Update - July 30: We heard your feedback and we're making changes. Base compensation is staying for everyone, member or not - and licensing fees and paid access are becoming opt-in tools everyone can use. Here's what's changing: Creator Compensation Stays
TL;DR: This is about giving you real control over what your work earns, and more ways to earn from it. Starting today you can open your own Creator Shop to sell your models, custom cosmetics, and soon merch from your profile; sell indefinite access to your models; and set your own transparent per-generation licensing fees - all managed from the new Creator Studio. Together these replace the old flat 25% generation compensation - a number we set, that you couldn't see or change - with pricing you control and can see end to end. It's opt-in and live now; the old creator compensation and tips system retires at the end of the day on August 31 (), so you have time to get set up first.
Why we're doing this
For a long time, when someone generated an image with your model, you earned a flat 25% of the buzz that generation made. It worked, but it was a number we set, not you. You couldn't see exactly how it was calculated, you couldn't change it, and you couldn't decide what your own work was worth.
We're changing that.
Helping creators turn their work into something more has been at the heart of Civitai from the very beginning - it's the same goal we wrote about when we shared the next chapter of our Creators Program, and it's what this release is built to deliver. Giving you the tools to earn directly from what you make is the whole point, and always has been.
The trade we're making: an opaque, platform-set split in exchange for direct control and full transparency over what you earn. Everything below is available today. You opt in on your own schedule by setting a licensing fee, and the old system fully retires at the cutover.
What's here now
A few connected pieces landed together:
Your own Creator Shop - sell your models, custom cosmetics, and soon merch, right on your profile.
Sell indefinite access to your models, with no time cap, for Creator Program members.
Licensing fees you set yourself on each of your models, fully transparent and under your control.
A new Creator Studio that's home for your fees, earnings, and analytics.
Set your own licensing fee
You decide what it costs to generate with your model. Set a fee per image, and you earn it every time someone generates with your resource.
Setting a fee is how you opt in. The moment you set a licensing fee on a model, that model stops earning the old 25% compensation and starts earning your fee instead. Models you leave alone keep earning the 25% compensation right up until the cutover.
Fees are fractional, so you can price for volume:
Base models: we suggest around 1 buzz per image.
LoRAs: we suggest around 1 buzz per 10 images (0.1 buzz per image).
These are just starting suggestions. You set the number that's right for your work. Fees can go as low as 1 buzz per 100 images and as high as 100 buzz per image.
You can set and edit your fees from two places: the model page on the main site (the way you've always managed a model), or the new Creator Studio for setting and bulk-editing across many models at once.
You can also let people test before they buy. Set a free preview generation count and someone can try your model a few times without paying for access. Note that a licensing fee always applies, even on those free previews - the free count only controls access-testing, not the fee itself.
How stacking works
This is the part to understand clearly, because it's how fine-tunes and base models earn together.
A fine-tune's fee adds on top of the base model's fee. The base model creator earns their fee, and you earn yours, on the same generation.
Here's a concrete example. Say Anima is the base model and charges 5 buzz per image. You release a fine-tune of Anima and set your own fee at 1 buzz per image. When someone generates with your fine-tune, they pay 6 buzz per image total: 5 buzz to the Anima creator and 1 buzz to you.
That means base model creators keep earning every time their work powers a derivative, and fine-tune creators get to add their own value on top. Everyone who contributed to the result gets paid for it.
Setting a licensing fee is available to active Creator Program members, and any tier works - a Bronze membership lets you charge licensing fees on as many of your resources as you want. We're gating it to the Creator Program so the cutover stays gradual instead of everyone charging on day one.
Sell indefinite access to your models
Creator Program members can sell access to their models with no time cap. Today, early access is limited by how many days and how many resources you can lock at once, scaled by your creator score. For Creator Program members, the time cap comes off: you can sell access to a model for as long as you want it on sale.
How many models you can keep in permanent paid access at once is set by your Creator Program membership tier:
Bronze: up to 10 models on permanent paid access.
Silver: up to 25.
Gold: unlimited.
Timed early access, on the other hand, works the way it always has: you set it while publishing a model, it's scaled by your creator score, and it doesn't require a membership. Permanent paid access - selling with no time cap - is the part reserved for Creator Program members, and it's managed in bulk from the Creator Studio. Joining the Creator Program is the upgrade that lets you sell indefinitely.
