Which Social Media Platform Pays Content Creators the Most?
In 2025, content creators aren’t just doing it for fun—they’re social media managers and entrepreneurs who live and breathe the content game. But with so many platforms available, and new ones appearing almost every day, one burning question remains: Which social media platform pays content creators the most? We’ll take a deep dive into social media monetization later in the article, but for now, let’s get straight to it.
The Quick Answer
With its Creator Fund, live virtual gifts, and sponsored brand partnerships all incorporated into the platform, TikTok is the number 1 earner for creators. YouTube is also often listed as the platform that pays the most due to its greater number of high-earning creators. However, the longer, more boring answer is your earnings as a social media content creator depend on many factors. The marriage between the platform and the type of content is one of the most important. If you’re thinking about how to earn money for your social media content, you need to consider this and other factors like your target audience, the purpose of your content, and how each platform pays creators.
What is The Best Way To Make Money on Social Media?
That’s an easy one, make quality content! That’s it. There are many social media monetization methods, as you’ll see later in this article, but all of them depend on creating quality content that your followers engage with.
Analyzing your social media content performance is the key to keeping your audience interested, and that’s what Metricool is here for.
How Top Social Media Platforms Pay Creators
Each social media platform has many ways of paying creators for their content. Some involve sharing advertising revenue, while others allow your audience to pay you directly through gifts or donations. Platforms combine these methods to form unique payment models. Let’s look at the social media content creator earning models of today’s top platforms.
YouTube Partner Program (YPP)
YouTube’s Partner Program allows creators with over 1000 subscribers to earn directly from ads, memberships, and more. YouTube claims to have “paid more than $70 Billion to creators artists, and media companies from 2021 to 2023”. Here is the full list of ways to make money through YPP.
- AdSense Revenue: Most Youtubers earn money by allowing YouTube to display ads on their videos. YouTube then shares a percentage of ad revenue based on RPM (Revenue Per Mille), a metric that calculates earnings per 1,000 views. RPM varies depending on the country, content length, and topic, but according to analyzify.com, the average RPM in 2024 was $3 for long-form videos and $0.05 for YouTube shorts.
- Super Chats & Stickers: Super chats and stickers allow your audience to pay to have their messages or animations displayed in the live chat of your video. The viewer decides how much they want to pay (from $1 to $500), and creators receive 70% (before taxes).
- Super Thanks: While Super Chats are for live videos and premiers, Super Thanks are available for regular video plays. Apart from that Super Thanks are similar, allowing viewers to pay for their comments and animations to be highlighted.
- Channel Memberships: Youtube channel memberships allow you to offer exclusive content and features to members who choose to pay monthly. You can create different membership tiers and you’re free to decide prices and offerings of each level.
- YouTube Shopping: Youtube Shopping allows creators to sell products through their content. You can tag your products in your videos or pin them to livestreams.
- YouTube BrandConnect: This option allows you to find brand partners to collaborate with on content. With BrandConnect, Google finds brands that share characteristics with yours and highlights them to you, then it’s up to you to build the bridge!
Instagram’s Creators Lab, which is an excellent resource for creator best practices, currently lists 5 different ways you can monetize on the platform:
- Creator Marketplace: Like YouTube BrandConnect, Instagram Creator Marketplace connects creators with brands. This allows you earn money by highlighting brands you love through your content and sharing them with your followers. If you have a creator account, you can add up to 10 branded content interests to your profile, so potential brand partners can find you.
- Badges: If you regularly go live on Instagram and attract a lot of viewers, badges are a great earning option for you. During your live video, Viewers can show their support by purchasing badges that appear as hearts in the live chat. Badge prices range from $0.99 to $4.99.
- Gifts: Instagram gifts are only available for Reels. They’re virtual tokens of appreciation that fans can buy to support your content. Instagram has different gift options to choose from with creators receiving $0.01 per star.
- Bonuses: Instagram is currently testing an invite-only bonus scheme in the United States and South Korea. Invited business and creator accounts are offered a limited-time bonus for up to 150 pieces of content. This scheme aims to reward your creativity, more views = a bigger bonus.
