How Can I Earn Money From Instagram? Every Payout Route
How can I earn money from Instagram? From viewers, who can pay you through Gifts on reels, Subscriptions and badges in Live; from Instagram itself, through bonuses it offers by invitation only; and from businesses, through brand deals, partnership ads, affiliate commission and sales of your own products. Instagram pays no share of ad revenue for reels. Checked against Instagram Help Center: About product eligibility requirements for monetization tools on Instagram
Each route has its own entry rules, such as a follower minimum, an age limit or a country list, set out below as Meta’s help pages state them. A threshold opens the door without guaranteeing entry: several of these help pages add that a feature “may not be available to you yet”. Brand money is the creator side of an influencer marketing strategy.
Table of Contents
- How can I earn money from Instagram? Every route at a glance
- What do you need before you can earn?
- Does Instagram pay you for views or Reels?
- How do Instagram Gifts work?
- Who can turn on Instagram Subscriptions?
- How do badges pay in Instagram Live?
- Can you apply for Instagram bonuses?
- How do I get brand deals on Instagram?
- Can you earn affiliate commission on Instagram?
- Can you sell your own products on Instagram?
- Should you buy followers to reach a threshold?
- Can Outfeed schedule your Instagram posts?
- FAQ: earning money from Instagram
How can I earn money from Instagram? Every route at a glance
Here are nine routes, each from Meta’s own help pages, and their entry points differ widely: Gifts open at 500 followers, Subscriptions and badges at 10,000. Every one of Instagram’s own monetization tools also requires you to follow its Partner Monetization Policies and Content Monetization Policies. Checked against Instagram Help Center: About product eligibility requirements for monetization tools on Instagram
| Route | Who pays you | Followers needed | Also required | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gifts on reels | Viewers, with Stars | 500 | 18+, professional account, payout account, listed country | Checked against Instagram Help Center: About Instagram Gifts on reels |
| Subscriptions | Subscribers | 10,000 | 18+, professional account, listed country | Checked against Instagram Help Center: Eligibility requirements for Instagram Subscriptions |
| Badges in Live | Viewers during your live video | 10,000 | 18+, professional account, payout account | Checked against Instagram Help Center: Earn money with badges on Instagram |
| Bonuses | By invitation only | A professional account that meets the Partner Monetization Policies | Checked against Instagram Help Center: Instagram bonuses eligibility | |
| Creator marketplace | Brands that find you there | 1,000 | 18+, public professional account, agreement to Meta’s partner monetization policies | Checked against Instagram Help Center: Eligibility requirements for creators on Meta Creator Marketplace |
| Branded content (brand deals) | Brands, off the platform | No number published | Public professional account, paid partnership label | Checked against Instagram Help Center: Eligibility requirements for partnership ads and branded content on Instagram and Facebook |
| Partnership ads | Brands that run ads with your handle | Same as branded content | Your permission, which you can revoke | Checked against Instagram Help Center: About partnership ad permissions |
| Affiliate partnerships | The affiliate partner, not Meta | More than 1,000 | 18+, public professional account, supported market, compliance with Meta’s monetization and Partner Monetization Policies | Checked against Instagram Help Center: About affiliate partnerships on Instagram Checked against Instagram Help Center: About affiliate partnerships on Instagram |
| Your own products | Your customers, on your website | No number published | Meta’s commerce eligibility requirements | Checked against Instagram Help Center: Shopping on Instagram (Supported countries; Commerce eligibility requirements) |
With a small following, the routes that open first are Gifts at 500 followers and brand deals, which have no published minimum. The creator marketplace follows at 1,000 followers and affiliate partnerships just above that.
What do you need before you can earn?
A professional (creator or business) account, and for most of Meta’s own tools, an age of 18 or over and an account that follows Instagram’s monetization policies. You switch in Settings under Account type and tools. A private personal account becomes public when it switches, and pending follow requests are accepted automatically. Checked against Instagram Help Center: Set up a professional Instagram account to access business or creator tools and controls
To see what your account qualifies for, open Menu, then Settings, then Creator tools and controls (or Business tools and controls), then Monetization status. That screen is in the app only. Checked against Instagram Help Center: About product eligibility requirements for monetization tools on Instagram Accounts that mainly post content focused on children can’t use Gifts, Subscriptions or badges at any follower count.
Does Instagram pay you for views or Reels?
Not per view. Instagram has no ad-revenue share for reels, so there’s no honest per-1,000-views rate to quote. Instead, viewers can send Gifts on your reels, and Instagram runs bonuses as invitation-only tests that it may end. Checked against Instagram Help Center: Instagram bonuses eligibility
Meta does pay for performance on Facebook. Facebook Content Monetization covers eligible public reels, photos, stories and text posts there, but it is invite-only, and Facebook’s In-stream Ads, Ads on Reels and Performance Bonus programs ended on 31 August 2025. Checked against Meta Business Help Center: About Facebook Content Monetization for creators
How do Instagram Gifts work?
