The TikTok Creator Fund no longer exists. TikTok replaced it with the Creativity Program, which fully took over in the US, UK, France and Germany on 16 December 2023, and in March 2024 that program left beta and became the Creator Rewards Program. In 2026 it pays creators who are 18 or older, have at least 10,000 followers and 100,000 video views in the last 30 days, use a personal account, and post original videos at least one minute long.
So if you are searching for how the Creator Fund works, the useful question is how Creator Rewards works. The TikTok money calculator estimates what an account could earn from it, using the views on videos over one minute. Below: what changed, who qualifies, how the payout is worked out, how withdrawals work, and what to do if the program is not showing in your app.
What happened to the TikTok Creator Fund
The Creator Fund was TikTok's earlier program for paying creators from their videos. It is closed, and its rules no longer apply to anyone.
TikTok's replacement happened in three steps:
| Date | What happened |
|---|---|
| February 2023 | TikTok launched the Creativity Program Beta |
| 16 December 2023 | TikTok: "the Creativity Program will fully replace the Creator Fund in the US, UK, France, and Germany" |
| 18 March 2024 | The Creativity Program left beta and became the Creator Rewards Program |
When the switch was announced, TikTok said "All creators currently enrolled in the Creator Fund can upgrade to the Creativity Program." There is no way to join the old Creator Fund in 2026. Guides that tell you how to "join the TikTok Creator Fund" or "apply for the Creator Fund" are out of date.
If you had money left in the Creator Fund, TikTok's support page on the change says funds collected through the Creator Fund remain available to you and do not expire.
How the Creator Rewards Program works
The program pays for qualified views on eligible videos. The main differences from the old fund:
- Longer videos only. Only videos at least one minute long can earn.
- Qualified views, not all views. TikTok's support pages say a video needs at least 1,000 qualified For You feed views. Views that are artificial, paid or incentivised are excluded under TikTok's terms.
- Original content. Duets, Stitches, sponsored content and reposted or mostly unmodified content generally do not count as original, according to TikTok's support pages.
- Quality factors. When it launched the program, TikTok said the formula uses "four core metrics: originality, play duration, search value and audience engagement."
TikTok's US terms describe rewards as based on creators' "contributions and the popularity of their Eligible Videos", plus "other signals reflecting the popularity of, and engagement with, Eligible Videos." TikTok does not publish a fixed rate per view. Your RPM (revenue per 1,000 qualified views) and qualified view counts appear in your Creator Rewards dashboard, which TikTok introduced with the program. The terms also allow TikTok to set "a monthly or annual cap on each Creator's available rewards."
The four metrics in practice
| Metric | What it probably rewards | What you can do |
|---|---|---|
| Originality | Content you made, not reposts | Film your own footage and commentary |
| Play duration | How long people watch | Get to the point fast and keep a reason to stay |
| Search value | Videos that answer searches | Use the words people search in your caption and on screen |
| Audience engagement | Likes, comments, shares | Ask a real question and reply to comments |
TikTok named the metrics but not their weights, so the middle column is our reading, not TikTok's wording.
What to check in your Creator Rewards dashboard
Once you are in the program, the dashboard is the only place with your real numbers. Check three things each month:
- Qualified views against total views. If a video has 200,000 views but few qualified views, the gap tells you something: views from outside the For You feed, a video under one minute, or content TikTok did not treat as original.
- RPM by video. Compare your best and worst RPM videos. Look at length, topic and how long people watched. The patterns are more useful than any outside estimate.
- Estimated rewards over time. Look at the trend over three months, not a single day. Rewards are calculated the month after they are earned, so the most recent days can still move.
Creator Fund and Creator Rewards compared
| Creator Fund (closed) | Creator Rewards Program (2026) | |
|---|---|---|
| Can you join? | No, replaced in 2023 | Yes, if you meet the requirements |
| What is paid | No longer paid to anyone | Qualified views on original videos at least 1 minute long |
| Quality factors | Not published | Originality, play duration, search value, audience engagement |
| Where you see earnings | Old fund dashboard | Creator Rewards dashboard with RPM and qualified views |
The practical point for creators is simple: videos under one minute earn nothing from Creator Rewards. If your account is built on 15 to 30-second videos, either add a regular longer format or plan to earn mostly from brands and LIVE.
