4based is a registered business you can look up, not an anonymous site, but whether it is safe for you depends on clauses most reviews never mention. Its legal notice names two companies in Zug, Switzerland, both listed in the Zug commercial register; its creator agreement pays 70% of the net price you set; and its general terms let it block an account and cancel any outstanding commission if it finds a breach or false information.
Scores from scam-checker and review sites measure web signals, not contract terms, so this guide answers the question with things you can verify: who operates the platform, who handles the money, what you earn, when you are paid and which rules can cost you. It draws on 4based's terms, creator agreement, privacy policy and help-centre answers as published on 1 October 2026, and notes where they disagree.
Who runs 4based, and how to check it
4based is often described as a German platform, and it reads like one: the site runs in German and English, the general terms cite the German Civil Code on withdrawal rights, and the privacy policy names a Düsseldorf law firm as its EU representative under the GDPR. The legal entities are Swiss, though. The legal notice lists FTB Media AG as the website provider and Swiss Media Factoring GmbH as the company handling payment processing and technical infrastructure, and the general terms say a user's contract is with Swiss Media Factoring GmbH.
Both companies appear in public records: the Zug cantonal commercial register has entries for FTB Media AG and Swiss Media Factoring GmbH, and the federal company index Zefix shows both as active. Swiss Media Factoring GmbH is also the custodian of records named in the site's record-keeping statement, and the privacy policy states that, as of 1 January 2025, all data processing is carried out by that company.
The privacy policy lists CuroPayments, Micropayment AG and Epoch among the payment providers, and a help answer on card statements says fans see Swiss Media Factoring, Epoch or Micropayment AG rather than 4based on their bank records. Both contracts describe 4based as acting only as a broker between you and your buyers.
What you earn on 4based and when you get paid
Fans buy a virtual currency called credits for single sales and chat, and a help answer on subscriptions says subscriptions are paid by card or PayPal; the general terms say credits cannot be refunded. Your share and payout rules are spread across several documents:
| 4based item | What 4based's own documents say | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Your single sales, chat and subscriptions | 70% of the net price you set | Creator agreement, section 3 |
| The same share as the general terms word it | “Up to 70%”, paid in the following month minus cancellations at mid-month | General terms, section 3 |
| Fans who join through your links and buy from other creators | 10% of their total net spending with those creators | Creator agreement; earning conditions |
| Creators who join through your links | 5% of the total net revenue they generate | Creator agreement; earning conditions |
| When a 4based sale becomes withdrawable | After a 30-day cycle, so a sale on the 1st is available on the 1st of the next month | Help answer on withdrawals |
| Minimum before you can request a 4based payout | $50 in available balance | Creator agreement; help answer on withdrawals |
| Processing after you request a payout | Within one week; payouts usually run on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, then take 1 to 3 banking days by bank transfer | Creator agreement; help answer on payout timing |
| VAT on 4based sales | 4based says it pays VAT to the tax office itself, so you do not add it | Help answer on VAT |
| Fan payments that are reversed | Commission already credited is deducted, which can leave a negative balance | Help answer on negative amounts |
| Leaving the platform | A final statement about 30 days after termination, and no termination while subscriptions are still running | Creator agreement, section 3 |
| Ceiling on a 4based subscription price | $25, set in a help answer dated 2023 | Help answer on subscription prices |
The two contracts describe payout timing differently. The creator agreement, dated 9 April 2025, lets you request a payout after 30 days once you hold at least $50 and promises payment within a week, while the general terms, dated 15 January 2026, say commission is paid in the following month and that a separate payment policy sets the details. We could not find that payment policy published, and the general terms still contain a bracketed note where a link explaining the commission was meant to go. Ask support for the current payment policy before you rely on a payout date.
Pricing rules matter too. A help answer on raising a subscription price says every subscriber paying the old, lower price is cancelled and notified, with access ending at the end of their term, so test a price rise before applying it to a large base. Subscriptions run on 28-day terms that renew unless the fan cancels at least 48 hours before the end, according to section 3 of the general terms, and the prepaid bundles for longer periods are non-refundable, as the bundles answer explains.
Clauses that put your earnings at risk
These are the parts of the 4based paperwork that decide whether money you have earned stays yours:
- Blocking at the provider's discretion. Section 2 of the general terms lets 4based reject, delete or block content and accounts over a breach, false information or other important reasons, and says outstanding commission claims lapse when it does.
- Rights you cannot prove. If you cannot show you hold the rights to content when asked, the creator agreement says the related commission lapses.
- Deleting sold posts early. You should not delete paid content within three months of its last purchase, and buyers who lose access sooner can ask support to email it to them, under section 5 of the general terms.
- Dormant free accounts, which the terms allow 4based to delete after more than three months unused, with no right to the stored data.
