The Creator Fund closed. Here's what replaced it
If you've been searching for Creator Fund requirements, you've probably found a pile of answers that disagree with each other. That's because TikTok retired the Creator Fund in most markets and moved creators to a newer program, now called the Creator Rewards Program. The old fund and the new program use the same follower bar, so that number keeps showing up in search results long after the fund itself ended.
Here's the current list. According to TikTok's Creator Rewards page, you need to be 18 or older, have 10,000 followers, and get 100,000 video views in the last 30 days. Your account also has to be in good standing, and you have to live in a country where the program runs.
Most people skip the next part. Only videos longer than one minute earn rewards, and they have to be original. So the follower count gets you in the door, but it doesn't get you paid by itself.
Why the follower count is the wrong number to watch
I know the objection. You have a few hundred followers and the bar looks years away. That's the honest worry behind this search.
Followers are a lagging number, though. They show up after views, never before them. One video that holds attention can bring in a wave of followers in a weekend. A dozen videos that people swipe past bring in none. And the views requirement uses a rolling 30-day window, so what you need is a steady month of output. One lucky spike won't carry you.
The one-minute rule catches a lot of creators out. Plenty of channels grow on 15 to 30 second clips, reach the follower bar, and then find out that none of their videos qualify. Plan for both lengths from the start. Use short videos to learn which hooks stop the scroll, and turn the topics that keep people watching into longer versions.
The first couple of seconds decide whether TikTok shows your video to more people. Watch time, completion and rewatches drive distribution. Your follower count mostly just reflects how well you've been doing those things.
Can a faceless or AI-made account actually qualify?
This is the legitimacy question, so here's the straight answer. TikTok doesn't exclude faceless or AI-assisted channels. It ranks videos by how viewers behave, not by how the videos were made.
What the program does require is originality. Reposted clips, compilations of other people's videos, and near-identical videos posted in bulk don't qualify, and using AI won't fix that. TikTok also asks you to label realistic AI-generated content. The label doesn't hurt your reach, but skipping it can get a video taken down.
What makes a faceless channel original is the same thing that makes any channel original: your topic choices, your angle, your script and a recognizable series format. If you're worried people will judge you for using AI, they mostly won't. Viewers judge whether a video was worth 40 seconds of their life.
To be clear about the limits: no tool gets you to the bar. A weak niche stays weak however polished the videos are, and a boring first line loses viewers whether a person or software wrote it.
Am I too late, and what if the payout is tiny?
You're not too late. The program is running, and new accounts qualify every month. But be realistic about the money. Payouts depend on qualified views, region and engagement. TikTok doesn't publish a fixed rate, and plenty of creators find the checks modest. Treat Creator Rewards as one income stream, not the whole plan.
The same vertical video can also go to YouTube Shorts. There, YouTube's Partner Program asks for 1,000 subscribers plus either 4,000 valid public watch hours in the last 12 months or 10 million valid public Shorts views in the last 90 days. Each video gets two chances to build an audience. The audience is the real asset anyway, because brand deals and your own products come from it, not from the payouts.
Here's one more question you might not say out loud: what if you stop after two weeks? The rolling window is hard on stop-start posting. Pick a cadence you can keep up. Three good videos a week for months beats posting daily for ten days and then going quiet.
A realistic path from zero to eligible
- Pick one niche with endless topics. History, scary stories, stoic motivation and startup stories all have years of material. If you're unsure, browse faceless niches that suit short-form.
- Post 1/day for the first few weeks, mostly short. At this stage you're collecting data on hooks.
- Turn proven topics into versions longer than a minute. These are the videos that can actually earn once you qualify.
- Check retention weekly, not likes. Look at where people drop off and fix the first line.
- Batch your work. Write and make several videos in one sitting so a busy week doesn't break your streak.
The ideas are rarely the hard part. Making a video every day without burning out is. That's the friction MaqtAi removes. You give it a niche and a topic, and it writes a hook-first script, narrates it with an AI voice, generates moving visuals, adds animated captions and assembles a vertical video. You choose the length before the script is written, so a quick test clip and a version over a minute can come from the same idea. On a paid plan, it publishes straight to TikTok once your account is connected. It won't pick a winning niche for you or make anything go viral. That part is still up to you.
What waiting actually costs you
Every week you spend deciding is a week with no data. You don't learn which hooks work. The 30-day views window isn't counting anything for you. And someone in your niche is posting today, training the algorithm on their videos instead of yours.
So take one small step this afternoon and make one video. If not wanting to film has been holding you back, most new accounts get free credits on MaqtAi when they verify their email, with no card needed (how credits work). Free renders have a watermark, so use your first one to test your niche and hook, not as a finished post. Pick a topic, make it, watch it back, and ask yourself honestly whether you'd keep scrolling.
Doing this by hand is the part most people quit at. MaqtAi writes the script, narrates it, generates the visuals and captions, and assembles the faceless short for you. Verify your email and you get 450 free credits: about 3 videos on the still-frame tier, or one with AI motion. Free renders carry a watermark.
Try it on your niche freeFrequently asked questions
Does TikTok still have a Creator Fund? Not in most markets. TikTok replaced it with the Creator Rewards Program, which pays only for original videos longer than one minute.
Do I need the full follower count before I can earn anything on TikTok? You need it for Creator Rewards. TikTok's other earning tools, like LIVE gifts and subscriptions, have their own requirements, so check each one in your creator tools.
Do videos under a minute help at all? Yes. They're great for testing hooks and growing your audience. They just don't earn rewards themselves, so plan to make longer versions of the topics that work.
Can I get paid for AI-generated videos on TikTok? You can, as long as the content is original, follows the rules, and has an AI label wherever it shows realistic synthetic media. Mass-produced or reposted content doesn't qualify.
Results vary, and nothing here guarantees income from TikTok, YouTube or any other platform.