Open your own Creator Shop
You can run your own shop, right on your profile. It's a real storefront, not just a cosmetics table: your models, your custom cosmetics, and eventually your merch all sell from one place. You reach it and manage it from your profile - head to your profile, open your shop, and manage everything there.
Sell your models. Flip on the models toggle and your early-access and paid-access models show up right alongside your cosmetics, so someone can browse your storefront and buy access without leaving it.
Sell custom cosmetics. Shops carry custom cosmetics you design and submit: badges, content decorations, profile backgrounds, and avatar frames. You set the price in buzz, and on each sale you keep 70% (the platform takes 30%). Submitting an item costs a buzz fee up front to keep the bar high, and every submission goes through a quick auto-validation and moderator review before it lists.
Don't have the artwork yet? The Cosmetic Studio is a design tool that makes cosmetics easy to create - build one that meets the standards there, then upload it straight to your shop.
Sell other creators' cosmetics. If a creator opts one of their cosmetics into resale, you can list it in your own shop and set your own price. The reseller and the original creator split the creator's 70% between them - the original creator sets the cut the reseller keeps - and the platform's 30% stays the same. It's a way to feature work you love and earn from sharing it, while the artist still gets paid.
Merch is coming too - physical print-on-demand goods you design - but that's a fast-follow shortly after this release, so it isn't part of day one.
Manage your fees and earnings in the new Creator Studio
Your licensing fees, earnings, and analytics live in one home: the Creator Studio.
The Studio is where you'll:
Set and bulk-edit your licensing fees - select a batch of models and set or adjust fees in one action instead of one model at a time.
Manage model access - early-access and permanent paid-access toggles, and status at a glance.
See your earnings - license fees, tips, access sales, and cosmetic sales, broken out by source and over time.
See your analytics - generations using your resources, downloads, and access conversions.
Your Creator Shop is managed separately, from your profile - not from the Studio. Everything else you earn from as a creator lives here.
How the rollout works
Available now. Licensing fees, indefinite access, and the Creator Shop are live today. Setting a licensing fee opts that model into the new system immediately: from the moment you set it, generations with that model charge your fee, and it stops earning the old 25% compensation. Any model you don't touch keeps earning the 25% compensation until the cutover.
Cutover at the end of the day on August 31 (). At the cutover, the old creator compensation and tips system goes away completely. From that point:
Every generation charges the licensing fees creators have set, and nothing else.
Because the old compensation and tips are baked out of prices, most generation costs drop by roughly a buzz or two - more if the model previously carried larger tips.
You'll start seeing licensing fees on the models whose creators have set them.
Setting a licensing fee and selling permanent (no-time-cap) access are Creator Program benefits, so if you want to charge a fee on generations, that's the moment a membership matters. You don't need a membership to earn on Civitai, though - timed early access still works for everyone, scaled by your creator score, and you can still receive tips.
The most important thing to do before the cutover: set your fees on the models you care about (and join the Creator Program if you want to charge licensing fees or sell permanent access). After the cutover, a model with no fee set earns nothing on generation, so don't leave it blank. We seed sensible default suggestions to make this quick, but the final call is yours.
FAQ
Do I have to do anything right now?
Not immediately, but you have until the cutover on . Until then, models you don't touch keep earning the old 25% compensation. After the cutover, generation earnings come from the licensing fee you set, so the thing to do beforehand is set fees on the models you care about - and join the Creator Program if you want to charge those fees.
What happens if I don't set a fee on a model?
Before the cutover, it keeps earning the 25% compensation. After the cutover, that generation compensation is gone, so a model with no fee set earns nothing on generation. Set a fee so your work keeps paying you - we seed suggestions to make it quick.
Is the 25% compensation gone for good?
We hear the concern, and we want to be honest about it. At the cutover the flat 25% ends, and we're making this change because we're still working to become a sustainable business while giving creators real control over what they earn. That said, we're going to watch how this month goes and assess whether we can keep a base compensation for creators who don't set a fee - so a licensing fee would be the upside rather than the only way to earn. We'll only do it if we can make it work long term without breaking things for the platform. If we can get there, we will, and we'll keep you posted.
Do I need a Creator Program membership?
Only for the new earning tools: setting a licensing fee and selling permanent (no-time-cap) access are Creator Program benefits, and any tier works for licensing fees. You can still earn without a membership - timed early access works for everyone, scaled by your creator score, and you can still receive tips.
