OnlyFans and Fanvue take the same standard 20% platform fee, according to the OnlyFans Terms of Use and Fanvue's Creator Terms, so the decision rests on everything around that fee. Fanvue publishes explicit rules for disclosed AI-generated creators, an in-platform Discover feed, manager accounts and an OAuth API. OnlyFans's terms are briefer: they transact everything in US dollars and require AI content to be captioned, but describe no AI-creator category, no discovery feed and no developer access.
The comparison below cites each platform's own documents as published on 1 October 2026, one source per cell, and leaves out audience-size claims that neither platform documents. For the wider field, see our OnlyFans alternatives overview; if Fanvue is the platform you are thinking of leaving, our shortlist of Fanvue alternatives adds Fansly and Patreon.
Side-by-side matrix
Each cell names the document it comes from. Where a document is silent, the cell says so rather than filling the gap from third-party sites.
| Factor | OnlyFans | Fanvue |
|---|---|---|
| Standard platform fee | 20% of the total fan payment, deducted from each payment (Terms of Use) | Creator earning rate of 80%, with 20% kept as platform fees (Creator Terms) |
| Promotional rate | None described (Terms of Use) | Temporary uplifts may be published on the platform and changed at any time (Earnings & Payouts policy) |
| Fan billing currency | All fan payments and creator earnings in USD (Terms of Use) | USD by default, GBP for UK fans and EUR for euro-area fans (General Terms) |
| When money can be withdrawn | Once reflected in the account and above a minimum payout amount the terms do not state (Terms of Use) | After a 7-day pending period that can extend to 28 days, with payouts aimed within 10 business days (Earnings & Payouts policy) |
| Payout methods | A bank account or other payout option, with bank and e-wallet charges left to the creator (Terms of Use) | Bank transfer, Cosmo or crypto saved in settings, with other wallets added at payout (payout options article) |
| Creator verification | Government photo ID, selfies, bank details and more, plus selfie checks on a rolling 30-day cycle (verification page) | Identity documents and a liveness check, tax and banking details, and re-verification on request (Creator Terms) |
| AI-generated content | Must carry a caption such as #ai or #AIGenerated (Terms of Use); explicit images of others need consent, AI ones included (Acceptable Use Policy) | Allowed with clear disclosure, no resemblance to minors and documented consent for any real person depicted (Community Guidelines) |
| In-platform discovery | No discovery feed described in the Terms of Use or the Acceptable Use Policy | Randomised Discover feed, Suggested Creators and search, governed by a discoverability toggle (discoverability article) |
| Help from other people | Permitted, but the creator stays legally responsible for all content and all use of the account (Terms of Use) | Manager accounts and invited team members (manager article), while sharing a password is prohibited (General Terms) |
| Developer access | Scraping or gathering information from the site is banned (Acceptable Use Policy) | OAuth 2.0 API and an MCP server for KYC-verified creators (developer documentation) |
| Creator referrals | 5% of the referred creator's fan payments for 12 months, up to US$50,000 (Referral Program Terms) | 5% of qualifying revenue after fees for 12 months, or 36 for earlier sign-ups, up to $50,000 (Referral & Affiliate Policy) |
| Off-platform payments | Referencing off-platform sites that breach its terms, or linking to external storage, is banned (Acceptable Use Policy) | Requesting payment outside Fanvue or promoting external payment links risks suspension and withheld payouts (Creator Terms) |
| Refunds and chargebacks | The creator-earnings share of a refunded or charged-back payment may be deducted (Terms of Use) | Deducted from the balance, plus a possible $50 fee per dispute above a 1.5% dispute rate (Creator Terms) |
Fees: the same headline rate, different small print
On standard terms neither platform is cheaper, so look at what surrounds the headline rate. Fanvue's Earnings & Payouts policy allows a temporary promotional rate for new or eligible creators, published on the platform and changeable at any time, and says the rate in force when a transaction happens applies automatically. Fanvue's January 2026 explainer describes a 15% fee for the first 30 days after KYC and 20% afterwards, then says creators take home 80% from day one, which contradicts the line before it. Trust the rate your dashboard shows at the time of each sale, not a blog summary.
Chargebacks are the other cost to model. Fanvue's Creator Terms allow a $50 administrative fee per dispute once disputes pass 1.5% over a 30-day period, on top of deducting the disputed amount, although Fanvue may waive it where a creator genuinely works on the cause. The OnlyFans Terms of Use describe deducting the creator's share of a refunded or charged-back payment and mention no separate per-dispute fee.
Currency affects your fans more than your fee. OnlyFans prices and charges everything in US dollars, while Fanvue's General Terms bill UK fans in pounds and fans in euro countries in euros, which removes a conversion step for those audiences. On the payout side, the OnlyFans terms state that any conversion or banking charges your bank or e-wallet applies are yours to pay.
Payouts: pending periods and methods
Fanvue's Earnings & Payouts policy sets a standard pending period of seven days after each fan transaction, says its fraud and risk systems can stretch that to 28 days, aims to start valid payouts within ten business days and requires discrepancies to be reported within 30 days. The same Fanvue explainer that discusses fees says payouts are available immediately and mentions instant payouts. The policy is the binding document, so plan cash flow around the pending period, including its longest version.
