Being a part of TikTok’s creator fund is outwardly lots much less profitable than it might appear, even for among the app’s greatest stars. Over the previous couple of days, some high-profile TikTokkers have taken the weird step of publicizing how a lot — or on this case, how little — they’re making from the fund.

TikTok remains to be comparatively early in its monetization options for creators. Instead of a income sharing association like YouTube’s Partner Program, TikTok pays its prime stars out of a creator fund. Launched in 2020, the fund began out with $200 million, and TikTok mentioned final 12 months it was rising the fund to $1 billion over the subsequent three years within the U.S. But the corporate hasn’t offered particulars on how a lot it has distributed or how a lot individuals can count on to earn.

But in line with one distinguished streamer, most creators are incomes little or no. Last week, Hank Green, who has greater than 6 million followers on TikTok, shared a YouTube video titled “So… TikTok sucks.” In the 24-minute video, he particulars his expertise in TikTok’s creator fund, and estimates that he at the moment makes about 2.5 cents per 1,000 views on the platform — a fraction of what he earns on YouTube and about half of what he had beforehand earned on TikTok.

The drawback, as he explains it, is that TikTok provides a steadily rising variety of creators a portion of a “static pool of money,” that isn’t tied to TikTok’s income or its skyrocketing recognition. The result’s that every creator makes much less and fewer, whilst TikTok turns into extra profitable. “Because of the way that TikTok shares a lot of audience among a lot of creators, that ends up being less than a dollar a day for most of the people in the creator fund,” he mentioned.

Green, whose participation within the creator fund was beforehand touted by TikTok in a company blog post, mentioned that creator funds aren’t unhealthy on their very own, however that TikTok’s present association is stopping creators from with the ability to adequately help themselves.

His feedback prompted others to share their frustrations with TikTok. Safwan AhmedMia, who goes by SuperSaf on TikTok, shared Green’s video together with a screenshot of his TikTok earnings: £112.04 (about $151). “This is how much I’ve made from the TikTok Creator Fund since April 2021 with over 25 million views in that time,” he wrote.

Then, Jimmy Donaldson, the streamer often called Mr. Beast, shared his TikTok earnings. According to the screenshot, he’s earned slightly below $15,000 from the app, with every day earnings between $18 and $32 in January. As The Information points out, that works out to lower than $10,000 a 12 months from TikTok, regardless of his estimate that he’s gotten “over a billion views” on the app. That quantity is especially low contemplating Donaldson is YouTube’s prime earner, and made $54 million on the platform in 2021.

It’s not clear how a lot Green, AhmedMia and Donaldson’s expertise displays that of different creators within the the fund. But TikTok hasn’t provided another rationalization about why its creators are making so little. “The Creator Fund is one of many ways that creators can make money on TikTok,” a TikTok spokesperson mentioned in a press release, pointing to the corporate’s creator marketplace, which helps match creators with potential sponsors. “We continue to listen to and seek feedback from our creator community and evolve our features to improve the experience for those in the program.”

It’s true that the creator fund is not the one approach TikTok stars generate income from the app. The app has a tipping characteristic, although it is not obtainable to everybody but. Creators additionally repeatedly companion with manufacturers and people offers may be price millions for the app’s most influential customers. But inking a cope with a significant model requires effort and time, and that choice is probably not obtainable to lesser identified creators. And since TikTok does not have a income sharing characteristic, the fund is correct now the one approach creators may be paid straight by the corporate. 

Elsewhere, the app is testing different monetization options for creators. It’s experimenting with subscription options, which might permit creators to successfully transfer a few of their content material behind a paywall. The options seems to be in an early stage, and the corporate hasn’t mentioned when, or even when, the characteristic could also be obtainable extra broadly.

Are you in TikTok’s creator fund or have a tip to share about the way it distributes funds? Email me at karissa.bell [at] engadget.com.