What percentage does OnlyFans keep, how much does OnlyFans take from tips, what is the OnlyFans cut: one answer, from one source, and then the parts of the question people do not think to ask.
The 20 percent, from the terms.
The terms of service say, in the section on creator payouts, that the platform's fee is calculated as 20 percent of the total fan payment and is deducted from each fan payment, and that all fan payments and creator earnings are transacted in US dollars. A fan payment is any payment a fan makes to a creator: a subscription, a renewal, a tip, a paid message, a paid post, a paid stream. The rate is flat. It does not fall for large creators, rise for small ones, or vary by content type. It has been 20 percent since the platform's early years, and the company's own accounts confirm the arithmetic: its revenue in the year to November 2025 was reported at about 1.6 billion dollars against about 6.2 billion paid to creators, which is a fifth against four fifths.
What the fee pays for.
The 20 percent is the platform's entire charge for hosting, streaming and storing content, processing payments through the third party providers the terms describe, verifying creators and fans, enforcing the rules, handling disputes, paying its own tax, and paying out. Payment processing for adult content is difficult to keep: in 2021 the founder told the Financial Times, as recorded on Wikipedia, that banks such as BNY Mellon and JPMorgan Chase had withdrawn support, which is why the platform briefly announced a ban on explicit content. How the fee is split between processing and everything else is not published. Creators pay no listing fee, no monthly fee and no fee from the platform to withdraw earnings; whatever a bank or e-wallet charges on receipt is the bank's, not the platform's, and the terms say so.
A payment, from card to bank.
- 1
The fan pays the listed price, plus tax where it applies
The terms say fan payments are exclusive of indirect sales tax, which is added at the applicable rate. A fan in a country that charges VAT or sales tax on digital services sees the creator's price plus tax; the tax goes to the tax authority, not to the creator or the platform's fee.
- 2
The payment processor takes the payment
Per the terms, all fan payments are received and processed by an approved third party payment provider, periodically for subscriptions and immediately for everything else.
- 3
The platform deducts 20 percent
The remaining 80 percent is credited to the creator's earnings in US dollars.
- 4
Earnings become available
The terms say earnings are available for withdrawal when reflected in the account and once the balance meets the minimum payout amount. The platform holds new payments for a period before they become withdrawable; the payouts guide covers the hold, the minimum and the methods.
- 5
The creator withdraws
By the payout option chosen at sign up. The terms note that the creator's bank or e-wallet may charge conversion or other fees, which the platform does not control.
Tips, messages, posts, streams.
| Payment | Platform takes | Creator receives |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription and renewal | 20 percent | 80 percent |
| Tip, on a post, in a message, on a stream or from the profile | 20 percent | 80 percent |
| Paid message (PPV) | 20 percent | 80 percent |
| Paid post on a free page | 20 percent | 80 percent |
| Paid stream | 20 percent | 80 percent |
| Bundle or discounted first month | 20 percent of the discounted amount | 80 percent of the discounted amount |
The question about tips comes up because other platforms treat tips differently. OnlyFans does not: a tip is a fan payment and the fee is the same 20 percent.
What comes off on top.
- Sales tax, on the fan's side. Added to the price where required, paid to the tax authority. It makes the page more expensive to some fans without changing the creator's 80 percent.
- Currency conversion and bank charges. Earnings are in US dollars. A creator paid into a non dollar account pays their bank's conversion rate and any receiving fee; the terms say the platform does not control either.
- Chargebacks and refunds. If a fan obtains a refund or chargeback from their card provider, the terms allow the platform to deduct the creator earnings portion from the creator's balance. The platform's own 20 percent share of a refunded payment is its loss.
- Wallet credits. Fans can prepay credits to spend later; per the terms they are non refundable and capped. This affects fans, not the creator's share.
- Income tax and, where applicable, VAT. The creator's own obligation on the 80 percent, warranted in the terms. For most creators this is the largest deduction of all and the one nobody counts when comparing platform fees.
Gross, net, and what you actually keep.
The commission is the first deduction, not the last. Creators who say they earn a figure on OnlyFans usually mean the gross amount fans paid, or the 80 percent shown as earnings, and neither is the money they keep. The table walks from a fan's payment to the creator's net income in order, with who sets each line. Only the platform's line is fixed; every other line depends on the creator's bank, country and business choices, which is why no single net percentage exists for creators.
| Line | What comes off | Who sets it |
|---|---|---|
| Fan payment | Nothing yet; sales tax, where it applies, is on top and goes to the tax authority | The creator sets the price; the law sets the tax |
| Platform commission | 20 percent of the fan payment | The OnlyFans terms; the same for every creator |
| Creator earnings | The 80 percent, in US dollars | Shown in the account statements |
| Refunds and chargebacks | The creator's share of any refunded or charged back payment | Fans and card providers; the terms allow the deduction |
| Bank and conversion fees | Whatever the bank or e-wallet charges on receipt | The creator's bank |
| Business expenses | Equipment, production, marketing, software, chatters, an agency's share | The creator's own choices |
| Income tax and social taxes | Tax on the profit, by the rules of the creator's country | The creator's tax authority |
Read in that order, the 20 percent is the most predictable line on the page. It applies to every dollar fans pay, at the same rate, and it never surprises anyone who has read the terms. The lines below it are where creators lose track of money, and the earnings guide uses this order to turn gross figures into something a creator can plan around.
