500 followers, aged 18+ |
| Brand deals | Yes | Set by the brand |
Brand deals are the biggest line for most creators anywhere. Goldman Sachs Research put brand deals at about 70% of creator revenue in April 2023, with platform payouts, subscriptions and fan payments sharing the rest; the same report found about 4% of 50 million creators earn $100,000 or more. How that money is shifting is covered in our guide to the creator economy in 2026.
The route TikTok cannot gate is selling something of your own. A subscription or product sold on your own page needs no follower count and no TikTok approval; our guide to selling digital products online covers what sells and what the platforms charge. The trade-off is that you bring the audience, not the algorithm.
Frequently asked questions
Does TikTok pay per view?
Yes, through the Creator Rewards Program, and only for qualifying videos over one minute long. TikTok’s launch announcement in March 2024 ties the payment to qualified views and to four signals: originality, play duration, search value and audience engagement. Videos under a minute earn nothing from Rewards, whatever their view count.
Can you make money on TikTok with 1,000 followers?
Yes, mainly through TikTok Shop. TikTok’s UK creator page sets the affiliate floor at 500 followers and its US Seller University page at 1,000, and LIVE gifts work once TikTok lets you go LIVE. The Creator Rewards Program needs 10,000, so the per-view route is closed until then.
Is the TikTok Creator Fund still running?
No. Digital Music News reported in November 2023 that the Creator Fund closed on 16 December 2023 in the US, UK, France and Germany, and its replacement, the Creativity Program Beta, was renamed the Creator Rewards Program in March 2024. Any guide still quoting Creator Fund rates is out of date.
Is TikTok monetisation available in the UK?
Yes. The Creator Rewards Program, LIVE gifts, Subscription and Series are all available to eligible UK creators under the announcements this page cites, and TikTok Shop’s UK creator page opens affiliate selling at 500 followers.
How much does TikTok take from LIVE gifts?
TikTok has not published the figure. Fortune’s coverage of a BBC investigation in October 2022 reported that TikTok kept up to 70% of gift value in the BBC’s test, and that TikTok said its commission was significantly less than 70% without giving a number. Treat any precise diamond-to-pound rate you read elsewhere as an estimate.