How Does OnlyFans Work For Viewers?

If you’ve only ever used OnlyFans as a content creator, then you’re missing out on some important perspective. The vast majority of people who use OnlyFans are viewers or users (fans), and it’s these people you’re trying to win over.

It’s important to get an understanding of how OnlyFans works for viewers – what does it look like, what options do they have, how does it differ between PC and mobile etc.

So we’ve put together this guide – and whether you’re a creator looking to get some insight, or you’re a potential OnlyFans viewer yourself who just wants to understand the site more before you sign up, we’ve got you covered.

What Does The Main OnlyFans Page Look Like For Viewers?

Let’s start with the basics – what does the OnlyFans website look like for viewers once they’ve signed up? There are a lot of elements onscreen, so let’s quickly break them all down.

Menu

The menu is one of the first things OnlyFans viewers see on PC, but on mobile, it’s hidden behind a button. This includes all the key links to different parts of the platform, including messages, notifications, and settings.

In the messages menu, OnlyFans subscribers will be able to view individual chat windows. Bear in mind that most creators will send out automated messages all the time, so you have to try to be engaging if you want to stand out because they will often have a flood of notifications of new messages that are all automatically generated.

Stories

OnlyFans has a stories feature, similar to what you’d find on Instagram and Facebook these days. Creators can post stories to appear right at the top of the page for fans – but these will be short clips or single images, rather than the best content.

Notifications

Right below the stories, there’ll be any key notifications, such as whether a subscription has expired or if OnlyFans needs to notify the viewer of something, such as a Privacy Policy change.

Feed

The Feed is the main part of the page and that’s what most viewers will be focusing on. Here, OnlyFans users can see all of the collated content from the creators they subscribe to, in date order. It can include photo galleries, videos, GIFs and simple text updates.

Suggestions

Suggestions sit on the right side of the screen on desktop – on mobile, it’s hidden. Here, OnlyFans subs will be shown a set of tiles linking to other creators that they might be interested in. The algorithm for this isn’t the best – in our experience, the creators aren’t really similar to those that users already subscribe to. Instead, it just tends to be creators who post good quality content and engage with their fans a lot.

Expired Subscriptions

Below the Suggestions section on the desktop, there’s a section for expired subscriptions. Here, any creators that the fan has previously subscribed to will be shown, in case they want to reactivate their subscription. This section will also be populated with other creators too if the user hasn’t unsubscribed from many accounts.

What Does A Creator Page Look Like For OnlyFans Viewers?

Not every OnlyFans subscriber sticks to their feed. They may prefer to spend more time on individual creators’ pages, and just view their content instead of seeing photos and videos from lots of creators at once. So, it’s also good to understand how your creator page appears to them.

Menu

Again, the menu will be displayed on the left-hand side of the screen on desktop. It’s the same menu, it isn’t contextual.

Header & Profile Pic

The first thing viewers are likely to see is your header image and profile pic. They aren’t huge, even on desktop, but it still makes sense to make sure you have good quality images here to make it look like you care for your page.

Bio

Below the header will be your Bio. Writing a killer bio is important if you want to attract new fans and retain subscriptions – it’s not just about getting across your personality and building connections, but it’s also key for explaining to OnlyFans viewers exactly what kind of content you offer (and what you don’t), so that people don’t sign up and then feel like they’re not getting what was promised.

Social Links

You have the option to set up your social links to sit on your creator page. This is a useful way of getting your fans to follow you across all your channels, so you can keep them updated even when they aren’t using the OnlyFans platform.

Stories

Underneath the Social Links will be any Stories you’ve recently posted. Most people visiting your page are coming for your main content though – Stories are designed more to attract people on their feed.

Subscription Status

Visitors can see their subscription status underneath your stories, including any special offers underneath to encourage them to commit to a longer term subscription if you offer that option.

Posts & Media

Directly under the subscription status, visitors can see all your content. It’ll be arranged as a one-person feed, but there are a crucial couple of elements to point out.

Firstly, they can switch between looking at the posts or just viewing the media – cutting out the messages you posted with it, and just showing photos and galleries in a grid view. This makes it easier for anyone who is just in the mood to see your content, without the commentary, to get straight to the ‘good stuff’.

You can also assign categories to your content, and visitors can filter the content here. So, if you post different types of content, this helps to keep it organized so that users can easily find what they’re looking for.

Recent Posts

On the top-right of the desktop view, viewers can check out the recent media you’ve added, with the top highlights. Underneath here it will also show the ‘Things You Like’ if you’ve set this up, which you can use to reveal more of your personality or tease people to buy you gifts.

Friends

If you have any friend accounts on OnlyFans, these will also appear on this page. Most creators use this feature if they have separate free and paid accounts, to link between them.

What Information Can Viewers See Under Posts?

Your content works similarly to many social media networks – people can like it or comment on it, and they can send you a tip on any post if they want to thank you for it.

OnlyFans viewers can see all of this – they can see how many likes each post has (though they can’t click on it to see who has liked it), and they can read all the comments – including seeing the usernames of the people who’ve left those comments.

They can also see how much you’ve made in tips from each post. This has pros and cons – if a post has already earned you a lot, then they might be less inclined to chip in. But if you’ve posted something sexy and nobody has thanked you with a tip, they might be more willing to do so.

How Do OnlyFans Viewers Find Accounts To Follow?

One of the biggest issues that OnlyFans fans have is finding new accounts to follow because OnlyFans doesn’t make it easy.

As a creator, you shouldn’t expect people to stumble across your OnlyFans and sign up to subscribe. You’re going to have to give them a direct link – which is why it’s so important to promote yourself across social media, to build your audience and help them find your OnlyFans page.

