You Can Make Money by Sexting
There are plenty of scams scattered around the intersection of lust and technology, but making money through sexting is actually legit. In fact, it’s like the old sex hotlines, but reimagined for the digital age. If you are interested in doing this, you should first find out what apps are available in this area and understand that there are professionals and sex workers who use them strategically, so you will have to put in the effort. The landscape is constantly changing, too: sites that used to be great have failed or changed business models, so you can’t rely on seven-year-old Reddit posts to help you navigate them all.
The best apps to make money from sexting
SextPanther , NiteFlirt and Phrendly are good places to start, and you can expect to earn around $0.60 per volley or relay. Basically, it works like this: the other party pays a commission ($1, $1.25, or somewhere around that, depending on the site and your settings), but only when you reply to their message. They send a message and when you respond, the commission is deducted from their account and you get a cut. You can respond more than once, but they only pay once, until they respond again and you respond , which gives you another cut of the commission. Many sites also allow audio and video calls, which will make you more money, but if you’re not comfortable, you can use message relay. (More on this later.)
You can also advertise on adult sites and charge money for access to Snapchat or other standard chat apps, but for now let’s stick to these ready-made sites that are really useful for newbies.
What You Should Know Before Making Money From Sexting
First of all, while you should be prepared for sex, you should also keep in mind that you’ll likely be interacting with people who are surprisingly PG-13. Like older sex hotlines, these platforms are used by a wide variety of people, some of whom just want to have normal, consistent conversations with someone. One former user of several platforms, Ellen, told me that she had a regular truck driver client. He visited her at night when he was resting after a day of driving, and although he sometimes wanted a little dirty talk, he was also interested in her life, sharing stories about his day and general discussion. She was paid for all this.
Before you can start using any of these sites, you will need to upload your photos. In some cases, sites will need to approve you, which may take time or result in rejection. You can’t walk past with blurry or fake photos, so if you don’t feel comfortable attaching a picture to this endeavor, just don’t do it. Even if you manage to create an account with bad photos, you likely won’t earn as much as other people using real ones. Spend some time browsing sites and reviews on Reddit to see if you can get away with headshots or just invest in a wig and change up your appearance a little.
As mentioned, it takes work. You will need to “like” or “tag” people to get them to talk to you; they have a ton of options, and they pay , so they’re going to start conversations with people who have strong profiles and reliable photos, and people who seem likely to respond. Your profile should mention interests, things you like to talk about, and sexual niches you’re willing to enter, and it should have a few photos.
“I was surprised by how difficult it was to get started,” says Rose, who joined Friendly in the early days of the COVID shutdown while she was stuck at home and taking a reduced salary from her day job. “I had to work endlessly to strategically “match” someone and finally start a conversation. You also have to pay close attention to this because you only get paid when you respond to their messages.” Also keep in mind that not all of these platforms have mobile apps. She turned on SMS reminders to let her know when someone replied to her, and then recorded them on her computer so she could respond. If you don’t respond within a certain period of time (usually 12 hours), you won’t get paid for it.
Rose mostly stuck to text relays, but she said she made one video call and also made extra money from “gifts” users sent her, which came in the form of money from her salary. Ellen made about $200 from MyGirlFund in 2014, which has since earned a reputation for having stricter requirements for who can sign up. She also used Phrendly sporadically during the pandemic, earning about $75. This is not a path to easy money and it starts out slowly, so don’t expect to put in minimal effort or get a big payout right away.
Safety should also always come first. We recommend that you use a fake name and photos of yourself that are not available on your regular social networks (assuming you are not a sex worker who advertises elsewhere and is more open about your work). “Check the background of all your uploads to make sure there’s nothing identifying behind you,” says Rose. However, please be aware that you must provide your real name and identification information in order to receive payment. This information is confidential and can only be seen by the company, but technically a record that you did this will be available even if it is hidden in administrative files. You should check in with yourself regularly to make sure you are still comfortable with the parameters you have set.
There may be other upsides to this besides the money, depending on what you want to get out of the experience.
“I felt like I needed to work on my acting skills,” Rose says. “I’m a very literal person and I have a bad poker face. I’m also better at showing than telling – which makes me a terrible sexter in real life – so this felt like an opportunity to get better at online flirting and a little creative writing through sexting. It was very inspiring. There is nothing wrong with sex work and if someone is looking for companionship on the website, I would be a great person for them to connect with.”