The TikTok Creator Fund is discontinued. TikTok support lists the Fund as no longer available, and the TikTok Creator Rewards Program replaced it on January 1, 2026. This page explains the legacy program: the historical payout model, the old eligibility rules, why earnings varied, and what creators use instead.
Creator Fund at a Glance
- Status: Discontinued — Creator Rewards replaced it on January 1, 2026
- Historical payout rate: $0.02–$0.05 per 1,000 views in the US
- Historical thresholds: 10,000 followers and 100,000 views in the last 30 days
- Launch: 2020, with a $200 million pool later expanded toward $1 billion
- Replacement rate: $0.50–$2.00 per 1,000 qualified views under Creator Rewards
What Was the TikTok Creator Fund?
The TikTok Creator Fund was TikTok's first per-view monetization program, paying eligible creators from a fixed pool of money based on video performance. TikTok launched it in 2020 with a $200 million pool and later expanded the commitment toward $1 billion.
The Fund paid on videos of almost any length, split one fixed budget among every enrolled creator, and became known for very low payouts. Those three design choices explain its history: enrollment grew, individual earnings shrank, and TikTok rebuilt the program as Creator Rewards.
The Fund still matters in 2026 for three reasons:
- Older articles, videos, and creator discussions still reference its rates.
- Historical payout comparisons still use its $0.02–$0.05 RPM as a baseline.
- Creator Rewards kept the Fund's 10,000-follower and 100,000-view thresholds, so the old rules still shape the current program.
Historical Creator Fund Requirements
The Creator Fund required 10,000 followers, 100,000 video views in the last 30 days, age 18+, and residence in an eligible country. The full historical checklist:
- 10,000+ followers
- 100,000+ video views in the last 30 days
- Age 18 or older
- An account in good standing
- Residence in an eligible country — the list included the US, UK, Germany, France, Spain, and Italy
- Original content that followed Community Guidelines
These thresholds now serve two purposes: historical context and a preview of the current rules, because Creator Rewards reuses the same follower and view minimums. The TikTok Monetization Requirements guide compares every current program's thresholds — 10,000 followers for Creator Rewards, 5,000 for TikTok Shop affiliate access, and 1,000 for LIVE Gifts.
How Were Creator Fund Payouts Calculated?
The Creator Fund paid roughly $0.02–$0.05 per 1,000 views in the US, drawn from a fixed pool divided among all enrolled creators. Each creator's share depended on their percentage of total qualifying views across every Fund member, not on advertiser revenue tied to their videos.
That fixed-pool model produced low, shrinking rates across the program's life:
- 2022 peak: $0.04–$0.06 average RPM, with finance niches reaching $0.08–$0.10
- 2023–2024 decline: $0.02–$0.04 average RPM as mass enrollment diluted the pool
- Late 2023: many creators reported effective rates below $0.01 per 1,000 views
The historical benchmark at the common $0.02–$0.05 range:
| Monthly Views | Historical Creator Fund Range |
|---|---|
| 100,000 | About $2–$5 |
| 500,000 | About $10–$25 |
| 1,000,000 | About $20–$50 |
| 5,000,000 | About $100–$250 |
Niche set the position inside that band. At 5 million monthly views, a finance creator at $0.05 RPM earned about $250, a beauty creator at $0.03 earned about $150, and a comedy creator at $0.02 earned about $100. Treat every figure as a directional legacy estimate, not current earnings guidance.
Why Did Creator Fund Earnings Vary?
Creator Fund earnings varied because pool dilution, niche advertiser demand, and viewer geography each moved the effective rate. Three factors did most of the work:
- Pool dilution. The pool stayed fixed while enrollment grew, so every new member shrank each share. A creator earning $0.04 per 1,000 views in early 2021 commonly saw $0.015 by mid-2023 with identical performance.
- Niche. Finance content sat at the top of the band near $0.05, beauty in the middle near $0.03, and comedy at the bottom near $0.02, because advertiser demand differs per audience.
- Geography. US views paid the baseline $0.02–$0.05, UK views about $0.018–$0.045, and LATAM views about $0.010–$0.025. The TikTok Creator Fund Rates by Country data lists the full regional table.
Seasonality added a fourth swing: advertiser budgets peak in Q4 and trough in Q1, and US rates ran roughly 2–4x higher at the holiday peak than at the Q1 low. Sudden individual drops had separate causes — view-source shifts, audience-region changes, and ineligible content — which the guide on why your TikTok Creator Fund earnings dropped troubleshoots case by case.
