A paid DM is a one-to-one direct message a fan pays to send, receive, or unlock on a creator platform, billed as a per-message charge, a custom-content request, a tip-to-chat, or a pay-per-view media unlock inside the conversation. In 2026 it has overtaken subscriptions as the single highest-yielding income line on every direct-to-fan platform that publishes data. OnlyFans paid out $5.80B to creators in fiscal 2024, and industry reporting puts roughly 70% of top-creator income inside DMs, not feeds.
⚡ Key Takeaways
- Top OnlyFans creators now draw roughly 70% of income from DMs, not subscriptions, per industry data.
- Fanvue says top earners pull as much as 80% of revenue through messaging; Fanfix puts the platform-wide figure above 60%.
- Passes rebranded as the "creator accelerator" in April 2026 with a message-bubble logo, declaring DMs the central revenue line.
- OnlyFans paid creators $5.80B in fiscal 2024; Fanvue hit a $100M run rate in January 2026 (up ~450% YoY).
- Fanvault's 8% fee on paid DMs beats Fanvue (20%), Passes (10% + $0.30/txn), and Fanfix (~20%).
- 93% of Fanvue creators use at least one AI tool, mostly messaging-focused, to keep DM volume sustainable.
What counts as a paid DM in 2026?
The category covers more than a single chat charge. Creators monetize the inbox through per-message pricing, PPV media unlocks attached to a message, custom photo or video requests, tips inside chats, paid voice notes, and 1-on-1 voice or video calls booked through the DM thread. On OnlyFans the minimum direct-message price is $3, with the platform taking a flat 20% across every revenue type per Infloww. Fansly and LoyalFans support per-message pricing in the $1 to $3+ range with the same 20% cut. Consultancy-style 1-on-1 access through DMs or calls earns creators $50 to $500 per session in coaching verticals.
The unit is the conversation, not the post. Each fan pays per interaction, and engagement compounds into a transaction stream rather than capping at a flat monthly subscription.
How much of creator income now comes from DMs?
The numbers are no longer a rumor. OnlyFans reported $7.22B in gross revenue for fiscal 2024 (up 9% YoY) and paid $5.80B to creators per Variety. Inside that payout, top creators draw roughly 70% of their income from direct messages rather than subscriptions per Kartik Ahuja's 2025 OnlyFans statistics report.
The pattern repeats across every direct-to-fan platform that releases data:
| Platform | Share of creator revenue from DMs | Source |
|---|---|---|
| OnlyFans (top creators) | ~70% | Industry reporting, 2025 |
| Fanvue (top earners) | Up to 80% | Fanvue blog |
| Fanfix (platform-wide) | 60%+ from video and photo in DMs | Business Wire, June 2025 |
Fanvue's own creator-education team claims top earners generate as much as 80% of revenue through direct messaging per the Fanvue blog. Fanfix announced in June 2025 that more than 60% of creator revenue on the platform now comes from video and photo content shared inside direct messages, en route to a $170M cumulative creator-payout milestone with 15M active users per Business Wire.
Why have paid DMs pulled ahead of subscriptions?
Unit economics. A monthly subscription caps a single fan at a flat fee, no matter how engaged they are. A paid DM converts every interaction (a custom photo, a follow-up voice note, a tip-to-chat, a PPV unlock) into a discrete transaction. Revenue per engaged fan scales with engagement rather than topping out.
Three forces converged in 2026 to make the model dominant. Platforms moved DMs from a feature to a thesis. AI tools let one creator handle high-volume one-to-one conversations without burnout. And creator-economy data shows a broad shift to direct-to-fan: Lindsey Gamble's 2025 creator-economy review reports 37% of creators now engage fans through direct interactions (DMs, shout-outs, product sales), and 54% run paid memberships.
Which platforms are betting hardest on paid DMs?
The clearest signal is the April 2026 Passes rebrand. Lucy Guo's team relaunched the company as the "creator accelerator platform" and redesigned the logo as a message bubble, stating publicly that the majority of a creator's revenue now flows through DMs per PR Newswire.
"The majority of a creator's revenue comes from their DMs or subscriptions tied to direct messages."
Passes rebrand statement, April 2026 (via PR Newswire)
Fanvue hit a $100M annual run rate in January 2026 (up roughly 450% YoY) with messaging-focused AI tools as its core differentiator per Business Wire. Sacra reports 93% of Fanvue creators use at least one proprietary AI tool, and AI-generated personas account for roughly 15% of platform GMV. Fanvault built its product around the same insight from launch in 2025, with a conversational and Telegram automation layer so creators can run DMs, list items, and triage requests through a chat interface.
How do platform fees on paid DMs actually compare?
Fee compression is the next competitive front. The 20% cut that OnlyFans, Fanvue, and Fanfix charge on DMs is getting undercut hard.
| Dimension | Fanvault | Fanvue | Passes | Fanfix |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Platform fee on paid DMs | 8% | 20% | 10% + $0.30/txn | ~20% |
| Creator keeps | 92% | 80% | ~90% | ~80% |
| Messaging automation | Conversational + Telegram | AI replies in-app | In-app only | In-app only |
| Storefront / memorabilia | Auctions + buy-it-now | None | None | None |
At $10K/month in DM revenue, the fee gap is real money. A creator on Fanvault keeps $9,200/month; on Fanvue or Fanfix they keep roughly $8,000. Over a year that is $14,400 in pure fee delta. Source: Fanvue Legal on the 20% Fanvue cut.
What does this mean for creators starting now?
Three takeaways for 2026:
- Build for the conversation, not the feed. A few hundred paying DM subscribers can outperform a creator with 100K+ free followers.
- Use AI for inbox volume. Burnout from manual replies is the ceiling. The 93% AI-tool adoption rate on Fanvue is the operational benchmark.
- Pick a platform whose fee math compounds in your favor. A 20% cut versus an 8% cut is a 12-point haircut on every paid DM, every month, forever.
The story for a 2026 creator is no longer "grow a subscriber list." It is capture each fan in a one-to-one channel and monetize the conversation, with a fee schedule and toolset that doesn't tax you for doing it.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much can creators actually earn from paid DMs?
It varies widely by audience size and engagement, but the top-earner data is clear. On OnlyFans, top-decile creators draw roughly
What is the typical platform fee on paid DMs?
It ranges from 8% to 20%. Fanvue takes 20%, OnlyFans takes 20%, Fanfix takes roughly 20%, and Passes takes 10% plus a $0.30 per-transaction surcharge. Fanvault charges
Are paid DMs only for adult creators?
No, and the data has shifted decisively. Fanfix is explicitly brand-safe and reported more than
How do AI messaging tools affect paid DM revenue?
They lift the volume ceiling. A single creator can only manually reply to so many fans before burnout caps revenue. Sacra reports
Why is 2026 the inflection year for paid DMs?
Three forces converged. Platforms rebranded around DMs as the central monetization primitive (Passes' April 2026 message-bubble rebrand). AI tools made high-volume one-to-one conversations sustainable for a single creator. And creator-economy data shows the shift is structural: 37% of creators now engage fans through direct interactions rather than feed posts and ad-supported reach.