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Head to head

Fanvue vs LoyalFans — a better first year, or a referral that keeps paying?

Our two picks for a second platform, and they win on different things. One pays you more on the fans you bring for twelve months; the other pays you on the creators you bring for as long as they earn.

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Published 20 October 2026 Last verified 20 October 2026

Some links here are referral links: if you sign up we may earn a commission from the platform, at no extra cost to you. It does not change the ranking — here is how we rank.

Why these two

These are the two platforms we recommend most often as a second home. Fanvue is our pick for a second platform to run alongside your main one, with LoyalFans as runner-up. For referral income it is the other way round. If you have read either page, you are probably choosing between exactly these two.

They are alike in one way that matters: neither will bring you many fans. Fanvue has effectively no discovery and LoyalFans very little. So the question is not which platform will grow you. It is what you are going to bring: fans, or other creators?

Platform Best for You keep Minimum payout Referral window Discovery
Fanvue Best terms in year one 80% Official 85% for the first 12 months for newly signed-up creators Varies by withdrawal method — not published Official 12 months Official Effectively none Visit
LoyalFans Best for referral income 80% Reported $50 US bank (ACH), $100 SEPA, $150 international wire Official Lifetime Reported Limited but real Visit

Fees: Fanvue, for twelve months

Both take 20% as standard. Fanvue reportedly runs a promotional rate for a new creator’s first 12 months, so you keep 85%. LoyalFans keeps a flat 80% and runs no promotional rate.

On $3,000 a month gross from fans you send, that is $150 a month more on Fanvue, or $1,800 over the first year. After that the two are level.

Plan on 80%

Fanvue describes promotional rates as something it may “introduce, update, extend, reduce or withdraw”, and the creators who joined on 85% in 2022 have already been moved to 80%. Take the first-year discount; do not build a budget on it lasting.

Referrals: LoyalFans, if its promise holds

Platform Rate Pays for Cap Paid out of
Fanvue 5% Official 12 months Official $50,000 per creator Official Sources contradict each other Disputed
LoyalFans 5% Reported Lifetime Reported No published cap Reported The platform's cut Reported

Both pay 5% of a referred creator’s earnings. The difference is in how long, how much, and who pays.

Duration. Fanvue pays for 12 months from the referred creator’s registration. (The widely repeated “36 months” only applies to creators who registered before 9 April 2026.) LoyalFans describes its commission as lifetime.

Take a creator you refer who settles at $4,000 a month. Your 5% is $200 a month. On Fanvue that is $2,400 in total, and then it stops. On LoyalFans it is $2,400 a year for as long as they keep earning there: $7,200 after three years, if they stay and the terms do.

Cap. Fanvue caps commission at $50,000 per referred creator. LoyalFans publishes no cap. At 5% for one year, Fanvue’s cap only binds on a creator who earns more than $1,000,000 in that year, so for most referrals the duration matters far more than the cap.

Who pays for it. Several sources report that LoyalFans funds the 5% from its own cut, so the creator you refer still keeps their full 80%. That lets you tell them, truthfully, that your link costs them nothing. On Fanvue you cannot say that yet: its referral policy reads as though the commission comes out of the referred creator’s earnings, while its help centre says it does not. Ask Fanvue support in writing before you promise anyone anything.

Fans as well as creators. LoyalFans also pays a share of what fans you refer spend across the platform. Fanvue’s “up to 50%” affiliate programme is a different thing: a creator-to-creator marketplace paid from the promoted creator’s own earnings, not a fan referral scheme.

In Fanvue’s favour: its referral terms are official and published, and the commission is credited as a separate balance that is not itself subject to platform fees. LoyalFans’ terms sit in its help centre rather than in binding public terms, which is why we mark them reported.

Lifetime is a promise, not a contract

OnlyFans advertised its referral commission as LIFETIME for four years, then cut it to 12 months and capped it, retroactively, in 2020. That change is now the subject of a class action. Screenshot LoyalFans’ terms on the day you sign up, and never let one program be your only referral income. See creator referral programs compared.