Viewers send Gifts on your reels using Stars, and the bar is low: 500 followers. You also need a professional account, to be 18 or older, to follow the monetization policies, to agree to the Gifts Creators Terms and to set up a payout account. Collaborative posts don’t qualify, and accounts that mainly post content focused on children are not eligible. Checked against Instagram Help Center: About Instagram Gifts on reels
Gifts use the same country list as Subscriptions, below. Badges are the Live equivalent, and Facebook Stars is a separate product.
Who can turn on Instagram Subscriptions?
Creators aged 18 or over with a professional account and at least 10,000 followers, in one of the countries Instagram lists. You must also follow the monetization policies and agree to the Subscriptions Terms, and accounts that mainly post content focused on children can’t offer Subscriptions. Check from your Professional dashboard:
In the app: Check if you're eligible:
- In the Instagram app, go to your profile and tap Professional dashboard.
- If you’re eligible, you’ll see an option to Set up subscriptions for your account.
Checked against Instagram Help Center: Eligibility requirements for Instagram Subscriptions.
Instagram publishes the country list on that eligibility page (linked from the source note above), and Gifts use the same list. Countries are added over time, so check the page itself before you plan around Subscriptions. Checked against Instagram Help Center: About Instagram Gifts on reels
How do badges pay in Instagram Live?
Viewers buy badges during your live video, and turning them on takes 10,000 followers. The rest of the list: age 18 or over, a professional account, compliance with the monetization policies and a payout account. Accounts that mainly post content focused on children are not eligible. Checked against Instagram Help Center: Earn money with badges on Instagram
Going Live at all requires a public account with 1,000 followers or more, and newly created accounts or accounts with content removed for the Community Standards may not be able to go Live. Checked against Instagram Help Center: Start a live video on Instagram
Can you apply for Instagram bonuses?
No. Instagram describes bonuses as a test offered by invitation only, for a limited time, in certain countries and with an element of random selection. Invitations go to professional accounts that meet the Partner Monetization Policies and appear in the professional dashboard. Instagram says it may end bonus programs as it tests, and that authentic invitations won’t ask you for additional personal information, so check the email address on any invitation before you act on it. Checked against Instagram Help Center: Instagram bonuses eligibility
How do I get brand deals on Instagram?
Turn on branded content tools, make yourself easy for brands to find, and tag every brand partner with the paid partnership label. Meta defines branded content as content that features or is influenced by a business partner in exchange for something of value, such as money or free gifts, and says it may only be posted with the branded content tool, tagging the partner with their prior permission. Checked against Instagram Help Center: Branded Content Policies
That covers more than cash. Instagram says to use the label when a brand pays you, when it gives or lends you a free product you post about, and when a post carries a link from a third-party affiliate programme, but not when you promote your own products. Checked against Instagram Help Center: What is considered branded content
Instagram’s steps for turning the tools on are for the app, and adding the paid partnership label is only available in the Instagram app:
In the app:
- In the Instagram app, go to your profile.
- Tap Menu in the top right.
- Tap Business tools and controls or Creator tools and controls.
- Tap Branded content.
- Tap Set up branded content tools.
- If you are eligible for branded content tools, tap Enable.
Checked against Instagram Help Center: How to get started with branded content on Instagram.
To qualify, you need a public professional account, a record of following the Community Standards and what Meta calls an “authentic, established presence”, including a “sufficient follower base”. Meta gives no number, and many political and government accounts are ineligible. Checked against Instagram Help Center: Eligibility requirements for partnership ads and branded content on Instagram and Facebook
Brands pay you off the platform: Meta does not support payments made through the Instagram app or on Facebook. Checked against Instagram Help Center: About branded content on Instagram To price a sponsored post, our Instagram money calculator works from your followers and engagement rate.
Get found in the creator marketplace
At 18 or older, with a public professional account and at least 1,000 followers, you can join the creator marketplace, where brands look for creators. Brands can send a project with details, requirements and the rate, and their messages arrive in a Partnership messages folder. Checked against Instagram Help Center: Eligibility requirements for creators on Meta Creator Marketplace Our Instagram creator marketplace guide covers joining, preferred brands and opting out.
Let brands run your post as a partnership ad
A brand can pay to promote your post as a partnership ad, the name Meta now uses for branded content ads. Checked against Instagram Help Center: About partnership ads on Instagram and Facebook It needs your permission, either for one post, story or reel or for your account as a whole, and you can revoke it at any time. Checked against Instagram Help Center: About partnership ad permissions
Is the paid partnership label enough?
In the US, not necessarily. FTC staff say “it’s always best to add your own disclosure even if a platform offers its own disclosure tool.” Checked against FTC: FTC's Endorsement Guides: What People Are Asking The UK’s CAP and CMA guide (third edition, 2023) says the label may be sufficient if it is upfront, clear and prominent; if it isn’t, add “Ad”. Checked against CAP and CMA: Influencers' guide to making clear that ads are ads (3rd edition, 2023), p. 7 This is regulator guidance, not legal advice.
Can you earn affiliate commission on Instagram?
