How to make money on TikTok – 13 proven methods for 2026

1. Sell custom merch to your followers

Selling branded merchandise turns your audience’s loyalty into something physical, and with TikTok Shop’s built-in features, it’s easier than ever to pull off. TikTok Shop lets you direct followers straight to your products without ever leaving the app through shoppable videos, LIVE shopping events, and a storefront tab on your profile.

How it works: Design custom products through a print-on-demand service like Printify and connect your store to TikTok Shop US. Tag products in your videos, run LIVE shopping broadcasts, and let customers check out without leaving the app. Your print-on-demand partner handles printing, packaging, and shipping, while you keep the profit.

Requirements: Age 18+, valid government-issued ID, and a linked bank account. TikTok Shop is available in the US, UK, and select Southeast Asian markets, but Printify only integrates with TikTok Shop US. No minimum follower count required.

Earning potential: Your profits depend on what products you sell, if your designs are appealing enough, and what prices you set. You may not earn much in the beginning, but if you put the work in, you could earn north of five figures. Just take a look at the success our merchant Poppy Rose has had! 

Pro tips:

• Design products that your community can connect with.
• Ensure your listing photos and descriptions are clear.
• Use text overlays and casual demos in your videos instead of hard selling.
• Try limited-edition drops to create urgency.
• Go LIVE to show your products while interacting in real time with your audience.
• Use the Printify x TikTok Shop US integration for hands-off fulfillment.

2. Do TikTok affiliate marketing

No products? No problem. Become an affiliate and promote businesses’ products and services on the app. You can do this through external affiliations or by connecting with TikTok Shop sellers to highlight their products in your high-quality content. You’ll earn a commission every time someone buys through your unique affiliate link. It’s a simple way to make money on TikTok by just talking about the things you already love.  

How it works: Join an affiliate program (TikTok’s affiliate marketplace, Amazon, or third-party networks), get a tracking link, and weave product recommendations into your content.

Requirements: There are different requirements depending on which type of affiliate marketing you’re doing on the app. You’ll find a detailed breakdown in the TikTok Creator Eligibility Policy. If you’re forming partnerships with businesses outside of TikTok, each of them will have its own criteria.

Earning potential: This varies by affiliate program. Brands can pay anywhere from 3–50%of the total purchase amount, depending on the type of product you’re promoting. 

Pro tips:

• Read our affiliate marketing guide.
• The Printify Affiliate Program is a good option if your audience is primarily creators or business owners. 
• Only promote products you’d genuinely recommend – people value authenticity.
• Add your affiliate links to your bio.
• Review and try-on videos work great for affiliate content.
• Always disclose your affiliate relationships to your audience.

3. Join the TikTok Creator Rewards Program 

The Creator Rewards Program is TikTok’s way of paying creators for their high-quality content, and it pays a lot more than the old Creator Fund it replaced. 

How it works: The platform pays eligible creators based on views, watch time, originality, and engagement. Longer videos (at least one minute) that keep people watching are rewarded the most.

Requirements: Be at least 18, have a minimum of 10,000 followers, have 100,000 video views in the past 30 days, create a personal (not business) account, and ensure you’re located in an eligible country. Videos must be original and at least one minute long to qualify for Creator Rewards.

Earning potential: Roughly$0.40 to $1.00 per 1,000 views, compared to the old Creator Fund’s $0.02 to $0.04. A video with one million views could earn $400 to $1,000 from this program alone.

Pro tips: 

• Hook viewers fast and give them a reason to watch to the end. Watch time is everything.
•  New content is rewarded, recycled content is not. 
• Use the creator rewards dashboard to track what’s earning. 
• Treat payouts as a bonus, not your sole income stream, as they fluctuate monthly.

4. Get tips from your TikTok followers

Simple but effective, the app’s tipping feature lets loyal followers send money directly to creators they want to support.

How it works: Eligible creators get a Tips button on their profile. Followers send any amount using their TikTok balance or a linked payment method.

Requirements: Be 18 or older, have at least 100,000 followers, and link a Stripe account.

Earning potential: Tips are best as supplemental income. Creators in education, storytelling, or mental health niches often build strong tipping cultures that add up meaningfully over time.

