TikTok

How to Make Money on TikTok in 2026: All 11 Ways, With Thresholds

Eleven ways TikTok creators get paid, what each one requires, and which to start with at 0, 1k, 10k and 100k followers.

By Maya Lind, editor · Updated 28 October 2026

Quick answer

There are 11 routes. Brand deals, UGC, affiliate links and your own products can start at 0 to 1,000 followers; LIVE gifts and TikTok Shop affiliate need 1,000; Creator Rewards needs 10,000 followers plus 100,000 views in 30 days, at an estimated $0.40–$1.00 per 1,000 views, and isn't listed for Czechia.

"Make money on TikTok" is really eleven different jobs with eleven different gates. Some open at 0 followers, some at 1,000, some at 10,000, and a few depend on which country your account is registered in. This page puts every route in one table, then gives you a path by follower count. Everything marked "est." is an estimate from a published source, not a promise of what you'll get.

The reality check first

Most creators earn little. In The State of Creators 2026 (CreatorIQ and Influencers.club, 5,095 creator respondents across 100 regions), about 67% earn less than $10,000 a year from content creation, and 62% say it isn't their main income. That's across all platforms, not TikTok alone, but it sets a sane baseline: treat the numbers below as ranges that some people hit, not averages.

The good news is that the routes stack. Almost nobody lives off one of them. The creators who do well usually combine two or three, and the cheapest ones to start (affiliate, UGC, your own offer) don't need a big audience at all.

Retired and renamed programs

Creator Fund: closed on 16 December 2023 in the US, UK, France and Germany, according to TechCrunch's report. It had a long record of creators reporting tiny payouts for millions of views. If a guide still tells you to "join the Creator Fund", it's out of date.
Creativity Program (Beta): introduced in February 2023 with the same entry bar as today's program: 18+, 10,000 followers, 100,000 views in 30 days, videos over a minute. It now runs as the Creator Rewards Program.

All 11 ways in one table

Read the "EU / CZ" column carefully. Programs launch country by country, and where a source didn't list the Czech Republic we say so rather than guess. Always confirm in your own app (Creator Center, or the LIVE and Monetization menus), because that's the only place that shows what your account is eligible for.

Method	Min. followers	Age / other requirements	How it pays	Realistic range (est.)	EU / CZ?
1. Creator Rewards	10,000	18+; 100,000 views in last 30 days; original videos of 1+ minute; personal account; payment account in your name	Per qualified view, monthly via PayPal/Hyperwallet, $50 minimum payout	$0.40–$1.00 per 1,000 views (est., Influencer Marketing Hub)	Listed regions: US, Brazil, UK, France, Germany, South Korea, Japan. Not on that list: CZ
2. LIVE gifts	1,000	18+; personal account; supported region	Viewers buy gifts; you receive roughly 30% of viewer spending (est.)	Highly variable; depends on how many viewers gift	Not verified for CZ: check the LIVE menu in your app
3. Subscriptions	Set by TikTok per region	Supported region; fans pay monthly	$2.99–$99.99 per month tiers; 50/50 split after app-store fees (est.)	Depends on your paying fans; no reliable benchmark	Not verified for CZ
4. TikTok Shop affiliate	1,000	18+; under 5,000 followers you start in a pilot (3 shoppable videos a day, 3 shoppable LIVEs a week, for 30+ days)	Commission on sales through your tagged videos and LIVEs	5–30% commission, typical (est., Influencer Marketing Hub)	Shop live in European markets incl. DE, FR, IT, ES, PL and the UK; CZ not listed
5. Series	10,000 (1,000 if you already sell premium content elsewhere)	18+; account 30+ days old; 3 public videos with 1,000+ views in last 30 days	Viewers pay to unlock a paywalled collection (up to 80 videos)	TikTok's launch example: up to $190 per collection (est.)	Launched in 94 countries in 2023; check CZ in Creator Center
6. TikTok One brand deals	1,000 for most projects	18+; program available in your country; project rules vary	Rate you set, paid by the brand	Nano (1K–10K): $50–$200 per post; micro (10K–100K): $200–$800 (est., Influencer Marketing Hub)	Depends on country availability: check on sign-up
7. Branded Mission	1,000	18+ in most regions; 3 videos and 1,000 views in last 30 days; personal account; account located in the campaign's region	Per the mission brief: fixed payout plus paid views	Set per campaign; no verified benchmark	Europe: France, UK, Italy, Germany, Spain; CZ not listed
8. Effect Creator Rewards	None (needs effect usage)	18+; each effect needs 100,000 unique public videos	Payout per qualifying video above the threshold	Capped at $14,000 per effect and $50,000 per month	Expanded to 53 regions in 2024; check CZ
9. UGC creation	0	None from TikTok; brands judge your sample videos	Brand pays per video delivered; you don't have to post it	No verified benchmark; set by brand	Yes: works anywhere you can invoice
10. Affiliate links	0 (link in bio needs an account that allows it)	Each affiliate network sets its own rules	Commission per sale or lead	Depends on the product and network	Yes, where the network accepts your country
11. Your own products or services	0	None	Customers pay you directly	Yours to set	Yes

Sources: TikTok's Creator Rewards terms, Influencer Marketing Hub, TikTok's Shop affiliate guide, Branded Mission and TikTok One help pages, TechCrunch on Series, Tubefilter on Effect Creator Rewards, and TikTok's newsroom on Shop in Europe (as of 28 October 2026). Earnings figures are estimates, not payouts anyone is owed.

