Quick answer: On Instagram you need 500 followers for Gifts, 1,000 for Creator Marketplace and 10,000 for Subscriptions, and all three are open to US and UK creators. On TikTok Shop in the US you need 1,000 followers to apply as an affiliate, and 5,000 to clear the pilot limits. YouTube's ad revenue needs 1,000 subscribers. Brand deals have no platform-set number at all: the brand decides.
People ask how many followers you need as if there is one number. There isn't. Each programme has its own, and a brand paying you directly has none. Here are the actual thresholds, read on each platform's own pages, as of November 2026, for the US and the UK. Where we could not read TikTok's own page, we say so rather than repeat a number from someone's blog.
Every threshold in one table
| Programme | Minimum followers | Other requirements | US | UK | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Instagram Gifts | 500 | Professional account, 18+, monetization policies, payout account | Yes | Yes | Instagram Help |
| Meta Creator Marketplace | 1,000 | Public professional Instagram account, 18+, monetization policies | Yes | Yes | Instagram Help |
| Instagram Subscriptions | 10,000 | Professional account, 18+, monetization policies, Subscriptions terms | Yes | Yes | Instagram Help |
| TikTok Shop affiliate | 1,000 to apply. Pilot limits until 5,000 | 18+, based in the US, identity check | Yes | Separate UK policy, number not confirmed | TikTok Shop US Academy, Creator Eligibility Policy, dated 31 July 2026 |
| TikTok Shop, bound to one seller | None to bind, by invitation of the shop | 18+, based in the US, compliance checks | Yes | Separate UK policy, number not confirmed | Same TikTok policy |
| YouTube Partner Program, ad revenue | 1,000 subscribers | 4,000 watch hours in 12 months, or 10 million Shorts views in 90 days | Yes | Yes | YouTube Help |
| YouTube channel memberships | 500 subscribers | 3 public uploads in 90 days, 3,000 watch hours in 365 days or 3 million Shorts views in 90 days, 18+ | Yes | Yes | YouTube Help |
| Brand deals and UGC | No platform number | Whatever that brand asks for | Yes | Yes | See below |
Checked 1 to 2 November 2026. US and UK availability for Instagram comes from the country lists on each page, and for YouTube from its Partner Program availability page.
What we could not confirm on TikTok
You will want three more numbers, and they are not in this table:
- TikTok Creator Rewards Program: the follower and view minimums.
- TikTok One, the creator marketplace: the follower minimum.
- TikTok Shop in the UK: the follower minimum.
We could not open TikTok's current pages for these when we checked in November 2026, so we are not printing a number. Other sites quote figures for these, and for TikTok One and UK TikTok Shop they disagree. Check the Creator Rewards and TikTok One sections of TikTok's Help Center, and TikTok Shop's UK Academy, before you plan around a number.
TikTok Shop in the US: 1,000 gets you in, 5,000 gets you out of the pilot
This is the one TikTok programme where we read the terms, in the US policy dated 31 July 2026. An affiliate is a creator who applies alone and picks products from the marketplace. You need a minimum of 1,000 followers, must be at least 18 and based in the United States, and must pass identity verification.
The catch is what happens under 5,000 followers. You go into the Affiliate Creator Pilot Program for at least 30 days. While you are in it:
- You can post up to 3 shoppable product videos a day and 3 shoppable LIVEs a week.
- You can only sell products with a Shop Performance Score of 95% or higher.
- You can't join campaigns.
To clear every limit you need 5,000 followers and at least 30 days in the programme. Without 5,000, TikTok Shop may, at its discretion, lift some limits early if you pass a quiz, reach 176 Creator Health Rating points, and either post 6 shoppable videos, run 1 LIVE of at least 5 minutes, or generate 10 orders.
There is also a route with no minimum. A shop can invite you to bind to it as an official or marketing account, and the policy says there is no minimum follower requirement to bind. You may start with a limit of 3 e-commerce videos a day, and leave that early-stage pilot at 1,000 followers after 30 days, once you also pass TikTok Shop's compliance checks. How commission and a brand fee stack on one video is in getting paid twice for one video.
Instagram: three numbers, not one
Gifts: 500 followers
Viewers buy Stars and send them on your Reels. Instagram pays you $.01 USD for every Star, monthly. Accounts that mainly post content focused on children are excluded, and so are collaborative posts. The US and the UK are both on the country list.
Creator Marketplace: 1,000 followers
This one is not money directly. It makes you visible to brands looking for partners. Meta says it is available to eligible creators in all countries where Meta advertising operates, with a short list of exclusions that does not include the US or the UK. Its setup page warns the feature may not be available to you yet, so look for it under Branded content in your professional dashboard.
