OnlyFans went from zero to 305 million users in about eight years. Last year alone, fans spent $6.6 billion on the platform. Most people think only creators make money on OnlyFans, but affiliate marketers are quietly building serious income streams by promoting models and taking a cut.
The top creators on the platform (0.1%) make on average around $146,000 per month, and smart affiliates get a share of it. So If you're wondering how to make money on OnlyFans without being a creator yourself, affiliate marketing might be your answer.
Key Takeaways
OnlyFans has 305 million users and the company paid creators over $5.3 billion in 2023. Affiliate marketers can earn commissions by sending traffic to models.
Most money comes from tips and messages, not subscriptions. Direct messages and paid posts make up ~70% of creator income.
Adult content dominates, but SFW niches are growing, with OnlyFans launching OFTV for mainstream shows.
Traffic comes from free platforms like Reddit and Instagram, plus paid adult-friendly networks.
OnlyFans pays 5% commission for referring new creators, while third-party networks handle subscriber referrals.
How to Earn on OnlyFans
Content creators make money on OnlyFans through way more than just monthly subscriptions. They keep 80% of all payments while OnlyFans takes 20%. Yet the real OnlyFans income comes from tips, paid private messages, custom content requests, and pay-per-view posts.
Successful creators run this like actual businesses. They work with managers who handle daily chats and fan engagement, or join agencies that manage multiple models. These agencies might hire affiliate marketers to drive traffic and warm up potential subscribers.
The typical OnlyFans pricing strategy and funnel includes the following: first you have to attract followers through a free page or social media with regular posts, convert them to paid subscriptions, and eventually get them to spend more through exclusive content and direct messages. But only 4.2% of subscribers spend money, while most will just lurk for free content.
That’s when affiliate marketers have to step in. They work either directly with creators or through affiliate networks, earning commissions by bringing paying subscribers to models. Revenue share is how most of this works - affiliates get a percentage of whatever their referred fans spend, often around 40-50% of the fan's spending for a set period.
Some programs pay fixed amounts like $1-2 for each new subscriber, but that's usually only for proven affiliates with good traffic quality. For those wondering how much you can make on OnlyFans as an affiliate, the answer depends on traffic quality and the models you promote.
Popular OnlyFans Niches and Their Audiences
NSFW Content (Adult Entertainment)
Adult content is still OnlyFans' bread and butter. We're talking adult models, performers, cosplayers, and sex workers sharing explicit content with subscribers. The platform is pretty much synonymous with adult content in most people's minds, and the majority of top earners fall into this category. The audience is adults willing to pay for intimate or personalized content they can't easily find on free sites. OnlyFans content ideas in this niche range from amateur performances to highly specialized fetish content.
SFW Content (Safe-for-Work Creators)
The platform has been trying to court non-adult creators too. Fitness coaches, musicians, podcasters, chefs, gamers, and fashion figures. Designer Rebecca Minkoff launched a free OnlyFans sharing styling tips from Fashion Week.
Various athletes use it for training footage and exclusive updates. These creators often explore how to start an OnlyFans and make money without adult content.
OnlyFans even created OFTV, a free streaming app with cooking, comedy, music, and sports shows to broaden beyond adult content.
The platform had just 42 employees serving hundreds of millions of users in 2023, yet paid out $5.3 billion to creators that year. That's pretty efficient when you think about it.
Specifics of the OnlyFans Niche in Affiliate Marketing
Marketing OnlyFans as an affiliate is different from promoting your typical e-commerce offers. The biggest thing is you need a "warm-up" funnel - users won't usually subscribe immediately like they might buy a product. You need to build interest through free content or social media interaction first, then funnel them to paid subscriptions.
Each model is basically their own offer. Affiliates have to choose creators carefully based on performance metrics. You want to look how much the average fan spends on that creator's content (or ARPU (Average Revenue Per User)) and conversion rates from free to paid subscribers.
