Making money on OnlyFans: tacky or not?

The British subscription platform OnlyFans is more popular than ever with nearly 100 million users. The app is mainly used for showing personal pornographic images. You as a ‘fan’ receive explicit images if you make monthly payments. How much money can you make on this platform and is it ethical?

What is OnlyFans?

The London-based platform OnlyFans has a simple concept: you can subscribe online to a person who sends you sexy images for a monthly fee, or you can sign up as a content creator and earn money from your paying ‘fans’. Officially, it is not just for showing sexual content, but in reality, most users use OnlyFans for arousal purposes.

”Creators of photo and/or video content earn money from users that subscribe to them.”

During the pandemic, the platform gained tens of millions of new users. Mainly sex workers see OnlyFans as an online goldmine. The downside is that many teenagers sell pictures of themselves as well and have to deal with the, sometimes unforeseen, consequences. Media watchdog in Germany and chairman of European regulators Tobias Schmid is advocating for a mandatory age limit on the app. Currently it’s too easy for a minor to gain access to the pornopgraphic content.

How do you make money on OnlyFans?

Many people who want to start creating on OnlyFans are in it for the money. If you have a loyal fanbase, you can easily make hundreds and even thousands of pounds per month. However, the most essential question is: do you really want to sell pictures of your body that will stay on the internet forever? If you made an informed decision to create an account on OnlyFans, it’s important to draw fans to your account. You can do this by creating your own unique style, using social media to promote your OnlyFans account, and keeping your monthly subscription fees low at first. It also helps to have much (personal) interaction with your fans.

”If you have a loyal fanbase, you can easily make hundreds and even thousands of pounds per month.”

According to many creators, it takes much time and effort to build up a steady fanbase. In other words, for most it’s not simply a quick way to make money. But if you already have a sizeable amount of followers on Instagram for example, the process of making money can happen really fast. If you start with nothing, it usually takes several months before you start earning any money. Also, your earnings depend a lot on how far you are willing to go in creating pornographic content.

Becoming a content creator on OnlyFans: good or bad idea?

Our interview with OnlyFans model Fabiënne Schriek paints a good picture of the pros and cons of becoming a content creator on OnlyFans. As a plus size model with many followers on Instagram, Fabiënne decided to create an account on OnlyFans to make some extra money. That ‘extra money’ is now over €8,000 (about 6,8oo pounds) per month. She shows sexy photos of herself in sheer clothing to her fans.

”I don’t understand why people are so narrow-minded. I post the same photos on other platforms, but I don’t make any money from it. So why shouldn’t I share it on OnlyFans?” the 26-year-old model says. She also argues that creating pornographic material on OnlyFans is much more ethical than, for example, porn on PornHub. ”Many women are exploited there or don’t get paid on time. On OnlyFans, you’re in control and you get to decide everything yourself”, says Fabiënne.

Reasons to start using OnlyFans:

• You enjoy intimate contact with your followers.
• You don’t mind sharing sexually explicit content that stays on the internet for many years.
• You want to make some extra money by sharing sexually explicit images (never create an account as a solution to financial problems!).
• You want to enter the world of pornography in a safe way: OnlyFans allows you to control how far you’re willing to go and when and how often you post content.

Reasons not to start using OnlyFans:

• You’re looking for a fast way to make money.
• You feel uncomfortable sharing your sexy photos.
• You haven’t done any research regarding the platform and the possible consequences.
• You’re under (financial) pressure.

The life of OnlyFans models

The popularity of OnlyFans has attracted the attention of the media. Some think it’s a vulgar way of making money, while others believe it to be a relatively save way of making money with sexy photos. In the end, it’s up to the content creators themselves what they are comfortable with and how far they are willing to go.

What do you think of OnlyFans? Let us know in a comment!