Last updated on April 9th, 2022 at 09:31 am

Update 8/20/2021

OnlyFans announced yesterday that they will no longer be allowing sexually-explicit content on their platforms. Content producers are going crazy, realizing that their revenue is about the plummet. Thankfully, there are other platforms out there that allow this kind of content (read this article or apply for professional talent management to learn more).

What is OnlyFans?

OnlyFans is one of many subscription services that have popped up in the past decade, on which paying customers can gain access to models’ self-shot content (nude selfies, naughty videos, etc.). In this article, we’re using the term “model” very loosely, because literally any adult person can make an OnlyFans account on their eighteenth birthday and begin uploading selfies… literally anyone. Does that instantly & necessarily make them a “model”? Perhaps to the same extent that being fat nowadays, in some circles, instantly & automatically makes one “beautiful”, as in “B.B.W.” (“big, beautiful woman”).

OnlyFans is a web & app-based platform that allows both amateur & professional models to upload nude photos & videos to their “feeds”. The models’ subscribers (aka “fans”) can then access an OnlyFans model’s feed by subscribing & paying her monthly fee. When the fan stops paying, he stops viewing. “Pay to play”, as they say. Unlike a traditional pornographic membership site in which one membership allows the customer access to view many different models, OnlyFans customers must subscribe to each OnlyFans model account individually.

 

How Did OnlyFans Become so Popular?

Until content subscription services came along, individual models were very limited, in terms of their ability to monetize (get money with) their own homemade content (pictures & video). Adult films (porno movies) & magazines have traditionally been produced by production companies (studios) with sizeable budgets to hire makeup girls, sound & lighting technicians, videographers, photographers, post-production technicians, etc. The porn studios’ budgets also allotted for the renting of professional production studios, elegant mansions, high-end equipment, etc.

Moreover, these production companies have had vast distribution channels at their disposal, distributing to adult DVD stores throughout the world, and later, through professionally-managed membership websites, direct to consumers. The resulting content (professionally-produced porn movies, photo sets, etc.) is typically created, owned & sold for profit, by the production companies, not by the performers (models).

In the professional porn industry, a performer is typically paid a day rate, on the day of production. The resulting content (pictures & video) is then sold by the production companies, to turn a profit, over and over again, forever. Adult film performers generally receive no residual (ongoing) income from the sales of the porn movies in which they are featured, unlike their counterparts “over the hill” in Hollywood feature films & TV shows.

More “modest” models (bikini models, etc.) have had Instagram available to showcase their sexiness for over 10 years now, and “naughtier” (nude, adult content, etc.) models have found Twitter to be a very open-minded & accommodating platform to distribute their self-shot nudie pictures & videos. The only problem with these: Instagram & Twitter don’t pay the models a single penny!

And that’s where the door opened for model-generated content paid subscription services, like OnlyFans, FanCentro, ModelCentro, etc. There’s no way for money to be exchanged directly through Twitter, Instagram, etc.; there’s no way for fans to pay for the “goodies”. Not only have Twitter & Instagram, etc. provided a way for models to distribute their content without getting paid for it, but Instagram specifically is notorious for prudishly banning accounts of adults showing a little bit too much skin. Twitter also bans users, whenever they feel like it, but not as frequently or as prudishly as Instagram.

So, not only are you not getting paid by becoming a so-called “Instagram model”… you’re very likely to get banned by the platform! How’s that for model appreciation!? “Not only are we, here at Instagram, not going to pay you… but also, whenever we get around to it, we’re going to delete your content & shut down your account, without warning!”

A couple technologies have been developed over the years, before OnlyFans, allowing models to monetize (get money with) their own likeness, from the comfort of their own homes. The biggest, by far, is webcam modeling, in which performers can charge a minute-by-minute rate for “live modeling,” and another is premium Snapchat (with the help of services like FanCentro). The difference between these technologies (webcam modeling & premium Snapchat) and professionally-produced porn movies is that the porn movies are produced once, and then sold over-and-over again, forever (by the production companies), whereas webcam & premium Snapchat models must stream or post daily (or at least very regularly), in order to keep the revenue flow coming in.

Remember our OnlyFans “fans” (paying customers), above (they stop paying, and therefore they stop viewing)? It’s a similar situation for webcam & premium Snapchat models… once they stop posting/streaming, they stop getting paid!

Porn movies offer residual (ongoing) income to the owner(s) of the content (typically, the porn production studios); webcam modeling & Snapchat modeling does not.

OnlyFans & other model-generated content subscription services offer a happy medium for the models. Although a model’s subscriber base will always decrease once she stops posting regularly, she doesn’t necessarily need to post every single day in order to keep the revenue coming in. The money continues to come in, even while she’s sleeping, and even on days that she doesn’t upload anything.

The fact that a number of mainstream (non-adult industry) celebrities including Cardi B & Bella Thorne have created OnlyFans accounts & begun accepting paid subscribers on the platform has also greatly contributed to the notoriety of OnlyFans and made it less taboo.

The global Covid-19 pandemic has significantly caused the OnlyFans fad to grow in popularity, as well. People are losing their jobs, it’s harder to find work, and existing models & fans are both spending more time at home. This creates the perfect fertile ground for attractive young people (as well as those who think they’re attractive) to be enticed to make an OnlyFans. It’s almost the “thing to do” nowadays, once a good-looking person becomes an adult… “I’m 18 now… It’s time to make an OnlyFans.“

But is OnlyFans all it’s cracked up to be, or is it just a fleeting fad… the nude version of MySpace?