Pro tips: 

• Mention tipping occasionally without making every video feel like a fundraiser.
• Thank tippers publicly to encourage others to do the same.
• Pair tipping with exclusive perks for your most dedicated followers.

5. Collect LIVE gifts during TikTok video streams

Going LIVE is one of the most immediate and interactive ways to earn money on TikTok, and your viewers can reward you in real time by sending virtual gifts that convert to cash.

How it works: Viewers buy TikTok Coins and send virtual gifts during your stream. These convert to Diamonds in your account, which you can withdraw via PayPal or bank transfer.

Requirements: Be at least 18, have at least 1,000 followers, and keep your account in good standing.

Earning potential: Casual creators can earn $5 to $50 per stream if the content is interesting, while popular creators with engaged audiences can earn hundreds or thousands per broadcast. The payout rate is roughly 50% of the coin value.

Pro tips: 

• Go LIVE on a consistent schedule. 
• Shout out to viewers who send gifts, it encourages others to join in. 
• Combine LIVE gifts with LIVE shopping to double your earnings from each broadcast. 

6. Become a TikTok influencer 

When you have an audience that trusts you, brands will pay to be part of that conversation. Becoming an influencer and landing brand partnerships has become a popular way to earn on TikTok and other social media platforms. 

How it works: Brands pay you to feature their products in your content – a single video, a post series, or a full campaign. Deals happen through direct outreach, influencer platforms, or TikTok’s Creator Marketplace.

Requirements: No official minimum, but most brands want you to have 5,000 to 10,000 engaged followers. A media kit and rate card are strongly recommended.

Earning potential: 

Your earnings depend on your follower count and engagement metrics.

Here is an estimate of how much influencers earn per TikTok post:

• Nano-influencers (1k to 10k followers) – $5–$25 per post. 
• Micro-influencers (10k to 100k followers) – $25–$125
• Mid-tier creators (100k to 250k followers) – $125–$1,250
• Macro-influencers (250k to 1M followers) – $1,250–$2,500
• Mega-influencers (1M+ followers) – $2,500+

These reflect the market rates for per-post partnerships, though some brands prefer to pay a percentage of all sales made through your promotion post.

Pro tips: 

• Don’t wait to be discovered, pitch brands directly with a confident, data-backed proposal.
• Only partner with brands you’d genuinely recommend to maintain your followers’ trust.
• Always disclose sponsored content clearly.

7. Run TikTok ads

TikTok ads are primarily a tool for businesses, but creators can benefit, too, whether by promoting their own products or getting paid when brands boost their organic videos.

How it works: Run paid campaigns through the TikTok Ads Manager or use Spark Ads, which let brands amplify their existing organic content as an ad.

Requirements: A TikTok Business account, an Ads Manager account, and a payment method for your own campaigns.

Earning potential: Running ads is a cost of promoting your own products, with the ultimate goal being to increase your sales and revenue. It’s not possible to give an estimate of your earnings because it depends on your products, prices, and how many ads you run. 

Pro tips: 

• Read TikTok’s Advertising Policies to ensure you stay compliant.
• Test small before scaling your ad spend. 
• If a brand wants to Spark your content, negotiate compensation for the boosting rights.
• Always define your target audience tightly for the best return.

8. Offer TikTok subscriptions to your audience

Want more predictable monthly income? TikTok’s subscription feature gives your most dedicated followers a way to pay for exclusive access to you and your new content.

How it works: Subscribers pay a monthly fee (set by you within TikTok’s range) for perks like subscriber-only LIVE streams, exclusive videos, and custom badges.

Requirements: Be at least 18+, have at least 10,000 followers and 100k video views in the past month, keep your account in good standing, and check that you live in one of the regions where it’s available. 

Earning potential: Pricing typically ranges from $0.99 to $4.99 per month. Five hundred subscribers at $2.99/month generate roughly $1,495 monthly before TikTok’s revenue share.

Pro tips: 

• Define subscriber benefits clearly upfront – vague perks lead to cancellations. 
• Keep your free public content strong, since that’s what converts new subscribers. 
• A TikTok series works brilliantly as exclusive content for subscribers.

