How big is the creator economy?

The creator economy is big, and growing. But just how big? Let’s break down the current size of the creator economy by participants and financial value.

Number of Creators in the Creator Economy

First, let’s talk about how many creators are participating in the creator economy. Quantifying the number of independent creators participating is tricky because there is no centralized place to record them all. Plus, many individual creators are using multiple platforms. Influencer Marketing Hub reports that there are 50 million creators participating in the creator economy.

We think this number seems accurate. Let’s look at the userbase of some popular platforms to see why. Reports show there are:

38 million YouTube channels
11 million Twitch streamers
2 million podcasts
1 million Shutterstock Contributor creators

Plus, there are plenty of users on other social media platforms like Instagram, TikTok, or LinkedIn where some people monetize or generate leads but most people stick to personal use. 

But there are also a number of specific platforms designed for people to monetize their content. Some of these, like Kajabi, focus on knowledge commerce, which is selling content about one’s expertise. Let’s review their customer counts: 

Kajabi has 50,000 Heroes
Patreon has 210,000 creators
Podia has 50,000 customers
Thinkific has 50,000 customers
Udemy has 65,000 instructors

So these five platforms have 425,000 users combined, and there are many more platforms not listed here. 

So, if we account for the platforms listed above, the overlap between platforms, and inactive accounts, that 50 million estimate that Influencer Marketing Hub reported seems about accurate. Some of these creators use this as their complete income while others work part time or supplement their income with content sales.

The Value of the Creator Economy in 2022

Now let’s talk dollars. Influencer Marketing Hub estimates the total size of the creator economy to be over $104 billion dollars. 

Does this seem accurate? We think so. For example, Fortune Magazine reports that top YouTube channels were expected to earn between $30 to 50 billion in 2021. Knowledge entrepreneurs on Kajabi have collectively processed over 3.9 billion dollars in sales, memberships, and subscriptions.

Once you add in all of the other content monetization platforms and marketplaces, that $104 billion number definitely seems reasonable.

Another important number is the worth of companies that create the platforms. Kajabi is no stranger to this  - we received a $550 million dollar investment led by Tiger Global in May of 2021 and Kajabi has a $2 billion dollar valuation.

Creator Economy Direction

Kajabi founder and former CEO Kenny Rueter and former President Jonathan Cronstedt take on discussing the direction and changes of the creator economy. Kajabi President Sean Kim moderates the discussion about the biggest changes in the creator economy, what has stayed pretty constant in the knowledge economy, strategies for creators getting started, the importance of subscriptions for creators, and the differences between amateur creators and professional creators.

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Getting started with the creator economy

We hope this was a helpful look at the creator economy’s size.

If you’re looking to jump in and sell your expertise, check out Kajabi. Our platform helps you build, market, and sell online courses, membership sites, coaching programs, podcasts, and digital downloads. Start your free 14-day trial of Kajabi today!

Still researching? Check out Kajabi’s free downloadable ebook guides on launching and growing a knowledge commerce online business!

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