When you see that a model has an ARPU of $1.25, driving 1,000 users to her page will get you roughly $1,250 in gross revenue. So it’s important for affiliates to look at those metrics before committing to campaigns.
Geography matters a lot because the OnlyFans niche doesn't work well with lower-income countries. Affiliates focus on Tier-1 countries like the US, UK, Canada, and Western Europe, where people have money for online subscriptions.
Revenue share is how most payouts work. You earn a percentage of whatever revenue your referred fans generate. Pay-per-lead or pay-per-sale models are rare, though some offers pay $1-2 fixed amounts for high-quality traffic from proven affiliates.
Competition is intense because top OnlyFans users can spend thousands. The top 0.01% of subscribers contribute about 20% of revenue, so landing just a few "whale" customers can make a campaign profitable.
Key Traffic Sources for OnlyFans in 2026
Traffic sources mainly split between free organic traffic via social platforms and paid advertising through adult-friendly networks.
Social media still works for OnlyFans promotion, and the standard toolkit might include Reddit, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. Although you have to always look at the particular offer and network limitations, some traffic sources might not be allowed.
On top of it, organic reach takes more effort each year. Reddit is getting more competitive and tightening rules, making it harder to create new promotional accounts.
On the paid side, adult-tolerant ad networks have become pretty much necessary for scaling. We're talking push notification ads, pop-under ads, and native ads on various publisher websites.
Networks like JuicyAds, ExoClick, and TrafficJunky allow OnlyFans promotions since they consider it a "white niche" in adult marketing.
A key benchmark for paid campaigns is keeping acquisition costs low. If you can get a new OnlyFans free sign-up for under $1, you'll probably profit since some will convert to paid and keep spending.
Free Traffic Sources for OF Affiliate Marketing
Reddit is huge for OnlyFans promotion because it actually allows adult content and has tons of NSFW subreddits. Users tend to be among the most willing to spend on OnlyFans content, making it high-value traffic. But the competition is brutal.
Thousands of creators and affiliates post daily, and subreddits have strict rules. Getting banned is way too easy on Reddit, so in order to succeed on the platform marketers often need multiple accounts and strategic undetectable upvoting. If you're serious about Reddit promotion, check out this guide on how to launch ads on Reddit for better results.
Instagram is great for building personal brands through lifestyle updates with photos and videos. It is also good for building up curiosity that drives people to OnlyFans through bio links. Yet no explicit content allowed on the platform, and they would shadowban accounts that push too hard to adult sites.
Growth has to be purely organic and SFW, which means consistent daily posting of stories and Reels. Instagram is perfect for those figuring out how to make money on OnlyFans without showing face since you can build a brand around lifestyle and personality.
TikTok
TikTok's algorithm can make unknown creators go viral overnight through videos. Many OnlyFans creators use suggestive but not explicit content - dancing, comedy skits with flirty angles - to build huge followings. But TikTok is really unfriendly to direct OnlyFans promotion.
You can't link to OnlyFans in your bio or even mention it without risking bans. Creators typically use a two-step thing: TikTok viewers go to Instagram, then from Instagram to OnlyFans. This is one of the key OnlyFans tips for beginners trying to learn how to grow OnlyFans through social media.
Twitter (X)
Twitter is the only large social network that allows full nudity and explicit content, making it a must for adult creators. You can post R-rated or X-rated preview clips and link directly to OnlyFans.
The downside is growth isn't algorithm-driven. It takes constant engagement, daily tweeting, and networking with other creators. Some affiliates run 50+ automated Twitter accounts to funnel traffic to main profiles.
YouTube
YouTube works well for longer content that shows personality or expertise. Good for SFW creators offering workout routines or music clips, then sending viewers to OnlyFans for more access. YouTube Shorts can also go viral and bring quick traffic bursts. The limitation is no nudity or explicit content, so it's mainly viable for SFW creators or as a funnel for tame content.
