What is OnlyFans? The porn page that has the world hooked

OnlyFans is the social media platform where influencers are free to post whatever content they like – from softcore to X-rated – with fans able to pay for the privilege.

The platform has exploded in popularity over the past few years, sending shockwaves through the porn industry as adult performers and sometimes celebrities connect with fans directly, for a monthly fee.

The best OnlyFans pages can bring in thousands a month. Gay performer Matthew Camp told The New York Times his page regularly earned more than $10,000 a month – and this was before be began posting penetrative videos.

What started out as a niche adult website (OnlyFans is not an app) has become a major player in the online space. In fact, OnlyFans is so popular that Beyoncé name-checked the site in May 2020, prompting a 15 percent uptick in traffic to the site.

Anyone can sign up to OnlyFans, and all content is welcome and ranges from clean to filthy – because technically it’s a general app and not exclusive to people who work in porn. It’s also used by fitness bloggers, dieticians and more.

It has, however, because very useful for people offering adult entertainment, from cam girls, adult models to porn creators and porn stars. (And reality TV people who want to make extra cash by sharing revealing snaps.)

“As far as we’re concerned, if you use social media and produce your own content, you should be using OnlyFans,” its website says.

“Whether you’re uploading tutorials, tips, behind-the-scenes footage or just endless selfies, a lot of your followers would be willing to pay for them.”

You can share or view photos, videos and live streams. Some creators simply use the app to share naughty photos for pocket money, while professional sex workers use it to generate more income.

How to set up an OnlyFans page.

You can use OnlyFans as a subscriber or as an earner. To earn, you just add your bank account to the app and start uploading content.

You can charge pretty much whatever you want for subscriptions, starting from $4.99 per month – and there’s no upper limit to what you can charge.

You can request a monthly fee of $1 million if you want – you just won’t have any subscribers. The minimum amount your fans can tip is $5.

Whenever you sell any subscription to a viewer, OnlyFans gives you 80% of the payment received.

OnlyFans says that the 20% fee they charge is to cover the payment processing, hosting and “all other associated costs with running the OnlyFans website and apps.”

The payment processing system is inbuilt in the app – which eliminates external or third party billing and payment portals.

According to the website, payouts are made automatically and daily – but with a delay of up to seven days.

So, if you get a new subscriber or a tip on the 1st of the month, the transaction is initiated on the 7th of the month. On the 8th, the site will initiate a transaction for earnings made on the 2nd of the month – and on it goes.

Changes to OnlyFans referrals

Originally, if you referred anyone to OnlyFans, you would earn 5% of their lifetime income from the app. Yep – lifetime.

But with the platform soaring in popularity – Forbes reported in March 2020 it was gaining around 150,000 new users every 24 hours — referral payments are now being limited to just one year after the referee joins as of May 1, 2020 up to a limit of $1 million earned by each referred creator.

Referrals which predate this will continue to earn the referee money for another year, but after that, time’s up.

The decision to limit the referral scheme at a time when many sex workers are relying on OnlyFans for income has infuriated many performers, including Aaron Lowe, who has set up a petition calling for the old system to be reinstated.

“Whilst Only Fans’ profits continue to grow during the Covid-19 pandemic and new creators join the platform every minute, they have shown little regard for the many referrers who helped build their business by unethically taking away income away from them and breaking the agreement terms,” he wrote.

How to subscribe to OnlyFans

To subscribe, it’s also very easy – first you add your payment card, then you click the ‘subscribe’ button on any profile you fancy following.

Once you’ve hit ‘subscribe’, the content will be instantly unlocked – all of it. Adult content is censored until fans subscribe to the account they want to follow.

In order to keep viewing the content without interruption, you have to keep paying the monthly rate set by the creator.

Payments are made using cards, starting from the first day of the subscription and then every 30 days recurring until you unsubscribe from the particular profile.

You can unsubscribe from profiles you no longer want to follow at any time.

OnlyFans states that it uses a secure third party payment provider and can never view the card details stored on users’ accounts.

Porn perks

OnlyFans allows its users to post explicit adult content, unlike other apps like Instagram and Snapchat. So, you can post as much smut as you want without having to worry about getting your account banned and losing your followers.

It’s also useful for subscribers who are after ‘amateur’ porn, or for those who want to watch real people f**king, or, well, touching their boobies or knob.

Some argue that OnlyFans is a good thing because it depicts real people, rather than unrealistic beauty standards. Others say it’s empowering that those appearing in the content are the ones profiting and in charge.

In a world where we share what we eat, read, breathe, do, wear, why not go one step further and share our private parts?

• Nov 29 2023

56 celebrities you didn’t know are gay, bisexual or lesbian