- Chat review. The provider may analyse chat histories at random or when it has reasonable suspicion.
- Changing terms. Amendments are emailed four weeks before they take effect, and if you object, 4based may end the contract, according to the preamble of the general terms.
- Narrow liability. Damages claims are excluded unless intent or gross negligence is involved, apart from statutory exceptions.
None of this is unusual for a platform contract, but it argues for two habits: keep your own record of sales, payout documents and the terms version you accepted, and withdraw regularly instead of letting a large balance build up.
Verification, ID checks and money-laundering rules
The creator agreement says an online verification and age check is carried out, and the general terms let 4based demand verification images or ID copies at any time and delete accounts that do not supply them. For content featuring anyone else, a help answer on shared content asks you to email an ID shot of each person plus a signed performer contract showing consent, and warns that 4based will remove the content if that person later asks. An ID shot, in 4based's description, is a photo of you holding your ID beside your head with a note showing the current date.
Section 5 of the general terms also allows identity, compliance and anti-money-laundering checks on creators and on anyone they hire. Only one account per person is permitted, and banned members who re-register under a new name have their data deleted. The privacy policy names the AI services that screen uploads (Sightengine, Google Cloud Vision and OpenAI) and says image data is deleted after analysis unless the law or a violation requires keeping it, but it does not name the identity-verification provider. If you are careful about where your ID goes, ask support before you start, and compare the process with our OnlyFans verification walkthrough.
Managers, chatters and promotion rules
This is where 4based differs most from its rivals. Section 5 of the general terms lets you hire third parties as managers for administration and organisation, such as uploading content, but excludes anyone else taking over direct contact with users: conversations with fans have to come from you. If your business depends on a chat team, 4based is a poor fit; our comparison of chatter support and full management explains how those models work elsewhere, and our agency contract checklist lists clauses worth asking a manager for.
The same section bans sharing phone numbers, email addresses, links or other contact details to make commercial contact with other members, trying to lure members to other sites, spam, and third-party promotions or competitions without permission. The usage policy adds copyrighted music to the list, and a help answer on wish lists bars them from your bio and mass messages.
Inside those rules, the creator's guide describes the tools 4based expects you to use: free posts, the only kind its trend algorithm considers; public single sales; a subscription area with an optional subscribers-only chat; a price fans pay per message; mass and automatic messages; coupons; and collaborations. Revenue-sharing partnerships with another creator run for a fixed term under the creator agreement, and a user-linked partnership needs 14 days' notice to end, after which fans acquired through it are billed at the agreed share for six more months.
Free posts face strict rules: a help answer on removed free content says free media must be suitable for viewers under 18 and spells out what gets it deleted, so anything that would fail that test belongs behind a price or in the subscription.
Country and content limits on 4based
The general terms include a list, marked as of 2025, of countries where 4based says adult content is prohibited, among them the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Malaysia and Indonesia. The list is described as not exhaustive, and the terms make you responsible for confirming that using the platform is legal where you are. The usage policy bans any content involving minors, requires written age documentation and consent for everyone else shown, sets out a list of themes that are prohibited outright, and forbids anything that breaks the rules of card companies.
Fit checklist: does 4based suit your business?
Run through these questions before you put time into a 4based profile:
- Do you write your own fan messages? The general terms leave no room for a third-party chat team.
- Does your audience read German or English, and do you live somewhere the terms allow?
- Can your cash flow absorb roughly a month between a sale and the day it becomes withdrawable?
- Have you asked support for the current payment policy and the payout methods offered in your country?
- Do your planned prices fit under the subscription ceiling, or are you happy to sell most content as single sales and paid chat?
- Can you keep every free post strictly non-explicit, since free posts are what feed the trends?
- Do you already have an audience elsewhere to bring in, so the referral shares in the earning conditions work for you?
- Are you comfortable contracting with a Swiss company, and do you know who will advise you on tax where you live?
- Will you keep copies of your sales records, payout documents and the terms you accepted?
Mostly yes means 4based can work as a secondary platform. If you rely on a chat team, need money within days of a sale or price subscriptions above the ceiling, it is a weak fit. For the wider field, see our comparison of OnlyFans alternatives, or our MYM creator guide for another European subscription platform with a different payout model, one that also documents a sanctioned tool for team inboxes.
Limitations of this review
This review covers what 4based publishes about itself. It cannot tell you how support handles a dispute, how fast payouts arrive in practice or how moderation treats a particular account. Many of the help-centre answers date from 2023, and one still says users cannot be fully blocked yet, so check them against what your account actually shows. The documents come in German and English versions, and neither says which language prevails. Treat everything here as general information rather than legal or tax advice, and speak to a lawyer or accountant who knows Swiss and EU rules before relying on the platform for significant income.
This review is published by SirenCY, an OnlyFans management agency based in Melbourne, which can be reached through its application page.