No public dataset shows what a typical AI influencer earns, and nobody publishes a median. We found seven income figures traceable to a named source, and none is backed by audited accounts: Aitana López's agency told Euronews in 2023 she usually averaged around €3,000 a month, and a 2025 Kapwing model put Lu do Magalu's sponsored posts at about $2.5 million a year. Broader creator data is skewed: in a January 2026 survey of 1,000 US creators, 48.7% earned under $10,000 a year.
The real numbers on AI influencer income are few: we could trace seven public figures to a named source, none of them is backed by audited accounts, and nobody publishes a median. The best-known one came from Aitana López's own agency, which told Euronews in 2023 that she usually averaged around €3,000 a month, against a headline of up to €10,000.
Checked on October 11, 2026 against the original reporting and company statements linked below; platform fees were checked in October 2026 against each platform's policy page. An earlier version of this page carried income percentiles, a revenue mix and hours-per-week figures from a survey we could not trace. All of those numbers were removed and stay removed.
This page is a reading guide as much as a list. Each figure carries a bias key, so you can see who supplied it and how much to discount it. For the business model behind an account, from offers to pricing and client work, see our AI persona business playbook.
How much do AI influencers make? The findings
- Nobody knows the typical figure. No platform, regulator or survey publishes income data for AI accounts as a group.
- Seven figures have a named source. Three are platform statements, two are third-party model estimates, one is an owner claim and one is an anonymous self-report.
- None is a verified record. There are no audited accounts, filings or payout statements behind any of them.
- The reported monthly figures sat between a few thousand dollars and $23,000, all from 2023 and early 2024, and all for accounts chosen because they stood out.
- Creators in general skew low. In a January 2026 survey of 1,000 US creators, 48.7% earned under $10,000 a year from creating.
Our count of the figures in the table below. Source: Euronews, Fortune, Kapwing and a Fanvue press release, read October 2026
Method, and the bias key
We kept a figure only if it names an AI or virtual account (or a platform's AI creators), states an amount or ratio, and can be traced to a dated publication or company statement. We then sorted each one by who supplied it. We did not interview creators, see dashboards or collect payout data, so this is a review of what is on the public record, not new measurement.
| Class | Who is speaking | What to discount for | In this table |
|---|---|---|---|
| A. Verified record | Audited accounts, a company filing or payout statements | Nothing: this is the number as it happened | None of the seven figures |
| B. Platform statement | A platform describing its own creators | The platform picks which account or ratio to show, and benefits from a big one | Three figures |
| C. Owner claim | The agency or person who runs the account | Unaudited, and the speaker is selling the persona or the service behind it | One figure |
| D. Anonymous self-report | A creator who cannot be identified | Cannot be checked at all | One figure |
| E. Third-party model | An outsider multiplying followers by an assumed rate | Not income: an estimate of what posts might be worth | Two figures |
The key runs from strongest to weakest evidence, and the top row is empty. That is the main finding of this page.
AI influencer income: the real numbers on public record
Each of these is a claim or an estimate, not an audited result. The last column is the bias class from the key above.
