Calculate creator income before accepting the split
An OnlyFans agency costs its commission plus any separate charges, on top of the platform deduction. With a 20% platform deduction and an agency taking 30% of the remaining revenue, you keep 56% of sales before other costs. If that agency takes 30% of gross sales instead, you keep 50%. The same headline rate produces a different bill.
Unly gives you a way to build and compare your own operation: configure the agent, organise media and sales scripts, and follow sales performance. Compare that setup with the agency's written offer using three things: money left, work delivered and control of the account.
Start with what you keep after every deduction
Use one month of completed sales in one currency. Separate taxes collected from fans from sales revenue, then reconcile refunds and platform deductions. A checkout total, a sales report and a bank payout can describe different stages of the same money.
The calculation below uses a 20% platform deduction. That rate appears in OnlyFans' creator terms reproduced in its 2021 written evidence to UK Parliament, Annex 1, section 5, excluding VAT. Use your current platform statement to confirm the deduction for your own calculation.
Sales revenue
$10,000
Start before platform fees. This calculation excludes fan taxes and assumes no refunds.
After the platform
$8,000
$10,000 − $2,000 platform deduction.
After the agency
$5,600
$8,000 − $2,400 agency fee, calculated as 30% × $8,000.
After separate costs
$5,300
$5,600 − $300 of operating costs. Creator income before income tax.
The $300 line is an input for the calculation. Replace it with the actual costs you pay outside the agency fee: editing, advertising, software or other agreed work. Do not deduct an expense again if the agency already includes it.
Ask “30% of which amount?”
A percentage becomes useful only when its base is clear. Ask the agency to write out the calculation using your sales revenue, platform deduction and refunds. “Net revenue” is too vague if the contract does not say which costs come out first.
| Calculation | 30% after platform fees | 30% of gross sales |
|---|---|---|
| Sales revenue | $10,000 | $10,000 |
| Platform deduction | $2,000 | $2,000 |
| Agency's commission base | $8,000 | $10,000 |
| Agency fee | 30% × $8,000 = $2,400 | 30% × $10,000 = $3,000 |
| Separate operating costs | $300 | $300 |
| Creator income before income tax | $5,300 | $4,700 |
The difference is $600 for the month, entirely from the commission base. Ask which revenue types the split covers too: subscriptions, PPV, tips, custom content and sales to fans you brought in yourself.
Repeat the platform calculation separately for each account. Fansly's earnings guide states that creators receive 80% of subscriptions, sold media, messages and tips. MYM's commission guide describes bank fees, tax treatment and different payout percentages by sale type. Applying the OnlyFans example unchanged to MYM would give you the wrong starting amount.
Calculate what the agency has to earn back
Now compare the agency with your current operation. With $10,000 of sales, the same 20% platform deduction and $300 of costs, managing the account yourself leaves $7,700 before income tax. The 30% agency split after platform fees leaves $5,300 at the same sales level.
Find the revenue needed to match your current income
For an agency commission charged after platform fees, with fixed monthly costs and no minimum agency fee:
Required sales = (current creator income + costs with the agency) ÷ [(1 − platform fee) × (1 − agency fee)]
($7,700 + $300) ÷ (0.80 × 0.70) = approximately $14,286.
Under those inputs, sales would need to be about 42.9% higher just to preserve your $7,700. This is a break-even calculation, not a forecast. It assumes the agency charges on revenue after platform fees and both setups have the stated $300 of costs.
With 30% charged on gross sales, the equivalent calculation is ($7,700 + $300) ÷ (1 − 0.20 − 0.30) = $16,000: 60% more sales. If advertising or production costs increase with sales, recalculate those costs at the target revenue too.
Time matters alongside income. If the agency takes over work you currently do, record those hours separately. Decide how much income you are willing to trade for that time, rather than treating every reduction in workload as a revenue gain.
