Can creators really earn meaningful income from X’s ad revenue sharing, or is it more of a bonus than a business model?
Since Elon Musk rolled out revenue sharing in 2023, the program has sparked debate across creator communities: Some show off four-figure payouts, while others report pennies despite millions of impressions.
By 2025, the rules have shifted again — with Premium user engagement now at the center of payout math, stricter brand-safety controls, and a reporting system that only reveals earnings after each period closes.
This article breaks down what creators need to know before banking on X payouts. We’ll look at who qualifies, how the math really works, and what agencies should advise their talent.
Eligibility: Who Can Earn From X Ads Revenue Sharing
X’s ad revenue sharing program was introduced in mid-2023 and has continued evolving into 2025, tightening eligibility standards while expanding access globally. For creators, the key question is whether their account meets the baseline requirements to unlock payouts.
Agencies, meanwhile, need to understand which creators in their rosters are qualified and how compliance can affect campaigns.
What Are the 2025 Eligibility Requirements?
As of 2025, creators must meet the following baseline criteria to access ad revenue sharing on X:
- Follower Threshold: A minimum of 500 active followers. This replaced the earlier 5,000 threshold, widening access to smaller accounts. Elon Musk confirmed this change in May 2024, noting the intent to “reward more voices” on the platform.
- Engagement & Activity: Accounts must have generated at least 5 million organic impressions in the past 90 days. This condition ensures that creators actively posting and driving conversations—not inactive or bot accounts—benefit from revenue splits.
- Paid Verification: X Premium (formerly Twitter Blue) subscription remains mandatory. This requirement has been a point of criticism since it creates an upfront cost barrier, but Musk and X executives have argued it’s necessary to reduce bot fraud in the revenue program.
- Monetization Setup: A connected Stripe account is required to receive payouts. Stripe is X’s payment partner, meaning creators must be based in one of Stripe’s supported countries.
Brand Safety & Compliance
Eligibility isn’t just about metrics—it also requires alignment with advertiser expectations. X has struggled with brand safety controversies, especially in late 2023 when advertisers pulled back due to hate speech and misinformation concerns. As a result, the ad-sharing system excludes:
- Content flagged for hateful conduct, adult content, violence, or misleading information.
- Posts that breach community standards or receive strikes.
- Accounts with repeated suspensions or policy violations.
For creators in sensitive categories (politics, satire, or adult entertainment), this means revenue visibility may fluctuate depending on advertiser tolerance.
Global Access & Currency Limitations
Initially limited to the U.S., the program expanded in 2024 to more than 100 countries. Still, Stripe coverage defines payout geography, which excludes creators in certain regions like parts of Africa and South Asia. For example, Nigerian creators, despite being a fast-growing demographic on X, have voiced frustration about being unable to access payouts.
Currency is another friction point: Payouts are in USD, which can reduce effective income after exchange and withdrawal fees. For example, UK creators reported losing up to 3–5% through FX conversions when cashing out to GBP.
How X Calculates Ad Revenue Sharing
Understanding how X (Twitter) calculates creator earnings is essential because the mechanics aren’t purely “views × rate.” The system is layered: It favors verified accounts, values deeper engagement, and filters for advertiser-safe content.
Below, we break down the mechanics into three core parts: which impressions count, how engagement and user quality are factored, and recent updates that shift what’s monetized.
Which Impressions Count (Not All Views Are Equal)
X doesn’t monetize every time someone sees your tweet — monetization is limited to ads shown in reply threads or other ad units tied to your content. According to X’s Help page, earnings are calculated based on “verified engagements” with your posts (likes, replies, etc.), and they also consider “the impact of different content types.”
In practice, that means:
- Impressions that come from non-reply contexts (e.g., scrolling a tweet in the main timeline) may not all qualify for ad revenue share.
- Impressions generated via reply-ads or ad units tied to your tweet or thread are more directly monetizable.
- Only certain verified or Premium user interactions are eligible. X has explicitly stated that some engagements from Premium users are weighted more heavily.
Because of this design, creators often prioritize driving replies (i.e., stimulating conversation) to unlock more ad placements and thus more qualifying impressions.
Engagement & User Quality: Weighting Matters
X’s system doesn’t treat all engagements equally. They factor in:
- Type of engagement (reply, like, retweet, bookmark) — some actions are higher signal.
- The user doing the engagement — interactions from Premium or higher-tier accounts carry more weight.
- Content type — video, threads, or long-form content may receive different weighting in the algorithm.
- Advertiser alignment & brand safety — engagements that trigger content flagged as risky (e.g., borderline content) may be downgraded or excluded entirely from share.