Business costs creators forget.
Running an OnlyFans page is a small business, and the commission is only one of its costs. Most of the others are chosen by the creator, which makes them the part of the arithmetic that can be changed. Before deciding whether the platform's cut is worth it, list what else the page costs to run each month. The checklist covers the common expenses we see when we read a creator's numbers.
- Equipment. Camera or phone, lighting, a tripod, storage. Mostly a one time cost, replaced over years. The camera guide covers what is worth buying.
- Content production. Outfits, props, locations, editing time, and anyone paid to help on a shoot day.
- Marketing. Paid shoutouts, promotion help or a promotion service. Search engine ads are not an option: the terms forbid promoting an account with Google Ads or similar services.
- Inbox help. Chatters or a chatting service, paid by the hour or by a share of message sales.
- Software. Scheduling, link pages, analytics.
- An accountant. Often the cheapest way to avoid paying more tax than you owe.
Whether each cost is deductible against tax depends on the country, and the records that prove it are the creator's job. Download the earnings statements from the account every month and keep receipts for every expense, because the statements are gone once an account is closed.
Taxes on what you earn.
The terms put tax entirely on the creator: creators are responsible for their own tax affairs, warrant that they report all payments from the platform to their tax authority, and can have an account closed or payouts restricted for tax non-compliance. What a creator owes depends on where they live, and two examples show how differently countries treat the same earnings.
In the United States, creators are usually self-employed. The IRS says the self-employment tax rate is 15.3 percent, made of 12.4 percent for social security and 2.9 percent for Medicare, that it applies when net earnings from self-employment are 400 dollars or more, and that the employer-equivalent portion can be deducted in figuring adjusted gross income. That is on top of income tax. In the United Kingdom, HMRC's trading allowance is a tax exemption of up to 1,000 pounds a year of trading income, and above that a creator can deduct the allowance or claim actual expenses instead. Neither example is advice for your situation; ask a qualified adviser where you live.
How it compares.
The 20 percent is standard for subscription platforms in adult content; the main alternatives take a comparable share, and the platform comparison lists each one's cut as its own pages state it. Outside adult content the comparison is different: Patreon's published pricing charges 10 percent of income on its current plan plus payment processing and payout fees, with older plans at 8 to 12 percent. The difference reflects payment processing cost: adult content is charged more by the card networks and banks, and every adult platform passes that on. A creator choosing between platforms on fee alone is choosing between numbers within a few points of each other; discovery, payment reliability and audience matter more, and the comparison page is organized around them.
The fee against an agency's cut.
The other percentage in a creator's life is what an agency takes, and it is worth stating plainly that it comes out of the 80 percent, not the 100. An agency on a 30 percent revenue share of a page earning 10,000 dollars gross takes 30 percent of 8,000, leaving the creator 5,600 from 10,000 the fans paid: 44 percent gone before tax. That is the arithmetic every creator should do before signing, and the pricing page does it for this agency's own models, in the open. The 20 percent is fixed and buys the platform. The agency's share is negotiable and should buy measurable growth; the agency criteria page says what to demand for it.
The fee, the currency, the tax, processing, chargeback, wallet and payout clauses are from the OnlyFans Terms of Service, read September 25, 2026. Company revenue and payout figures are as reported from the Fenix International Limited accounts. Patreon's fee is from its published pricing page, read the same day. The US self-employment tax rate and threshold are from the IRS self-employment tax page, and the UK trading allowance from HMRC's guidance on gov.uk, both read October 2, 2026. Other platforms' fees are stated on the comparison page only where their own pages could be read.
Sources.
- OnlyFans Terms of Service: fee, currency, payments, payouts, chargebacks, wallet creditsonlyfans.com/terms
- Fenix International Limited, annual accounts, Companies Housefind-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk
- Patreon, pricingpatreon.com/pricing
- IRS, Self-Employment Tax (Social Security and Medicare Taxes)irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/self-employment-tax-social-security-and-medicare-taxes
- HMRC, Tax-free allowances on property and trading incomegov.uk/guidance/tax-free-allowances-on-property-and-trading-income