Get paid for the questions and custom requests you already get from followers.
Get paid for the questions and custom requests you already get from followers. No monthly fee.
Create your free Brillay linkFor Instagram creators
Creator Monetization for Instagram Creators
Monetize the DMs, story replies, and comments you already get — paid questions, personalized videos, custom work, tips, and goals — from one link in your Instagram bio.
When a DM or story reply is really someone asking for advice or a custom video, send them one link instead of doing it for free. Followers pay your price upfront on Brillay, no account needed, for a one-time purchase — never a subscription — and you reply or deliver within the delivery time you set.
Not sure what to charge? Start with a $5 Paid Question for a real answer from an expert, or a $25 Personalized Video video, then adjust the fixed price as you learn what your followers buy. Casual replies stay free; the requests that are really work become a paid offer with one delivery and no revision rounds, and if you decline one, the follower isn’t charged.
Offers you can turn on
Where Brillay fits alongside Instagram’s own tools
Instagram’s own earning tools can depend on account type, age, country, follower count, and selective access — check Instagram’s current official eligibility pages before relying on any specific threshold. Instagram also has its own in-app earning tools such as branded-content partnerships, but availability changes by account and country.
Brillay works off-platform and at any size: followers pay you directly for a one-time purchase, not a subscription, with no eligibility gate, and payouts go to your bank in any of 41 supported countries. It complements Instagram’s tools rather than competing with them. Nothing is billed in a month with no sales — the platform fee is charged only when a follower pays.
Platform requirements verified August 2026. Platforms change their rules — check each platform’s official pages for the latest. Sources: Instagram creator monetization.
What you can charge for, and who uses each offer
Paid Questions let a follower pay upfront to ask one private question, with up to two follow-ups, and you answer in writing on your own time — no live call or scheduling.
A follower pays upfront to ask one private question, with up to two follow-ups. You answer in writing on your own time—no live call or scheduling.
Who uses it, and when
Visual arts & image-making · Writers, publishing & media · Music & audio · Teachers, tutors & study · Careers, business & growth · Technology & makers
- Watercolor technique educator — How should I fix a muddy sky wash before Friday?
- Novel-writing mentor — How can I stop my novel’s midpoint from losing momentum?
- Guitar educator — What should I try to fix this buzzing barre chord?
Personalized Videos let a follower pay upfront for one personalized video for themselves or someone they care about: you set the price and the delivery time, then record it on your schedule.
A follower pays upfront for one personalized video for themselves or someone they care about. You set the price and delivery time, then record it on your schedule.
Who uses it, and when
Performance & comedy · Music & voice · Gaming & streaming · Fandom & storytelling · Education & encouragement · Lifestyle, style & food
- Stand-up comedian — I record a custom birthday video for Maya in my dry crowd-work style
- Singer — Before a friend’s audition, I sing a custom good-luck message acoustically
- Twitch streamer — Using my stream catchphrase, I record a custom birthday video for a friend
Custom Work lets you offer clearly scoped commissions and services: you set the price, the scope and the delivery time, and followers submit a brief and pay before you start.
Offer clearly scoped commissions and services. You set the price, scope, and delivery time; followers submit a brief and pay before you start.
Who uses it, and when
Illustration & visual assets · Design, photo & motion · Writing, editing & publishing · Music, voice & audio · Education & coaching deliverables · Business & creator growth
- Character portrait illustrator — I create a character portrait from a supplied reference sheet
- Logo designer — My logo service refines an existing logo into one finished concept
- Developmental editor — My service reviews a short story and delivers a focused editorial memo
Tips let followers send a one-time thank-you, with nothing for you to deliver and no membership for them to join.
Followers send a one-time thank-you. Nothing for you to deliver and no membership for them to join.
Who uses it, and when
Art & illustration · Writing & reading · Music & audio · Gaming & streaming · Education & practical help · Food, craft & home
- Daily sketch artist — My daily sketches made someone's day, earning a one-time thank-you tip
- Serial-fiction writer — Readers follow my free weekly chapters and can support me once
- Cover musician — The new cover I recorded made someone's day and earned a tip
A Goal is one named goal with a progress bar: followers make one-time contributions and every contribution is yours whether or not the goal is reached — no deadline unless you set one, and nothing to ship.
Set one named goal with a progress bar. Followers make one-time contributions and every contribution is yours whether or not the goal is reached—no deadline unless you set one, and nothing to ship.
Who uses it, and when
Visual art & comics · Writers & publishing · Music & audio · Video, podcasts & journalism · Games & tabletop · Tech, open source & makers
- Webcomic artist — Raising money for my chapter-coloring sprint, with supporter contributions tracked toward the goal
- Serial-fiction author — Setting my next story arc as a goal, tracking one-time contributions on a progress bar
- Independent musician — Posting my next single’s recording budget, with one-time supporter contributions tracked on the progress bar
Brand Collaboration Inquiries is a “Work with Me” form on your Brillay page that collects a brand’s budget, timeline, and deliverables into a separate brand inbox.
Let brands and sellers know what kinds of partnerships you’re open to.
Who uses it, and when
Food & hospitality · Fashion & beauty · Fitness & active life · Gaming & geek culture · Tech & maker · Travel & local discovery
- Recipe creator — We need a sponsored recipe video for our pantry product next month.
- Fashion stylist creator — We need a sponsored styling reel for our clothing collection.
- Running creator — We need a sponsored training integration for our running shoe.
Paid requests are paid upfront by guests and delivered on your own time; Tips and Goals are one-time support with nothing to deliver.