Not sure whether you're in the Creator Program?
Head to the Creator Program page to check whether you're eligible and whether you're already a member. If you're not in yet and you want to charge licensing fees or sell permanent access, that's where you join.
What does each membership tier get me?
Licensing fees work at every tier, on as many resources as you want. Permanent paid access (selling with no time cap) scales by tier: Bronze up to 10 models, Silver up to 25, Gold unlimited.
Am I locked into which models I put on permanent paid access?
No. If you've hit your tier's limit, you can take permanent paid access off one model and apply it to another - it works a lot like managing early access. Upgrading your tier raises the limit if you want more on sale at once.
What happens if my membership lapses?
Licensing fees and permanent paid access are Creator Program benefits. If your membership is cancelled or lapses, you stop being able to charge licensing fees and permanent paid access comes off those models until you renew - your saved settings aren't lost. Timed early access and tips aren't affected. As designed today this keeps creators who've gone inactive from charging on work they're no longer around to support, and we're open to community input on getting that balance right.
How low or high can a licensing fee be?
As low as 1 buzz per 100 images, and as high as 100 buzz per image. Fees are fractional, so price for volume.
Where do I set my fees and access?
Two places, your choice: the model page on the main site (per model, the way you always have), or the Creator Studio for setting and bulk-editing across many models at once. Your Creator Shop is managed separately, from your profile.
Does this change timed early access?
No. Timed early access works exactly as it does today - set while publishing, scaled by your creator score, no membership required. What's new is permanent (no-time-cap) paid access, which is Creator Program members only.
Can people try my model before paying?
Yes. Set a free preview generation count and people can test-generate a few times without paying for access. Your licensing fee still applies to those previews - the free count only controls access-testing, not the fee.
Will generation get cheaper for the people using my models?
For most models, a little. Once the old compensation and tips are removed from prices, most generation costs drop by roughly a buzz or two, sometimes more where a model carried larger tips. What creators charge as a licensing fee is then set transparently by the creator.
How will I earn to pay for keeping my model in the generator if I'm not in the Creator Program?
Fair worry. Today you keep a checkpoint available in the generator by winning buzz auctions, and that takes buzz you'd otherwise earn from generation - so losing that income makes it hard to hold your slot. We've upgraded the generation system a lot, and we're working to retire the need for auctions to keep checkpoints available at all - the goal is that your models stay generatable on-site without you having to earn and spend buzz to hold a slot. It's not shipped yet, but it's a priority precisely because we don't want this change to push non-member models out of the generator.
Do I lose my usage stats if I earn less buzz?
No. Usage analytics used to be tied to buzz, but the new Creator Studio gives you far more detail on how your resources are being used, independent of what you earn. Take a look at creator-studio.civitai.com if you haven't yet.
We're just getting started
We're genuinely excited about this one, and we know it's a big change - we don't take that lightly. We're going to be listening closely, watching how it lands, and improving it right alongside you. The numbers here - suggested fees, tier limits, defaults - are a starting point, not the final word, and we'll keep tuning them with your feedback. This is the direction we've believed in since day one, and we can't wait to see what you do with it and where you take it next.
Ideas we're exploring
We meant it about listening. Here are some of the specific ideas on the table right now. Nothing here is committed yet, and we'll keep adding to this list as the conversation continues.
Let everyone set a licensing fee, with a cap that grows by tier. Rather than fee-setting being members-only, free users could set a fee too - up to a maximum - and that maximum rises with each membership tier. If your membership lapses, your cap simply drops back to the free-tier limit: your prices come down, but you don't lose the ability to earn. The same capped approach could apply to paid access, so a lapsed membership lowers your prices rather than cutting you off.
Put yellow buzz toward membership. Let creators spend buzz they've already earned toward membership perks instead of only paying cash. (You can already earn membership through referrals today.)
Retire the auction requirement so keeping your checkpoint available in the generator doesn't depend on spending buzz to hold a slot.
Keep Daily Challenge models cheap to enter, so a challenge model's fees don't outstrip the buzz you earn from participating.
Keep the ideas coming in the comments - this is exactly the input we want.
Thank you
You've carried this platform with your models for years. The least we can do is let you decide what they're worth.
This is a real shift, and we made it because you should be the one setting your prices, not us. Head into the Creator Studio, set your fees, and get your shop ready. We'll see you at the cutover.