Subscriptions: 10,000 followers
Followers pay you a monthly fee for exclusive content. Instagram's own cut is currently 0%, while Google and Apple collect 30% on in-app purchases. The eligibility page says to check your professional dashboard: if you qualify, you will see an option to set up subscriptions.
Want a rough idea of your account's earning power at your current size? Try the Instagram earnings calculator.
YouTube, for comparison
YouTube counts subscribers and watch time, so a follower number alone never qualifies you. The Partner Program thresholds are 1,000 subscribers with 4,000 qualified watch hours in the last 12 months, or 1,000 subscribers with 10 million qualified Shorts views in the last 90 days. YouTube also lists a lower tier for channel memberships at 500 subscribers. Both the US and the UK are on the availability list. So the watch or view requirement matters as much as the subscriber count.
Not at any of these numbers yet? Price what you can sell today. Get a realistic starting rate for your size and niche.
Open the creator pricing calculatorBrand deals: no follower minimum, only the brand's own rule
A private deal between you and a brand is not a platform programme, so no help page sets a number for it. The closest is Meta's branded content eligibility page, which asks for an established presence and a sufficient follower base, and gives no figure. The real minimum is whatever the buyer sets, and buyers differ a lot. As listed on 2 November 2026:
- Trend, a UGC platform, requires no followers. Its page says you might not even have social media.
- Insense asks for 1,000 followers on Instagram and at least 500 median views on TikTok, with a minimum of 1% engagement.
- Huda Beauty's ambassador programme asks for 1,000 followers on Instagram or TikTok.
- OSEA's affiliate programme asks for over 4,000 followers, and invites you to apply with fewer, with no promise of approval.
Notice that Insense counts views and engagement, not only followers. Check your own figure with the engagement rate calculator.
UGC is the clearest route for a small account, because the brand runs the video on its own channel and your audience does not matter much. The full method is in how to become a UGC creator, and what to charge is in UGC rates in 2026. Any paid or gifted deal has to be disclosed, whatever your size. The US rules are in our FTC guide.
What to do at your size
- Under 500 followers: sell UGC. Brands buying a video are not buying your audience, and Trend needs no followers at all. Make samples and pitch.
- 500 followers: if you post Reels, switch to a professional account and turn on Gifts. Keep pitching UGC.
- 1,000 followers: join Meta Creator Marketplace. In the US, apply as a TikTok Shop affiliate. You also now meet Huda Beauty's number and Insense's Instagram number.
- 5,000 followers on TikTok in the US: with 30 days in the programme, you clear the pilot limits and can join campaigns.
- 10,000 followers: Subscriptions opens on Instagram. It only works if you have something worth paying for every month.
Small account, real work? Build a creator profile, connect your accounts to show verified stats, and apply when a brand posts a brief. Payment is held until the work is approved.
Create your creator profileRead next: US and UK brands looking for UGC creators and UK influencer tax.
FAQ
How many followers do you need to monetize Instagram?
It depends on the tool: 500 for Gifts, 1,000 for Creator Marketplace, 10,000 for Subscriptions. Brand deals have no set number.
How many followers do you need to get paid on TikTok?
For TikTok Shop as a US affiliate, 1,000 to apply, with limits until 5,000. We could not confirm the Creator Rewards number from TikTok's own page in November 2026, so check TikTok's Help Center before relying on any figure you read elsewhere.
Can you get brand deals with under 1,000 followers?
Yes, if the brand is buying the video and not your audience. That is how UGC works. Trend requires no followers, and our guide to finding UGC jobs lists 12 other channels.
Is TikTok Shop's follower rule the same in the UK?
Don't assume so. The policy we read applies to creators based in the United States, and the UK has its own. We could not confirm the UK number.
Sources
- Instagram Help: How to earn money on Instagram Gifts
- Instagram Help: Eligibility requirements for creators on Meta Creator Marketplace
- Instagram Help: Get started as a creator on Meta Creator Marketplace
- Instagram Help: Eligibility requirements for Instagram Subscriptions
- Instagram Help: About Instagram Subscriptions for creators
- Instagram Help: Eligibility requirements for partnership ads and branded content
- TikTok Shop US Academy: Creator Eligibility Policy, dated 31 July 2026, read from a copy archived on 5 September 2026 on the Internet Archive
- YouTube Help: YouTube Partner Program overview and eligibility
- YouTube Help: How to earn money on YouTube
- YouTube Help: YouTube Partner Program availability
- Trend: For Creators
- Insense: For Creators
- Huda Beauty: Ambassador Program
- OSEA: Affiliates