TikTok vs YouTube Earnings
Complete comparison: Which platform pays creators more in 2025? See RPM, requirements, and real earnings data
The Quick Answer
🎵 TikTok Wins For:
- ✅ Faster growth (viral potential)
- ✅ Easier monetization (10K vs 1K+4K hours)
- ✅ Quicker first $1,000 (3-6 months)
- ✅ Short-form, trend-based content
📹 YouTube Wins For:
- ✅ Earnings per view (50-250x more)
- ✅ Long-term income (evergreen content)
- ✅ Brand deal rates (2x higher)
- ✅ Educational, searchable content
Bottom Line: TikTok for fast growth and quick wins. YouTube for long-term wealth building. Best strategy? Use both—TikTok for discovery, YouTube for monetization.
Ad Revenue (RPM)
🎵 TikTok
$0.02 - $0.04
Creator Fund pays $20-$40 per million views
Pros:
- ✓ Lower barrier to entry
- ✓ Faster to reach monetization
Cons:
- ✗ Much lower per-view earnings
- ✗ Inconsistent payouts
📹 YouTube
Winner$2 - $10
AdSense pays $2,000-$10,000 per million views
Pros:
- ✓ 50-250x higher RPM than TikTok
- ✓ More stable income
- ✓ Scales well
Cons:
- ✗ Harder to reach monetization
- ✗ Longer videos required
Monetization Requirements
🎵 TikTok
WinnerEasier
10K followers + 100K views (30 days)
Pros:
- ✓ Can reach in 2-3 months
- ✓ 10K followers is achievable
- ✓ No watch hours requirement
Cons:
- ✗ Still need consistent views
- ✗ Must be 18+
- ✗ Limited countries
📹 YouTube
Harder
1K subscribers + 4K watch hours (12 months)
Pros:
- ✓ Once approved, stays active
- ✓ More mature monetization system
Cons:
- ✗ Takes 6-12 months average
- ✗ Watch hours are difficult
- ✗ High rejection rate
Content Type Best For
🎵 TikTok
Short-form viral
7-60 second videos, trend-based
Pros:
- ✓ Quick to create (15-30 min per video)
- ✓ Easier to go viral
- ✓ Lower production needs
Cons:
- ✗ Hard to build deep audience connection
- ✗ Trends die quickly
- ✗ Less evergreen potential
📹 YouTube
Long-form educational
8-20 minute videos, search-based
Pros:
- ✓ Builds loyal audience
- ✓ Evergreen content earns forever
- ✓ Better for tutorials/deep-dives
Cons:
- ✗ Requires 2-8 hours per video
- ✗ Slower growth
- ✗ Higher production standards
Brand Deal Potential
🎵 TikTok
$0.10 - $0.20/follower
Standard rates: 25K = $2.5K-$5K per deal
Pros:
- ✓ Hot platform (brands want TikTok presence)
- ✓ Easier to land deals with fewer followers
- ✓ Fast-growing market
Cons:
- ✗ Lower rates than YouTube
- ✗ Shorter contracts
- ✗ More competition from nano influencers
📹 YouTube
Winner$0.20 - $0.40/subscriber
Standard rates: 25K = $5K-$10K per deal
Pros:
- ✓ 2x higher rates than TikTok
- ✓ Longer-term partnerships
- ✓ More professional market
Cons:
- ✗ Harder to land first deal
- ✗ Brands want 50K+ subs
- ✗ More formal contracts
Speed to $1,000
🎵 TikTok
Winner3-6 months
Primarily through brand deals + LIVE gifts
Pros:
- ✓ Viral potential = faster growth
- ✓ Can monetize at 1K followers (LIVE)
- ✓ Multiple income streams
Cons:
- ✗ Creator Fund alone is slow
- ✗ Need viral videos or many deals
- ✗ Inconsistent
📹 YouTube
6-12 months
Through AdSense + sponsorships
Pros:
- ✓ More predictable once monetized
- ✓ Ad revenue scales with views
- ✓ Passive income from old videos
Cons:
- ✗ Slower to reach monetization
- ✗ Takes longer to build audience
- ✗ More upfront work
Real Creator Examples: TikTok vs YouTube Earnings
Same follower/subscriber count, different earnings:
Example 1: Comedy Creator (50K followers/subs)
🎵 TikTok Earnings
- • Views: 5M/month
- • Creator Fund: $60-$100 ($0.012 RPM)
- • Brand deals: $300-$800 (1-2 deals)
- • LIVE gifts: $100-$200
- Total: $460-$1,100/month
📹 YouTube Earnings
- • Views: 2M/month (slower growth)
- • AdSense: $4,000-$8,000 ($2-$4 RPM)
- • Brand deals: $1,000-$2,000
- • Memberships: $200-$400
- Total: $5,200-$10,400/month
YouTube earns 5-10x more despite fewer views. AdSense RPM is the key difference.
