How Much Can You Earn on OnlyFans: An Interview with Model Sonya Jess

Hi! I'm Sonya, I'm 25. I was born in Drohobych, Lviv Oblast, but from 2015 I lived in Kyiv — studied and worked there. A month ago I moved to Warsaw.

I took off really fast — I've been on OF for two months now. I actually started in winter, but back then I was working with an agency and barely making anything. About a month and a half ago I started running the page on my own, and it's been going well. I didn't really choose this niche — it kind of just happened. I was working as a marketer, posting photos on Instagram, and a lot of agencies were reaching out to me. One day the thought crossed my mind: "Why not?" At first I agreed to the offer, then spent another six months thinking it over, and eventually said yes for good — and I liked it. I started to feel my own potential.

I'm probably the only model in Ukraine who isn't afraid of a Ukrainian audience. In one month I gained 850 paid subscribers, and approximately 60% of them are Ukrainian.

I create content every day: videos for TikTok, photos on Instagram, videos for YouTube + OnlyFans. I spend two hours a day on TikTok, I manage Instagram on the go throughout the day, same with my Telegram channels. Another 2–3 hours go into creating content for other platforms. Then there's post-production — it's not as simple as it might seem.

I wouldn't call it "engaging the audience." I shoot and do what I genuinely enjoy. My OF page right now is a place where people can get an experience, connection, emotions. Guys get not just videos, but essentially a virtual girlfriend. I personally message them, send photos and videos in real time. There are also guys who just want to buy a video, and they can do that quickly. Maybe someday there will be 18+ videos that aren't solo. Actually — very soon there will be non-solo videos 🙂

I don't know what it was like two years ago — I started in 2023. Of course it's harder, just like becoming a blogger on Instagram. But there are plenty of agencies and courses out there now. I think the main thing is the desire to do it. 

It varies: some people follow me on Instagram and see my life every day. For those followers, it might just be basic curiosity — wondering what's in there. Some are looking for connection, others want custom content. What I can say is that everyone gets a dopamine hit. That's exactly how it works. 

Almost all Ukrainian agencies and girl models block Ukraine. Some do it because it's legally grey, some so their friends and acquaintances won't see them, and some out of the biased assumption that Ukrainians don't have money. As you can see, I take a different approach. 

No, I don't use it. 

I work 24/7. I have no days off — I don't even know what that means. I just got back from a festival where I planned to disconnect for three days, and even that didn't work out. I create content, I communicate — and my body also requires a lot of work. A typical day: 1. Wake up at 7 AM. 2. Breakfast: shoot Stories, maybe YouTube. 3. Post Stories. 4. Post on Instagram. 5. Shoot TikToks. 6. Gym. 7. Post TikToks. 8. Calls with the team. 9. Chatting on OF, posting content, sending mass messages, and everything else.

If I step away for an hour, I come back to ≈20 unread messages.

I reply to DMs myself. My team helps me with content formatting, video editing, and cutting clips. But anything I can do on my own — I do.

I've never had any issues with that. I have the best audience.

Actually, agencies take 70–80% of the net profit, and the model gets 20–30%. Believe me, it's justified — a large team works on the page. Working with an agency is easier: the team handles everything, and the model only focuses on content for about 2 hours a day. They even tell you what to shoot and how — you just need to film it quickly. Finding a good agency is very hard. Many agencies don't know how to promote models, they promise the world and don't deliver. They can't unlock a model's potential or identify her strengths — and that's the most important thing. If I were a girl looking to start a career on OnlyFans, I'd ask successful models for agency recommendations, or ask a model to help me get started.

There are other sources, but I'm not going to reveal all my secrets. If a model wants to earn well, she needs to build her own promotion strategy.

TikTok is very strict about adult content — I consistently get banned around 15k followers. I've had many accounts; my current one has over 1,000 followers. Risqué, sexy content performs well, but the account gets banned faster. So I try to keep my videos on the lighter side.

That's a myth. I've never heard that and can't confirm it from my own experience.

Who said I don't? I have my own methods — ones I'd rather keep to myself. 

