You can’t help but run into “OnlyFans”-related content online, whether it’s an ad, a meme, or a simple post. As the adult entertainment industry gains popularity in countries all over the globe, OnlyFans has been rapidly expanding to meet the needs of its users as a reliable source of income.
But how does this system function in detail? How does OnlyFans make money off of this system, exactly? Let’s address all of your concerns in this context.
How Does OnlyFans Make Money?
OnlyFans generates money online from a variety of sources, including subscription-based business models, a secure communication channel, and live content streams!
Let’s explore each of these revenue sources in more detail and see how they work into OnlyFans’ business model!
Subscription-Based Entertainment
OnlyFans uses a sharp business model when it comes to subscription-based entertainment. Just like the OTT platform like Netflix, Amazon Primes, etc., OnlyFans also has a subscription account model where a user has to pay a fee for watching the content of a creator.
There is a catch here though, not every creator’s content is exclusive on the platform, and while viewers can watch other creators’ videos for free, they have got a subscription plan for just a few of the exclusive content creators on the platform!
This is dependent on the creator on the OnlyFans platform whether they will be streaming their content for free or if they want to charge a monthly subscription fee for their exclusive content!
The company sets the minimum and maximum subscription price, starting at $4.99/per month and increasing to $49.99/per month!
Now for each subscription that an OnlyFans user opts for, the platform takes a 20% cut and transfers the rest 80% to them!
Two-Way Private Communication With Content Creators
A major thing that differentiates OnlyFans from other adult websites is the feature of one-on-one conversations through the direct messages option!
OnlyFans has a premium feature where OnlyFans subscribers can directly communicate with their favorite creators through private messages.
This means the followers get a full-fledged platform and the opportunity to interact with and know personally their favorite OnlyFans content creators! For having these conversations, a user has to take a subscription by paying a certain fee and can reap the advantage!
Exclusive Live Content
Apart from posting photos/videos, creators on OnlyFans can also stream live videos for their fans on the platform.
You must have heard of Instagram and Facebook live, OnlyFans’ live video streaming is pretty much the same. A creator can start a live stream on the platform and their followers can join in and see their performance in real time!
This means fans get to see what their favorite celebrity’s real-life looks like and thus feel more connected to the creator — and this is one of the most striking features that differentiates OnlyFans from other adult platforms!
Revenue, Valuation, Funding
According to Variety, OnlyFans creators made $3.9 billion in 2021, increasing 115% year over year. This shows that the platform’s producers are seriously making some significant cash!
The next logical question is, how much money does OnlyFans make from the website? In any case, OnlyFans reported net revenues of over $380 million in 2020, and was predicted that these revenues would rise by more than 200 percent by the end of 2021, reaching $1.2 billion!
Although it fell short of the planned goal in 2021, it still had a nearly 2.5x rise in income and made over $900 million! — proving how skillfully it has created its revenue model!
According to reports from 2021, OnlyFans has a valuation of $1 billion, making it a member of the billion-dollar valuation club and supporting its status as “one of the most financially successful British startups in recent years.”
When it comes to the financial side of things, OnlyFans is different from its top competitors in this aspect. OnlyFans is unique in that it has no funding history because it hasn’t yet sought out investors. So as of now, there’s no data relating to its funding!
A Short History Of OnlyFans
Since it was established in London in 2016, OnlyFans has grown to be a very successful social media platform site for influencers and celebrities — giving them a new platform to interact with their fans!
The success of the adult entertainment market has been consistent since its inception in the 1800s. OnlyFans is only a fresh take on the same old thing.
Even though the platform has received a lot of criticism for its explicit content, it still has been able to capture the attention of millions of people over the years!
In fact, the year 2020 proved to be a busy one for the business. With 7.5 million members before the pandemic, this content creation site saw a 75% rise in new user and creator accounts between March 2020 and April 2020.
After Beyoncé’s startling plug for OnlyFans in the “Savage” remix by Megan Thee Stallion in April 2020, the site reportedly saw “approximately 200,000 new users every 24 hours and 7,000 to 8,000 new creators joining every day!”
OnlyFans became more well-known and approachable to content makers after the launch of OFTV, an app and streaming site that featured a library of its safe-for-work content, in 2021.
One common criticism leveled at OnlyFans is that only 1% of creators on the site earn 33 % of revenue generated on the platform. Many micro content creators are anxious about the future of their platform income given that so many major celebrities have taken over the site.
Despite these claims and criticisms, OnlyFans has helped normalize the sexual aspect of social media, and the site presently boasts over 150,000,000 registered members and 1,500,000 content creators, placing it among the top 10 most inventive social media companies.
Competitors of OnlyFans
OnlyFans isn’t the only game in town when it comes to adult content creation platforms. Meaning, OnlyFans isn’t the only successful platform out there; numerous other platforms are flourishing and are posing a serious threat to OnlyFans!
Let’s take a look at OnlyFans’ top five rivals below:
1. Fansly
Fansly is the rival to OnlyFans that most closely resembles the service that OnlyFans offers. It’s another subscription website that supports quality content creators in growing a network of paying subscribers!
2. MYM.fans
MYM.fans (Meet Your Model) functions similarly to other adult content platforms, allowing creators to add content behind a paywall that users access through a subscription. It is called as the twin brother of OnlyFans.
3. Fanvue
Fanvue, a website for content creators based in the UK, strives to be the best choice for anyone looking to monetize their content. It does not advertise itself as an adult website, but rather as a platform for all types of creators, including gamers, authors, chefs, athletes, and those who produce adult content!
4. Unfiltrd
According to users, this platform has a better ranking than Onlyfans. With its excellent user interface and additional features that add an extra layer of creativity to the platform, it is currently a favorite among creators.
We can say with certainty that the company has some really smart people working for it now that we are familiar with every aspect of OnlyFan’s business model, and we can only hope that these numbers will increase in the near future.