Short answer
The Creator Rewards Program is how TikTok pays creators for views on original videos longer than one minute; it took over from the Creator Fund in the US, UK, France and Germany on December 16, 2023, under its beta name, the Creativity Program. To join you need to be 18 or older, live in one of 8 countries (including the US and UK), use a Personal account, and have 10,000 followers and 100,000 video views in the last 30 days. You apply in TikTok Studio, and only "qualified" views count: watched for at least 5 seconds, once per viewer.
What is the TikTok Creator Rewards Program?
TikTok's program that pays creators from the ads around their videos, by qualified views. Since spring 2025 your total is two parts: a Standard Reward, the base payout on qualified views, which depends on where your viewers are and your content's language, and an Additional Reward for videos TikTok judges well-crafted, engaging and specialised, which moves with watch time, retention, completion rate and search value (Creator Academy).
Many guides still explain it with the 2024 formula of four factors (originality, play duration, search value and audience engagement). That came from TikTok's March 2024 launch post; the Creator Academy article that used to explain it now describes the two-part reward instead.
What happened to the TikTok Creator Fund?
It was replaced, in two steps: first by the Creativity Program Beta, which TikTok then renamed the Creator Rewards Program. The old US Creator Fund terms page is still online, which is why people keep finding it.
| Date | What changed |
|---|---|
| July 22, 2020 | The TikTok Creator Fund launches in the US with $200 million, open to applications from August (newsroom) |
| March 25, 2021 | Creator Fund applicants need 100,000 authentic video views in the last 30 days |
| February 20, 2023 | The Creativity Program Beta opens, invite-only, in the US, France and Brazil, for original videos longer than one minute (newsroom) |
| May 3, 2023 | US creators with 10,000 followers and 100,000 views in 30 days can apply to the Creativity Program |
| December 16, 2023 | The Creativity Program fully replaces the Creator Fund in the US, UK, France and Germany |
| March 18, 2024 | The Creativity Program leaves beta as the Creator Rewards Program (newsroom) |
| Spring 2025 | The Additional Reward is added on top of the Standard Reward |
| July 20, 2026 | The latest update of the US terms, now with TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC |
The practical difference from the old fund: the Creator Fund counted any video, while Creator Rewards only pays for videos over a minute, so short clips that once earned a little now earn nothing from this program.
What are the Creator Rewards Program requirements in 2026?
TikTok's pages set 6 conditions. The first 5 decide whether you can apply; the payment and tax setup is part of joining:
- Live in, and have an account registered in, a country where the program is open: United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, South Korea, France, Mexico, Brazil
- Be 18 or older (or the age of majority where you live)
- At least 10,000 authentic followers
- At least 100,000 authentic video views in the 30 days before you apply
- A Personal account in good standing: not a Business, government, politician or political party account
- A linked payment account in your own name, with tax onboarding done
In South Korea the minimum age is 19, not 18 (TikTok's support page and the Japan and Korea terms).
The European and UK terms add that you must not use a VPN or similar tool to appear to be in a country where the program runs (EEA and UK terms). And TikTok's support page says only videos uploaded after you join count, so a back catalogue doesn't start paying when you're approved (support).
Which countries is the Creator Rewards Program available in?
Creator Academy lists 8: United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, South Korea, France, Mexico, Brazil. Several popular guides list 7 (leaving out Mexico) or 12 (adding Canada, Italy, Spain and Australia); neither matches TikTok's own list.
Where you live decides whether you can join; where your viewers are decides which views qualify. A creator in the UK whose audience is mostly in a country outside the program earns on only part of their views.
Which videos earn, and what counts as a qualified view?
A video earns when it's original, over 1 minute long and has at least 1,000 views on the For You feed (Creator Academy). TikTok rules out:
- Duets, Stitches and videos made in Photo Mode
- Ads, paid promotions and sponsored content, and videos made for TikTok One brand campaigns. A paid UGC video you post for a brand doesn't earn from this program.
