Creator earnings: where the money goes, and what averages hide
Billions of dollars pass through OnlyFans each year, but platform totals reveal little about an individual creator’s income. This feature explains the published figures, the difference between mean and median earnings, and the limits of a widely quoted 2020 study. It also includes a checklist for assessing earnings claims.
For your own target income and a subscriber calculator, use How much can you really earn on OnlyFans?.
What public totals show (FY2021–FY2024)
OnlyFans is operated by Fenix International Limited (UK company 10354575). Fiscal years end 30 November. The table shows Variety’s reporting for FY2021–FY2024.
OnlyFans hosts many kinds of creator businesses. Treat the figures as platform-wide fan payments and payouts, not as a measure of “adult content only.”
| Fiscal year (ended 30 Nov) | Gross fan payments | Creator payouts | Platform net revenue | Pre-tax profit | Creator accounts | Fan accounts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | $4.8B | $3.86B (reported) | $932M | $433M | 2.16M | 188M |
| 2022 | $5.55B | nearly $4.5B (Variety, approximate) | $1.09B | $525M | 3.18M | 238.8M |
| 2023 | $6.63B | $5.32B (reported) | $1.31B | $658M | 4.12M | 305M |
| 2024 | $7.22B | $5.80B (reported) | $1.41B | $684M | 4.634M | 377.5M |
Reported vs calculated. Variety states creators keep about 80% of fan payments. Applying that rate to FY2024 gross gives $7.22B × 0.80 = $5.776B, which rounds to $5.78B at two decimal places or $5.8B at one. Variety’s article also states $5.80B paid to creators. Treat $5.80B as the press-reported payout and $5.776B as arithmetic on the gross—not as proof that independently confirms the reported total. For FY2022, 80% of $5.55B = $4.44B (calculated); Variety’s prose says creators took home nearly $4.5B (approximate wording, not a precise billion to two decimals).
The account figures count registered accounts at year-end or another stated date. They do not count unique people or establish how many creators were active. Fan accounts are not the same as paying subscribers.
FY2020 context (GBP). Music Ally (May 25, 2021) paraphrased the earlier filing in sterling (£1.7bn fan payments; £283m turnover; £53m pre-tax; more than 1.6M creators; 82.3M fans). Variety later cited $61M pre-tax profit for 2020 when comparing to 2021. Charts below start at FY2021 so the USD series stays consistent.
Download the working series (with source and calculation notes): fenix-onlyfans-annual-series.csv.
USD billions (fiscal year ended 30 Nov)
- 4.82021
- 5.552022
- 6.632023
- 7.222024
| Fiscal year (ended 30 Nov) | USD billions (fiscal year ended 30 Nov) |
|---|---|
| 2021 | 4.8 |
| 2022 | 5.55 |
| 2023 | 6.63 |
| 2024 | 7.22 |
Variety, Aug. 22, 2025 — The $7.22 billion FY2024 gross is from that article. FY2023 ($6.63 billion), FY2022 ($5.55 billion) and FY2021 ($4.8 billion) are from Variety’s earlier year-by-year reports listed in Sources. Fan payments are net of taxes in Variety’s language.
Million creator accounts
- 2.162021
- 3.182022
- 4.122023
- 4.632024
| Fiscal year (ended 30 Nov) | Million creator accounts |
|---|---|
| 2021 | 2.16 |
| 2022 | 3.18 |
| 2023 | 4.12 |
| 2024 | 4.63 |
Variety, Aug. 22, 2025 — The 4.634 million creator accounts for 2024 are from that article. 2023 (4.12 million), 2022 (3.18 million) and 2021 (2.16 million) are from Variety’s earlier year-by-year reports in Sources. These are registered accounts, not a count of active creators.
USD billions paid to creators
- 3.862021
- ~4.52022
- 5.322023
- 5.802024
| Fiscal year (ended 30 Nov) | USD billions paid to creators |
|---|---|
| 2021 | 3.86 |
| 2022 | ~4.5 |
| 2023 | 5.32 |
| 2024 | 5.80 |
Variety, Aug. 22, 2025 — The $5.80 billion 2024 payout is from that article. 2023 ($5.32 billion) is from Variety’s September 6, 2024 report. 2022 is plotted at 4.5 only to match that year’s “nearly $4.5 billion” wording, and 2021 ($3.86 billion) is from Variety’s September 1, 2022 report. Those earlier articles are listed in Sources.
