The Top 10 Earners on OnlyFans and What Keeps Them There

How would you like to make $20 million dollars a month for a few years, and then walk away from it all? That’s the estimate that Blac Chyna was making on OnlyFans, eventually raking in $240 million on the platform between 2020 and 2023 before walking away last year and deleting her account after calling it a dead-end side hustle.

Well, this dead-end side hustle is still very lucrative for many influencers, celebrities, sex workers and other content creators. But who are the top earners and what keeps them on top? We explore this money train, looking for answers on how to rake in the dough.

According to the site Statista, traffic on OnlyFans in January 2024 was over 1 billion and the number of registered users in 2022 was over 238 million. These burgeoning numbers represent opportunities to secure subscribers willing to pay for exclusive content.

It’s no secret that soon after the platform was launched in 2016 by British businessman Timothy Christopher Stokely with the help of his brother, Thomas Stokely and a £10,000 loan from their father, it became a financial boon for celebrities and sex workers. Through monthly subscription fees, pay-per-view content, pay for direct messages, and tips, revenues seemed limitless. Having a built-in fan base willing to subscribe certainly helps with monetizing your influence.

Bella Thorne. Source: Facebook.

According to EarthWeb, others joining Blac Chyna on the top 10 list of earners are signer Bella Thorne with monthly earnings of $11 million, superstar rapper Cardi B at $9.43 million a month, and Tyga, who at one point was earning over $7 million a month. He deleted his account in August 2021 when OnlyFans announced it would no longer host sexually explicit content. The platform eventually walked that change back six days later.

Rounding out the top 10 earners according to EarthWeb are:

• Lebanese-American adult entertainer Mia Khalifa: $6.42 million monthly
• Actress and model Erica Mena - $4.49 million monthly
• American rapper Bhad Barbie: $4.33 million monthly
• Model and influencer Gem101: $2.3 million monthly
• Singer, songwriter Pia Mia: $2.2 million monthly
• Jamaican-American rapper Safaree Samuels: $1.91 million monthly

All of these influencers came to the platform with large numbers of followers across multiple social media platforms. Having that built-in audience led to huge revenues from subscriptions. These top 10 earners (minus the ones who left the platform) have managed to stay there mostly through subscriptions but also by offering special and exclusive content: behind-the-scenes footage, livestreams, an inside look at their life, music previews, airing celebrity gossip or beef, and charging for direct and personal messages.

Mia Khalifa. Source: Yahoo News.

If you’re thinking about monetizing your influence on OnlyFans, have a plan. Like any other entrepreneurial venture, you’ve got to know your audience and what they’re willing to spend money on, whether it be subscriptions, pay-per-view, direct messages, tips, or merch.

OnlyFans remains lucrative for content creators. Users are willing to subscribe for everything from cooking classes, music, personal training, gaming, fashion, coaching, and porn. What content you create is up to you. Attracting and keeping a paying audience takes creativity and consistency. Here are some resources to get your started:

• Business Insider: How to Make $10K a Month on OnlyFans (businessinsider.com)
• LA Weekly: How to Make Money on OnlyFans Without Showing Your Face - LA Weekly
• Millenial Money Man: How to Make $10K a Month on OnlyFans (businessinsider.com)How to Make Money on OnlyFans (7 Proven Ways for 2024!) (millennialmoneyman.com)