Methodology

What goes into a creator friendliness score?

The Creator Friendliness Index is a way to help creators understand which platforms have their back and put creator needs first.

But “creator friendliness” is a big idea that’s difficult to get an objective ranking for. The index uses 20 factors corresponding to policies that are favorable or unfavorable to creators, drawing on information that’s publicly available on each company’s website.

How ranking factors and companies were chosen

As the list of factors was created, there were five overarching principles in mind:

Creator-friendly platforms give creators control over how they run their businesses (how they price, market, and sell)
Creator-friendly platforms make platform decisions (like pricing, feature gating, and transaction fees) that prioritize creator needs over their own success or the success of third parties
Creator-friendly platforms give creators the resources, help, and support they need to grow their creator businesses
Creator-friendly platforms are friendly to all creators, regardless of income level or geographic location
Creator-friendly platforms let creators leave and take their audience with them any time they want

Each factor is chosen as a measure for one of these principles. Together, the 20 factors give an objective way to rank the creator friendliness of companies.

There's one additional principle not included in the above list — ease of use. Although ease of use is crucial to creators (who are often using multiple tools and switching between tools quickly), objective measures of ease of use were hard to come by. If a methodology that objectively measures ease of use becomes available, it will be included in future rankings.

Which companies are included? Some companies are used extensively by creators, but not used to directly monetize a creator business (for example, graphic design tools). The companies chosen for this list are companies that target the core monetization of a creator’s business — they’re the platform creators use to sell products, host communities, and grow.

You can see a full list of ranking factors and their scoring below. The overall creator friendliness score is created by taking the sum of points earned across all ranking factors and dividing by the total possible number of points (77). Some factors do not apply to every company, and are excluded from the total possible points number when not applicable (a full breakdown of each company across every factor is available at the bottom of the page).

Ranking factors

1. Free plans

Creators are usually paying for tools out of their own pocket, and paying upfront is a tall ask — especially for people just getting started. For that reason, free plans are more creator-friendly. But tools can still get some points for having free trials.

Scoring:

0 points: No free plan of any kind.
1 point: Trial shorter than 30 days that requires a credit card.
2 points: 30 day (or longer) trial that requires a credit card.
3 points: 0-29 day trial with no card required.
4 points: 30+ day trial with no card required.
6 points: Forever free plan.

2. Paid plan pricing

How expensive is it to get started on a platform’s paid plan? It’s not unreasonable to charge a monthly fee, and pricing depends on what specific product is being sold.

That said, high upfront costs without an affordable plan option are a tough pill to swallow for creators who pay out of their own pockets.

Companies get more points for having at least one plan be affordable for creators. (Pricing is for month-to-month plans, not annual.)

Scoring:

N/A: There are no paid plans.
1 point: Paid plans start at more than $100 per month.
2 points: Paid plans start at $75 to $100 per month.
3 points: Paid plans start at $50 to $75 per month.
4 points: Paid plans start at $25 to $50 per month.
5 points: Paid plans start at less than $25 per month.

3. Product limits on paid plan tiers

When a company puts limits like “2 products” or “5 video uploads” on paid plans, what’s the benefit to the creator?

It’s not unreasonable for companies to make different features available on different plans, but gating the number of products that a creator can sell often forces creators to upgrade to a more expensive plan, making it less creator-friendly.

Scoring:

1 point: Limited products on all plans
3 points: Unlimited products on some paid plans, but not the lowest tier plan.
5 points: Unlimited products on all paid plans.

4. Can easily export customer lists out of the platform

A creator works hard to build their audience, so they should be able to take their audience info with them if they leave a platform. Platforms that don’t allow this lock creators in, giving them fewer options and leaving them stuck with a platform that might not fit their needs.

(Quick note: None of the platforms we looked at make it possible to migrate subscription payments, so every company loses a point here.)

Scoring:

0 points: Not possible.
2 points: Emails only.
3 points: Emails + product membership/other information.
4 points: Subscription payments.

5. Can easily import customer lists into the platform

If a creator already has an audience, can they bring it with them to another platform? Does the platform allow the creator to add people that already follow them, and what degree of information can they import?

Scoring:

0 points: Not possible.
2 points: Emails only.
3 points: Emails + product membership/other information.
4 points: Subscription payments.

6. Migration services are available

Migrating your products from one platform to another is difficult, so it’s creator-friendly for a platform to make that transition as smooth as possible. Does the platform offer a migration service for creators? This could be unlimited or limited, free or paid.

Scoring:

0 points: No, the platform doesn't offer migration services.
2 points: Yes, the platform offers migration services.

7. Support types available

What types of support channels are available for creators if they get stuck? The more the better! (This section refers to one-on-one support options, not communities or learning resources.)

Scoring: 1 point for each option available

Live chat
Phone
Callback service
Email
Ticket system
Other (Social media, etc.)