Paid Traffic Sources for OF Affiliate Marketing
Push Notifications
Ads Push ads show up as notifications on users' devices if they've subscribed to push notifications from websites. Networks like PropellerAds and RichPush send pushes to millions of users almost immediately. They're easy to launch and scale with targeting by country and device.
Most push networks allow suggestive OnlyFans ads as long as creatives aren't too graphic. But click-through rates have dropped as users get blind to push notifications, and you need compelling copy to get clicks.
Pop-Under and Pop-Up Ads
Pop-unders open new browser tabs behind the current window, showing up when the main window closes. Networks like ExoClick and TrafficStars have lots of pop inventory. They can be really high-volume and don't need creative development. You're basically just opening your offer page for users. Costs are typically per 1000 pops (CPM) and often cheap.
The downside is users generally hate pop-unders and close them immediately. One case study showed going from $777 for 412 fans to $297 for 1,132 fans, about $0.26 per fan acquired. Before you choose between these formats, this guide on choosing between push and pop traffic can help you decide what works best for your budget.
Native Ads
Native ads appear as recommended content on websites, often looking like the site's regular content. While networks like Taboola typically don't allow explicit adult content, some smaller networks accept suggestive OnlyFans promotions. Native ads work well for "story" angles like articles about teachers earning six figures on OnlyFans, then leading to signup pages.
They're more expensive than push or pop ads but can reach large mainstream audiences through advertorials that warm users before sending them to OnlyFans. When running any paid campaigns, proper tracking is essential.
This guide on how to choose traffic tracker for affiliate marketing helps you pick the right tools for measuring campaign performance
Other Paid Channels
Some affiliates buy shoutouts on large Instagram or Snapchat accounts, or advertise on Twitter since it allows adult ads with some restrictions. Direct banner buys on relevant forums or adult sites are also options.
But Facebook, Instagram, and Google Ads are basically off-limits for direct adult content advertising.
Does OnlyFans Have an Affiliate Program?
Yes, OnlyFans has an official referral program, but it's focused on getting new content creators. If someone uses your unique link to become a creator, you earn 5% of that creator's earnings for their first 12 months, capped at $50,000 per creator. This comes from OnlyFans' 20% fee, not the creator's 80% share.
For referring subscribers to creators, third-party affiliate networks handle the business.
OnlyTraffic
The dedicated OnlyFans CPA platform that calls itself the "#1 CPA for OnlyFans." It connects content creators with affiliate marketers through a marketplace of OnlyFans models' offers. OnlyTraffic works on revenue-share models and gives you tools like earnings calculators and pre-made promotional materials.
CrakRevenue
A major Canadian CPA network that announced over 60 OnlyFans model offers available on its platform. CrakRevenue supports revenue share, pay-per-sale, and pay-per-lead options for OnlyFans promotions. With 35,000+ affiliates and over $550 million in historical payouts, it's become a go-to for adult entertainment affiliates.
AWEmpire (LiveJasmin)
The official affiliate program for LiveJasmin webcam sites, offering four payout models including hybrid combinations of upfront and recurring commissions. While not OnlyFans directly, many creators run parallel cam shows, making it useful for affiliates promoting adult content.
Fansly Affiliate Program
OnlyFans competitor Fansly has a similar referral program for creators, typically around 5% for a limited time. Some affiliates help creators set up on multiple platforms to earn referral bonuses from each.
Private Agency Programs
Various OnlyFans agencies run their own affiliate systems, getting webmasters to send traffic to their model rosters and paying revenue share. These are often found through forums and Telegram groups where affiliate deals are made one-on-one.
Summary
Making money on OnlyFans through affiliate marketing is a solid opportunity in the creator economy, with the platform generating billions in annual revenue and paying creators over $5.3 billion in 2023. Success comes down to mastering funnel attributes, focusing on high-value geographic markets, and mixing free social media promotion with paid adult-friendly advertising.
Competition is tough and only 4.2% of subscribers actually spend money, but the rewards can be substantial for affiliates who find promising creators and drive quality traffic that converts into paying, long-term fans.
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