How to monetize Instagram and TikTok

Official requirements at a glance

Checked on November 5, 2026, on the official pages listed under Sources. These programs differ by country. Before you count on any income, open the monetization area in your app: that is what tells you whether your account qualifies where you live.

Program	What it pays	Main requirements
TikTok: Creator Rewards	Per 1,000 qualified views	Based in an eligible country, 18 or older (19 in South Korea), personal account, 10,000 followers, 100,000 views in 30 days, original video of at least 1 minute
Instagram: Gifts	$0.01 per star received on reels	Professional account, 18 or older, 500 followers, living in a listed country, payout account set up
Instagram: Subscriptions	Monthly fees from subscribers	Eligibility criteria with no public follower number. If the option appears in your professional dashboard, you can turn it on
YouTube: early access tier	Channel memberships, Super Chat, Super Stickers, Super Thanks, Shopping	500 subscribers, 3 public uploads in 90 days, and 3,000 watch hours in 12 months or 3 million Shorts views in 90 days
YouTube: ad revenue	A share of ad and Premium revenue	1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watch hours in 12 months or 10 million Shorts views in 90 days. Changes in February 2027 (see below)

TikTok: Creator Rewards Program

The program is open to creators in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, South Korea, France, Mexico and Brazil. You have to be based in one of those countries with an account registered there. You apply in TikTok Studio and hear back within about three days, according to the Creator Academy.

What tends to trip up people who get close to the numbers:

• Business accounts are out. Only personal accounts qualify. If you run a small business on a TikTok business account, this program isn't for you.
• Videos must run at least 1 minute and reach 1,000 qualified For You feed views. Views under 5 seconds don't count. The Help Center says at least 1 minute and the Creator Academy says over 1 minute, so go past 60 seconds and stop depending on interpretation.
• Views from elsewhere don't count. The Academy says qualified views must come from the countries where the program is available.
• It has to be your own content. Duets, Stitches and Photo Mode don't qualify, and neither does reusing someone else's clips with slight changes.
• Sponsored posts don't earn. Ads, paid promotions and sponsored content are excluded from rewards.
• Old videos don't count. Only what is uploaded after you join the program qualifies.
• Payouts: the minimum and the payment date come from the program terms for your region, so check them in your dashboard. TikTok says withdrawals are typically processed within 72 hours, with no guarantee, and banks may hold the money longer.

TikTok doesn't publish a table of what it pays per 1,000 views, and the rate varies. Be skeptical of any fixed number you see online.

Instagram: what exists and what doesn't

The monetization tools Instagram lists are Badges, Bonuses, Creator Marketplace, Gifts and Subscriptions. On the official pages we checked, we did not find an open program that pays per Reels view. See what appears in your professional dashboard, because availability can vary by account and by country.

• Gifts: viewers buy stars and send them on your reels. You get $0.01 for each star. The official country list includes the US, Canada, the UK, Australia and dozens more. Collaborative posts don't qualify, and neither do accounts that mainly post content focused on children.
• Subscriptions: you set a monthly price for exclusive content. Instagram's share is currently 0%, and Apple and Google collect 30% on in-app purchases. The help page warns that the feature may not be available to you yet.
• Badges: these work on live video.

Not every video can be monetized. The Content Monetization Policies rule out static videos, repeating loops, successions of still images, text overlays and engagement bait, among others.

YouTube Shorts: same video, different rules

The vertical video you already make for Reels and TikTok can go on Shorts. The early access tier is available in a long list of countries, including the US. If you want ad revenue, watch the date: starting February 1, 2027, new creators will need 8,000 hours in 365 days or 20 million Shorts views in 90 days, plus 1,000 subscribers. Creators already in the program keep their status, but must accept the new terms by January 31, 2027 to keep fully monetizing. The 500-subscriber tier doesn't change.

The same update says that earning from the Shorts Creator Pool each month will take 10 million qualified Shorts views over the last 90 days. Reaching a threshold also doesn't guarantee entry: every channel goes through a review.

Money outside the programs: brand deals, affiliate and your own product

Look at the table again: 10,000 followers, millions of views. If you're far from that, you can already earn through routes that don't depend on any platform threshold.

Route	Works from	How to start
Selling your service or product	Day 1. The video works as your storefront	Link in bio to your shop or booking page, and one CTA per video
Affiliate	A small but interested audience	Recommend only what you actually use, with the link disclosed
Deals with local brands	A small audience in the same city	Build a media kit with your real reach and show 3 videos
Deals with national brands	A steady audience in one niche	Reach out to influencer agencies
Course, consulting, paid materials	When people ask you to teach them	Sell to a small group first, before you produce everything

Sponsored content has rules: always disclose

• On Instagram, branded content uses the paid partnership label. Free products and affiliate links count as an exchange of value too.
• In the US, the FTC's Disclosures 101 for Social Media Influencers says to disclose any financial, employment, personal or family relationship with a brand, and that free or discounted products count. It also advises against relying on a platform's tool alone: add your own clear disclosure with the endorsement.
• In other countries, advertising rules for creators are set locally, so check with your national consumer or advertising authority.
• On TikTok, commercial content without proper disclosure can be removed from the For You feed. Use the content disclosure setting in the app.

TikTok says rewards may be taxable under your local laws, and the same logic applies to other creator income. Rules depend on where you live, so talk to a tax professional once the money stops being occasional.

Common mistakes

• Padding your numbers with bought followers to hit a threshold. TikTok lists acquiring fake views or inflating follower counts as grounds for removal from the program, and serious brands look at reach.
• Stretching a 40-second video to 1 minute just to get into the program. Filler makes people leave before the end, and finishing a video is a strong signal for recommendations.
• Paying to "unlock monetization". None of the official pages on this list charges to join. If someone asks for money to turn it on, treat it as a scam.
• Depending on one platform. Criteria change: YouTube will double its ad revenue threshold in 2027.