TikTok Creator Rewards: eligibility and the one-minute rule

TikTok’s Creator Rewards Program pays creators for original videos of about a minute or more: its support page says at least one minute, and its March 2024 launch post says over a minute. To join, an account must belong to an adult in an eligible country and have at least 10,000 followers and 100,000 video views in the last 30 days. Those thresholds and the one-minute rule date back to 2023. What has changed since is how TikTok scores the videos it pays for.

The date above is when TikTok announced the new name on stage at a creator event, March 5, 2024 (Tubefilter). Its newsroom post introducing the program followed on March 18, 2024 (TikTok).

What changed

Current requirements. According to TikTok’s support page, an account must:

• be 18 or older (19 in South Korea);
• be a personal account, not a business account, in good standing;
• be based in a country where the program is available (TikTok’s support page lists them);
• have at least 10,000 followers;
• have at least 100,000 video views in the last 30 days.

Each video must be original and at least one minute long (the support page’s wording; TikTok’s launch post says “over a minute”), and it must reach 1,000 qualified For You feed views before it starts earning. A qualified view excludes views under five seconds, paid views, and fraudulent views (Creator Academy).

How it got here.

Date	Change
May 2023	The Creativity Program Beta opens to all eligible US creators, with the 10,000-follower, 100,000-view, and one-minute rules (TechCrunch)
March 5, 2024	TikTok announces that the program will leave beta under a new name, the Creator Rewards Program (Tubefilter)
March 18, 2024	TikTok introduces the Creator Rewards Program. The formula weighs originality, play duration, search value, and audience engagement (TikTok)
2025	TikTok adds an Additional Reward on top of the standard reward, for content it judges “well-crafted,” “engaging,” and “specialized” (Creator Academy)

We found no change to the follower, view, or length thresholds after 2023.

What TikTok calls unoriginal. TikTok’s originality guidance lists content that does not qualify, including:

• duets and stitches;
• content copied from others, or reposted with only slight changes such as speed, filters, fixed text, or stickers;
• compilations of other people’s clips without new ideas;
• looping videos, single or multiple photos, or videos with only text overlays.

What it means for faceless channels

Impact is high for creators who earn on TikTok. The originality list reads like an inventory of low-effort faceless formats, and the length rule changes how a TikTok has to be built.

Excluded by design: photo slideshows with a synthetic voice, text-on-screen “facts” over stock loops, reposted clips with captions, and compilations.

Fits the program: narrated explainers, story-driven history or science pieces, and visual essays that run past a minute because the story needs the time.

The one-minute rule is a trap for padded content. Stretching a 40-second idea past 60 seconds is likely to hurt play duration, which TikTok says reflects both watch time and finish rate. The better move is to pick topics with enough substance to run well past a minute, then cut for edit rhythm. Use the short length calculator when you plan runtime.

The Additional Reward criteria line up with the Standard: “well-crafted” is intentional visuals and sound design; “specialized” is an original angle in a defined niche. TikTok’s Creator Academy page also lists a resolution of 1080p or higher in the Additional Reward criteria.

What to do now

• When you want a video to qualify, choose a topic that needs more than a minute. Do not pad a short idea to 61 seconds.
• Replace slideshow and text-overlay formats with real edits: motion, sound, and narration that carries an argument.
• Stop reposting clips, and never upload video that carries someone else’s watermark or logo.
• Export at 1080p or higher.
• Label realistic AI content as TikTok requires. See AI disclosure rules and TikTok’s AI content controls.
• Read how long a Short should be before you change your format.

What we don’t know yet

• “Over” or “at least” one minute: TikTok’s March 2024 launch post says “over a minute”; its support page says videos must be at least one minute long. A video of exactly 60 seconds may or may not count. Go longer.
• How the Additional Reward is calculated: TikTok describes the criteria but publishes no formula.
• Country list changes: TikTok adds markets over time without dated announcements we could find. Check the support page before you plan around eligibility.