OnlyFans is an internet content subscription service based in London, United Kingdom. The service is used primarily by sex workers who produce pornography, but it also hosts the work of other content creators, such as physical fitness experts and musicians.
Content on the platform is user-generated and monetized via monthly subscriptions, tips, and pay-per-view. Creators are paid 80% of these fees. The company launched a free safe-for-work streaming platform, OFTV, in 2021. The website grew in popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic; as of May 2023, OnlyFans had more than 3 million registered creators and 220 million registered users.
The company has been criticized for insufficiently preventing child sexual abuse material from circulating on the platform, though statistical evidence on the severity of the problem is mixed. In August 2021, a campaign to investigate OnlyFans began in the United States Congress, and it was reported that from October 2021 onward OnlyFans would no longer allow sexually explicit material, due to pressure from banks that OnlyFans used for user payments. However, this decision was reversed six days later due to backlash from users and creators alike.
Company overview
OnlyFans is a British subscription-based video on demand service and social media network. It acts as a video hosting service, allowing content creators to upload videos and garner subscribers to their content. As such, it is part of the creator economy. Subscribers pay creators in monthly instalments, in one-time tips, or via pay-per-view. The company takes 20% of these fees.
OnlyFans is mainly used by pornographic creators, both amateur and professional, but it also has a market with other content creators—including chefs, fitness trainers, and musicians.
As of May 2023, OnlyFans had 3 million registered creators and 220 million registered consumers. Research from the Archives of Sexual Behavior found that the typical user of OnlyFans is white (68.9%), married (89.5%), male (63.1%) and heterosexual (59%). The study found that the sexual attitudes of OnlyFans users were not significantly different from the general population.
The company employs approximately 1,000 people, 80% of whom focus on content moderation and support. It had 2021 revenues of 932 million. It is led by chief executive officer (CEO) Keily Blair and owned by Fenix International Limited.
In April 2021, Time named OnlyFans in its Time 100 Most Influential Companies list. Additionally, Fast Company named OnlyFans as one of the 10 most innovative social media companies in 2021. The Financial Times named OnlyFans one of the fastest-growing companies in Europe in 2022 and 2023.
History
Key figures
Tim Stokely ran the softcore pornography website GlamGirls before founding Customs4U, a website where customers could request custom videos from pornographic models. In November 2016, he founded OnlyFans as a platform for performers to monetise their content and interactions directly. Stokely founded the company with a £10,000 loan from his father, Guy Stokely, who told him "Tim, this is going to be the last one". Tim's brother Thomas Stokely became the company's chief operating officer and Guy Stokely became head of finance for OnlyFans.
Two years later, the businessman Leonid Radvinsky, owner of MyFreeCams, acquired 75% ownership of Fenix International Limited and became one of its directors. After this, OnlyFans became increasingly focused on not safe for work (NSFW) content and "gained a pop culture reputation for being a hive of pornography", according to The Independent.
In December 2021, Tim Stokely announced that he would be stepping down and that Amrapali Gan would be taking over from him. Keily Blair was appointed CEO in July 2023.
Growth in 2020
Amateur and professional sex workers drove OnlyFans' early growth, a process further accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic and the recession it caused. Between March and April in 2020, the user and creator base grew by 75%.
The site grew rapidly after it was mentioned by Beyoncé in the remix of the Megan Thee Stallion song, "Savage", released in April 2020. Traffic increased by 15% and CEO Tim Stokely claimed OnlyFans was seeing approximately 200,000 new users and 6,0008,000 new creators register daily. 2020 also saw numerous celebrities, including Cardi B, Rebecca Minkoff, and Tyler Posey, as well as media companies like Munchies and Barstool Sports join the platform, which further boosted interest in the site. By December 2020, OnlyFans had 85 million users and more than 1 million creators, generating more than 2 billion in sales that year.