Those accounts still do not publish a platform-wide median, percentile table or “active creators only” earnings breakdown.
What averages hide: the aggregate per-account ratio
If you divide FY2024’s press-reported $5.80 billion paid to creators by 4.634 million year-end creator accounts, you get about $1,251 per account for the year. Dividing that yearly ratio by 12 gives about $104.
USD per year-end creator account (not typical income)
- ~1,7872021
- ~1,4002022
- ~1,2912023
- ~1,2512024
| Fiscal year (ended 30 Nov) | USD per year-end creator account (not typical income) |
|---|---|
| 2021 | ~1,787 |
| 2022 | ~1,400 |
| 2023 | ~1,291 |
| 2024 | ~1,251 |
Calculated from Variety totals — FY2021: $3.86B÷2.16M≈$1,787 (reported payout). FY2022: approximate only (~$1,400)—Variety gave “nearly $4.5B”; 80% of $5.55B gross is $4.44B. FY2023: $5.32B÷4.12M≈$1,291. FY2024: $5.80B÷4.634M≈$1,251 (~$104/month if ÷12).
The FY2022 ratio is an approximate order of magnitude from Variety’s “nearly $4.5B” wording (near $4.44B ÷ 3.18M if you instead use 80% of reported gross). It is not a precise measured average.
That figure is an aggregate ratio—full-year payouts divided by a year-end account stock. It is not observed average monthly earnings for active creators, and it is not a survey median. The arithmetic also does not prove what typical pay is.
The calculation combines a full year of payments with the number of accounts at year-end. Some accounts may have joined partway through the year or earned nothing, and the cited reports do not say how many were inactive.
Press coverage of the 2023 accounts used the same method and described a figure near $1,300 per creator for that year. Celebrity or “top earner” headlines sit at the other extreme: one account’s story is not a distribution.
Mean vs median — interactive illustration
When a few accounts earn much more than most, the mean (total ÷ count) and the median (middle value when sorted) diverge. Adjust the high earner below to see the mean move while the median stays put.
Mean vs median (interactive illustration)
Illustrative example, not OnlyFans data. Nine fictional creators earn $100 each; the highest earner starts at $9,100.
Static example: total $10,000 · mean $1,000 · median $100
- Nine creators
- $100 each
- Highest earner
- $9,100
- Total
- $10,000
- Mean (total ÷ 10)
- $1,000
- Median (middle when sorted)
- $100
What this shows: when one account is far above the rest, the mean rises while the median can stay at $100. What it cannot show: OnlyFans’ real earnings curve, a current platform median, or your expected income.
Nine creators at $100 = $900 (9%). One creator at $9,100 = 91%. Mean $1,000; median $100.
Earnings concentration: what one April 2020 scrape estimated
Public filings still do not publish a current percentile table. The best-known independent attempt remains XSRUS — The Economics of OnlyFans (April 24, 2020). Later websites often repeat its percentages without new primary data. Treat the numbers below as historical sample estimates, not current platform statistics.
| Check | XSRUS (April 2020) |
|---|---|
| Population / sample | About 1,000 scraped OnlyFans account pages |
| Selection | Independent scrape; not established as representative of all accounts |
| Measured vs estimated | Estimated subscription-side revenue (likes-per-post proxy × listed subscription price) |
| Included streams | Subscription-side estimate |
| Missing streams | Tips (and other non-public fields) not in the method |
| Fees / costs | Platform cut discussed in the piece; business costs and personal tax not modeled as a full profit-and-loss statement |
| Other limits | Author noted very high earners (~$100k/month class) were not in the sample |
Within that dated sample:
| Estimate | Figure | Label |
|---|---|---|
| Top 1% share of money in the sample | About 33% | Sample concentration—not an official current statistic |
| Top 10% share | About 73% | Includes the top 1%; not an additional exclusive band |
| Sample median (subscription-side) | About $180 / month | Estimated gross in that method |
| Gini on that sample | About 0.83 | Author’s sample calculation |
Gini here is a 0–1 summary of how uneven the sample’s estimated revenue was (0 would mean equal shares; values near 1 mean a small share of accounts hold most of the money). About 0.83 is highly concentrated within that scrape—not an official OnlyFans metric.