| Account | Figure | Source and date | What it actually is | Class |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aitana López (The Clueless, Barcelona) | Usually around €3,000 a month, €10,000 on one occasion; just over €1,000 per advert | Euronews, November 22, 2023; Fortune, November 23, 2023 | Her agency's own unaudited figures. The "$11,000 a month" in later headlines is that single €10,000 month in dollars. Fortune counted 122,000 Instagram followers at the time and was told most of the money came from social media ads. | C |
| Emily Pellegrini (AI account on Fanvue) | $23,000 revenue in January 2024, up from $6,000 in October 2023 | Fanvue, reported by Fortune, February 2024 | The platform's figure for one of its most popular AI accounts. The report does not say whether it is before or after the platform's cut. | B |
| Hailey Lopez (anonymous creator) | $2,500 to $4,000 a month from about 150 paying subscribers | The creator, via Fortune, February 2024 | Self-reported by an anonymous student | D |
| All AI creators on Fanvue | 15% of Fanvue's revenue in November 2023 | Fortune, February 2024 | A platform-wide share for one month, not income per account | B |
| Fanvue creators who use its AI tools | Earn "three to six times more" than those who do not; 72% of earning creators use the tools | Fanvue press release (Business Wire), July 10, 2026 | A ratio with no amounts, sample or method, and it covers human creators using AI tools as well as AI personas | B |
| Lu do Magalu (Magazine Luiza) | About $2.54 million a year from 74 sponsored Instagram posts | Kapwing, July 15, 2025; repeated by Axios, June 15, 2026 | An estimate, not disclosed revenue, for a character owned by one of Brazil's largest retailers | E |
| Lil Miquela (Brud, acquired by Dapper Labs in 2021) | About $73,920 a year from sponsored Instagram posts | Kapwing, July 15, 2025 | The same estimate method; her real income has never been disclosed | E |
- The headline on the same story was "up to €10,000"
- Just over €1,000 per advert
- Unaudited, and for one account the agency runs
Source: The Clueless, reported by Euronews, November 22, 2023
What these figures have in common
- One claim gets counted many times. Aitana's single €10,000 month became "up to $11,000 a month" in a Fortune headline and "$11,000 in one month" in a second Fortune story three months later. It is one figure, so it is one row here. Our Aitana López earnings breakdown follows each restatement and her follower counts over time.
- They describe outliers. Journalists covered these accounts because they stood out, and Fanvue offered one of its most popular AI accounts as its example.
- Revenue is not profit. A monthly revenue figure says nothing about platform fees, refunds, contractors, compute or the owner's hours.
- Follower-based estimates are models. Kapwing multiplied each character's followers by the average price per follower that human influencers charge, using Hopper HQ's Instagram Rich List, then by the number of sponsored posts in a year. That assumes brands pay AI characters what they pay famous people, which no one has shown.
- A valuation is not income. TechCrunch reported in October 2021 that Brud, the company behind Lil Miquela, had been valued at $125 million and that Dapper Labs did not disclose what it paid to acquire it. Kapwing's model puts Miquela's sponsored-post income at under $100,000 a year.
- Famous names often have no figure at all. Imma's income, for example, has never been disclosed; our Imma case study traces where the number that circulates came from.
AI influencer earnings 2026: what this year added
Very little. The most-quoted figures are still the 2023 and 2024 ones, and 2026 added platform-level statements and a repeat of an older estimate, not new account-level income.
- October 2021Brud acquired; price undisclosed
TechCrunch reports an earlier $125 million valuation for the company behind Lil Miquela.
- November 2023Aitana López: around €3,000 a month on average
Her agency's figures, reported by Euronews. Fortune's "up to $11,000" headline a day later is the one €10,000 month in dollars.
- February 2024Fortune reports Fanvue's figures
$23,000 in one month for a top AI account, and a 15% AI share of platform revenue.
- July 2025Kapwing publishes modelled estimates
About $2.54 million a year for Lu do Magalu and $73,920 for Lil Miquela.
- February 2026Creator survey published
48.7% of 1,000 US creators report under $10,000 a year. It covers all creators, not AI accounts.
- June 2026Axios repeats the Lu estimate
Described as an estimated $2.5 million a year in sponsored posts.
- July 2026Fanvue reports a $200 million run-rate
A company-wide figure, with a claim that creators using its AI tools earn three to six times more.
Fanvue's July release is worth reading closely because it will be quoted as proof that AI creators earn more. It gives a ratio, not an amount; it does not say how the two groups were compared; and "creators who use AI tools" includes human creators using an assistant. It tells you the platform is growing, which is a different fact from what one account takes home.
