OnlyFans is popular not only with adult entertainers, but also with prominent celebrities, bloggers, and influencers.
Despite the availability of the OnlyFans app, the niche is vulnerable to competitors offering alternatives like the “OnlyFans clone“. This article discusses the key features of apps like OnlyFans, development milestones for OnlyFans, the platform’s technology stack, and potential monetization options for your own “OnlyFans clone”. Let’s get this party started!
What exactly is OnlyFans?
Tim Stokely, a British entrepreneur, established OnlyFans in 2016. Its primary purpose is to help content creators and artists “monetize their content while developing true relationships with their fans.” Users can create content that is only accessible to paying followers, who must subscribe to creators in order to view images and videos.
OnlyFans has paid out over $600 million to creators since its inception. Creators can charge their fans a monthly subscription fee ranging from $4.99 to $49.99 (OnlyFans keeps a 20% profit). Content makers can offer free pages where fans can pay to access pay-per-view (PPV) content. To maximize their earnings, some members have both a free and a subscription page.
OnlyFans has more than 130 million members.
Because of the increasing attention, OnlyFans has positioned itself as a forum for artists, fitness instructors, and chefs. However, several well-known celebrities, like Bella Thorne, Cardi B, and Taiga, have made profiles on the site to post sexually explicit films.
OnlyFans introduced transaction limitations that restricted the PPV price at $50 per post and new fan tips at $100 after popular actress Bella Thorne created an account and garnered millions of dollars in a matter of days. Furthermore, in some regions, the app modified the frequency of payments from weekly to every 21 days.
According to the corporation, an increasing number of banking partners and payment service providers are pressuring it to make changes. OnlyFans is now seeking $1 billion in outside funding.
How to Create an OnlyFans Alternative?
Step 1: Determine the market for your app.
The first thing to consider when designing an app like OnlyFans is the target demographic. Understanding your users’ needs facilitates development and results in a better final product. Learn everything you can about your potential customers. You can begin by looking into the following:
- Demographics. Discover your users’ average age, where they live, what devices they use, and so on.Â
- Behavioral patterns. Discover what makes a user less likely to download an app, your users’ security expectations, and so on.
We recommend constructing a user persona, or a thorough portrayal of your ideal user, before developing an exceptional mobile application.Â
Step 2: Create a new concept.
The second stage is to design a better app than OnlyFans with more features that will entice customers to use it. If you want users to utilize your software, you must provide them with something superior to what they already have.
Step 3: Explain why your app is needed.
You can use concept validation to see if there is a market for your application. You may use Google Keyword Planner to see how many people are looking for the type of app you’re trying to create. You may also develop a landing page that highlights the concept of your application and invite users to join a mailing list to learn more.
Step 4: Determine the characteristics of your app.
After you’ve proven your app idea, you’ll have something that people want to use and pay for. If you want to go the extra mile, you can now generate wireframes. When putting your thoughts on paper, remember to be as specific as possible. The user’s path through the application, as well as any desired functions, must be described in depth. This will assist your developer in better understanding your requirements.
Step 5: Remove all non-essential features.
Look for functions that can be deleted as you browse through the threads and functions document. Only provide the main value of your application. Features that are desirable but can always be added later as an update should not be included in the initial release. As a result, you can reduce your initial development costs and reach the market more quickly.
Step 6: Select a design for your app.
Many entrepreneurs express a desire for a minimal design that allows them to focus on building the application. However, when it comes to development, user experience is equally as crucial as the aesthetic of the application. “Design is a way to make technology useful,” says Khosla Ventures’ Vinod Khosla. Look for a developer who specializes in user interface and graphic design.
Step 7: Begin the development phase.
The next stage is to locate a development team with which you want to collaborate. Look for a development company that has a strong design team as well as a strong development team to assist you. Verify a developer’s qualifications and the apps they’ve produced before hiring them. If you like one of the apps in a development business’s portfolio, chances are the company will work for you.
The first phase of development will comprise business analysis, technical specification development, cost estimation, and project planning. Before you begin developing your app, you and your team should create an app development workflow, select the app’s core features, and design the app idea.
Business evaluation
A skilled business analyst understands how to analyze and prevent risks, track development progress, and deliver a high degree of return on investment shortly after launch. The team gives you a detailed plan with specific milestones as a result of business analysis.
