Since Instagram announced Features on Monday, the conversation online and at Colin & Samir HQ has centered around one thing: monetization.
Social platforms make money by attracting audiences. But how much creators earn, and what they have to do to qualify, varies significantly from platform to platform.
We did a deep dive into five traditional long-form platforms to review their annual revenue, how they pay creators, and what it takes to qualify for monetization.
Three themes emerged from our research:
Qualifying doesn't guarantee a paycheck. Nearly every platform has monetization requirements, but meeting those thresholds doesn't necessarily mean creators will be accepted into a program or earn meaningful revenue. In fact, Substack is the only platform where anyone can start earning immediately, with no thresholds attached.
Official payouts don't tell the whole story. As traditional streamers like Netflix compete with social platforms for creator talent, some creators are receiving financial incentives to stay on or join a platform. This week, Business Insider reported that Meta has offered creators between $50K and $500K to post long-form videos on Instagram.
Platform payouts are only one revenue stream. These figures don't account for brand partnerships, courses, products, or other businesses creators build around their audiences. A smaller creator can earn more than a larger one depending on how they monetize beyond the platform.
For a deep dive into how each platform pays creators and who qualifies for a piece of the pie, keep reading →
YouTube
How it pays: Creators can earn through advertising, YouTube Premium, shopping, memberships, and fan contributions. Eligible creators receive 55% of net ad revenue on regular videos, 45% of of their allocated Shorts revenue, and 70% of net revenue from fan-funding features (YouTube).
Who qualifies: For early access to certain monetization features, creators need 500 subscribers, three public uploads in 90 days, and either 3K valid public watch hours in 12 months or 3M valid Shorts views in 90 days. Advertising revenue requires 1K subscribers and either 4K watch hours or 10M Shorts views. Creators must also meet YouTube's other eligibility requirements and receive approval (YouTube).
Twitch
Reported annual revenue: Amazon doesn't separately disclose Twitch's annual revenue. Third-party estimates place it around $1–2B.
How it pays: Creators can earn from subscriptions, Bits, and advertising. Revenue shares and access to features vary by program (Twitch).
Who qualifies: Twitch's Affiliate requirements include 25 followers, four hours of streaming across four days, and an average of three viewers on four qualifying days within 30 days. Partner status has additional requirements and is subject to review (Twitch).
Spotify
Reported annual revenue: Spotify generated approximately $18–19B in 2025, primarily from Premium subscriptions, with advertising contributing a smaller share.
How it pays: Through its Partner Program, eligible podcast creators can earn a share of advertising revenue and payments based on eligible Premium video consumption. Spotify also offers other monetization options, including paid subscriptions (Spotify).
Who qualifies: For the Partner Program, creators must host with Spotify for Creators, be in an eligible market, publish at least three episodes, and meet audience and consumption thresholds (1K listeners and 2K hours of listening in a month).
Substack
Reported annual revenue: Around $50M.
How it pays: It doesn’t—your subscribers do. After Substack’s cut and processing fees, you keep ~90%.
Who qualifies: Anyone, immediately, with no minimum follower count.
Apple Podcasts
Reported annual revenue: Apple doesn't separately disclose Apple Podcasts revenue. Its broader Services division generates approximately $100B annually, but that figure includes businesses unrelated to podcasting.
How it pays: Apple doesn't pay creators simply for listens. Instead, creators can sell subscriptions offering bonus episodes, ad-free listening, or other benefits. Creators generally receive 70% of subscription revenue in a subscriber's first year and 85% after one year of paid service, minus applicable taxes (Apple).
Who qualifies: Eligible creators can offer paid subscriptions through the Apple Podcasters Program, which costs $19.99 annually in the US. There is no minimum listener threshold (Apple).
Zooming out: Social platforms have made it easier than ever for creators to reach an audience, but earning money directly from those platforms is another story. Each has its own eligibility requirements, revenue-sharing models, and rules creators don't control.
The question isn't just how much platforms pay creators, but how much of their business creators can build beyond those payouts.