- Others' content reposted with small changes: sped up, with filters, fixed text or stickers added
- Lip syncs, and videos where copyrighted music plays for more than a minute
For the Additional Reward, Creator Academy also asks for videos in 1080p or higher.
| Counts | Doesn't count |
|---|---|
| Watched for 5 seconds or more | Watched for under 5 seconds |
| Search views watched for 30 seconds or more | Search views watched for less |
| One view per account | Repeat views from the same account |
| Viewers in the program's countries | Viewers in countries where the program isn't open |
| Ordinary views | Fraudulent, paid, promoted or artificial views, and views marked "Not interested" |
Paid and promoted views matter if you also do brand work: views from a video a brand boosts as a Spark Ad don't qualify, and a sponsored video isn't eligible in the first place.
How do you join the Creator Rewards Program?
- Check you meet every rule above
Followers and 30-day views are in TikTok Studio's analytics. Switch a Business account to Personal first.
- Open TikTok Studio
From your profile, tap the menu (☰) and then TikTok Studio, or the TikTok Studio button under your bio. It's what older guides call the Creator Center or Creator tools.
- Select Creator Rewards Program and apply
TikTok says you'll hear back within about three days.
- Set up payment and tax details
The US terms require a payment account in your own name and tax onboarding. TikTok's support page names PayPal as the payout method in the US, UK, France, Germany and South Korea, and Payoneer or a bank transfer in Japan; Creator Academy also mentions Pix, Brazil's instant payment system.
- Post new videos over a minute
Only videos uploaded after you join count. The Creator Rewards dashboard in TikTok Studio shows each eligible video's rewards and RPM.
Turned down? The support page says you can appeal within 30 days, or reapply 30 days after the appeal period ends.
How is pay worked out, and when do you get it?
TikTok doesn't publish a rate. Your dashboard shows RPM, the "average gross revenue per 1k qualified views" (dashboard guide), per video. Rewards are calculated in the month after you earn them and paid on the 15th once your balance reaches the threshold; TikTok says withdrawals are usually processed within 72 hours, and that a bank transfer (Japan) can take up to 15 days.
The US terms also let TikTok cap rewards per month or year, and a creator removed for cause loses unpaid rewards. The European terms forfeit a balance after 2 years if you never complete the payment details.
What does the Creator Rewards Program pay in practice?
We ran three cases through the formula behind our Creator Rewards calculator, at the RPM range published reports give ($0.40 to $1.00 per 1,000 qualified views, typical $0.70; none of it comes from TikTok). Every view is assumed to qualify, so real totals will be lower.
| Scenario | Typical | Range |
|---|---|---|
| 12 videos a month, 12,000 views each, 50 seconds long | $0 a month | $0 |
| The same 12 videos made 75 seconds long | $101 a month | $58–$144 |
| One 70-second video with 20,000 views | $14 for the video | $8–$20 |
The first row is where most short-form creators start: the same views earn nothing until the video passes the minute. To make $100 you need roughly 143,000 qualified views at the typical rate (100,000 at the high end, 250,000 at the low end). And "$1 per 1,000 views" is the top of the reported range, not the norm. That's why many creators earn first from other routes: TikTok Shop commission opens at 1,000 followers, and our list of paid creator work includes several routes with no follower minimum.
Our pick: aim for 65 to 90 seconds, not exactly 60. Creator Academy says "over 1 minute" while the US terms say "at least 1 minute", so a video at exactly 60 seconds sits on the line. Past 90 seconds, longer only pays if people keep watching: TikTok measures retention at 30, 40, 50, 60 and 90 seconds, and the Additional Reward follows it.
Can you lose access to Creator Rewards?
Yes. Creator Academy says 5 video violations in 30 days makes an account ineligible for a time, and 5 account violations in total makes it permanently ineligible. Appeal within 30 days to be safe: that's the support page's window for every decision, though Creator Academy gives 80 days for a single video. The US terms also let TikTok end your participation by notice, for reasons as broad as anything that "could reflect unfavorably" on you or TikTok.
What didn't we check?
- A real payout. We haven't been paid by the program; the scenarios use third-party RPM reports, which publish no sample size.
- The share of views that qualify. TikTok publishes no typical figure, so the scenarios assume all of them do.
- How the Additional Reward is scored. TikTok names the signals but not the weights.
- Later rule changes. We read the rules on the date at the top; TikTok has changed the countries, thresholds and reward model before.