Creator Rewards Program requirements in 2026
From TikTok's US program terms (last updated 20 July 2026) and its support pages:
- Age: 18 or older, or the age of majority where you live. TikTok's support page says 19 in South Korea.
- Residence: a legal resident of a country where the program is available.
- Followers: at least 10,000 "authentic followers".
- Views: at least 100,000 "authentic total video views in the last 30 days".
- Account type: a personal account. Business and Organization accounts are excluded, as are government organisations, politicians and political parties.
- Account standing: an account in good standing with TikTok's rules.
- Payment: a valid payment account registered in your own name.
TikTok publishes separate terms for different regions, for example the US, the European Economic Area and Mexico, and says it may change the requirements. If a figure in your app differs from this list, the app is right for your account.
Can you join from any country?
No. You must be a legal resident of a country where the program is available. Changing your region setting or using a VPN does not change your residence, and the payment account must be in your own name. If the program is not available where you live, the other income streams below still are.
How much does Creator Rewards pay?
TikTok does not publish a rate, and RPM varies from account to account. The TikTok money calculator assumes a range of $0.40 to $1.00 per 1,000 qualified views. That is our estimate for planning, not a TikTok figure. Only your own dashboard shows your real RPM.
The calculator works like this:
Creator Rewards per month = monthly views x share of views on videos over 1 minute / 1,000 x $0.40 to $1.00
| Monthly views | Qualified views (60% over 1 minute) | Estimated per month | Estimated per year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 100,000 | 60,000 | $24 to $60 | $288 to $720 |
| 500,000 | 300,000 | $120 to $300 | $1,440 to $3,600 |
| 2,000,000 | 1,200,000 | $480 to $1,200 | $5,760 to $14,400 |
| 10,000,000 | 6,000,000 | $2,400 to $6,000 | $28,800 to $72,000 |
A worked example
Say a creator gets 800,000 views a month, but only 25% of them come from videos over one minute, because most of the account is 20-second clips. This is an example, not a real account.
- Qualified views: 800,000 x 25% = 200,000.
- Estimate: 200 x $0.40 to $1.00 = $80 to $200 a month.
- If the same views came 75% from videos over one minute: 600,000 qualified views, or $240 to $600 a month.
Same audience, three times the estimate. The share of views on videos over a minute is the biggest lever most creators have. That does not mean stretching every video past 60 seconds: if a padded video loses viewers, play duration and engagement fall, and so does the rate.
How payouts and withdrawals work
Under TikTok's US terms, rewards are "calculated in the month following the date that the rewards were earned" and are "redeemable and paid on the 15th of each month" once you reach the minimum payment threshold of $50.00 USD. Other regions have their own terms, so check the version for your country.
Searches like "how to withdraw TikTok money" or "TikTok money calculator withdraw" usually mix up two different things:
- Creator Rewards money, earned from qualified views and paid out under the program terms above.
- LIVE Gifts and Diamonds, earned when viewers send gifts during LIVE. TikTok's support page says you must be 18 or older (19 in South Korea) and live where LIVE Gifts is available to turn them on, and TikTok's Virtual Items Policy says Diamonds do not automatically entitle you to a reward payment.
Local currency conversions, such as rewards in shillings or naira, depend on your payment provider's exchange rate on the day, so any "calculator" showing an exact local amount is guessing.
Why the Creator Rewards Program is not showing up
If you cannot find the program in your app, check these in order:
- Country. The program is only available in some countries. If you are not a resident of one, it will not appear.
- Account type. Switch from a Business account to a personal account. Business accounts are excluded.
- Age. You must be 18 or older, or 19 in South Korea.
- Followers. 10,000 authentic followers, counted by TikTok, not by an outside site.
- Views. 100,000 authentic views in the last 30 days. This is a rolling window, so an older viral month does not count.
- Standing. Community Guidelines violations can affect eligibility.
- App version. Update the app. Program entry points sit in TikTok's creator tools and can move between versions.
If all seven are fine and it still does not show, contact TikTok support from inside the app. We could not confirm the current in-app steps for leaving the program, so if you want to leave, use the program's own page in your creator tools or ask TikTok support.
