How Much Money Do Instagram Influencers Make in 2025

Instagram has more than a billion active users every month, and we are certainly among them (maybe). As we browse through the content on this platform, we can easily notice two types of accounts: regular accounts and accounts that have a blue verification badge next to their owners’ names.

The owners of these verified accounts fall into various categories, including institutions, organizations, government entities, presidents, actors, influencers, athletes, and individuals renowned in their fields.

Our primary interest lies in celebrities and influencers of all kinds. These individuals may be business owners or talents in acting, singing, sports, gaming, and other fields. Despite their differences, they share one common factor: a massive following.

These categories of users often have a follower base that can reach hundreds of thousands, with some exceeding a million or even amassing tens to hundreds of millions of followers. (You are probably aware that both football stars Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi each have over 500 million followers.)

Given that you likely know it’s possible to earn money through Instagram, you may have wondered how much influencers and the most-followed accounts make. That is precisely what we will reveal in this article.

How Much Do Influencers Earn on Instagram?

How Much Do Social Media Influencers Earn on Instagram?

In a previous post on our blog, we discussed the various ways Instagram users can make money, highlighting ten different methods. Regardless of the approach, the more followers you have, the greater your chances of earning. However, some methods are difficult—if not impossible—to execute without a large audience base.

We will not delve again into all the ways to earn money from Instagram. Instead, we will focus on a specific group: influencers. These individuals primarily rely on a few key monetization methods, which we will explore in detail, along with the potential earnings from each (where applicable).

Related: 10 Best Ways to Make Money on Instagram.

It is worth noting that some influencers and celebrities with large followings receive offers from companies, brands, TV channels, or networks to appear in their programs or become part of their advertising campaigns. This allows them to earn additional income thanks to Instagram and their fame, though outside the platform itself. Naturally, the exact value of these deals remains undisclosed.

Now, let’s dive into the most common ways influencers generate revenue from Instagram.

1. Sponsorships or Brand Partnerships

Sponsorships or partnerships with brands are the most significant way for celebrities to earn money from Instagram, often making up the largest portion of their earnings.

Companies pay influencers and celebrities to create posts about their brand, try their products, or sometimes simply appear in posts wearing the company’s clothing (while being restricted from using or wearing products from competing brands, depending on the contract signed between the account owner and the company).

You may have noticed that some celebrities, influencers, or stars always wear a specific clothing brand in the photos they share, especially athletes, such as football and basketball players. Some exclusively wear a single brand, like Nike, and never wear Adidas, or vice versa. Others may be seen exclusively in apparel from another company.

In most cases, this indicates they have entered a sponsorship agreement or signed a contract with that brand.

The contracts between companies and celebrities vary based on several factors, primarily the star’s or influencer’s level of fame. For example, footballer Cristiano Ronaldo signed a lifetime contract with Nike worth $1 billion. (Of course, Ronaldo is not considered a social media influencer; this is merely an example to illustrate the concept.)

Regarding the amount of money that can be earned through sponsorships or brand deals, there is no fixed formula, standard percentage, or known rate for what large account holders can earn. The earnings depend on various factors, including whether the influencer posts across multiple social media platforms such as TikTok.

However, sponsorship deals can sometimes be structured on a per-post payment basis, which leads us to the next section.

Related: How to Make Money with Ads for Beginners (7 Ways to Earn).

2. Paid Posts or Sponsored Content

Influencer accounts with a substantial following have excellent opportunities to receive offers for paid content or sponsored posts.

Companies or similar entities reach out to influencers and celebrities to establish agreements in which these influencers publish posts related to the brand, of course, in exchange for a payment per post.

In some cases, these companies sign long-term contracts with influencers, paying them for every post that features the brand’s name or products. (This could also be considered a form of sponsorship, depending on the contract terms.)