Match the commission to work you can check
Ask what happens during an ordinary week. “Full management” does not tell you who handles messages, who creates content or whether acquisition is included. Turn each promise into a named owner, a task and evidence you can review.
| Area | Get a written commitment | Ask to review |
|---|---|---|
| Chatting | Coverage hours, response rules and who handles difficult conversations. | Conversations in the platform's native inbox and the team's quality review. |
| Content and media | Who plans, produces, edits, uploads and describes each item. | The content schedule, media catalogue and approved offers. |
| Acquisition | Channels, posting responsibilities and any advertising budget. | Published work and tracked traffic or subscriber data where available. |
| Pricing and scripts | Who can change prices, promotions and sales sequences. | Current prices, scripts and a record of approved changes. |
| Reporting | Reporting frequency, fee calculation and refund treatment. | A report reconciled with platform statements and the agency invoice. |
Compare the agency with an operation you run in Unly
Unly lets you configure the agent's personality and instructions, set media prices, organise sales scripts and review sales and media performance. Use the actual Unly charges for your plan, plus any people and other tools you need.
Manage it yourself
Cost: your current tools, production and any paid help.
Your work: content, promotion, inbox coverage and every account decision.
Choose it when: the workload fits your available time and you can maintain the quality you want.
Run it with Unly
Cost: Unly charges, production, other tools and any team members.
Your work: configure the agent, prepare media, supervise conversations in the platform's inbox and own acquisition.
Choose it when: chatting is a bottleneck and you want to keep the operation under your management.
Delegate to an agency
Cost: the agreed commission, separate charges and costs outside its scope.
Your work: supply the agreed content, approve decisions and review delivery.
Choose it when: you want broader delegation and the written scope covers the work you need removed.
Make the Unly comparison concrete
Prepare a small media catalogue with clear descriptions, base prices and sales scripts. Set the agent's instructions and follow-up timing. Review conversations in the platform's native inbox and use Unly's sales and media statistics to inspect the offers and purchases.
If you need to review the setup, pause the agent manually at account level in Unly. Assign a person to that review, and include their time in your cost comparison.
Explore Unly's OFM software or use the agency or AI tool guide to decide which responsibilities to keep in-house.
Agree the calculation, access and exit before work starts
A cheap quote can become expensive when you pay twice for the same task, lose visibility or need weeks to rebuild the operation after leaving. Resolve those points while comparing offers.
Request a worked invoice
Give the agency your revenue and platform deductions. Ask it to show the commission base, separate charges, minimum fees and refund adjustments. Check whether setup fees recur or are paid once.
Define the remaining workload
Write down what you still create, post, approve and supervise. Name the person responsible for anything outside the agency's scope.
Keep account access clear
List who has access, what they can change, who receives payouts and how access will be removed. Keep visibility of account activity throughout the arrangement.
Write the handover
Agree notice periods, final fees, any commission after termination, ownership of content and scripts, and how the available reports and operating instructions will be returned.
Set a review date
Choose a date and equal comparison periods. Review creator income, delivered work, remaining hours and account control before deciding to continue.
Send this before signing: “Please calculate your full fee on my latest month's revenue, list the tasks included and excluded, and explain what I receive when the agreement ends.” A usable reply gives you numbers and responsibilities you can compare.
Review the money and the workload together
At the agreed review date, reconcile sales with platform deductions, the agency invoice and separate costs. Keep pending payouts separate from completed sales. Compare equal periods and note changes in content volume, prices, promotions and traffic so you can understand what moved.
- Money: how much remains after platform fees, agency charges and operating costs?
- Delivery: which promised tasks were completed, and where is the evidence?
- Time: which tasks stopped being yours, and which new review tasks appeared?
- Control: can you see the activity, challenge a change and leave with the agreed materials?
Use Unly's account and media statistics to examine sales activity, then reconcile the money against platform statements and bills. A sales total in a dashboard is not your profit. The creator dashboard KPI guide explains which signals help you review the operation.
If the fee is clear, the work is delivered and the remaining income and workload fit your priorities, you have a basis to continue. If one part fails, use the written scope to request a specific correction or prepare the agreed handover.