Yes. Instagram’s affiliate partnerships let eligible creators add affiliate product links from partner programmes to reels and feed posts, and the partner pays the commission, not Meta. You need to be 18 or older, with a public professional account and more than 1,000 followers, to be in a supported market and to comply with Meta’s monetization and Partner Monetization Policies; the feature is rolling out gradually. Checked against Instagram Help Center: About affiliate partnerships on Instagram Checked against Instagram Help Center: About affiliate partnerships on Instagram It follows an earlier native affiliate test that Meta announced in June 2021; Meta’s pages don’t document when that test ended. Checked against About Meta newsroom: New Ways for Creators to Make a Living (June 2021)
You can also join affiliate programmes outside Instagram and put their links where Instagram allows clickable links: up to five websites on your profile Checked against Instagram Help Center: Add a website to your Instagram profile and the Link sticker in Stories, open to every account except new accounts and accounts that repeatedly break the Community Guidelines. Checked against About Instagram: Share Links in Instagram Stories to Everyone (2021-10-27) Either way, Instagram asks for the paid partnership label on content with affiliate links. The Instagram affiliate program guide has the steps and the disclosure rules.
Can you sell your own products on Instagram?
Yes, but buyers now pay on your website, not in Instagram. Meta says that as of September 2025, Shops on Facebook and Instagram use website checkout, and Commerce Manager’s payouts, order management, returns, disputes and Inbox were discontinued. Checked against Meta Business Help Center: About changes to Shops and checkout on Facebook and Instagram Selling through Shops means meeting Meta’s Commerce Eligibility Requirements, including a website domain you sell from and a supported country; only the US has the full Shops experience. Checked against Instagram Help Center: Shopping on Instagram (Supported countries; Commerce eligibility requirements) Our Instagram Shop guide covers setup and product tags.
Promoting your own products doesn’t need the paid partnership label, Instagram says, but you remain responsible for any disclosure the law requires Checked against Instagram Help Center: What is considered branded content, and the UK CMA’s guidance for content creators also covers content about your own business. Checked against CMA (GOV.UK): Social media endorsements: guidance for content creators
Should you buy followers to reach a threshold?
No. It can cost you the account, and in the US it can break a federal rule. Instagram says not to use apps that offer likes or followers in exchange for your login, warning of removed engagement, limited features, or a disabled or terminated account. Checked against Instagram Help Center: Why you should not use apps that offer likes and followers on Instagram The FTC’s rule on consumer reviews and testimonials, in effect since 21 October 2024 Checked against FTC press release: Federal Trade Commission Announces Final Rule Banning Fake Reviews and Testimonials (14 August 2024), makes it unlawful to buy fake indicators of social media influence, such as followers, views or likes, that you knew or should have known were fake and that misrepresent your influence for a commercial purpose. Checked against eCFR: 16 CFR Part 465 — Rule on the Use of Consumer Reviews and Testimonials, § 465.8 That’s a summary, not legal advice.
Can Outfeed schedule your Instagram posts?
For sponsored posts, the paid partnership label is the part to watch:
Schedule Instagram posts in Outfeed AI
FAQ: earning money from Instagram
How many followers do you need to make money on Instagram?
It depends on the route. Instagram’s Help Center sets 500 followers for Gifts on reels, at least 1,000 for the creator marketplace, more than 1,000 for affiliate partnerships, and 10,000 for Subscriptions and for badges in Live. It publishes no follower number for branded content (brand deals): it asks for an ‘authentic, established presence’ that includes a ‘sufficient follower base’. Gifts, Subscriptions, badges, the creator marketplace and affiliate partnerships also require you to be 18 or older, with a professional account, and to comply with Meta’s Partner Monetization Policies.
Does Instagram pay you for views or Reels?
Not per view. Instagram has no ad-revenue share for reels. The monetization tools it lists on its eligibility page are badges, bonuses, the creator marketplace, Gifts and Subscriptions: viewers pay through Gifts, badges and Subscriptions, brands find you through the marketplace, and bonuses are an invitation-only test Instagram may end. Meta does pay for performance on Facebook, through Facebook Content Monetization, which is invite-only.
How do Instagram Gifts and Stars work?
Viewers send Gifts on your reels using Stars. To receive them you need a professional account, to be 18 or older, at least 500 followers and a payout account, and you must follow Instagram’s monetization policies and agree to the Gifts Creators Terms, in one of the countries Instagram lists. Collaborative posts and accounts that mainly post content focused on children are not eligible.
How do I get into Instagram Bonuses?
You can’t apply. Instagram describes bonuses as a test it offers by invitation only, for a limited time, in certain countries and with an element of random selection, to professional accounts that meet its Partner Monetization Policies. Invitations appear in your professional dashboard, and Instagram says authentic invitations will not ask you for additional personal information. It may end bonus programs as it tests.
How do I get brand deals on Instagram?
Turn on branded content tools in the Instagram app (Creator or Business tools and controls, then Branded content). If you’re 18 or older with a public professional account and at least 1,000 followers, join the creator marketplace, where it’s available to you, so brands can find you and send projects. Tag every brand partner with the paid partnership label. Brands pay you off the platform: Meta does not support payments made through the Instagram app or on Facebook.