8. Transparency about support availability

Are support teams easy to contact? Is it easy to find hours, and can you reasonably determine when you’ll get a response? Max points for clear hours and times, no points if they say “send a ticket and we’ll get to it whenever.”

Scoring:

N/A: No support available
0 points: Very unclear, no timeline specified for a response
2 points: Creators can get a vague understanding of when they’ll get a response (ex: in 24-48 hours).
4 points: It’s easy to find hours, and creators can reasonably determine when they'll get a response (ex: M-F from 9am-12pm; listed average response time of 5 minutes).

9. Language support

Can the platform be used in multiple languages? This is key to making a platform friendly to all creators.

Scoring:

0 points: Only available in English.
1 point: Available in 2 languages.
2 points: Available in 3 to 5 languages.
3 points: Available in 6 to 9 languages.
4 points: Available in 10+ languages.

10. Support documentation

How much help does the platform give to creators who are learning how to use it? Are there help docs, video tutorials, or live training sessions?

Scoring:

0 points: No supporting resources.
1 point: Help docs only.
3 points: Help docs + video tutorials.
5 points: Help docs + video tutorials + live demos.

11. Creator education resources

Creators often have questions about growing their creator businesses. How much support does the platform give outside of technical help documentation? Are there educational resources available, or a community of creators?

Scoring:

0 points: No additional resources.
1 point: Some supporting resources (One of the following: Blog, video, or podcast).
3 points: Supporting resources (More than one of the following: Blog, videos, and/or podcast).
5 points: Substantial resources (Multiple resource formats + creator community).

12. Teammate seats

Does the platform let creators add additional people to the admin side? A lot of creators work with freelancers, VAs, or a partner.

Scoring:

0 points: No way to add teammates/admins.
1 point: Possible to add teammates/admins.

13. Integrations

Does the platform let the creator connect it to the other tools they use? There are a ton of creator tools on the market, and different creators will have different tools they’re already using — the easier it is for them to integrate their existing tools, the more friendly the platform.

Scoring:

0 points: No integrations + not available on Zapier.
2 points: Zapier only.
3 points: 0 to 10 native integrations.
4 points: 11+ native integrations.

14. Take payments in platform

Can creators take payments through the platform? Figuring out how to take payments is a blocker for many new creators. A platform that addresses this problem directly reduces the need to string together multiple complicated tools (or use workarounds like Venmo).

Scoring:

0 points: Not possible.
2 points: One method (ex: can only take payments through PayPal).
3 points: Multiple methods (ex: can choose to connect Stripe or PayPal).

15. Currency support

Can the creator sell their products in multiple currencies? This is critical to making a platform friendly to all creators (not just American ones).

Scoring:

0 points: Only USD.
1 point: 1-15 currencies supported.
2 points: 16-29 currencies supported.
3 points: 30+ currencies supported.

16. Platform does not promote other people's work to creator's audience

Some platforms promote other creators' work to a creator’s audience. When a creator’s customer is looking at the creator’s work, are they going to be served info about competing creators?

(Social media companies are excluded from this ranking factor.)

Scoring:

N/A: The platform is specifically intended to do this (ex: social media).
0 points: Creator's work is presented alongside a feed.
1 point: Other creators are shown to the creator's audience.
3 points: The platform doesn't show anyone else to the creator's audience.

17. Easy to cancel

How easy is it to cancel? Can the creator cancel their subscription themselves, or do they need to talk to someone?

Scoring:

0 points: Call to cancel.
2 points: Self-service cancellation flow.

18. Transaction fees

Transaction fees are tricky. A transaction fee with a free plan is a very creator friendly way to price a tool — as long as transaction fees can be removed by upgrading to a paid plan.

As a creator grows, they might wind up paying a platform more as they become more successful. How is it fair to pay a platform more when it’s the work of the creator that’s causing growth?

Scoring:

0 points: No way to remove fees (which are a flat rate).
1 point: No way to remove the fee, but the fee can decline over time with volume.
2 points: Transaction fees can be removed on some paid plans.
4 points: Paid plans have no transaction fees, but there's no free plan.
5 points: Paid plans have no transaction fees, and there's a free plan.

19. Tax handling

Does the platform help creators deal with taxes? Is tax support built in and included in the cost, or do creators need to pay for a separate integration?

Scoring:

0 points: Platform does not have tax support.
1 point: Tax support for one jurisdiction (ex: USA or EU).
2 points: Tax support for multiple countries or worldwide.

20. Media hosting

Can the platform host a creator’s files, images, and videos — or does the creator need to figure out yet another platform for file or media hosting? Are there total account storage limits that could make life difficult for a creator? (This doesn't refer to individual file size uploads.)

Scoring:

0 points: Platform does not allow hosting of images, gifs, or video (or hosting comes at additional cost).
1 point: Platform allows hosting images but not video.
2 points: Platform allows hosting images and video, but there are total storage restrictions.
4 points: Platform allows hosting as much media as the creator would like, with unlimited storage possible.

Full rankings

See how every company ranks across each ranking factor