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$10 billion platforms are not the same
Patreon and Kajabi both hit $10 billion in lifetime Creator payouts…
But their average earnings per Creator couldn't be more different, and understanding why could help you take your business to the next level.
Let's get into it! (WARNING: Math!)
The Math
Patreon has ~280,000 users. Their $10 billion averages out to $35,714 per Creator.
Kajabi has ~100,000 users. Their $10 billion means $100,000 per Creator.
That's nearly 3x the difference!
What about the biggest platform for Creator payouts - YouTube?
They paid ~$76 billion since 2020, to 3 million creators. That’s $25,333 each.
Meanwhile, TikTok has 1 million Creators globally. A rough estimate of Creator payouts across video, Live, and Shop would be in the $15 billion range, putting the average around $15,000.
(Yes, I know these calculations don't account for churn and other factors. We're mathing with what we've got. If you want to know how I calculated that TikTok payout, hit reply and let me know. )
The Creator Market Value Framework
Two concepts explain everything:
Willingness to Pay (WTP)
People don’t just pay Creators with money, they also pay with time (which equals money).
High-WTP offerings deliver transformation, income, or self-actualization - e.g. getting your baby to sleep, helping you buy a home, making your parents proud.
Low-WTP offerings are entertaining and make people feel good, but are easy to get and unlikely to change your life beyond the moment - e.g. a D&D podcast, viral challenge videos, food porn.
Mass vs. Niche Markets aka Market Opportunity
Market opportunity applies to both content and products.
Mass market means there are many millions of people, perhaps shaped only by demographics, who would find something valuable enough to spend any time or money on it - e.g. YouTube (basically everyone), TikTok (mostly Gen Alpha and Z), MrBeast (mostly kids and teens), Alex Cooper (mostly Gen Z and millennial women)
Niche means there’s a much smaller potential user / viewer / reader / customer base, often defined by psychographics, who would consume a product or content - e.g. Patreon (for artists), Kajabi (for experts), TakingCaraBabies (for parents), Creator Logic (for Creators)
Btw, this applies to both sides of the market.
YouTube is a mass-market platform because there are many millions of Creators and many, many millions of consumers.
Kajabi is a niche platform because there are only about a hundred thousand Creators reaching millions of consumers.
The Value Chain (From Lowest to Highest)
Froom lowest to highest, this is how I’d rank the value of each category:
Low-WTP Mass Market: Low demand, high supply. Massive market, tiny average value.
High-WTP Mass Market: High demand, high supply. Massive market, rising average value.
Low-WTP Niche: Low demand, low supply. Smaller market, higher average value
High-WTP Niche: High demand, low supply. Small market, huge average value
Each platform we’ve discussed supports this framework, mapping out like this:
TikTok = Low-WTP Mass Market
Short-form content for everyone. People won't pay much (in time or money) because demand is low and supply is massive.
YouTube = High-WTP Mass Market
Long-form content for everyone. People invest serious time here. High demand meets high supply. Payouts per Creator is around 67% more than TikTok.
Patreon = Low-WTP Niche
Artists seeking monthly support for entertainment content. Best practices hover around $5-$20 per tier. Can't think of any Creators charging $1,000/year here.
Payouts per Creator is around 40% more than YouTube.
Kajabi = High-WTP Niche
Experts selling high-value products, courses, and communities. Customers regularly pay hundreds or thousands annually because Kajabi Creators’ offerings could change their lives.
Payouts per Creator are 185% more than Patreon.
Takeaways
First, you have to realize that this is a spectrum.
For example, on TikTok you can see this progression with:
"For You" video (the lowest value)
Live having higher WTP
Shop having very high WTP
If you're a Creator, the way I see it, you've got two choices:
Acknowledge where you live in this framework and build your monetization strategy accordingly, or
Systematically move up the value chain through your content, platform, and offering.
The Creator Economy rewards specificity and transformation over breadth and entertainment. How can you make use of this information? Reply and let me know what you think.
Where do you currently sit in the Creator Market Value Framework
What's the #1 thing stopping you from reaching your business goals?
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About: Creator Logic was founded by Avi Gandhi - award-winning Creator agent, producer, and executive - with the mission of helping 1 million people find freedom in the Creator Economy!
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