How to earn more from Creator Rewards
- Make videos that hold people past one minute. Plan a structure that needs the time: a step-by-step, a story with a payoff, a ranked list.
- Answer searches. TikTok named search value as a metric. Use the exact words people type in your spoken intro, on-screen text and caption.
- Stay original. Your own footage and commentary, not reposts or lightly edited clips.
- Measure engagement by views. On TikTok most views come from non-followers, so engagement by views tells you how each video landed. The TikTok engagement rate calculator shows it, and our TikTok engagement rate benchmarks show what is typical for your size.
- Grow the base that qualifies you. Our guide on how to grow on TikTok covers how the For You feed tests videos, and tracking your TikTok followers shows how to see whether a change worked.
Do not buy views or followers. TikTok's terms count only "authentic" followers and views, and exclude artificial or incentivised activity. Bought numbers do not help you qualify and can cost you the account. Our guide to spotting fake followers shows how brands detect them.
Creator Rewards is not the main income for most creators
For many mid-sized accounts, one brand deal pays more than a month of Creator Rewards. The money calculator prices a sponsored video at $10 to $20 per 1,000 average views, so an account averaging 40,000 views a video lands at $400 to $800 for a single sponsored post. Our guide on how much to charge for a sponsored TikTok explains that method, and the TikTok pricing calculator adds the engagement adjustment, series pricing and Spark Ads rights.
Other income streams on and off TikTok:
| Income stream | Who pays | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Creator Rewards | TikTok | Videos 1 minute or longer, 10K followers, 100K views in 30 days |
| LIVE Gifts | Viewers | 18+ (19 in South Korea), where available |
| Brand deals | Brands | Disclose with TikTok's commercial content setting |
| Affiliate and shop commissions | Customers | Where TikTok's shopping features are available |
| Your own products | Customers | Courses, merch, services |
If you post the same videos elsewhere, compare how each platform pays. How much YouTube pays for Shorts covers YouTube's short-form revenue share, and our guide to YouTube alternatives compares Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook and the rest.
Sources
- TikTok Newsroom: Unlocking even more opportunities for creators with the Creativity Program Beta, February 2023, updated November 2023
- TikTok Newsroom: Introducing the new Creator Rewards Program, 18 March 2024
- TikTok: Creator Rewards Program Terms (US), last updated 20 July 2026
- TikTok: Creator Rewards Program Terms (EEA)
- TikTok Support: Creator Rewards Program
- TikTok Support: TikTok Creator Fund update
- TikTok Support: LIVE Gifts on TikTok
- TikTok: Virtual Items Policy
Frequently asked questions
Does the TikTok Creator Fund still exist?
No. TikTok's Creativity Program fully replaced the Creator Fund in the US, UK, France and Germany from 16 December 2023, and in March 2024 it became the Creator Rewards Program. Any guide that explains how to join the Creator Fund is out of date.
What are the Creator Rewards Program requirements?
You must be 18 or older (19 in South Korea), live in a country where the program is available, use a personal account in good standing, and have at least 10,000 followers and 100,000 video views in the last 30 days. Only original videos at least one minute long can earn.
How do I join the Creator Rewards Program?
Once you meet the requirements, the program appears in the creator tools in the TikTok app, where you can apply and track qualified views and RPM. If it does not appear, check your country, account type, age and the rolling 30-day views figure first.
How much does TikTok pay per 1,000 views?
TikTok does not publish a rate, and RPM varies by account. Our TikTok money calculator assumes $0.40 to $1.00 per 1,000 qualified views as a planning estimate. Your real RPM is in your Creator Rewards dashboard.
Why is the Creator Rewards option not showing up?
The most common reasons are living in a country where the program is not offered, using a Business account, being under 18, or falling below 100,000 views in the last 30 days. Update the app and check again, then contact TikTok support in the app.
How do I withdraw my TikTok Creator Rewards money?
Under TikTok's US terms, rewards are calculated the month after you earn them and paid on the 15th of each month once you reach the $50 minimum, to a payment account in your own name. Other regions have their own terms, so check the version for your country.
Can I join Creator Rewards from any country?
No. You must be a legal resident of a country where the program is available, and the payment account must be in your name. If it is not offered where you live, brand deals and LIVE Gifts (where available) are the main alternatives.