What the table doesn't show

The 10,000-follower wall is mostly a views wall. Creator Rewards needs 100,000 views in 30 days as well as the followers, and pays only on videos over a minute. An account with 12,000 followers and weak reach doesn't qualify. If you're in the US, UK, Germany, France, Brazil, South Korea or Japan, that's your target; if you're in Czechia, it isn't an option today, so skip it and don't chase long videos just for that.

Rates per 1,000 views are low. At the estimated $0.40–$1.00, a video with 100,000 qualified views lands somewhere around $40–$100 before any adjustment for audience location.

To plug in your own view counts, SocFlare (socflare.com) has a free TikTok money calculator.

Brand money beats platform money early. The platform programs pay pennies per view. At the estimated $50–$200, one nano-tier brand post is worth the same as the Creator Rewards estimate for roughly 50,000 to 500,000 qualified views.

Shop is the one with a CZ catch. TikTok Shop's European rollout covers France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Spain and the UK, with Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands and Poland added from 15 June 2026. The Czech Republic isn't in that announcement. Czech creators can still be useful to sellers in those markets if they speak the language and the seller ships there, but that's a niche route.

Start here, by follower count

0 followers

You can't access any TikTok-paid program yet, so use the routes that don't gate on followers:

Pick one niche and post 3 times a week for 30 days. Branded Mission wants 3 videos and 1,000 views in the last 30 days anyway.
Build 3 UGC sample videos (product in hand, hook, clean audio) and send them to small brands. UGC is judged on the sample, not your count.
Put one affiliate link or one offer of your own in your bio.
Study how videos travel in our For You Page explainer, because reach decides everything later.
Aim for the first milestone with the 1,000-follower plan.

1,000 followers

This is where the most doors open at once: LIVE gifts, TikTok Shop affiliate, Branded Mission and TikTok One brand projects all list 1,000 followers as a minimum (LIVE also needs 18+ and a personal account). Do these in order:

Sign up to TikTok One and set your rate. Anyone 18+ can register; many projects then ask for 1,000+ followers.
Apply to the TikTok Shop affiliate program if Shop operates in your country. Plan on the pilot limits until you hit 5,000.
Check Branded Mission briefs in your region.
Test LIVE once a week for 30 minutes before you rely on gifts.

1,000 followers unlocks LIVE gifts and Branded Mission

If you're a few hundred short and your videos already convert viewers into followers, a small starter boost is one way to cross the line sooner. SocFlare (socflare.com) lists 1,000 TikTok followers for $14.99 and 100 for $3.49. You enter only your public username, never a password, orders start within minutes, and the refill on followers has no time limit. It's a nudge past a threshold, not a substitute for videos people watch. Our safety checklist covers what to look for in any seller.

See the TikTok follower packages

10,000 followers

Check Creator Rewards eligibility in Creator Center (if your region is supported) and start making 1-minute-plus videos.
Apply for Series if you have a body of work worth paywalling: tutorials, courses, a serialised story.
Raise your TikTok One rate toward the micro-tier estimate ($200–$800 per post).
Keep brand deals as the main income and treat platform payouts as extra.

100,000 followers

At this size the question changes from "which program" to "which mix". Brand deals and Shop LIVE commerce usually dominate, Subscriptions turn a loyal minority into recurring income, and your own product margin beats every per-view rate in the table. If you build AR effects, Effect Creator Rewards becomes a side stream. Negotiate usage rights and exclusivity as carefully as the fee.

The ten-minute eligibility audit

Open Creator Center and note every program it shows for your account.
Confirm you're 18+ and on a personal (not Business) account.
Check your country against each program's region list.
Count followers and your last 30 days of views.
Count public videos posted in the last 30 days (3 is the common minimum).
Set up a payment account in your own name before you qualify.
Pick the two routes that fit your count and ignore the rest this quarter.

For the view-to-income maths on a per-video basis, keep the calculator link above handy, and for the follower side of the equation start with the 1,000-follower guide linked earlier.

Common questions

How many followers do you need to make money on TikTok?

It depends on the route. Creator Rewards needs 10,000 followers and 100,000 views in 30 days; LIVE gifts, TikTok Shop affiliate, Branded Mission and most TikTok One projects list 1,000. UGC, affiliate links and your own products have no follower minimum.

Is the TikTok Creator Fund still around?

No. It closed on 16 December 2023 in the US, UK, France and Germany. Its replacement, the Creativity Program, now runs as Creator Rewards, which pays on qualified views of videos over one minute.

How much does TikTok pay per 1,000 views?

Influencer Marketing Hub estimates $0.40 to $1.00 per 1,000 views through Creator Rewards, varying with watch time, engagement and audience location. Treat it as an estimate, not a rate card.

Can I get paid by TikTok in the Czech Republic?

Creator Rewards lists the US, Brazil, UK, France, Germany, South Korea and Japan, so Czechia isn't included. TikTok Shop's European markets also don't list Czechia. Brand deals, UGC, affiliate links and your own products work from anywhere; check LIVE and Subscriptions in your app.

Do most TikTok creators make a living from it?

No. The State of Creators 2026 survey (5,095 creators) found about 67% earn under $10,000 a year from content and 62% say it isn't their main income. Combining routes helps more than relying on one.

What is the fastest way to start earning with a small account?

UGC and brand deals. Brands judge sample videos rather than follower count for UGC, and nano-tier posts (1K to 10K followers) are estimated at $50 to $200 each. See our first 1,000 followers guide for the audience side.

What does TikTok Shop affiliate require?

You must be 18+ with at least 1,000 followers. Under 5,000 followers you start in a pilot with caps of 3 shoppable videos a day and 3 shoppable LIVEs a week for at least 30 days.

Sources

← Back to all guides