How to Make Money on Fansly: A Step-by-Step Plan

Yes, you can make money on Fansly. You earn from subscription tiers, locked media, tips and paid messages, and Fansly says creators keep 80% of that revenue. How much you'll make is a different question, and nobody can honestly answer it with a number, because Fansly doesn't publish creator earnings.

What you can control is your setup. This guide covers the ways Fansly lets you earn, in the order I'd set them up, using Fansly's own help centre as of October 2026. When I onboarded creators onto agency rosters, "how much will I make?" always came first. The useful answer always started with setup.

New to the platform? Start with what Fansly is and how it works.

How much can you make on Fansly?

There's no reliable public figure. Fansly doesn't publish creator earnings data. Its leaderboard FAQ hides amounts too, saying "Only your ranking will be shown". Income figures you find elsewhere online aren't backed by Fansly's own data, so treat them with caution.

What Fansly does publish are price limits. They set the range each sale can fall in, as of October 2026:

Fansly's locked media guide says "anywhere between $1 and $500", so treat the media ceiling as about $500.

How much does Fansly pay creators?

Fansly pays you 80% on four revenue types. Its getting-started guide says creators receive 80% of revenue from subscriptions, sold media, messages and tips. A $10 subscription pays you $8, and a $25 locked post pays you $20.

That rate only covers those four. Your Statistics page splits earnings into eight types: Tips, Media, Locked Text, Subscriptions, Media Sets, Referrals, Leaderboard Prize Money and Stream Tickets. Fansly doesn't publish a split for locked text, media sets or live streams, and referrals and leaderboard prizes follow their own rules (see Step 8).

New earnings stay pending for 7 days, and payout minimums run from $20 to $100 by method. Our breakdown of Fansly's fees and payout percentage has the full math.

Step 1: Set up your subscription tiers

Tiers are your recurring income, so build them first. Fansly lists subscriptions as one of its three core ways to earn, along with tips and locked content. You can switch methods at any time.

You can run several tiers, each priced from $5 to $499.99 a month. Fansly says tier benefits can include post access, discounts and "custom requests". You can change a tier's price anytime under Creator Dashboard > Plans/Promos. Fansly doesn't say how a change affects existing subscribers, so check before you reprice a busy tier.

When a fan switches tier, the change applies immediately at the new tier's full price, with no proration. If you offer custom requests, deliver on time. Fansly can refund the fan when custom content isn't delivered within 2 weeks, or within the time you agreed.

Add multi-month discounts and promotions

Fansly's discount guide describes two tier-level discounts:

• Multi-month discounts: "You can offer discounts for 2-, 3-, or 6-month subscriptions", at up to 50% off. Fansly's own example is 15% off a 3-month plan.
• Promotions: a message plus a discounted price, with start and end dates. Your followers are notified.

Promotions can exclude expired subscribers or fans who've already used a promotion. Turn that on when you want a promo to win new fans rather than reward people for lapsing.

Step 2: Create discount links and free trials

Subscription Discount links are your promo tool. Each one offers a special rate, "or even free!", with optional maximum redemptions and start and end dates. That's how trials work: Fansly allows free trials with no preset length, but free lifetime subscriptions "aren't an option right now".

Know the limits before you share a link. The same user can't redeem the same discount twice, though you can create new links. You also can't redeem your own.

Pair each promo with a tracking link, which reports Claims, Follows, Subscriptions and Revenue. Fansly's social media advice is to include a direct Fansly link and check each platform's terms first. Our guide to tracking promo ROI with free trial links shows the full workflow.

Step 3: Sell locked media (PPV)

Fansly calls locked media "one of the most effective ways to earn money on Fansly". According to its locked media guide, you can sell it in posts or DMs.

To price an item, use the "Add Price" permission. It unlocks automatically once a fan pays. Permissions can also be combined, so one item can carry different prices for different fans. Fansly's own example prices the same item at $5 for subscribers and $30 for non-subscribers. That rewards your subscribers and gives followers a reason to subscribe.

PPV posts can sit on your walls, be pinned or go out with "Post to FYP". To appear on the For You Page, locked media needs a free preview. Fansly's locked media stats show Total Sales, Total Sales Value and Pending Sales Value.

Reuse offers with Copied Media Offers

Copied Media Offers are exact replicas of an offer, purchase history included. Change the price or permissions once and it applies everywhere. Fans who already bought it see it as purchased wherever it appears.

Lock text posts too

Text can earn as well. A locked text post can require a subscription, a tip or a set price. Fansly doesn't list price limits for it, and its 80% wording doesn't name it.

Step 4: Turn on tips and build a tip menu

Tips need almost no setup. The Tip button sits on every creator profile and can't be removed. Fans can tip $0.10 to $500 on posts, in DMs and during live streams. Tip goals can show progress as a percentage only, if you'd rather keep the target private. Tips appear under Earnings Wallet > Wallet History.

The bigger win is a tip menu. Fansly's automated messages include a "New Tip" trigger, matched by keyword or amount, and Fansly says that's how you create tipping menus. For example, a tip of a set amount can trigger a message carrying the item it pays for. List your menu prices in your bio or a pinned post so fans know what each amount gets them.

Step 5: Charge for DMs and automate your welcome

DMs earn in two ways: access and content. With DM permissions, you choose who can message you: everyone, followers only or custom lists. Fansly's examples include subscribers only, a follower who tips $1 per message, or a follower who has spent at least $50 on PPV.

