Content creators and and influencers are best known for peddling wares online and earning sponsorship cash (as well as money from ads running on their platform of choice). But YouTubers and Instagram celebrities have been branching out in terms of revenue. Besides launching their own products, many also accept donations and sell subscriptions that give access to exclusive content. The platform Patreon has become the go-to service that many contributors to the content economy use to solicit (reoccurring) donations or subscription fees. By taking a 10-15 percent cut, Patreon generated an estimated revenue of $179-228 million in 2025. A website from the adult content genre is also famous for using a similar subscription and donation system: OnlyFans.
According to a survey by Statista Consumer Insights, paying money directly to a content creator was already quite common in a selection of countries surveyed, with the subscription model being the most popular. More than 40 percent of Chinese respondents said they had engaged in that model in the past 12 months. Donations lagged behind at 22 percent. Another extension of the influencer economic are live events, which can be live podcast tapings, meet and greets or even group trips with a travel creator. 11 percent of Chinese respondents said they had bought such event passes. This was surpassed in South Korea, where influencer and online celebrity events have proven popular.
Australians and Americans were also among the most active supporters of content creators, while in many European countries and Japan, the concept was still less widespread. More countries with relatively strong influencer support included Asian countries like Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand, Gulf nations Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates as well as South Africa.