There is considerable variation in published data regarding how much influencers earn per post on Instagram. For instance, Influencer Marketing Hub provides the following figures:

These figures represent average earnings, which can vary depending on the influencer’s niche and engagement rate. Some mid-tier influencers may earn between $500 and $5,000 per post.

Meanwhile, both Impact and Business provide the following estimates:

Al Jazeera reports figures similar to those of Influencer Marketing Hub, stating:

As you can see, there is a significant difference between the estimates provided in the second table compared to those in the first and third tables, which offer similar data. The figures from Impact seem somewhat exaggerated. However, I cannot verify the accuracy of any of these four sources since their data origins remain unclear.

In my opinion, the figures provided by Al Jazeera appear more reasonable than those from the other three sources.

A Statista report states: “During a 2021 survey carried out among influencers from Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States, it was found that an Instagram influencer with under 10,000 followers expected to receive a compensation of around 195 U.S. dollars per post on average. An influencer with more than 90 thousand followers required remuneration of 1,221 U.S. dollars per post.”

3. Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing is one of the most well-known methods of making money online. It is a system where you promote physical or digital products, services, or subscriptions and earn a commission for every sale or purchase made by visitors who were referred by you to the purchasing platform.

To make money through affiliate marketing, I would need to promote my referral links and products using every possible method to reach the largest audience. The more people I reach with my ads and links, the greater my potential earnings.

However, influencers have a major advantage in this area, as they already have a ready-made audience, eliminating the need for paid promotion (unless they choose to invest in it). This gives them a competitive edge in affiliate marketing.

Another key advantage influencers have is that their followers are usually (in most cases) already interested in their content niche. This significantly increases their chances of generating sales and attracting customers.

What does this mean?

If an influencer specializes in or frequently posts about fashion, most of their followers will likely share the same interest. The same applies to fitness, travel, beauty, and other industries.

As a result, when influencers recommend products or services related to their niche—especially given their credibility among their audience—it becomes a great opportunity for them to generate substantial earnings.

Through some research, I found that many influencers and high-follower accounts use this method (though, unfortunately, I can’t provide screenshots of the posts they use for promotion).

You may have noticed that many influencers use phrases like “Through the link in my bio” or “The link in bio” in their posts. In many cases, these links lead to a page containing their affiliate products. Alternatively, they might share a unique discount code for their followers to use on the purchasing site.

When someone uses an influencer’s discount code, they receive a discount on the product or service price, while the influencer earns a commission.

As for the amount of money influencers can earn from affiliate marketing, only the influencer, the brand they are partnered with, or the people they have personally disclosed their earnings to would know.

The commission rate can range from 5%, 8%, 10%, 12%, or even up to 30% per sale, depending on the agreement between the influencer and the brand, platform, or affiliate network they are working with.

4. Selling Products & Instagram Shop

Similar to affiliate marketing, influencers can establish their own brand, website, or store to sell their own products. Just like with affiliate products, they promote their brand and items through their posts while also placing the store link in their bio.

This allows them to generate additional income or even build a new business and diversify their revenue streams.

A successful example of this is Kylie Jenner, who launched her cosmetics brand, Kylie Cosmetics. Notably, the Kylie Cosmetics Instagram page has over 24 million followers, while Kylie Jenner herself (at the time of writing this article) has over 390 million followers.

Another example is MrBeast, who launched his own chocolate brand, Feastables, which he promotes across his social media platforms.

Related: 13 Best Ways to Make Money on Facebook.

5. Paid Subscriptions

Another feature I wasn’t aware of is paid subscriptions on Instagram. At the time of writing this article, accounts with more than 10,000 followers in supported countries can start earning through subscriptions.

Subscribers gain access to exclusive content provided by the influencer, which is not available to non-subscribers.

The influencer can set a monthly subscription fee of $0.99, $1.99, $2.99, $4.99, or $9.99. Additionally, they can charge subscription fees of up to $19.99, $49.99, or even $99.99.