- Subscriptions: If you’ve got a loyal following that loves engaging with your content, subscriptions are a great regular income stream. Subscriptions allow you to set your own prices for exclusive content. You can create subscriber lives, stories, chats, posts, reels and subscriber promotions.
The Creators Lab encourages you to make the most of Instagram monetization by asking other creators for advice on how to price your work, valuing your content accordingly and using your earnings to create more.
TikTok
One of the reasons TikTok is the highest-earning platform for creators is that there are so many different ways to earn. Here are 5 of the best ways:
- TikTok Creator Rewards Program: This program rewards eligible creators for producing engaging content with a formula based on four points; originality, play duration, engagement, and search value. So, you can earn money directly from TikTok by consistently creating high-quality, trending videos that captivate viewers.
- Live Gifts and Tips: You can also earn money on TikTok during live streams through virtual gifts and direct tips from viewers. Fans can purchase and send virtual gifts, which creators can convert into real earnings. This method provides an interactive way for you to engage with your audience.
- TikTok Shop: Through TikTok Shop you can sell products directly within the app. Through shoppable videos, livestreams, and storefronts, users can browse and purchase items without leaving your content. You can also earn commissions by promoting affiliate products, making it a lucrative opportunity for influencers and entrepreneurs.
- TikTok Creator Marketplace: This is TikTok’s official platform for brand collaborations, connecting creators with businesses looking for influencer marketing opportunities. Brands can find suitable influencers based on their audience demographics, engagement metrics, and content style, allowing creators to secure paid partnerships and sponsorship deals.
- Subscriptions: TikTok offers a subscription model where fans can pay a monthly fee to support their favorite creators. You can provide subscribers with exclusive perks like special badges, content, and direct interactions.
Check out all of the TikTok Monetisation options with the link below.
You need to meet Meta’s criteria if you want to include ads in your Facebook videos, like having at least 10,000 followers on your page. Follow these steps to see if your page is eligible for monetization on Facebook.
- Log into Meta Business Suite
- Select Facebook
- Select Monetization.
- View page eligibility
Here are the main ways you can monetize on Facebook:
- Video Ads: Similar to YouTube, creators can earn from ads shown before, during or after their Facebook videos. Your ad revenue will depend on views, comments, likes, and the type of ad.
- Fan Subscriptions: Earn steady monthly revenue with a Facebook subscription model. Offer member-only content and benefits to your followers and build a closer-knit and more dedicated community
- Brand Collaborations: Through Facebook’s Brand Collabs Manager, you can connect with businesses looking for influencer partnerships. This platform can help you secure sponsored content deals, and monetize your audience by promoting products and services.
- Live Video Stars: Like other social media platforms with live video streaming, Facebook’s Live Stars system lets viewers buy and send virtual Stars to creators during live streams. Each Star translates into earnings for the creator, incentivizing engaging, high-quality live content. You will earn $0.01 for each star you receive, and they are available for live streams, videos, reels, photos, and regular posts.
Twitch
With the platform’s focus on its primary niche, gaming, Twitch has many monetization methods that you can take advantage of. Here are the main ones:
- Subscriptions: There are 3 different subscription options you can offer your followers:
- Subs – A normal subscription where views play from $4.99 to $24.99 a month for access to exclusive benefits that you can decide and change as you wish.
- Gifted Subs – Twitch viewers also have the option to gift a subscription to another user. This often works as a gateway to your content, allowing your fans to help bring in more viewers.
- Prime Gaming – Amazon Prime subscribers receive one free Twitch channel subscription per month, which they can use to support your content.
- Bits: Bits are animated emotes that your viewers purchase to show their support for your content during live streams. As a creator, you receive $0.01 per Bit.
- Sponsorships: These are brand collaboration opportunities that allow you to earn money by promoting something for a third party. Twitch doesn’t currently have a marketplace for brands to easily find you, so don’t be afraid to do some outreach to find the right partners for your content.
- Ads: Twitch allows you to create your own ads in collaboration with your sponsors and decide where to include them in your videos. This gives you the freedom to strategically place ads and ensure the best viewing experience for your followers. The suggested guidelines include not front or back-loading your ads, running shorter ad breaks with no more than 1 minute of ads per hour, and having 15 minutes between ad breaks.
