The Pioneer

How OnlyFans' CEO is putting power (and cash) in the hands of creators.

- REBECCA DOLAN

ONLYFANS, THE subscription platform that allows creators to charge for photos and videos, has revolutionized porn, challenged stigmas, and empowered a new wave of internet commerce. But we hardly need to explain that, do we?

OnlyFans has experienced an astronomical rise in profit and popularity since 2020, drawing shoutouts from Beyoncé on "Savage" and being leveraged by The Weeknd and Cardi B for promos. The actor Bella Thorne pulled down $1 million on her first day on the platform. Despite being best known for independent porn many other platforms ban the monetization of explicit mediaOnlyFans has attracted a broad range of creators, including fitness experts and musicians, who charge a monthly fee to access their content.

The site's earning potential has proved a lifeline for many. But with platforms like Patreon and Gumroad also offering direct-to-consumer commerce for content creators, what's led to OnlyFans' exponential growth? It's about giving people agency, says CEO Amrapali Gan: "Creators want control. They want ownership over their content." The subscription site gives them that, plus a healthy slice of the pie if they prove successful: creators keep 80 percent of what they make on the site, and the company says it pays out over $5 billion annually to its creators.