In October 2024, X announced a pivot: Creators will increasingly be paid based on engagement from Premium users rather than raw ad impressions in replies. That means if you have high engagement from Premium users, your earnings could disproportionately benefit, compared to creators with larger but unverified audiences.
Recent 2025 Updates & Caveats
The monetization model is evolving. For example:
- After November 8, 2024, verified ad impressions in replies no longer directly count toward revenue sharing.
- Instead, genuine interactions from Premium users are now central to the payout formula.
- X’s Help Center states that the “calculation considers the impact of different content types,” hinting that they're dynamically adjusting weights by format.
- Importantly, creators currently cannot view real-time earnings or running totals — revenue is only displayed after each payout period’s calculation.
Example from a Real Creator
Mike Holden, a content creator, documented his first payout after meeting the 5 million impressions threshold. He reported a $125.43 payout and emphasized that a large portion of what counted came from verified user engagement. This public share is one of the few transparent windows into how engagement weighting affects final pay.
Another illustrative example is the MrBeast experiment: When MrBeast posted a video on X, it reportedly generated $263,655 in ad revenue over one week. But even he noted that the high earnings were influenced by elevated advertiser demand tethered to virality and brand alignment — not purely mechanical per-view rates.
MY FIRST X VIDEO MADE OVER $250,000! 😲
But it’s a bit of a facade. Advertisers saw the attention it was getting and bought ads on my video (I think) and thus my revenue per view is prob higher than what you’d experience pic.twitter.com/nViVpZbWBb
— MrBeast (@MrBeast) January 22, 2024
These real cases underline the lesson: monetization on X is not just about stacking views, but about stacking valuable views and interactions that advertisers want to pay for.
Payout Math: What Creators Can Actually Expect
For creators, eligibility is only half the battle — the real question is what payouts look like once you’ve met the thresholds. X has designed its revenue-sharing math to be impression and engagement-driven, but with advertiser value and Premium user weighting at the core.
Below, we break down how the formula works, what payout cycles look like, and real examples of what creators have earned.
Step-by-Step Breakdown of the Payout Formula
- Total impressions or engagements: Historically, X required 5 million impressions over 90 days to qualify, but as of late 2024, the focus shifted from raw impressions to Premium user engagement.
- Ad value per engagement: This depends on advertiser demand and CPMs in the niche. Finance and crypto CPMs can be many times higher than humor or memes.
- Revenue split: X takes an undisclosed portion of ad revenue; estimates suggest creators receive a 50–55% share, similar to YouTube’s revenue model.
- Payout cycle: Once the month closes, X processes calculations and releases payouts through Stripe. Importantly, creators cannot see earnings in real-time — they only see final amounts when the payout is distributed.
Payout Cadence and Thresholds
- Monthly cycle: X processes ad revenue after each calendar month, with payouts usually appearing mid-month.
- Minimum threshold: Payouts require at least $10 USD in accumulated earnings to be released via Stripe.
- Fees and deductions: Stripe may charge conversion fees if the creator is outside the U.S., reducing take-home pay by 2–5%.
The Bottom Line for Creators
Most payouts fall between $2–$10 per 1,000 Premium user engagements, but the numbers vary dramatically depending on niche and geography. For agencies advising talent, the key is to set expectations: creators should treat X revenue as a bonus layer of income, not a predictable salary stream.
Diversification across platforms — YouTube, TikTok, Instagram — remains essential.
Product Caveats & Creator Expectations
X’s ad revenue sharing program has created new monetization opportunities for creators, but it also comes with critical limitations that both creators and agencies must understand. These caveats directly shape earning expectations and determine whether ad share revenue should be treated as a core income stream or a supplementary bonus.
Delayed Reporting: No Real-Time Earnings
One of the most important updates in 2025 is that creators cannot track ad revenue in real time. Earnings are only revealed once the payout period closes. X’s Help Center explicitly states that “earnings are calculated after the close of each payout cycle,” leaving creators in the dark about how much they’re actually making until the deposit is processed.
This lack of transparency stands in contrast to platforms like YouTube, where creators can monitor daily estimated revenue, or TikTok, which provides near real-time creator fund data.
In the video below from TikTok creator Olivia Neely, you can clearly see the revenue data on screen:
@olivianeelyy Replying to @mayacent this is just payouts from the tiktok creator program. I get paid for sponsored videos separately. Lmk if u have any questions!! #contentcreator #creatorprogram #tiktokmonetize
In contrast, this video from creator Jeremy Judkins clearly shows the limitations of X's revenue data, with only the payouts shown on screen.