Snapchat
Snapchat’s Creator Hub lists the following ways to make money on the platform:
- Revenue Share Programme: Snapchat rewards creators for content shared on stories with the Revenue Share Programme. To be eligible you must have more than 50,000 followers, post consistently (25 times per month), and achieve one of Snapchat’s engagement benchmarks relating to views or view time.
- Paid Partnerships: You can also post sponsored content on Snapchat as long as you include a “Paid Partnership” label on your picture or video. If you have achieved Snap Star status (lucky you!), you can opt into sharing your profile metrics with Snap’s brand partners to attract more potential sponsors. You can find this option in the app’s profile settings.
X (Twitter)
X’s current position in the social media landscape is certainly up for debate, thanks to recent polarizing changes. One thing that can’t be debated is that many creators are making money on this platform, here’s how:
- Amplify Preroll: With this option, you can allow X to run ads before your video content and receive a share of the revenue. When you opt-in, X works with brands to align their ads with content that matches their brand.
- Amplify Sponsorships: Also for video content, Amplify sponsorships allow you to find your own sponsors and include their ads in your content.
- Super Follows: Super Follows is X’s subscription model, which allows you to set your own monthly prices, from $2.99 to $9.99.
- Tips: Creators can also receive Tips from fans through third-party payment apps. Many creators love this method as you receive 100% of all Tip earnings.
LinkedIn doesn’t currently offer direct monetization through the platform. However, as it is a professional social network, you can still make money via LinkedIn, if not on the platform itself.
- Professional Content Partnerships: Great for industry leaders and professionals sharing insightful content.
- Services Marketplace: You can offer your professional services on Linkedin by advertising on the Services Marketplace.
- LinkedIn Learning: If you’re an expert in a professional field you can create courses for sale on Linkedin Learning.
How to Maximize Your Earnings on Social Media
Consistency and Quality Content
Regular, high-quality content builds trust and audience loyalty. Whether you want to earn directly through your content or attract brand sponsors, consistent quality content is your gateway to unlimited earnings!
The best way to be sure that your content is hitting the mark is to analyze it. Metricool offers analytics for your social media content across all major platforms with a FREE account. You can measure your clicks, views, impressions and interactions in one dashboard, which you can then use to tweak your content strategy until it works.
Make Platform-Appropriate Content
Make sure the content you’re posting is a good fit for the platform you’ve chosen. Different social media platforms have different audiences and tendencies so it’s important that your content matches. For example, Snapchat has a younger audience, so content is generally fun and lighthearted, whereas LinkedIn content usually has a more professional focus (it can still be fun, everybody likes fun!). So don’t be afraid to adapt your content ideas for each platform for maximum engagement and earnings.
Engage with Your Audience
Active interaction has been proven to increase retention and growth on social media. Creating a strong relationship with your followers is a great way to show brand partners how impactful your content is, and how willing your audience is to actively participate, which is perfect for ads. If you receive tips and donations during live streams, don’t forget to say thank you!
Be Transparent with Your Audience
Every social media platform that offers monetization lists transparency as one of the terms and conditions for creators to follow. Even if they didn’t community is all about trust, so be honest with your audience and let them know when you’ve been paid to promote something.
Don’t Be Afraid to Ask
While some people are still “faking it till they make it” on social media, the most successful creators are the ones who keep it real. If you want your followers to give you money, asking directly is the most effective way to make that clear. Just don’t overdo it by being too pushy or shaming followers who don’t donate, subtle reminders work best.
Diversify your Income Streams
Whichever platforms you choose for monetization, don’t limit the number of ways you can make money. Keep your options open by combining the different models to maximize your earning potential.
The Final Word
While YouTube often leads in ad revenue, platforms like Instagram and TikTok offer massive potential through brand deals. Ultimately, the best-paying platform depends on your content, audience, and strategy. So, if you’re thinking about how to monetize your social media, your question shouldn’t be, “Which platform pays the most for views?” Instead, ask yourself how you can make the most of the different monetization options on your favorite platforms.