Virtual influencer income against creator income in general
No dataset isolates virtual influencer income, so the most useful comparison is creators as a whole. One recent survey of US creators found a wide base and a narrow top:
- Under $10,00048.7%
- $10,000 to $100,00045.6%
- $100,000 or more5.7%
Source: The Influencer Marketing Factory, 2026 Creator Economy Report, survey fielded January 2026
Source: The Influencer Marketing Factory's 2026 Creator Economy Report and its February 24, 2026 release, a survey of 1,000 US creators aged 18 to 65. The publisher is an influencer marketing agency and the answers are self-reported, so read it as one snapshot of human creators, not a forecast for an AI account. On the bias key it sits between C and D: many people describing their own income, unverified.
Who takes a cut before you see the money
Every route to income has a toll, and it is taken before tools, tax or your time. These are the platforms' published terms.
| Income route | What the creator keeps | Entry requirement |
|---|---|---|
| Fanvue | 80% at the standard rate; temporary promotional rates for some new creators | ID and selfie verification, including for AI creators; clear AI disclosure |
| Patreon | Everything except a 10% platform fee, plus payment processing, currency conversion and payout fees | AI rules differ by page type |
| Instagram Subscriptions | Instagram currently takes 0%; Apple and Google take 30% of in-app purchases | Professional account, 10,000 followers, aged 18 or over |
| YouTube ads | 55% of net ad revenue on long-form videos; 45% of the revenue allocated to Shorts | 1,000 subscribers plus 4,000 watch hours in 12 months or 10 million Shorts views in 90 days |
| Brand deals | The negotiated fee, minus any agency commission | A buyer and the paid partnership label; Meta Creator Marketplace needs 1,000 followers |
Sources: Fanvue payouts policy, Patreon pricing, Instagram's Subscriptions eligibility and fees, YouTube's watch page and Shorts revenue shares and eligibility, and Meta Creator Marketplace eligibility. Our Fanvue review covers payout timing and verification in detail.
Why AI accounts often earn less than the headlines
- Reach rules. Since August 31, 2026, Instagram asks accounts that feature an AI-generated person to use its AI-generated profile label, and unlabeled ones it detects can become ineligible for recommendations until they add it.
- Monetization rules. Instagram's Content Monetization Policies can reduce or disable monetization for suggestive content and exclude unoriginal content. YouTube and TikTok have originality rules of their own, covered in our monetization guide.
- Audience sentiment. In Billion Dollar Boy's 2025 study of UK and US marketers, creators and consumers, 26% of consumers preferred AI-generated creator content to traditional creator content, down from 60% in its 2023 study.
- Brand caution. The IAB's November 2025 report found 95% of advertisers had concerns about using AI in creator marketing, led by the loss of human connection.
- Costs arrive first. Tools, compute and your hours are spent long before any payout threshold is reached, and some accounts never reach one.
Estimate your own numbers instead
Build an estimate from your own prices and customers, not from someone else's screenshot:
- Subscriptions: paying subscribers × monthly price × the platform's creator share, minus refunds and chargebacks. For a hypothetical account, 100 subscribers at $10 on Fanvue is $1,000 in sales and $800 at the standard 80% share, before tax and costs.
- Brand deals: signed deals × agreed fee. Count contracts, not pitches or replies. Our Instagram influencer marketing guide covers media kits, pricing and disclosure.
- Affiliate links: clicks × conversion rate × average order value × commission, taken from your own dashboard after a few weeks of data.
- Production costs: price each usable clip, including failed attempts. A 5-second 720p Kling VIDEO 3.0 clip without audio costs 30 credits, about $0.40 at the Standard plan's regular monthly price, per our Kling tutorial. Add subscriptions, editing, music licenses and contractors.
- Your hours: divide monthly profit by the hours you worked. That hourly figure is the number to compare with other work.
Our free AI influencer revenue calculator builds an illustrative scenario from your inputs; replace its presets with your real prices and results as they come in. Our AI influencer industry page collects the platform rules, survey figures and tool prices that named sources have published, and the AI influencer cost breakdown prices the tools line by line.