@jeremyjudkins2 Replying to @periodperiod85 I don’t make a lot of money there but I do make some. Here is how much I’ve made since Elon Musk took over and added monetization
Agencies advising talent need to set expectations: creators on X won’t know their numbers until mid-month, making it harder to forecast or optimize content in response to earnings.
Demonetization Risks and Policy Enforcement
Another caveat is the risk of sudden demonetization. Because brand safety is central to advertiser retention, X enforces strict rules on content eligibility. The Guardian reported that major advertisers like Disney, IBM, and Apple were withholding ad spend from X after Musk’s public statements and the backlash surrounding his antisemitic comments on the platform.
For creators, this means:
- Posts that trigger policy flags (hate speech, adult content, misinformation) may earn zero ad revenue even if they drive millions of impressions.
- Accounts with repeated violations risk removal from the revenue-sharing program entirely.
- Algorithmic moderation can be blunt, so some creators have reported losing eligibility without clear explanations.
Advertiser Volatility
Even when content is compliant, earnings can swing dramatically depending on advertiser spend. For example, because of Musk's comments back in late 2023 and the suspension of ad spending from Disney, Apple, and other major brands, the platform saw a 60% drop in U.S. ad revenue. While Elon Musk has since sought to rebuild ad relationships, this volatility directly affects how much money is available for the revenue pool.
For creators, this means payouts can be inconsistent. A creator earning $1,000 in one cycle may see far less the next, even with similar engagement, if advertiser demand drops.
Comparison With Other Platforms
- YouTube: Provides detailed dashboards with CPM, RPM, and estimated daily revenue. Transparent, but payouts are monthly.
- TikTok: TikTok Creator Rewards Program pays based on RPM and retention, with more granular analytics.
- Instagram: Subscriptions and Gifts show metrics in-app, though payouts are still subject to Apple/Google fees.
Compared with these, X’s lack of real-time metrics and reliance on advertiser stability put it at a disadvantage for creators seeking predictability.
X Ad Revenue Sharing: Bonus Income, Not a Business Model
X’s ad revenue sharing program has opened new doors for creators, offering payouts tied to Premium user engagement and advertiser demand. But while eligibility is now more accessible, the mechanics are opaque: earnings aren’t visible in real time, advertiser pullbacks can shrink the pool, and brand safety filters can eliminate revenue on otherwise viral posts.
For agencies, the takeaway is clear. Treat X as an additive income stream in the creator’s broader monetization stack, not a replacement for stable platforms like YouTube or TikTok. For creators, the play is to build authentic engagement, cultivate Premium-heavy audiences, and view payouts as a reward for sparking valuable conversations, not just chasing raw impressions.
The potential is there, especially for those in niches advertisers favor. But success will hinge on managing expectations. On X in 2025, ad share revenue is best seen as gravy, not the meal.
Frequently Asked Questions
How does ad revenue sharing differ from flat fee sponsorships?
Unlike X’s payout system, where income fluctuates with impressions and engagement, brands often prefer flat fee structures for predictable costs. The trade-off is that creators can miss upside compared to a revenue share, a dynamic explored in depth when comparing revenue share vs flat fee licensing.
Why do some creators earn far more than others on the same platform?
Even within ad share programs, payouts can vary based on niche value, geography, and audience demographics — part of the broader income disparity in the creator economy that has been documented across platforms.
Do long-form threads monetize differently than short tweets?
Creators experimenting with extended discussions see unique performance patterns, with advertisers often valuing sustained engagement over fleeting impressions, as shown in the rise of X Twitter threads as a growth tactic.
How can creators boost advertiser trust on X?
Beyond meeting eligibility thresholds, creators benefit from building perceived authority through social proof marketing, which can increase the likelihood of brands associating ads with their content.
How does X’s monetization compare to YouTube?
YouTube offers detailed analytics, multiple ad formats, and proven RPM benchmarks, making its monetization system more transparent than X’s post-period payout approach.
What lessons can X creators learn from Twitch?
On Twitch, streamers have learned to optimize content cadence around tiered contracts like Partner Plus, which shows how platforms experiment with splits to keep talent loyal.
How can creators estimate their potential X income?
While actual payouts aren’t visible until processed, tools like a Twitter money calculator allow creators to benchmark engagement-driven earnings against their follower and impression stats.
Is X’s model closer to TikTok’s fund or YouTube’s ad share?
Structurally, X’s system resembles TikTok’s payouts, where money is tied to engagement pools and adjusted by advertiser demand, echoing how the TikTok Creator Fund distributes income among eligible users.
