Starting October 1, 2025, eligible TikTok creators in the United States and Canada can now earn up to 90% of their subscription revenue. The platform is keeping 10%. For context, YouTube's standard split has historically been 70/30. The shift is significant enough that it changes the calculus for anyone building a content-based business in North America.
The qualifier matters: creators need at least 10,000 followers and one million video views in the prior month to access the 90% ceiling. Below those thresholds, the standard rate applies. TikTok is not offering this to casual creators — it's competing for the attention of the people its platform needs most.
What this signals for online marketers is less about TikTok specifically and more about the broader direction of platform economics. Every major social platform is now in an active war for the creators who drive disproportionate engagement. That war is being fought with revenue share percentages, bonus pools, and preferential algorithmic treatment. As a marketer, you are the resource being competed for.
The practical implications break down like this.
If you are already building a subscription model on another platform and you have TikTok presence that hits those thresholds, this is worth testing. A 90% revenue share is exceptional by any standard, and subscription revenue compounds in ways that ad revenue does not — the same subscriber pays you next month without any additional acquisition cost.
If you are not yet at 10,000 followers or one million monthly views on TikTok, this announcement is less immediately useful and more directionally interesting. It tells you that TikTok wants to be taken seriously as a monetization platform, not just a discovery channel. Build there accordingly.
If you are primarily a product or service seller rather than a content creator, the subscription piece is not directly relevant — but the underlying shift is. When platforms compete for creator loyalty by improving economics, the indirect effect is usually better organic reach for those creators. Partnerships with TikTok-native creators have just become more valuable, because those creators have a stronger incentive to stay and build on the platform.
Platform economics are not permanent. Today's 90% can become tomorrow's 70% as competitive pressures shift. The marketers who treat this as a fundamental repositioning of their business model take an unnecessary risk. The ones who treat it as a tactical opportunity worth testing and monitoring are the ones who tend to come out ahead.
One million views per month sounds like a lot. For a creator posting daily and compounding an existing audience, it is achievable within six to twelve months of consistent output. The threshold is designed to be aspirational but reachable — which is exactly how platforms create the behavior they want.