The OnlyFans Terms of Use say earnings can be withdrawn once they show in your account and meet a minimum payout amount, without stating the holding period or the minimum in the terms themselves, so check the payout settings inside your account for the figures that apply to you. On the Fanvue side, the payout options article adds two controls worth knowing: new payout methods pass a security check before use, and only the creator can change them.
Fanvue also has rules for money left sitting. Under the same policy, UK, EEA and rest-of-world balances not withdrawn within 12 months become dormant after reminders, while US balances follow state unclaimed-property law. If you run both platforms, withdraw from each on a schedule rather than letting either balance build up.
AI content and synthetic personas
This is where the two platforms differ most. Fanvue's Community Guidelines allow AI-generated media with a clear and prominent disclosure, ban AI people who resemble minors, assess content with a Reasonable Person's Test and require documented consent and identity verification before anyone real is deepfaked. Fanvue's linked accounts article even sets a higher account limit for AI creators than for human ones. Our Fanvue AI creator rules turn those requirements into a checklist.
The OnlyFans Terms of Use require AI-generated content to comply with the terms and to be captioned with a signifier such as #ai or #AIGenerated, and its Acceptable Use Policy bans explicit images of another person without their consent, including artificially generated ones. The terms set out no category for fully synthetic creators, and the OnlyFans verification page describes onboarding and recurring selfie checks built around the account holder's own identity. If you plan a persona that is not you, read our OnlyFans AI and deepfake rules guide and the current OnlyFans terms before building anything.
Discovery, team access and tools
Fanvue documents ways for fans to find you without leaving the platform. Its discoverability article says the Discover feed is randomised by default, with new, fast-growing and high-performing accounts nearer the top, intro videos always given a placement and a Suggested Creators section filled automatically, and a toggle in Creator Settings removes you from Discover and search while your direct link keeps working. New fan accounts see safe-for-work content only until they switch the NSFW filter on, according to Fanvue's search article. The OnlyFans terms describe nothing comparable, so on OnlyFans plan to bring your own traffic.
Team operations follow the same pattern. Fanvue has manager accounts that let an agency switch between creators and invite chatters who cannot publish, and its General Terms prohibit password sharing. OnlyFans accepts that someone may help run a creator account but states that its relationship is with the creator alone, who stays legally responsible for everything posted and every use of the account.
For automation, Fanvue offers a documented OAuth API and an MCP server for AI assistants. The OnlyFans Acceptable Use Policy bans scraping, downloading or gathering information from the site for any reason, so any OnlyFans tool that works by scraping puts the account at risk.
Running both platforms at once
Neither set of terms reviewed here asks creators for exclusivity, so running both is a business decision rather than a contractual one. Three habits keep it within both rulebooks:
- Keep each platform's payments on that platform. Fanvue's Creator Terms bar requesting off-platform payment and promoting external payment links or services, and the OnlyFans Acceptable Use Policy bans referencing off-platform sites that breach its terms. Read both clauses before posting a link to one platform inside the other, and cross-promote from your own social profiles or link page instead.
- Label AI content to the stricter combined standard. An #ai-style caption meets the OnlyFans requirement, and Fanvue accepts a disclosure in the caption, the bio or a watermark, so one clear caption can serve both.
- Keep separate records of which content, releases and consents sit on which platform, because each runs its own moderation, appeals and verification checks.
Referral income works differently on each. The OnlyFans referral terms pay on the referred creator's fan payments, while Fanvue pays on qualifying revenue after platform fees and excludes some sales entirely; our Fanvue referral guide covers the Fanvue side in detail.
Decision checklist
Answer each question honestly, then reread the matrix rows it points to.
- Is the persona you plan fully AI-generated? Fanvue's rules address that case directly; on OnlyFans, read the current AI rules before committing.
- Will most fans arrive from your own social profiles? Then in-platform discovery matters less, and fees, payouts and tooling matter more.
- How soon after a sale do you need the money? Plan for Fanvue's longest pending period and look up the OnlyFans hold in your payout settings.
- Are many of your fans in the UK or the euro area? Fanvue bills them in their own currency; OnlyFans bills everyone in US dollars.
- Will a manager or chatters work on the account? Compare Fanvue's manager roles with the OnlyFans rule that the creator stays responsible for every action.
- Do you want a CRM, dashboards or automation? Only Fanvue publishes a developer API, and any OnlyFans tool must respect the scraping ban.
- How exposed are you to disputes? Fanvue can add a per-dispute fee once disputes pass its threshold.
- Do you plan to refer other creators? The two programmes calculate commission on different bases.
- Have you checked availability and age-verification requirements for your country and your fans' countries on both platforms?
Limits of this comparison
The matrix rests on public documents as they read on 1 October 2026. The OnlyFans terms leave some operational detail unstated, such as the payout minimum, and Fanvue revises its policies often and records the changes in its legal changelog, so recheck the cited pages before deciding. Audience size and earning potential are deliberately left out: neither platform publishes audited figures in the documents cited here, and no comparison of terms can tell you what you will earn.
This is general information, not legal or tax advice, and platform availability, age verification and tax treatment vary by country. If you settle on OnlyFans and want help running it, SirenCY is an OnlyFans management agency based in Melbourne, and you can apply through our application page.