This is arithmetic, not advice, and it is deliberately simple. It shows the direct cost of a commission and nothing else — not what the agency might add to your earnings, and not the deductions below that most contracts also carry. Use it to size the number you are agreeing to, then read the contract for the parts it cannot see.
Why the annual figure is the honest one
Commission is always sold monthly, because 30% of a month sounds survivable. It is charged annually and it compounds with your growth: the better you do, the more the percentage takes, which is the one part of the arrangement that never needs renegotiating in their favour.
At $4,000 a month on 30%, the agency's share is $14,400 a year. On a 24-month lock-in that is $28,800 — usually more than the creator has ever had in savings, agreed to in an afternoon on the strength of a friendly call.
Four things the percentage isn't telling you
The calculator above is the floor, not the total. Each of these moves the real number, and all four are in the contract rather than in the pitch:
- Gross or net. A commission on gross is charged before the platform's own cut. On OnlyFans, where the platform keeps 20%, taking a percentage of gross rather than net raises the real rate by a fifth on its own.
- Which revenue counts. Subscriptions, obviously — but tips, pay-per-view messages, customs, live-stream tips, brand deals you sourced yourself and income from platforms they have never touched can all be swept in by one broad phrase.
- Subscribers you already had. A commission on total account revenue means paying a share of an audience you built without them, every month, for as long as those people stay.
- The post-term tail. A clause that keeps them earning after you leave. Set the term above to include it and the number stops looking like a monthly fee.
All four are covered clause by clause in agency contract red flags.
Annual cost at a glance
If you would rather not type anything, or you are reading this with JavaScript off, the same arithmetic is below. Every figure is the agency's share over twelve months.
| Monthly earnings | at 20% | at 30% | at 40% | at 50% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $1,000 | $2,400 | $3,600 | $4,800 | $6,000 |
| $3,000 | $7,200 | $10,800 | $14,400 | $18,000 |
| $5,000 | $12,000 | $18,000 | $24,000 | $30,000 |
| $10,000 | $24,000 | $36,000 | $48,000 | $60,000 |
| $20,000 | $48,000 | $72,000 | $96,000 | $120,000 |
When a percentage is worth paying
Sometimes it plainly is. An agency that genuinely runs your DMs around the clock, buys and manages paid traffic out of its own budget, and demonstrably lifts your revenue by more than its share is selling you something real. Several do.
The test is whether you could buy the same work separately for less than the annual figure above. At $14,400 a year you are in the range of hiring your own part-time help, on your terms, with no claim on your account and no exit clause. That comparison is the one worth making before you sign, and almost nobody makes it — because the number was presented monthly.
We have an obvious interest here, so treat this accordingly. We run a collective that takes no commission, so a page about what commission costs is not a neutral document. The arithmetic is just arithmetic — check it. Our own funding is set out in full on the how we earn section of the homepage.
Related reading: agency contract red flags and how to leave an agency.