Design and creation
The design of the site will influence user perception and encourage them to return, therefore attempting to make it as fashionable, easy, and convenient as possible. Create a simple style first. The next step is to create features such a login form, profile management, chat, payments, settings, accounts, and messaging.
Front-end creation
A simple-looking platform is the result of a development team that spent a significant amount of time and effort balancing design, performance, and functionality. When planning functionality, you must consider all of the intricacies.
Development of the backend
Backend development necessitates meticulous attention to detail as well as exceptional developer abilities. Setting up the environment, launching the project, architecting and designing the database, preparing for deployment, implementing authorization, creating functionality for subscribing, unsubscribing, and blocking users, managing profiles, notifications, and payments, and integrating with a payment system and digital wallets are all part of basic backend development.
Testing
A project as large as developing an application like OnlyFans necessitates extensive testing at all phases of development in order to eliminate errors and improve the user experience.
Deployment
The application will then be deployed to your server and pushed to application platforms.
Step 8: Develop an MVP
Developing an app like OnlyFans is a large and demanding project. We advocate first creating a minimum viable product and testing its technical and commercial performance. Using an MVP method, you’ll be able to learn what people like and dislike about your product. Then you’ll be able to take their suggestions and develop your software.
Step 9: Test the app and gather feedback.
Data from app store usage and user behavior can help you enhance your app when it is released to the App Store and Google Play Store. Continue to build based on user feedback. The initial edition of your app should simply provide basic features. After the app has been released to the app stores, it is time to analyze and deliver the remaining features that were missing in the original version of the program. You can share it with analytics and reviews if those aspects are no longer useful.
Key Features of OnlyFans
- Going live and interacting with othersÂ
In addition to chat, users can engage with their favorite authors and performers via live streaming video. Streams can also be viewed at a later time.
- Social networking
Allow authors to share their posts on prominent social networks such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter in order to grow your following.
- Top fan awards
You may reward your most loyal users with access to fully exclusive material by using digital badges. As a result, user retention and loyalty will rise.
- Tipping
Many individuals tip because they believe it is appropriate. In other words, consumers tip because they believe they have received a service that merits a small gratuity. Give creators advice in forums, posts, and private communications. Tipping provides a second source of cash for producers while also allowing fans to demonstrate their appreciation for what creators do.
- PVV transmissions
OnlyFans enables creators to send Pay Per View messages to all fans simultaneously. You can also allow users to attach media assets to messages and charge a fee for doing so.
- Following scheduling
OnlyFans features several full-time creators as well as many part-time creators who fit OnlyFans into their hectic schedules. Equally essential, authors can count on fans from any country and region of the world thanks to OnlyFans’ international reach! Because of this, the option to schedule publications is extremely important. Users can use this feature to establish a queue of content to be released at any time.Â
- Creators are being pinned on the homepage.
It is critical that people produce and publish content from their phones. OnlyFans’ website is mobile-friendly. Users can use their phones for PPV messaging as well as downloading videos in addition to downloading videos.
- Developing interactive polls
And there is no better way to pique people’s attention than with a survey. Create a poll to encourage your fans to participate. “A well-crafted Facebook survey is one of the most powerful Facebook marketing tools available to today’s social media marketers,” says Neil Patel, CEO of Neil Patel Digital and bestselling author.Â
- The media vault
Photos, videos, and live broadcasts are saved in the vault for subsequent republishing. Furthermore, OnlyFans allows authors to access their cloud storage from within private messaging. Media files can be added to publications by just clicking a button.
Also Read: HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO DEVELOP AN APP LIKE TASKRABBIT?
What does it cost to create an app like OnlyFans?
The cost of producing an app like OnlyFans is determined by the following factors:
- Product features
- Product design
- Hourly rate of your development team
- Project size and complexity
- Technology stack
- Number of team members on the project
- Time frame
The hourly rate of developers is the most important factor influencing project costs, and it often varies depending on their location. For example, an application that costs $40,000 to build in the United States will cost roughly $9,000 if produced by Ukrainian engineers.
Developing your idea with an Eastern European company saves money and gives you access to outstanding personnel.
Wrapping Up
Apps like OnlyFans are gaining popularity as social media behemoths like Facebook and Twitter struggle to meet the demand for alternative entertainment. As a result, OnlyFans has amassed a devoted following among users who have quite different expectations for the social media site. People are tired of censorship when it comes to images and videos.
They are drawn to the concept of forming strong relationships with artists while gaining direct access to interesting stuff.Â
