TL;DR
Civitai’s new Creators Program introduces a revenue-sharing model where creators earn Buzz, which can be withdrawn as real money from a dedicated pool. However, conversion rate concerns and Buzz devaluation create challenges for many creators. This article examines the issues and suggests practical solutions to benefit creators, users, and Civitai alike.
New Creators Program
On February 1, 2025, Justin Maier, co-founder and CEO of Civitai, presented a plan for the new Creators Program. Civitai has long been dedicated to the AI community, and creators are a key part of its foundation. They produce the fundamental content that everything else on the platform is built upon.
The Creators Program is crucial because model creators invest significant time, effort, and resources into their work. Without proper support and compensation, many skilled creators won’t be able to continue producing high-quality models for the community. This is why having a fair and sustainable system to reward creators is essential - not just for them, but for the entire Civitai ecosystem.
The new Creators Program allows all creators on the site to be compensated for their models. Creators can earn Buzz in several ways:
When their models are used to generate images
When they receive tips from users
Through Early Access sales
From bounties and contest rewards
Civitai allocates a portion of its previous month’s revenue to a payment pool. Creators can withdraw a share of this pool, which is calculated based on their Buzz earnings relative to the total Buzz withdrawn by all creators.
For example, if a creator wants to withdraw 10,000 Buzz, and all creators together withdraw 100,000 Buzz, with a $1,000 payment pool, the calculation would be:
( 10,000 / 100,000 ) × 1,000 = 100So, this creator would receive $100.
If Civitai’s revenue increases by 15% the following month, the pool would increase to $1,150. If the same Buzz distribution applies, the creator would then receive:
( 10,000 / 100,000 ) × 1,150 = 115This means that creators’ earnings scale with Civitai’s success - if Civitai makes more, creators make more.
So far, this seems promising, but we need to take a closer look at the potential problems with the system and explore how to address them.
The Biggest Problem: Conversion Rate
One of the most critical issues with the new Creators Program is the conversion rate. At first glance, it doesn’t seem to exist - creators simply accumulate Buzz and get paid based on their share of the pool. This means that, in theory, someone could earn 1 million Buzz and still receive just $1.
However, when Buzz is purchased, there is a fixed conversion rate:
$1 = 1,000 Buzz (Yellow Buzz)
Let’s say a user spends $10 to tip a creator. They purchase 10,000 Buzz and send it to their favorite creator. But how much of that original $10 actually reaches the creator?
Comparison with the Original Creators Program
Under the previous system, the conversion was straightforward:
1,000 Buzz = $0.70
70% of Buzz value went to creators, and 30% went to Civitai
A $10 tip would give the creator $7
While 30% was a bit high, it was still relatively reasonable.
The New System: Who Gets What?
According to data shared by Civitai staff on Discord, here’s how Buzz distribution looked in January:
Top 10 creators earned 10% of all Buzz
Top 100 creators earned 60% of all Buzz
Top 1,000 creators earned 90% of all Buzz
The 100th-ranked creator had at least 160k Buzz
The 1,000th-ranked creator had at least 17k Buzz
With a $35,000 total payment pool (as presented in the article), we can estimate the total amount of Buzz in circulation:
Calculating Total Buzz in the Pool
Average Buzz for creators ranked 101-1,000:
( 160k+17k ) / 2 = 88.5k Buzz per creator
Total Buzz for these 900 creators (who hold 30% of all Buzz):
88.5k × 900 = 79.65M Buzz
Estimating total Buzz in the system:
79.65M / 0.3 = 265.5M Buzz
Now, using the $35,000 pool:
Value of 1,000 Buzz in dollars:
35,000 / 265.5M = 0.132 USD
Buzz needed to earn $1:
265.5M / 35,000 = 7,585 Buzz
How Much Creators Actually Earn?
If this $35,000 pool had been applied in January, here’s what the average earnings would have been:
Top 10 creators: an average of $350 each.
