How to make money on Instagram

Which Instagram income streams work at your size?

Brand work and your own products pay at every size, while Meta's own tools open in steps at 500, 1,000 and 10,000 followers. A creator with 800 followers can already sell a guide or film UGC for a brand. They cannot offer Subscriptions.

The table lists the earliest point each stream opens and what it pays. The rate ranges come from Influencer Marketing Hub's Instagram rate guide, updated October 7, 2026, and are planning benchmarks, not a rate card.

How do brand deals and the Paid Partnership label work?

A brand deal on Instagram is a post a brand pays or gifts you to make, and Meta requires you to mark it with the Paid Partnership label. Meta's Branded Content Policies define 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. You must use the branded content tool, which shows as the Paid Partnership label, and tag the partner with its permission.

To use the label you need a professional account and an "authentic, established presence" with "a sufficient follower base", in the words of Meta's eligibility page. Meta gives no follower number. The label does not replace the law, and Meta's policy says you must still make every disclosure the law requires. Our page on FTC disclosure rules covers the US rules.

Meta Creator Marketplace is the in-app place where brands find creators for paid posts. It needs a public professional account, 1,000 followers and an age of 18 or older, and it works in every country where Meta advertising runs except Crimea, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Syria and Russia.

Brand money is where most Instagram creators earn. The creator marketplace #paid surveyed creators in its own network, 72% of them in the US and 28% in Canada, for its Creator Signals 2026 report, and found 81% earn income from brand deals, according to Net Influencer's April 14, 2026 coverage. Collabstr's 2026 Influencer Marketing Report, drawn from more than 21,000 collaborations on its marketplace, puts the average Instagram collaboration at $193. Start pitching once you can show a niche and steady engagement, using our guides on how to get brand deals and how much to charge for sponsored posts.

How do partnership ads and UGC pay?

Charge extra whenever a brand wants to run your post as an ad, because the ad reaches people beyond your followers. Instagram calls these partnership ads. You can create a partnership ad code and send it to a brand, which can then boost your content, including archived posts, as an ad that can show your account in the header.

Instagram's help center says one ad code works for up to 2 partners at a time. The ad does not appear on your profile, but it is listed in Meta's Ad Library. Turning the code off stops new ads, while ads already running keep going. Meta's creator site tells creators they can negotiate higher pay for these extra usage rights, so put the length of the ad run and the price in writing before you share a code.

UGC, or user-generated content, is the version of this that needs no audience at all. Brands pay you to film videos they post on their own accounts or run as ads, so your follower count barely matters. It suits creators who are good on camera but have not grown an audience yet. Read how UGC creators make money for rates and the marketplaces that pay for it.

How do affiliate links work on Instagram?

Instagram's affiliate partnerships let you tag products from partner programs on Reels and feed posts and earn a commission on each sale. The affiliate partner pays you, and Instagram's help center says Meta does not process those payments.

You need to be 18 or older with a public professional account, more than 1,000 followers, and a home in a supported market. Meta is rolling the feature out gradually, so some eligible creators will not see it yet. Instagram hides a product tag if the product does not appear in your post, goes out of stock, or fails its commerce checks.

Outside affiliate programs work at any size through the links on your profile, and Instagram lets you add up to five. Commission rates and attribution windows vary by program, so compare them before you commit. Our guide to affiliate marketing for influencers covers the main programs.

Are Gifts, Subscriptions and bonuses worth turning on?

Turn on Gifts as soon as you reach 500 followers, because it costs nothing, but expect small money. Instagram pays $0.01 for every Star a fan sends on a Reel, so 1,000 Stars earn you $10. You need a professional account, an age of 18 or older, a payout account and a home in an eligible country, which includes the US. Collaborative posts cannot earn Gifts.

Subscriptions open at 10,000 followers. You set one monthly price, and subscribers get exclusive Lives, Stories, posts, Reels and broadcast channels. Instagram's help center says its own revenue share is currently 0%, while Apple and Google collect 30% of in-app purchases. Live Badges split the same way. Fans buy them during a live video, and Instagram caps one supporter's badges at $250 per live.

Bonuses are invite-only tests with an element of random selection, and Instagram says it may end them as it tests. Do not plan around one. If an invitation shows up in your professional dashboard, take it.

Instagram pays Gifts, Subscriptions and Badges around the 21st of each month once a US balance reaches $5. Add a payout account early. Without one you can earn up to $500 per tool, and Instagram says you forfeit earnings if you have not added one within 6 months.

How do you sell your own products from Instagram?

Selling your own product needs no follower minimum, and Meta takes nothing from sales you make off the app. Instagram lets you add up to five links to your profile, which is enough for a shop, a membership, a booking page and an email signup.

Pick what you sell based on what people already ask you about. A fitness creator sells programs, a photographer sells presets, and a cook sells a recipe book. Instagram Subscriptions leave you about 70% after the app store fee. Patreon's pricing page lists a 10% platform fee plus payment processing, so an outside membership usually leaves you more per fan.

Use Instagram Subscriptions only if your fans will not leave the app to pay. Otherwise, sell outside it and use Reels and Stories to send people there. Our guide on how to sell to your fans compares what each selling platform keeps.

Can Instagram creators get paid for views?

Not on Instagram. Its help center lists no pay-per-view program or ad revenue share, and bonuses are invite-only tests.

The view money for Instagram creators is on Facebook. Meta's Creator Fast Track, announced March 18, 2026, pays creators with at least 100,000 followers on Instagram, TikTok or YouTube $1,000 a month for three months to post eligible Reels on Facebook. Creators with more than 1 million followers on one of those apps get $3,000 a month. Meta says Facebook paid creators nearly $3 billion in 2025.

If you already make Reels and have 100,000 followers, cross-posting to Facebook is the easiest view-based pay you can add. Read how to make money on Facebook for the program details.