Example 2: Finance Creator (100K followers/subs)
🎵 TikTok Earnings
- • Views: 10M/month
- • Creator Fund: $500-$700 ($0.05 RPM)
- • Brand deals: $2,000-$4,000 (2-3 deals)
- • Affiliate: $300-$600
- Total: $2,800-$5,300/month
📹 YouTube Earnings
- • Views: 5M/month
- • AdSense: $25,000-$50,000 ($5-$10 RPM for finance)
- • Brand deals: $5,000-$10,000
- • Affiliate: $1,000-$2,000
- Total: $31,000-$62,000/month
Finance niche shows the biggest gap. YouTube\'s finance RPM ($5-$10) is 100-200x higher than TikTok ($0.05).
The Winning Strategy: Use Both Platforms
Top creators don't choose—they leverage both. Here's the optimal approach:
Phase 1: Start with TikTok (Months 1-3)
- Focus: Grow to 10K followers on TikTok (easier/faster than YouTube)
- Content: Post 2-3 short videos per day, jump on trends
- Why: TikTok's algorithm makes it easier to go viral and build initial audience
- Monetize: Apply to Creator Fund, start pitching brand deals at 5K
Phase 2: Add YouTube Shorts (Months 3-6)
- Cross-post: Upload your TikTok videos to YouTube Shorts (same content, 50x RPM)
- Optimize: Adjust titles/descriptions for YouTube SEO (searchable keywords)
- Why: YouTube Shorts has similar algorithm to TikTok but pays way more
- Goal: Hit 1K subs + 4K watch hours to monetize YouTube
Phase 3: Add Long-Form YouTube (Months 6+)
- Expand: Create 8-15 minute deep-dive versions of your TikTok topics
- Strategy: TikTok = teaser, YouTube = full tutorial/explanation
- Why: Long-form videos earn 5-10x more per view than Shorts, evergreen income
- Result: Dual income—TikTok for fast cash (brand deals), YouTube for passive income (AdSense)
Real Example: A creator with 50K on both platforms can earn $500/month from TikTok + $5K/month from YouTube = $5,500/month total. That's 11x more than TikTok alone.
Which Should YOU Focus On?
Choose TikTok as Primary If:
- You want fast results (first $1K in 3-6 months)
- Your content is trend-based, visual, or entertainment-focused
- You prefer creating short, quick videos (15-60 seconds)
- You're comfortable with brand deals as primary income (not just ads)
- You're under 25 and understand TikTok culture natively
Choose YouTube as Primary If:
- You want long-term wealth building (evergreen income)
- Your content is educational, tutorial-based, or searchable
- You can create 8-20 minute videos with good production quality
- You prefer passive income from ads over active brand outreach
- You have patience (6-12 months to see significant income)
Use Both (Recommended) If:
- You want to maximize earnings (best of both worlds)
- You can dedicate 2-3 hours per day to content creation
- Your content works in both short-form and long-form formats
- You want fast growth (TikTok) AND long-term income (YouTube)
- You're willing to learn two platforms simultaneously