The January 1, 2026 Transition to Creator Rewards
Creator Rewards replaced the Creator Fund as TikTok's per-view payment program on January 1, 2026. That date closed a transition that ran for almost three years:
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| February 2023 | Creator Rewards launched in the US as the "Creativity Program Beta" |
| May 2023 | Beta expanded to the UK, Germany, and France |
| August 2023 | Open enrollment began for eligible creators |
| December 2023 | TikTok announced Creator Fund deprecation |
| March 2024 | New Creator Fund enrollments closed |
| Q3 2024 | Final Creator Fund payouts distributed |
| January 1, 2026 | Creator Rewards became TikTok's sole per-view program |
TikTok support now routes all per-view monetization questions to the Creator Rewards Program page. Collected Creator Fund earnings remain available, and enrolling in Creator Rewards does not remove previously collected rewards.
What Changed Under Creator Rewards
Creator Rewards pays 10–40x more per view than the Creator Fund, but only for original public videos longer than 1 minute. The full comparison:
| Topic | Creator Fund (legacy) | Creator Rewards (current) |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Discontinued | Current program |
| US pay rate | $0.02–$0.05 per 1,000 views | $0.50–$2.00 per 1,000 qualified views |
| 10,000 followers | Required | Required |
| 100,000 views in 30 days | Required | Required |
| Video rule | Almost any length qualified | Original public videos longer than 1 minute |
| Views that count | Total views | Qualified views, starting after 1,000 qualified For You feed views |
| Account type | Personal accounts | Personal accounts only — Business, political, and government accounts excluded |
| Age | 18+ | 18+ (19 in South Korea) |
A qualified view is a unique For You feed view watched for more than 5 seconds. Rewards begin only after a video passes 1,000 qualified views, so raw view counts overstate earnings under the current program.
What Creators Do Now
Creators now apply to Creator Rewards, model earnings at current RPM ranges, and plan income across multiple programs. Four steps replace Fund-era planning:
- Confirm the current thresholds in TikTok Studio — 10,000 followers, 100,000 views in 30 days, and original public videos longer than 1 minute.
- Model per-view earnings with the TikTok RPM Calculator, using $0.50 as a conservative rate and $2.00 as an optimistic one.
- Benchmark your niche against TikTok RPM Rates by Niche — finance runs $1.50–$3.00 per 1,000 qualified views, technology $1.00–$2.50, and entertainment $0.40–$1.00.
- Estimate total income with the TikTok Money Calculator, which combines Creator Rewards with brand deals, LIVE gifts, and TikTok Shop.
Should You Still Use a Creator Fund Calculator?
Yes — for legacy comparison only. The TikTok Creator Fund Calculator preserves the historical $0.02–$0.05 payout model so old numbers stay comparable.
A Creator Fund calculator answers three legacy questions:
- What the old program paid at a given view count
- How legacy income compares with Creator Rewards at the same views
- Why the Fund rarely worked as a primary income stream
Current calculators answer three planning questions:
- What qualified views earn at $0.50–$2.00 RPM
- Which monetization channel pays most for a given account
- How a full revenue mix — program payouts, sponsorships, LIVE, Shop — adds up
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the TikTok Creator Fund still available?
No — TikTok discontinued the Creator Fund, and Creator Rewards replaced it on January 1, 2026. TikTok support lists the Fund as no longer available.
Can you still join the Creator Fund?
No — new Creator Fund enrollments closed in March 2024, and TikTok distributed final Fund payouts in Q3 2024. Eligible creators apply to the Creator Rewards Program instead.
What replaced the Creator Fund?
The Creator Rewards Program replaced the Creator Fund as TikTok's per-view payment program on January 1, 2026. It pays $0.50–$2.00 per 1,000 qualified views for original public videos longer than 1 minute.
How much did the Creator Fund pay?
The Creator Fund paid roughly $0.02–$0.05 per 1,000 views in the US — about $20–$50 per million views. Creator Rewards pays 10–40x that rate on qualified views.
Why do people still search for the Creator Fund?
Older guides, videos, and earnings comparisons still reference the Fund heavily, and its 10,000-follower and 100,000-view thresholds carried directly into Creator Rewards.
Related Resources
- Creator Rewards Program guide — the current program's requirements, RPM, and payouts
- How to Join the TikTok Creator Fund (Now Creator Rewards) — the step-by-step application walkthrough
- Legacy Creator Fund calculator — model historical payouts
- TikTok Money Calculator — estimate total creator earnings