Two Ways for Indonesian Creators to Earn Money from Instagram, and the Requirements

Instagram provides several monetisation features that allow creators to earn money from their audience. However, not all Instagram monetisation features are available globally; some programmes remain invite-only or are restricted to specific countries.

For creators in Indonesia, at least two features for earning money from Instagram are currently available and can be utilised: Instagram Gifts and Instagram Subscriptions. Both allow creators to generate income from followers, but their mechanisms and requirements differ.

Instagram Gifts operates similarly to ‘tipping’ on live streaming platforms. Viewers purchase ‘Stars’ from Instagram and then send these Stars to creators via the Gifts feature available on Reels. Instagram subsequently shares a portion of this revenue with the creator. According to Instagram, creators receive $0.01 USD for every Star received from fans. For example, if a video receives 10,000 Stars, the creator could potentially earn approximately $100 USD, or around Rp 1.7 million.

Nevertheless, the amount paid by viewers when purchasing Stars does not go entirely to the creator. Instagram takes a portion of the revenue during the purchase of Stars, and additionally, Apple and Google impose in-app purchase transaction fees, which typically reach around 30 per cent.

To activate Gifts, creators must meet several requirements. Furthermore, Instagram does not permit accounts primarily containing children’s content to receive Gifts. Additionally, collaboration posts (collab posts) are ineligible for Gifts monetisation. Creators can monitor their Gifts revenue through the Professional Dashboard menu within the Instagram application.