I consider myself unique — people come to me because I'm not just a pretty picture. I'm real, I show how I grow, how I live, I let my audience get very close. I think my uniqueness lies in being open. I've thought about adding some kind of signature twist, but haven't come up with anything yet. Maybe I'll get a 🍑 booty enhancement soon and that'll become my trademark. Or maybe I'll think of something else — I'm not sure.

Definitely not a share of earnings. There's a buyer for everything, and men have a completely different target audience. 

I don't like talking numbers, but I'll say this: more than $10,000 a month.

Not at the moment. 

Of course they have — it's an effective collaboration model between models and webmasters who can drive traffic from Facebook and other social media. Right now I don't have any partners working in that format. I'd be open to it if I could find someone with solid experience and proven case studies in model promotion. A lot of people offer to drive traffic on a revenue share basis, but in practice they all drop off and can't deliver quality results due to a lack of expertise. 

I used to run pages on Fansly and OnlyFans simultaneously, but Fansly brought in significantly less revenue due to the huge difference in audience size. So I decided to focus on OnlyFans. For models to make money on Fansly, they need to find a new audience and motivate subscribers to register on the platform, since many people don't have accounts there. That's a very challenging task, which is why I don't see the point in Fansly when OnlyFans exists.

My needs grow very fast — there's no ceiling. When it comes to the basics, yes. But if we're talking about a house in Los Angeles and an AUDI SQ8, I'm not quite at those numbers yet.

Quite a lot, actually. Almost all the income goes back into reinvestment, because my appearance is an investment too. All the procedures, clothes, lingerie — it's all an investment in looks. On top of that, there are shoots, paid advertising, team salaries, and other expenses.

Yes, you can buy shoutouts from other models — same as on Instagram. If you want to grow as a creator, you buy placements from influencers, drive traffic from TikTok, or run targeted ads to increase your traffic flow. OnlyFans works the same way, but you can also do SFS (ed. shoutout for shoutout) with other models.

Every model has their own pricing and terms. But subscribers on OnlyFans are expensive.

We haven't met in person, but I know of models generating $100–200k. And that's not even close to the maximum you can earn in a month on OnlyFans.

Because the content is different. I'm not interested in heavily promoting Telegram. My focus is OnlyFans, and TG is just an additional platform. I barely promote the bot at all.

I know at least 50 Ukrainian OnlyFans agencies, each with an average of 15 models. It's not hard to estimate how much they're making. On top of that, every model has three chatters, assistants, and marketers. They all get paid — and that money flows outside the budget because of the illegal status.  And how many beautiful Ukrainian girls are leaving the country? In the future, they'll be having children, which is critically important for the nation. I could talk about this for a long time….

I'm convinced the country has long been ready to rethink its attitude toward the adult content niche. There will always be people who aren't okay with it — but Ukraine is losing a lot because of this.

I can't speak for all Ukrainians. I haven't conducted any surveys on the topic.

Oh, this is my favorite one. I don't know — I haven't found an answer to that question yet. For example, alcohol enthusiasts don't tell manufacturers to stop producing strong drinks.

Not very positively — I was always the «good girl.» I believe our relationship will be able to grow strong again, like it used to be.

No, nothing like that has happened.

I'd agree only if I like the studio, the concept of the video, and only with my own partner. 

I don't currently live in Ukraine. In the country where I am now, it's legal. Also, Ukraine's legislative bodies are actually moving toward decriminalizing OnlyFans.

I didn't move only because of OnlyFans's illegal status — there were other reasons too. For now, I plan to stay abroad, and what happens next — I don't know. 

It's true — these people are willing to pay a lot.

No, thankfully I haven't. 

Not yet, because I haven't been earning big money for that long. My first planned investment is in myself and in things that will generate more income. I also have plans for other businesses and investments.

The plans are ambitious: $100,000 per month.

100%, it's a full-fledged job, just like any other monetized social media platform. 

I don't set strict time limits for myself — I want to enjoy life. I've only been on OnlyFans for a month, so I haven't thought about when I'll «retire» yet.

I know that models aged 40–56 earn good money. But I don't know their names — it's not something I follow closely. It's hard to name a specific age limit. I think every woman has her own.

Emotions, communication, content