 

The Reality of OnlyFans Model Income

Thomas Hollands, who did an excellent in-depth analysis of OnlyFans as a business, in part by scraping the actual OnlyFans website, describes the platform as “a unicorn in disguise“. He breaks down, via scientific analysis, “how OnlyFans is more unequal than the least equal country [South Africa] in the world… OnlyFans is less equal than an ex-apartheid state.” This is because “the top 1% of [OnlyFans model] accounts make 33% of all the money. The top 10% of accounts make 73% of all the money.“

Hollands learned that the TOP OnlyFans creator (model) accounts indeed earn roughly $100,000 / month, and naturally, that’s what OnlyFans wants everyone to focus on.

However, Hollands also found that the AVERAGE OnlyFans model income from the site is around $180 to $250 per month, and the MAJORITY of accounts make less than $145 per month after commission.

He concluded that “Relative to effort… MOST [OnlyFans model] accounts LOSE money.“

 

The Reality of OnlyFans Model Safety

In February 2020, The Independent reported that “A huge cache of stolen pornographic photos and videos from the subscription website OnlyFans has leaked online. The leak amounts to around 1.5 terabytes worth of adult content – the equivalent of around 3 million photos or 750 hours of HD video – produced by sex workers, porn stars and social media influencers.“

Other sources reported that OnlyFans models’ personal information (legal names, bank account information, home addresses, phone numbers, social security numbers, etc.) were also compromised in the leak.

Unilad reported on an OnlyFans model who experienced a stalker from the OnlyFans site bringing repeated instances of actual physical danger to her, at her own home and even threatening the life of her mother.

 

OnlyFans Pre-Bella Thorne VS. Post-Bella Thorne

Although OnlyFans denies that their policy changes in Q3 2020 had anything to do with former Disney star Bella Thorne’s decision to make an OnlyFans account, it’s clear on social media that most OnlyFans content creators aren’t buying it.

What OnlyFans models know for sure is that their incomes from the site have drastically decreased since the changes were implemented and that the changes just so happened to occur immediately after Bella Thorne earned one million dollars in just a single day (and two million in one week) by allegedly scamming her OnlyFans customers with a $200 “nude” photo that wasn’t nude, at all. 

The L.A. Times reported that “The updated rules dictate that no [OnlyFans model] on the site can charge over $50 for pay-per-view content and no user can tip more than $100. Further, some [OnlyFans models] complained that they now had to wait 30 days to receive payment from the site, when they used to be able to do so far more quickly.“

 

Alternative Platforms

Platforms similar to OnlyFans include FanCentro, ModelCentro and others. (Models can sign up for a FanCentro account using this link, but we’d encourage you to first apply to become a professional pornstar.)

 

Should I Make an OnlyFans?

John Maxwell said, “To go nowhere, follow the crowd.“

Margaret Thatcher, who came from the same Country as OnlyFans (the U.K.), once said, “Don’t follow the crowd, let the crowd follow you.“

We mentioned earlier that the OnlyFans fad has become so widespread that it’s almost the “thing to do” nowadays, when a person turns 18. Because of this and because of the basic laws of economics, the OnlyFans model market has become incredibly oversaturated. Everyone & their mother is getting on the platform, but fans aren’t going to pay separate monthly subscription payments to see everyone’s nudes… let alone everyone’s mother! (Remember, each OnlyFans “model” is a separate subscription, for each customer.)

As Thomas Hollands found by scraping the OnlyFans site data, most OnlyFans customers will pay to see only the top 10% of OnlyFans content creators. The bottom 90% of OnlyFans models are… well, S.O.L. (shit outta luck). Most OnlyFans model accounts earn less than $150 a month. Taking into consideration the time & resources it takes to run an account, most OnlyFans models are actually LOSING money.

At our Company, we’ve been recruiting & managing the careers of adult models for nearly 14 years. As professional talent managers, a main aspect of our job is to provide expert advice & counsel to the adult performers under our management. When it comes to OnlyFans, our advice to our models is generally that the site is basic & oversaturated. It’s the nude version of MySpace; a passing fad. If they really want to make an OnlyFans, that’s ultimately the model’s decision, but we do advise them on much more beneficial ways to invest their time & resources.

 

What Should an Aspiring Model do Instead?

Become a professional pornstar, if that’s what you want to do. Onboard with a professional adult talent management Company, and let us book you with top-tier production studios like Reality Kings, Penthouse, Teamskeet, Hustler, Amateur Allure, Porn Pros, etc., or if you’re a gay man, with companies like Missionary Boys, Bare Twinks, Helix Studios and many others.

By no means are we condemning the idea of individuals creating & selling their own homemade content (in fact, it’s a damn good idea); we’re just suggesting not to do it basic bitch-style: “oh, go subscribe to my OnlyFans at blah blah blah, backslash blah blah blah.” That’s so basic.

Professional adult performers sound more like this: “subscribe to my website at [YourPornstarName].com“. In fact, our Company even helps our models get started with their own professional pornstar websites. The models still upload their own homemade content to the platform, but it’s a lot more legit.

We also help train our models on many other ancillary (side) income streams including professional internet modeling (high-end webcam modeling), premium social media accounts, merchandise sales (replica pussies, etc.), acting in mainstream Hollywood movies, all to supplement their incomes & fan-bases from performing in professionally-produced porn movies with top production studios.

 

Are you open-minded to showing some skin AND looking to monetize your sexiness the right way? Don’t be a basic bitch & make an OnlyFans. Instead, become a high-end professional pornstar! Apply online today to our Company!