Creators ranked 11-100: an average of $194 each.
Creators ranked 101-1,000: an average of $11.6 each.
What Does This Mean?
This is just a rough estimation - some creators might not be eligible, and there may be a minimum withdrawal requirement (which used to be 100k Buzz). However, even if the numbers improve slightly, the extraction rate for creators will likely be around 7.5k Buzz = $1.
This brings us to the real problem: how this conversion rate affects creators and their ability to sustain their work.
How the Conversion Rate Hurts Early Access and Bounties
One of the biggest problems with the new system is how it affects Early Access sales and Bounties.
Under the previous Creators Program, creators could price models in Buzz knowing exactly how much they would earn. For example, if a model was sold for 500 Buzz, creators knew they were earning $0.35 per user (based on the old 1,000 Buzz = $0.70 conversion rate).
With the new conversion rate, that same 500 Buzz is now worth approximately $0.0659 - a massive drop in earnings.
To earn the same $0.35 per user under the new system, creators would have to increase prices significantly.
Instead of charging 500 Buzz, they would need to charge 2,654 Buzz just to match previous earnings.
This is a huge price hike that most users won’t be willing or able to pay.
This creates a lose-lose situation:
If creators keep their old prices, they barely earn anything.
If they increase prices, fewer users will buy their models.
Either way, Early Access becomes unviable as a source of income.
Bounties
The same issue applies to bounties, where users pay creators for custom models.
Let’s say a user offers a 100k Buzz bounty for a high-quality model.
Under the previous system, 100k Buzz was worth $70.
Under the new system, 100k Buzz is worth only $13.
For users, they’re still paying $100 for 100k Buzz, expecting to get fair value. But from the creator’s perspective, that 100k Buzz is worth only 13% of its initial value.
This massive discrepancy makes bounties completely unattractive to creators, as the rewards are no longer worth the time and effort.
Important To Fixed
The Early Access system is one of the main ways creators earn Buzz, and bounties were supposed to incentivize quality custom work. If the conversion rate isn’t adjusted, both of these monetization methods will collapse, leaving creators with no viable way to profit under the new system.
Why Is the Conversion Rate So Low, and How Can It Be Fixed?
The devaluation of Yellow Buzz is one of the biggest reasons why the conversion rate is so low. From the moment it was introduced, Yellow Buzz has been losing value due to:
Buzz rewards for user interactions (which flooded the system with free Buzz).
The 25% Buzz reward for creators from image generation (which introduced more Buzz that wasn’t backed by real money).
Civitai already addressed future devaluation by changing all rewarded Buzz to Blue Buzz, which cannot be withdrawn as real money. This was a good move, but there are still two major problems that need urgent attention.
1. Large Amounts of Existing Devalued Yellow Buzz
There is a huge supply of old Yellow Buzz in the system that isn’t backed by real money. This artificially inflates the Buzz economy, making it harder for creators to earn real value.
Solution:
The most reasonable fix is to flush out the old Yellow Buzz in a controlled way:
For the first month, allow users to withdraw their existing Yellow Buzz as part of the payment pool.
After the first month, convert all remaining Yellow Buzz into Blue Buzz permanently.
This would be a one-time conversion and would ensure that going forward, all Yellow Buzz is backed by real money.
This approach allows users to use their Buzz or cash out if they wish, while also removing worthless Buzz from circulation. It resets the system to a healthy, balanced state where Yellow Buzz has a real, stable value.
2. The 25% Buzz Reward from Image Generation Needs to Stop
Currently, creators receive 25% of the Buzz spent on image generation, even though this Buzz isn’t backed by real money. This creates fake value in the system and contributes to devaluation.
Solution:
As an emergency step, completely stop rewarding Yellow Buzz from image generation.
Ensure Blue Buzz is never used to generate withdrawable Yellow Buzz.
In order for Civitai to continue rewarding creators for image generation, it must be done in a financially sustainable way—ensuring that the Buzz given has real value and is backed by actual revenue. Therefore, a new realistic reward system should be introduced.
