Which Social Media Platform Pays the Most?

Did you know that many social media (SM) platforms have become more business hubs than socializing arenas? Today, you can make more money on social media than by doing any real-world job! After all, close to five billion people on the planet use SM these days, which means you can reach a large base of target audiences with just a single piece of content. It can be a unique video or an ingenious story.

But did you know that different social media channels have different rates? You need to know which social media platform pays the most to receive the highest royalties for your exclusive content. A small percentage difference in commission implies a big difference in your social media income, be it passive income or primary.

SM Platforms That Pay the Most

In the real world, companies in specific industries have more or less the same pay rate. For example, if you are working as a chief engineer (CE) at firm A, you will be paid the same $100,000 per year as the chief engineer at firm B. At firm C, the CE may get paid $110,000 per year, but the difference won’t be vast.

In the case of social media, the difference between the pay rates doesn’t seem too big at first. But when you start getting paid for your content on different social platforms, you will realize that you can earn more money on some platforms than on others. Here’s a rundown of the highest-paying social websites in the world.

1. Instagram

With over 2 billion monthly active users (MAU) on Instagram, content creators have a great earning potential here. If your account is influencer material with thousands, even millions, of followers, then you stand to make insane amounts of money. Did you know that the most prominent influencers pocket more than $200,000 annually for their marketing efforts? Their rates per sponsored post can go as high as $10,000, so depending on their posting frequency, they can even make millions!

But you don’t need to be an influencer to get paid on Instagram. With a creator account, you can make a decent living on the platform. Are you a photographer or an artist? Maybe you are into videography or modeling? You can easily become a content creator on Instagram. Once you start getting enough video view count, you will be able to run IGTV ads and earn over 55% of the revenue. You can also make money during Instagram Live. Your fans can show their support for your creations by purchasing “badges,” for which you will get paid.

2. YouTube

YouTube is an unassailable giant when it comes to video uploads. After all, over 2.5 billion people are active on the platform. If your content goes viral on YouTube, it has the potential to reach almost every user. Its monetization policy is heavily dependent on the number of views and subscriber count. In fact, to simply qualify for earnings with the YouTube Partner Program, you need to have at least 1,000 subscribers and 4000 watch hours. Your subscribers can then opt for paid fan subscriptions to get access to exclusive premium content from which you can earn money.

Another way is by displaying ads on your videos. But unless your videos get thousands or millions of views per month, you won’t be able to earn much this way. For instance, micro-influencers who have reached 1000 views on their video will probably pocket around $5. These days, YouTube Shorts are all the rage.

There isn’t any list of minimum requirements to start earning from Shorts. Just upload a short video, and you can get a decent payout if it’s successful. Did you know that the platform reserves 45% of its YouTube Premium revenue for Shorts creators? The amount of money you receive greatly depends on the views for your Shorts. It can range from as little as 10 cents per 1000 views to as high as $25 per 1000 views.

3. TikTok

The only other video-focused social media network that comes close to YouTube in terms of popularity is TikTok. It has already crossed the one billion mark in MAUs, which is a commendable feat considering it was launched just six years ago! The primary source of revenue for seasoned TikTok users is the platform’s Creator’s Fund. To be eligible as a shareholder in the subscription funding, you need to have at least 10,000 subscribers and 100,000 views on your videos in one month. It is also region-specific, meaning that you won’t be able to join the Fund if you don’t reside in the US, the UK, Spain, Germany, Italy, or France.

If you don’t stay in any of these countries, don’t worry; you can still make money on TikTok. You can promote and sell merch on the platform itself. Plus, you can earn money through sponsorships. Established users can join TikTok’s Creator Marketplace to get in touch with brands and businesses that are willing to pay you for promoting their products or services. Influencer rates are a little less than what YouTubers can make, but they are still considerable. For instance, users with millions of followers easily make upwards of $2000 per sponsored post.

4. Snapchat

Snapchat may not be in the same league as the three giants above in terms of user base, but its 500-million-strong active user base is certainly not bad. And when you can make thousands of bucks with just one post with Snapchat’s Spotlight feature, it turns out to be a great option for users looking to monetize their social media accounts. However, to become one of the eligible creators on this platform, you need to meet certain requirements.

Your videos should be teen-friendly; that is, they should be suitable for kids aged 13 and above. They should be short-form videos, no longer than one minute. Also, they need to be captured vertically, not horizontally or from any other angle. And most importantly, you should not be selling anything in the videos. Snapchat doesn’t consider sponsored videos for its Spotlight section.

5. Twitter / X

As you might know, Twitter is now called X after being acquired by Elon Musk. This rebranding will possibly be followed by various money-earning opportunities for creators. Currently, there is an ad revenue-sharing program for your tweets with replies over a certain threshold. You will have to apply for their monetization program to be eligible. For now, we just need to wait to learn about more opportunities on this platform.

6. Facebook

Facebook is the largest social media platform on the planet. But it’s interesting to note that it doesn’t provide money-earning opportunities at par with the other platforms. Businesses, of course, can reach great heights with FB, and you can earn through affiliate marketing as well. But there was a time when creators didn’t get paid much. The good news is this SM giant launched a decent per-view rate for individual creators early in 2023. Now, you will get paid one to two cents per video view on FB as long as they get at least 1000 views.

Which Social Media Platform Pays Creators Best?

The best-paying social media platform isn’t the one that pays the highest rates to creators. You need to factor in all the available opportunities too, their variety and credibility. It also depends on the kind of original content you are creating and uploading. YouTube is ideal for mid-length to long videos, like recipes or lectures. TikTok is perfect for short, viral content that has the potential to trend. Instagram reels and stories are like no other, but it has more of an artistic focus.

All things considered, as a creative creator, you will probably get paid best on Instagram. But TikTok will pay you the most if your video manages to go viral. That said, if you already have a healthy presence on other platforms like FB, YT, or Snapchat, then your best pay will come from those platforms.

Which SM Platform Generates the Most Money?

In the real world, the company that pays its employees the most salary is the one that usually earns the highest revenue. That doesn’t seem to be the case with social media. In fact, it’s usually the other way around. Take Facebook, for instance. Its revenue in 2022 was more than $116 billion, but it started paying creators only in 2023, and it has just that one way for creators to earn money so far.

TikTok, on the other hand, generated a revenue of $11 billion, around 10 times less than that of FB. But the former is known to pay some of the highest amounts to social media creators! It also has some excellent creator tools for users.

To sum it up, you can never go wrong with Instagram and TikTok to get the most payment. To answer the question of which social media platform pays the most, it’s got to be a tie between the two. They have a user base in the billions and are perfectly capable of making large payments to worthy creators. To increase your follower count on Instagram organically and get those large payments in your bank account, you can always opt for SimplyGram’s specially customized services.