OnlyFans does have the Suggestions section of the site but it’s extremely difficult to break into this, even if you’re doing all the right things. And there’s no guarantee that your content will actually be shown to people who are your target audience even if you do get a boost from the algorithm.

So, what are your options?

You could try a different platform instead. Some of the OnlyFans alternatives have much better options for viewers to browse profiles and search for people who might interest them. It’s worth doing your research before you commit to a platform because you might find that one of those alternatives is a better fit.

You also want to make sure you have a memorable username, something that’s easy for people to search for and find. You of course still need to raise enough awareness that people want to search for you, but having a memorable ‘personal brand’ will at least make it easier for people to search for you once they know of you.

The best way to get found by OnlyFans viewers – and the best way for OnlyFans viewers to find exciting new people to follow – is to use a service like Follower Find. Our tool helps to put creators and OnlyFans viewers (fans) together, so it’s effortless for casual users to search for and find the types of creators that they’re most interested in.

What Payment Options Can OnlyFans Viewers Use?

The payment options that OnlyFans viewers can use depend on their home country, but it typically needs to be a debit or credit card account, or at least a virtual prepaid card. Gift cards and PayPal are not accepted. Users need to have at least one active payment method on their account in order to be able to subscribe to creators with a paid subscription, buy PPV content, or pay for direct messages with any creator who charges for them.

How Do OnlyFans Users Manage Subscriptions?

OnlyFans subscribers can manage their subscriptions through a dedicated page, which lets them switch between active subscriptions, expired subscriptions (for free trials, or where they have paid for a set number of months), and ‘Attention required’ subscriptions, AKA cancelled subscriptions that can be renewed.

Managing subscriptions is kept easy. Paid subscriptions do auto-renew but they can be cancelled at any time, and the viewer can still access your content whenever they want throughout the rest of their paid billing period. Access isn’t denied as soon as they cancel – if they’ve paid for a month, they’ll get a month regardless.

Read our guide on OnlyFans auto-renewals for tips on how to get your subscribers to leave auto-renew active.

Do OnlyFans Users Have To Follow Certain Rules?

OnlyFans users do have to agree to the OnlyFans Terms of Service when they sign up to the website. If they break these terms, they can be kicked off the site, even if it means they lose access to content they have paid for.

The rules are pretty clear and obvious. OnlyFans viewers cannot:

• Be abusive to creators or other users in any way
• Ask for illegal content, or send illegal content to creators
• Steal content from creators, or attempt to blackmail them in any way
• Be underage – OnlyFans users must be an adult in their country

There are other, very specific rules but as a guide, use common sense. OnlyFans users should be respectful and keep all content requests to legal areas.

How To Stand Out On An OnlyFans Viewer’s Feed

OnlyFans viewers may subscribe to a number of different creators, especially since there are many who offer free accounts (either to sell PPV content or to advertise their secondary, paid account). It’s important to make sure you stand out so that your subscribers want to keep paying you.

Quality Content

Make sure the content you’re producing is good quality. Don’t post anything blurry or that looks lazy. It doesn’t have to be super-professional if you’re trying to have an amateur angle, but if it looks dim, badly lit (check out these ring lights), or the sound is rubbish then viewers are more likely to scroll on and find something else to interest them.

Use GIFs

GIFs are a really handy way to stand out on a feed because they’re the only thing that will be automatically animated. Videos only show a play button, but if you can have some sexy GIFs then you’ll easily stand out amongst a crowded feed of photos and thumbnails.

Think About Your Opening Frame

Thumbnails or opening video frames are key because they’re prominent on a feed. Unless you manually set a different opening frame, your video will appear with the first shot of it on everyone’s feed, so make sure it’s something tantalizing, that makes people stop and want to click to watch.

Extreme Close Ups

Extreme close-ups of your body parts are visually very striking – using the occasional one can stand out from the typical full-length or upper body shots that most creators will be posting.

Other Tips For Creators

There are a few other tips that you should follow as an OnlyFans creator if you want to be as successful as possible, related to the viewer experience.

Find a Balance with Frequency

You naturally want to make sure that your subscription offers value for money, so it’s important to post to your feed fairly regularly. However, the quality is important too, and if you post the same old stuff way too often, you’re at risk of over-exposure, and your fans might get bored, or annoyed that you’re completely dominating their feed.

Post regularly, but don’t post so frequently that you’re the only creator your fans see. Many fans like the variety of subscribing to different people.

Spend Time as a Viewer

If you haven’t already, you need to get into the mindset of an OnlyFans viewer by becoming one. Subscribe to other creators (even if it’s just the free ones) and see what they’re doing that’s good, what’s bad, and what you can adapt for your own fans.

This is the best way to take a step back and see the bigger picture of how your own content might be coming across and will ensure you can give your OnlyFans viewers the best experience.

Avoid Spammy Content

Adding captions and commentary to your posts can help to build a connection between you and your fans, especially if you’re offering a bit of insight into your day or how you’re feeling.

Using those same captions to constantly push for tips or for bigger subscription bundles will become super-spammy, and will just annoy your subscribers.

The occasional ‘sale’ talk, or request for a treat, can work well when done correctly. But make sure your account doesn’t come across as a salesperson just desperate for money.

In Summary

Understanding how OnlyFans works for viewers can really help you make the best of your own creator account, so that you serve up the content that your viewers want to see and you tailor your profile to suit their needs.

Try some different things, and see what works, but put yourself in the mind of a viewer who has multiple subscriptions to different people – think about how you can make their life easier by categorizing your content, how you can make sure you stand out on their feed and offer something unique, and how you can ensure you are engaging with your comment replies and messages.