Payouts: LoyalFans is easier to plan around

Fanvue pays on request. Earnings clear a 7-day pending period, which it can extend to 28 depending on verification and risk, and a payout is initiated within 10 business days of a valid request. It does not publish minimum payout amounts: the policy says only that you must meet the minimum for your chosen method.

LoyalFans pays twice a month, sent within 7 working days of the 15th and of month-end, once you reach your method’s minimum: $50 by US bank transfer, $100 by SEPA, $150 by international wire. Balances below it roll over. Those minimums are high outside the US, but they are published, on a schedule you can plan cash flow around.

Both offer crypto payouts, which matters if your bank is difficult about adult-adjacent income. Check which methods your country can use before you commit to either.

Chargebacks: a fee on Fanvue

Both take a refunded or charged-back payment back out of your earnings. Fanvue adds a fee: an account over a 1.5% chargeback or dispute rate in any rolling 30 days may be charged a $50 administrative fee for each further dispute. We found no chargeback fee or rolling reserve on LoyalFans, though we could not read the clause in its terms that governs this. If you sell to fans who dispute often, Fanvue’s rule is the one to watch.

Audience: bring your own

Fanvue has a growing but modest fan base and no meaningful discovery for most niches. Assume every subscriber is one you sent. LoyalFans has the smallest fan base of the four platforms we cover, but a browsable creator surface that does more than Fanvue’s. Its brand is less known, and some fans hesitate before entering card details.

Neither is a platform to start on if you need it to find you fans. For that, see the best platform for beginners.

What you make: AI content, or live and audio

AI content. Fanvue allows fully AI-generated creators with a clear and prominent disclosure. LoyalFans reportedly bans photorealistic AI content, as Fansly does. If your account is AI-made, this decides it: Fanvue. Details and sources are in AI content rules by platform.

Live and audio. LoyalFans has more live and voice features than its size suggests, including audio-native content types larger platforms treat as an afterthought. If live or audio is a big part of your income, it is the better product for that work. See the best platform for live and audio creators.

The decision

Fanvue if you will send fans from an audience you already have, you want the better first-year rate on them, or your content is AI-generated.

LoyalFans if you refer other creators, you want a referral you can honestly say costs them nothing, you do live or audio work, or you want published payout minimums on a fixed schedule.

Both if you can keep two accounts genuinely live. That is the point of a second platform: a ban or a terms change on one costs you weeks, not everything.

Common questions

Fanvue or LoyalFans — which should I choose?

It depends on what you will bring. If you are moving fans from your own audience, Fanvue pays you more on them for your first 12 months: a reported 85% against LoyalFans' 80%. If you will refer other creators, LoyalFans' commission is reported as lifetime and uncapped, against 12 months capped at $50,000 on Fanvue. Both are small platforms, so plan to bring your own audience either way.

Which has better referral terms, Fanvue or LoyalFans?

LoyalFans. Both pay 5%, but LoyalFans reportedly pays for as long as the referred creator earns, with no published cap, from its own cut. Fanvue pays for 12 months from the referred creator's registration, capped at $50,000, and its policy and help centre disagree on whether the commission comes out of the referred creator's earnings. Fanvue's terms are official and published; LoyalFans' are in its help centre, which is why we mark them reported.

Which pays out faster, Fanvue or LoyalFans?

Fanvue pays on request: earnings clear a 7-day pending period, which can stretch to 28, and a payout is initiated within 10 business days. LoyalFans pays twice a month, within 7 working days of the 15th and of month-end, once you reach your method's minimum ($50 by US bank transfer, $100 by SEPA, $150 by wire). LoyalFans is the more predictable; Fanvue does not publish its minimums.

Can I run both Fanvue and LoyalFans?

Yes. They suit different jobs: Fanvue for the better first-year rate on fans you send, and LoyalFans for referral income and live or audio work. Give each account something the other does not have, or fans will pick one and you will do twice the work for the same money.