I am just starting my content creation journey and confused about which platform should i focus on. I plan to reach around 100k followers/subscribers within the next 6 months and wondering whether instagram pays more or youtube does at milestones like 100-200k subs/fans?
My content is mostly around entertainment and daily vlogging of my life.
First of all Instagram itself doesn’t pay the creators which post on it & youtube only pays if you meet the requirements of the platform also the earning on short form content is very low if you don’t have any tie-ups with brands or sponsors.
I would suggest make long form content and divide those clips into smaller sections and post them as short form content so you can focus on youtube and Instagram at the same time.
Instagram doesn’t directly pay you for posting videos, while YouTube pays once you cross the monetization milestones (1,000 subs + 4,000 watch hours or 10M Shorts views).
On Instagram, most of the money comes from brand deals and collaborations. If your content is product/brand-friendly (like including products in daily vlogs) and one of your reels goes viral, brands might approach you for collabs and those deals often pay much higher than YouTube ad revenue.
It’s also easier to showcase and grow content on Instagram because short-form reels spread faster compared to YouTube videos. That’s why many new creators prefer Instagram to start with.
But if you want stable income directly from the platform, YouTube is better because it shares ad revenue. Instagram is more about exposure and brand deals, while YouTube is about ads + long-term consistency.
Hey, From what I’ve seen while helping a few friends grow online, Instagram creators can earn well — especially through brand collaborations and UGC but overall, YouTube creators usually earn better and more consistently.
YouTube’s ad-revenue share, longer-watch formats, and evergreen content make it easier to build steady income over time, whereas Instagram income often depends on fluctuating brand deals, reels performance, and audience engagement.
That said, Instagram can be more rewarding faster for niches like fashion, beauty, and lifestyle because brands pay quickly for short-form content. But if you’re looking for long-term, scalable earnings (ads, memberships, affiliate, back-catalog views), YouTube generally wins. In reality, a mix of both platforms — Instagram for visibility and YouTube for depth and stable revenue is what most successful creators rely on.