9. Crosspost TikTok content to other platforms 

Why earn money from just one platform when you can earn from several? Crossposting your TikTok content is one of the lowest-effort, highest-leverage moves a creator can make.

How it works: Post your TikTok vertical videos on Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts, Pinterest, and Snapchat to earn from each platform’s monetization program.

Requirements: Check each platform’s specific eligibility criteria. 

Earning potential: Profits vary depending on the platform you choose and its payment scheme. Check each platform’s policies for detailed breakdowns. 

Pro tips: 

• Always remove the TikTok watermark before crossposting, as other platforms downrank watermarked content. 
• Start with your best-performing videos since they’re already proven winners.
• Pace yourself to avoid burnout from managing too many platforms at once.

10. Sell digital products or courses 

Create something once, sell it forever. Digital products are among the best passive-income TikTok strategies, letting you earn long after the work is done.

How it works: Create an eBook, template, preset, online course, or downloadable guide and sell it through a link in your bio to your online store on another platform (TikTok Shop doesn’t support digital products yet). Your videos will drive traffic to your sales page around the clock.

Requirements: A platform to host and sell your product (Gumroad, Teachable,Stan Store).

Earning potential: Since you can make a digital product once and sell it an infinite number of times, your profit margins can be super high – close to 100%. Your only costs will be any platform fees for your online store and any ads you run. 

Pro tips: 

• Use your content to prove your expertise. People who get value from free videos will pay to go deeper. 
• Show the outcome your digital product delivers, not just what it contains. 
• Create a clean sales page with real testimonials – it’ll convert far better than a rushed one.

11. License your TikTok content or audio

If you’ve created a viral video or original audio that people keep using, you might be able to turn content into cash through licensing. This means anyone who wants to use your audio or video clips for advertising purposes will need to get your permission and pay a fee if you choose to set one. 

How it works: Register your content with your local copyright office and set up an email or website for people to contact you if they want to license your content. Ensure you have written a licensing agreement that outlines how brands are allowed to use your audio, video, or images.

Requirements: Fully original content you own and a written licensing agreement.

Earning potential: It entirely depends on the rates you set and what brands are willing to pay. Smaller businesses will have lower budgets, while productions like TV shows and movies will have much more to spend.

Pro tips: 

• Don’t handle licensing requests informally over DM – always get the terms in writing.
• Add a light watermark to your most original content to discourage unauthorized use.
• Check out platforms like Epidemic Sound, which partner with artists to distribute their music for profit. 

12. Build a membership community 

TikTok is a brilliant audience-building machine, and there’s money to be made off-platform in paid communities where your most devoted followers pay monthly for exclusive access.

How it works: Use the app to grow your niche audience and build trust, then direct engaged followers to a paid community on Patreon, Discord, or Substack. TikTok drives awareness, and the membership platform generates income.

Requirements: An account on a membership platform and an engaged audience that sees value in ongoing premium access.

Earning potential: You have the freedom to set your own membership prices. Many people create multiple tiers at different price points, with higher tiers getting even more benefits. The key to making memberships a long-term income stream is continually giving your subscribers unmatched value. 

Pro tips: 

• Tease what members get in your public videos without giving everything away. 
• Treat your community as a two-way relationship, built with your members, not just for them.
• Regularly tease higher-tier benefits to those subscribed to lower tiers to tempt them to upgrade their membership. 
• Encourage people to buy an annual subscription at a small discount.

13. Curate and monetize TikTok playlist sponsorships

TikTok playlists let you organize videos into themed collections, and smart creators are turning those series into ongoing sponsorship opportunities.

How it works: Creators make a consistent series (like “30-Day Budget Challenge”) to build a loyal repeat audience and increase watch time. Relevant brands then sponsor individual videos or the whole series – similar to how podcast sponsors work.

Requirements: Access to TikTok playlists, a regular posting schedule, and an audience that returns for each installment.

Earning potential: Fees are negotiated directly with brands, similar to standard influencer deals, and will vary depending on your follower count and engagement metrics. Ongoing series formats open the door to multi-episode or monthly sponsorship deals.

Pro tips: 

• Build your playlist around a theme that naturally aligns with a product category, making pitching to brands easier. 
• When approaching brands, lead with total series view counts and retention numbers, not just individual video stats.