How to read any income claim
- A best month presented as a monthly income
- Revenue quoted with no mention of fees or costs
- A median or percentile with no dataset, sample size or date
- A figure from whoever sells the course, tool or agency service
- An estimate built from follower counts
- A filing, audited accounts or payout statements
- An average over a stated period, with the range
- Net of platform fees, with costs listed
- A named source with nothing to sell you
- A method you can read and repeat
- Who supplied it, and when? An owner, a platform, an anonymous creator or someone's estimate? Use the bias key.
- Revenue or profit? Gross sales, the creator's share after fees, or money left after costs?
- Is it selling you something? In October 2021 the FTC warned more than 1,100 businesses pitching money-making opportunities, including business coaching, that claims that participants will profit, or that stated profits are typical, can be deceptive and can bring civil penalties.
Limitations of this page
We only read reporting that is in English, online and free to access, so figures behind paywalls or in other languages may be missing. Company statements are quoted as the companies made them. If a figure you have seen is not here, the likeliest reason is that we could not find who first said it. Related reading: 15 AI influencer examples and how they are built, how AI influencers make money on Instagram, virtual influencer statistics and the AI face swap guide on consent rules.
Income depends on a character people want to follow, consistent production, honest disclosure and a real offer. Our AI Influencers program teaches that workflow: persona creation, face consistency with LoRA training, video and voice production, social strategy and the monetization options. It teaches skills and systems; it cannot promise income.
AI influencer income FAQ
How much do AI influencers make in 2026?
No public dataset shows what a typical AI influencer earns. The named figures are owner claims or estimates: the agency The Clueless told Euronews in November 2023 that Aitana López could earn up to €10,000 a month but usually averaged around €3,000, and a July 2025 Kapwing model put Lu do Magalu's sponsored Instagram posts at about $2.5 million a year. Neither is a typical result.
What is the median AI influencer income?
Nobody publishes one. No platform, regulator or survey reports a median for AI influencer accounts. The closest data covers all creators: in The Influencer Marketing Factory's January 2026 survey of 1,000 US creators, 48.7% earned under $10,000 a year from creating. Treat any AI-specific median without a named dataset, sample size and date as invented.
How much did Aitana López make?
Her creators at the Barcelona agency The Clueless told Euronews in November 2023 that she could earn up to €10,000 a month but usually averaged around €3,000, from advertising deals and a subscription page, and the same story said she earned just over €1,000 per advert. These are unaudited figures for one account, supplied by the agency that runs it. The $11,000 in later headlines is that single €10,000 month in dollars.
How much does Lil Miquela make?
Her income has never been disclosed. Kapwing's July 2025 model, based on what human influencers charge per follower, estimated about $73,920 a year from sponsored Instagram posts. Her creator company Brud was previously valued at $125 million, and Dapper Labs did not disclose what it paid when it bought Brud in October 2021, according to TechCrunch.
How much do AI creators make on Fanvue?
Fanvue publishes no per-creator earnings data. Fortune reported in February 2024 that AI creators accounted for 15% of Fanvue's revenue in November 2023, and that Fanvue said one of its most popular AI accounts generated $23,000 in January 2024. At Fanvue's standard rate, creators keep 80% of sales before tax and costs.
Is AI influencer income passive?
No. Content, replies, sales and compliance take ongoing hours, and platforms can change reach or monetization rules at any time. The FTC has warned businesses that telling people they will profit, or presenting unusual results as typical, can be deceptive. Any figure you see is revenue for one account in one period, not a wage that arrives without work.
How can I estimate my own AI influencer income?
Multiply paying customers by price, subtract the platform's cut, refunds and your costs, then add brand fees from signed contracts only. For example, 100 subscribers at $10 a month on Fanvue is $1,000 in sales and $800 at the standard 80% creator share, before tax and production costs. That is arithmetic for a hypothetical account, not a forecast.
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