XSRUS also gives a take-home median of about $136, but does not explain how it follows from the $180 figure. Deducting a 20% platform fee from $180 gives $144, so the two figures should not be treated as a consistent before-and-after pair.
The top 1% is included within the top 10%. The chart separates the groups into the top 1%, the next 9% and the remaining 90% so that no group is counted twice.
XSRUS, April 24, 2020 (~1,000 scraped pages; subscription-side estimates) — Top 1% ≈ 33%. Next 9% (rest of top 10%) ≈ 40% (73% − 33%). Remaining 90% ≈ 27%. Historical sample estimates only.
Crowdsourced “top % threshold” posts from later years exist online; several authors later walked back their own math. They are not solid enough to treat as platform fact.
Revenue is not take-home income
The creator’s 80% share is revenue after the platform fee. Business expenses and personal tax still have to be paid. The time spent earning it also matters when assessing whether the work is worthwhile.
One consistent hypothetical (not a forecast):
- Fan payments (gross) — What fans paid for this account
- $1,000
- Platform fee (20%) — Usual Terms of Service split
- −$200
- Creator receipts after fee — 80% share — not yet profit
- $800
- Business costs (example) — Tools, freelancers, props, ads, etc.
- −$250
- Amount before personal tax
- $550
Illustrative only. Cost mix varies widely. Personal tax depends on location and filing status. Active hours are separate: $550 over 10 hours is not the same as $550 over 80 hours.
For target-income math and a subscriber calculator, continue with How much can you really earn on OnlyFans?.
Other platforms — use comparisons carefully
Cross-platform “average creator income” charts often mix incompatible measures:
| Figure type | Typical problem |
|---|---|
| Music royalties per artist | Different rights, catalogs and reporting periods |
| Subscription revenue per account | May count inactive or free accounts in the denominator |
| Surveyed annual income among active creators | Self-selected samples; different platforms and years |
| Platform-wide payout totals | Huge numerators without comparable denominators |
OnlyFans stays the case study here because Fenix publishes (and press reports) a multi-year run of gross payments, payouts, net revenue and account stocks. That does not mean other platforms are smaller or larger on a like-for-like creator-income basis without matching definitions.
How to assess an earnings claim
Ask:
- Which year (or date range)?
- Which creators are counted—all year-end accounts, active posters, or a private sample?
- Mean, median, percentile or anecdote?
- Which revenue streams—subscriptions only, or tips, unlocks and messages too?
- Before or after fees, business costs and personal tax?
- Observed, self-reported or estimated?
- Does the evidence support the headline?
Example claims (labeled illustrations — not quotations from publishers)
Example A — “Creators average about $104 a month”
Assessment: Year = FY2024. Count = year-end creator accounts. Measure = aggregate ratio (payouts ÷ accounts ÷ 12). Streams = all payouts in the total. After fee = yes (payouts); costs/tax = no. Kind = calculated from press totals. Verdict: the division of two public totals is correct as arithmetic. An aggregate ratio does not establish typical monthly pay, and it does not independently prove what typical pay is.
Example B — “The top 1% take about a third of the money”
Assessment: Year = April 2020 scrape. Count ≈ 1,000 sampled pages. Measure = estimated share in that sample. Streams = subscription-side estimate; tips missing. Verdict: fair as a historical sample label; unsupported as a current official OnlyFans statistic.
Example C — “A celebrity made $X million last month, so the platform pays well”
Assessment: Anecdote about one account (often self-reported or press-paraphrased). No population, no median, no cost side. Verdict: a reported celebrity result is an anecdote whose verification must be assessed case by case. Even if the figure is accurate for that account, it does not describe distribution or your expected outcome.
Platform totals, averages, medians and individual success stories answer different questions. Check which measure a headline uses before applying it to your own plans. None guarantees a particular result for your page.
When you are ready to plan numbers for your own page, open the earnings calculator and subscriber table.
Sources and references
- Variety — OnlyFans fiscal 2024 financials (August 22, 2025)
- Variety — OnlyFans fiscal 2023 financials (September 6, 2024)
- Variety — OnlyFans fiscal 2022 financials (August 24, 2023)
- Variety — OnlyFans fiscal 2021 financials (September 1, 2022)
- Music Ally — Fenix FY2020 filing paraphrase (May 25, 2021)
- Fenix International Limited — Companies House filing history
- OnlyFans Terms of Service
- XSRUS — The Economics of OnlyFans (April 24, 2020)