Inside chats, you can also send locked media. Automated messages cover the routine moments. Triggers include New follower, New subscriber, Gift link subscriber and Subscription renewal per tier. Each can have a delay and cooldown, and can carry text, media, locked text or voice notes.

Start with the welcome message. A New subscriber message with a locked offer reaches new subscribers automatically. Our guide to automating your welcome funnel covers it step by step. For your biggest spenders, VIP status routes their messages to a dedicated inbox, so they don't get lost.

Step 6: Send mass messages to the right segments

Mass messages let you target subscribers (all or specific tiers), expired subscribers, followers or custom lists, with exclusions. You can schedule them in your own time zone and include locked text and voice notes.

One detail affects your numbers: mass messages aren't sent to users who've been inactive recently. If a send reaches fewer fans than your list holds, that's a likely reason.

Expired subscribers deserve their own segment, since they've already subscribed once. Pair a message to them with a promotion or a fresh discount link. Our churn prevention playbook shows how to time it.

Step 7: Go live with gated chat

Live streams add their own earning options. According to Fansly's live monetization guide, you can gate chat by price per message, tipped access, subscribers only, past media buyers or private lists. You can also set stream goals with an "Amount to Raise".

Your streaming settings can limit viewing to "Viewers who have tipped or purchased media", and Revenue Statistics show your Stream Revenue. Fansly doesn't publish its split for live revenue.

Two rules apply. Streams must be genuinely live, with no pre-recorded video, even if disclosed. You also need the rights to any third-party music or game footage.

Step 8: Add referrals and leaderboard prizes

These two sit on top of your core income. They're worth setting up, but don't plan around them.

Fansly referral program rates

You create referral codes for fans, creators or both from the Referrals section, and links run through fansly.com/affiliates. Fansly's referral program page says you earn a percentage of referred users' revenue. Its referral code page gives the rates as of October 2026:

• Fan referrals: 1% of their purchases for the first 90 days.
• Creator referrals: 5% of their sales for the first year, then 1.5%.

A creator can only be referred before they finish their application, so share your code early. Fansly doesn't say whether "sales" means gross or net.

Leaderboard prizes

The leaderboard ranks creators by "total revenue earned during the contest period". The top 500 show publicly, and you'll see your private rank if you're in the top 1,000. Rankings update every 15 minutes, and prize amounts are displayed.

The top 500 get badges, and the top 3 get a custom badge. Fansly's September 2026 contest ran September 1 to 30 (PST), and Fansly said prizes would be credited on October 8, 2026. Check the FAQ for current contest dates rather than assuming a fixed schedule.

Which Fansly earnings metrics should you watch?

Three numbers tell you whether your setup works: refund rate, renewal rate and average per paying fan. All three live on Fansly's Statistics page, a beta feature new in September 2026. You can compare 7, 30 or 90 days, or a custom range, against the previous period.

Also watch Expired Subscriptions, New Paying Fans and Average per Purchase. Compare Gross, "the total amount fans paid", with Earnings, your net "after Fansly's share and any refunds".

Refunds deserve a closer look. Fansly can refund fans itself for undelivered custom content, a creator inactive for 6 months or more, or offers that weren't clear. All three are in your hands.

Does Fansly withhold taxes?

Fansly doesn't withhold taxes, so set money aside from your first payout. US creators get one consolidated Form 1099-NEC per taxpayer ID. Fansly's page says this applies over $600, while the IRS threshold is $2,000 for payments made after 2025. This is general information only, so check your situation with an accountant.

What if you manage more than one creator?

Every step above multiplies across a roster. Start with access: Management Sessions let your team work on an account without the creator sharing their login, and payouts always stay restricted.

Then come the repetitive jobs. Our Fansly API, an independent tool, works with the creator accounts you connect. These endpoints map to the steps in this guide:

• Send Post handles pricing and gating: requirePurchase with price, requireSubscription, subscriptionTierId, requireFollow and previews. fypFlags set to 0 puts an eligible post on the FYP, and 4 keeps it off.
• Send Chat Message takes the same pricing fields for locked media in DMs.
• Send Mass Message supports scheduledFor and requires a groupId, which you can reuse from List Scheduled Mass Messages. Update Scheduled Mass Message and Cancel Scheduled Mass Message handle changes.
• Create Subscription Discount, which Fansly's dashboard shows as "Gift Links", takes plan_id, price, duration, max_uses, new_subscribers_only, starts_at and ends_at.
• Create Tracking Link and Get Tracking Link Revenue Stats compare promos across creators.
• List Top Supporters shows your best fans. Get Earnings Stats and Get Pending Earnings cover revenue by type and the 7-day pending window.

Mind the caveats. Price units differ between the Send Post, Send Mass Message and discount docs, so check each page first. Create Subscription Discount makes discount links, not multi-month plans or promotions. The API docs don't cover locked text, live streams, tip goals, automated-message triggers, referrals or the leaderboard.

The full list lives in the API documentation. Fansly's AI policy prohibits AI interacting with fans without human oversight. Keep a person writing or approving every message fans read.

Where should you start?

Pick one step per week and finish it before moving on:

1. Tiers first. Price them, add a multi-month discount and decide what each tier includes.
2. Then promos. Create a discount link with a matching tracking link.
3. Then one-off sales. Post locked media with a free preview, and set up a tip menu.
4. Then messaging. Write your welcome message and plan your first mass message segments.

Fansly can't tell you what you'll earn, and nor can anyone else. A complete setup and a monthly look at your Statistics page will tell you far more than any income estimate.