However, if image generation is inherently non-profitable and subsidized by Civitai, then the reward pool for image generation should be treated separately. In this case:
Rewards from image generation should be in an isolated pool and should not interfere with Early Access, tips, and bounties.
Buzz earned from Early Access, tips, and bounties should be completely separated from the image generation pool and have a stable, reasonable conversion rate to real money.
This way, Civitai can continue rewarding creators for image generation without devaluing Buzz used for direct transactions like sales and bounties.
Why These Fixes Are Necessary
By applying these solutions, the second month of the Creators Program would start with a stable 1,000 Buzz = $1 value.
This would allow Civitai to:
Set a reasonable platform fee (ideally 15%, and hopefully no higher than 25%).
Save Early Access and Bounties from becoming worthless.
Ensure that all creators can earn fair compensation for their work.
A Sustainable Future for Civitai and Its Creators
For Civitai to be profitable, it must allow creators to earn in a more substantial way - which in turn will generate more revenue for the platform. A free market is the best way to foster growth, where “free” means fewer restrictions on business opportunities, not free as in unpaid work.
Civitai should position itself as a marketplace for creators, where professional creators can effectively support their work while helping the platform grow faster. Currently, the main way to earn is through Early Access, which only allows sales for up to 15 days. To expand monetization options, Civitai should introduce more ways for creators to profit while also benefiting the platform:
Improve Early Access - Allow more models, extend the duration, and give creators control over pricing, including the option to raise prices when needed.
Sell models without time limits - Similar to Early Access, but with no forced release date. This would let creators set lower prices and accumulate profits over time, just like any other product in a marketplace.
Restrict models to on-site use only - Give creators the option to disable downloads and allow models to be used exclusively on Civitai. This would protect against content theft by other sites and encourage more users to engage with Civitai's image generation tools.
Introduce paid model subscriptions - Allow users to subscribe monthly to a model, granting access to ongoing updates and new versions.
Create a user-based subscription program - Similar to Patreon, where users subscribe to a creator instead of individual models, giving them access to all models from that creator without needing to purchase each one separately.
Fix the Bounty System - The current bounty system wastes creators' time and should be reworked into a more efficient and fair process.
Balancing Free and Paid Content for a Thriving Ecosystem
Civitai already has a huge catalog of free models, built by thousands of creators over the last two years. Many people enjoy sharing their hobbies, experiments, and passion projects for free, and that wouldn’t change.
However, creating models isn’t free - it requires significant time, effort, and money. Those who have moved beyond hobby-level and now train models professionally should have the ability to earn from their months (or years) of experience. This includes investment in hardware, endless testing, training, and experimentation to create the best possible models for users to enjoy - and for Civitai to grow on top of.
Even if all of the above monetization suggestions were implemented, most new models would still be free, adding to the thousands of free models already available.
But Civitai must make a change to support the very small percentage of professional creators who want to sell their work, sustain themselves, and contribute to the platform’s long-term success.
By allowing a fair, sustainable system where creators can connect with users who want to support them, Civitai can:
Foster a better community with higher-quality models
Avoid forcing creators into an unsustainable system with unfair compensation
Continue growing while maintaining a balance between free and paid content
Ideally Civitai doesn’t need to pay creators - it only needs to be the platform that enables fair transactions between creators and users. If done correctly, Civitai can take a reasonable platform fee to sustain its operations and continue expanding, while ensuring that creators thrive as well.
About Me
I joined Civitai in December 2022, publishing my first model and becoming an active part of the community. Since then, I have released hundreds of models, contributed feedback, reported bugs, and suggested features to improve the platform. I was also part of the original Creators Program, which was the predecessor to the newly announced system. Beyond creating models, I have consistently advocated for better conditions for creators, working to improve collaboration and fairness on Civitai. My goal is to see Civitai thrive as a sustainable platform where creators can continue innovating and sharing their work.