6. Other Methods

There are several other ways influencers can make money from this platform, but they are not the focus of this article. We have already discussed the previous methods at length, so we will briefly mention a few additional ways to earn on Instagram.

Other monetization methods include offering and selling digital products or services, consultations, reward incentives, promotional gifts, and contests sponsored by advertisers or sponsors.

Top 10 Highest Paid Instagram Influencers

After exploring the approximate earnings of social media influencers and celebrities through some of the primary methods they use to make money on Instagram, we now present the ranking of the highest-paid influencers on the platform (earnings per post).

1. Cristiano Ronaldo

• Username: @cristiano
• Followers: 650 million
• Estimated earnings per post: $3.23 million

2. Lionel Messi

• Username: @leomessi
• Followers: 505 million
• Estimated earnings per post: $2.59 million

3. Selena Gomez

• Username: @selenagomez
• Followers: 421 million
• Estimated earnings per post: $2.55 million

4. Kylie Jenner

• Username: @kyliejenner
• Followers: 394 million
• Estimated earnings per post: $2.38 million

5. Dwayne Johnson

• Username: @therock
• Followers: 394 million
• Estimated earnings per post: $2.32 million

6. Ariana Grande

• Username: @arianagrande
• Followers: 376 million
• Estimated earnings per post: $2.26 million

7. Kim Kardashian

• Username: @kimkardashian
• Followers: 357 million
• Estimated earnings per post: $2.17 million

8. Beyoncé Knowles

• Username: @beyonce
• Followers: 312 million
• Estimated earnings per post: $1.89 million

9. Khloe Kardashian

• Username: @khloekardashian
• Followers: 303 million
• Estimated earnings per post: $1.87 million

10. Justin Bieber

• Username: @justinbieber
• Followers: 294 million
• Estimated earnings per post: $1.76 million

* The follower count is based on each person’s profile at the time of writing this article, and we may continue to update it periodically.

* It is likely that these figures will change slightly in the future due to the constant fluctuation in follower counts and popularity, either increasing or decreasing. Additionally, these numbers are sourced from reports and may not be entirely precise.

* It is worth noting that the top earners in this ranking are primarily celebrities and well-known figures, as their fame in their respective fields gives them a significant advantage in attracting a larger audience. However, there are exceptions. A prime example is khaby Lame, who has over 80 million followers (as of the time of writing) without being a professional athlete, TV personality, or singer. You are probably familiar with the type of content he creates.

What Affects Social Media Stars’ Earnings?

If we observe closely, the earnings per post drop from over $3 million to less than $1.8 million, and that’s just between the first and tenth positions. So, imagine the earnings of influencers ranked 200th or beyond; how much do you think they make?

That’s an entirely different discussion. Influencers with follower counts ranging between 100,000 and 1 million are far more common than those with over 10 million followers, which makes perfect sense.

There’s another interesting point: Have you noticed that the influencers ranked fourth and fifth have nearly identical follower counts (both at 394 million as of the time of writing), yet there is a slight difference in their earnings per post.

This discrepancy is due to several factors that influence how much money an influencer can make.

The first and most obvious factor is the number of followers. Beyond that, other key elements include:

• The niche or industry they operate in (beauty, fashion, sports, etc.).
• The influencer’s popularity and credibility among their audience.
• The type of promotions they engage in.
• Follower engagement levels with their posts.
• The geographic distribution of their audience and which country holds the largest share.
• …

Related: 20 Best Ways to Make Money on Social Media.

FAQs

Related: 20 Ways to Make Money Online for Beginners.

Conclusion:

Determining the exact amount an influencer earns is challenging, as they may rely on a single income stream or diversify their earnings through multiple methods.

Additionally, as influencers grow in popularity, they may receive offers to appear in shows or commercials, further increasing their income—an opportunity made possible by their presence on Instagram. It is also common for their success on one social platform to lead to follower growth on another, such as TikTok.

Speaking of which, you might also be interested in: How Much Do TikTok Influencers Earn?