How much does OnlyFans take? OnlyFans fees for creators explained

OnlyFans’ cut: 20% of every fan payment

The OnlyFans percentage is 20%: the platform keeps a fifth of every payment a fan makes to you and pays you the remaining 80%. Its Terms of Service, in the October 2026 version, say the fee is calculated as 20% of the total payment and deducted from each payment. The Contract between Fan and Creator calls it the “Company Fee” and defines it the same way: 20% of all fan payments. The company sums it up in its 2025 accounts as an 80/20 split, with creators earning $4 for every $1 the platform keeps.

You never pay the fee separately or at the end of the month. It comes out before the money shows up in your balance.

Fan pays	OnlyFans keeps (20%)	You receive (80%)
$9.99 subscription	$2.00	$7.99
$25 pay-per-view message	$5	$20
$100 tip	$20	$80
A month with $1,000 in fan payments	$200	$800

What about the fan’s sales tax? Under the terms, fan payments are exclusive of tax: any sales tax or VAT that applies where the fan lives is added on top of your price. If you charge $10 a month, the fan pays $10 plus that tax, OnlyFans keeps $2 and you are owed $8. Your own income tax is a separate matter.

To see what 20% means across a whole account, with scenarios of different sizes, read how much OnlyFans creators make.

What the fee applies to

The fee applies equally to everything fans pay inside OnlyFans. The terms define “Creator Interactions” as subscriptions, pay-per-view (PPV) content and any other payment between a fan and your account or content, including direct messages, and they also mention tips and live stream content.

Income type	Is the 20% fee charged?	How it works
Subscription	Yes	The fan pays a fee that renews automatically until they cancel
Pay-per-view content	Yes	Locked posts or messages the fan unlocks by paying
Messages and custom content	Yes	Any payment made inside the chat
Tips	Yes	On posts, messages or live streams
Live streams	Yes	Payments and tips during the broadcast
Referrals	Not a fan payment	The 5% comes out of OnlyFans’ share, not the referred creator’s

There is one case where you lose your 80% as well: if a fan gets a refund or a chargeback, OnlyFans can deduct the creator earnings from that payment. It isn’t a fee, but it costs you just the same, which is one more reason to always deliver what you sell. How these income streams fit together is covered in how to make money on OnlyFans.

What OnlyFans doesn’t charge

On your earnings, the only fee OnlyFans’ terms set is that 20%. None of these appear:

• A sign-up fee. Opening a creator account is free.
• A monthly fee. If you sell nothing in a month, you pay nothing: the fee only exists when a fan pays.
• A cost for referrals. If you join through another creator’s referral link, what they earn is paid by OnlyFans, not by you.
• A fixed withdrawal fee. The terms don’t attach a charge to each payout.

What can still reduce what reaches you, according to the same terms:

• Currency conversion. Earnings are normally paid in US dollars. If your payout needs converting, the final amount includes conversion fees. In the US there is nothing to convert; in the UK, your dollars become pounds along the way.
• Your bank. It may charge for international transfers, currency handling or receiving funds. OnlyFans makes clear these charges are set by your bank and are outside its control.

Payout timing and costs

OnlyFans’ terms don’t publish payout times or withdrawal costs for each country. What they do set is that you can only withdraw earnings once they show in your account and your balance reaches a minimum payout amount, which they don’t specify, and that payouts are normally made in US dollars. The dashboard describes a 7-day rolling pay cycle before each payment becomes available, and payout methods depend on your country of residence.

In practice, what you lose along the way depends on your bank and payout method rather than on OnlyFans: the same payout can cost different amounts at two banks in the same country. We go through it step by step, including what to do if a payout is late, in how to get paid on OnlyFans.

UK creators registered for VAT

If you are registered for UK VAT, OnlyFans’ UK VAT Policy changes how your earnings are handled, not the size of the fee. You are treated as invoicing OnlyFans for your earnings (the 80%) plus VAT, and OnlyFans pays that VAT on top once you have sent your VAT number and the paperwork the policy asks for. Whether and when you need to register is a question for an accountant; our guide to OnlyFans taxes covers the basics.

The referral program: the one percentage that works for you

The referral program is the only commission that works in your favor. If another creator signs up through your link, OnlyFans pays you 5% of what their fans pay during their first 12 months, up to $50,000 per referred creator. If that creator brings in $2,000 a month, you would receive $100 a month during their first year, and it costs them nothing.

The conditions worth knowing, according to the program terms:

• OnlyFans pays it, not the referred creator. Each month’s referral earnings are paid around the first day of the following month, and you need a payout method set up.
• No referral pay on accounts you own or operate, or on creators you have a business relationship with.
• Only creators count, not fans, and they must sign up through your link in the same browser.
• Some things are banned outright: promoting your link with Google Ads or similar services, posing as OnlyFans, or suggesting someone will earn a specific amount.

OnlyFans fees vs an agency’s commission

OnlyFans’ fee is fixed, the same for everyone and deducted automatically. An agency’s commission is a separate deal, varies a lot from one agency to the next and comes on top of the platform’s cut. OnlyFans says it doesn’t work with or endorse any agency, so that commission is purely a contract between you and the agency.

The key question is what the agency charges on. For every $100 your fans pay, OnlyFans keeps $20 and pays you $80. An agency charging 30% of that $80 takes $24 and leaves you $56; one charging 30% of the full $100 takes $30 and leaves you $50. Same percentage on paper, a $6 difference on every $100.

For typical market rates and exactly how we charge, see what an OnlyFans agency charges, and run your own figures through the agency commission calculator.

At Ofagen we calculate our commission on what OnlyFans pays you, after its 20% fee, and we give it to you in writing, with an example using your own numbers, before you sign. OnlyFans keeps paying you directly: we never touch your payout method or bank details.