How Brillay compares
How each tool is built, and what Brillay does instead. Each name links to the full comparison.
| Tool | What it is built around | What Brillay does instead, and what it means for you |
|---|---|---|
| Patreon | Patreon’s one-time shop is not a guest checkout: each customer must create or log in to a Patreon account during checkout, putting a signup step between a follower’s decision and your sale. | Brillay lets that follower submit the brief and pay by card as a guest on your page, so one question, commission or personalized video can sell without opening another account first. |
| Ko-fi | Ko-fi Commissions has you agree each job in DMs before payment, so every order costs you an unpaid one-to-one negotiation before the work even starts. | Brillay moves that agreement into the offer: you publish the price, scope and delivery window once, then the follower submits a brief and pays upfront, so every order arrives defined and paid instead of opening with a negotiation. |
| Buy Me a Coffee | Buy Me a Coffee’s Shop lets you sell commissions, but your order question reaches the buyer after purchase, so you can receive a paid order you cannot start until they return with the missing brief. | Brillay publishes your price, scope and delivery window and collects the brief at checkout, so the paid commission arrives with the buyer’s request already tied to the work and timing you offered. |
| Linktree | Linktree’s form sends your follower’s inquiry to its Audience dashboard or your marketing list, “ready for follow-up,” so you receive a lead that still needs a sales conversation—not agreed, paid work you can start. | Your bio link is the counter, not a signpost: the follower reads the offer, writes the brief and pays for it without being sent anywhere else, so what lands in your inbox is a job already agreed and already paid rather than someone to follow up with. |
| Stan Store | A storefront for things you make first: you upload the file before you can publish, so you are slow to start, every buyer then downloads that same ready-made product, and keeping the store live costs $29 a month whether or not it has sold anything. | You can be live today with nothing made in advance, and what sells is made for the one follower who asked — different every time, so they are part of what they bought instead of downloading the same file as everyone else — with no monthly bill while you wait for the first order. |
| Beacons | A digital-product store inside a link-in-bio suite: you have to build each product before it can sell and every buyer gets that same file, and on the free plan each sale carries a 9% seller fee unless you pay $30 a month to remove it. | Your first follower can order before you have made anything, and what you deliver is made for that person and different every time, on one free plan with no monthly tier to buy in order to lower the fee on each sale. |
| Gumroad | With Gumroad’s digital products, you stock a catalogue with finished content; a buyer can check out without an account and receives the product by emailed link, so the sale ends with an existing item, not something made for that person or a one-to-one exchange. | On Brillay, you stock no catalogue: each sale starts with one follower’s paid request, and you make the answer, commission or video for that person, so the follower participates in what they bought and the delivery itself is a one-to-one exchange. |
| Cameo | A marketplace on someone else's platform: the follower who found you on TikTok or Instagram has to leave that app, arrive somewhere they have no account, and find you among Cameo's roster — and you can only sell there once Cameo has accepted your application. | The video is ordered where your followers already are: one tap from your bio opens your own page, they pay as a guest without an account, and nobody has to go looking for you on a platform they were never on — and there is nothing to apply for. |
| Topmate / Minnect | An expert directory on their platform: your follower has to go there and sign up, and the directory then shows your session beside other consultants — Topmate lets buyers browse calls by creator and price, Minnect by category and expert search — so someone else can take the booking they came to make. | Your follower never leaves your orbit: one tap from the post they just watched opens your own page, they ask you one private question and pay as a guest, so the only decision left is what to ask you. |
| Calendly / Zoom / Superpeer | Selling answers as live calls is the heavy version: the follower has to book, you have to hold a block of your calendar at a time that suits you both, and an hour of your time has to be priced like an hour — so only a few people ever buy one. | Your answer is written, not booked: no call, no calendar, no time zone to match, and you reply between other work inside the window you set — so a short answer can be priced for the many followers who would never book an hour. |
| Fiverr / VGen | Marketplace ordering stands between you and your own audience: Fiverr's algorithm decides where a Gig lands in search, and VGen sorts commission listings by Trending, Random or Latest, so whoever you send there can be shown someone else first. | You never send your own audience into a marketplace: your bio link opens your own page, the follower sees the offer you published, submits the brief and pays upfront, with no ranking standing between the people you brought and you. |
| PayPal invoicing | Each request makes you initiate another billing process: create and send an invoice for the customer to review and pay, then track its status and schedule reminders until the money arrives. | You publish the price, scope and delivery window once; followers submit a brief and pay upfront in the same checkout, so every request arrives scoped and paid—not waiting on another invoice you must create and chase. |
| Kickstarter / Indiegogo | You launch against a locked goal and deadline: Kickstarter pays nothing if you miss the goal, but funding makes you responsible for the project and each reward; Indiegogo gives you Pledge Manager after the campaign to deliver perks. | Set a named goal with a progress bar on your page: every contribution is yours even if the target is missed, there is no deadline unless you set one, and there are no rewards to fulfill or ship. |
| GoFundMe | GoFundMe is donation-only: you agree not to offer goods or services in exchange, so a follower can fund your goal but cannot use it to buy your answer, commission, or personalized video. | Your Brillay page puts a Goal beside Paid Questions, Custom Work and Personalized Videos, so a follower can contribute with nothing owed back or pay upfront for your answer, commissioned work or a video made for them. |
| Whop / Passes / Fanfix | Paying you means joining their platform: Whop ties every purchase to a buyer account, Passes puts your supporters into members-only communities, and your Fanfix subscribers live inside your Fanfix profile — so the person supporting you becomes a member of somebody else's product. | Your follower stays your follower: one tap from your bio, one request, paid by card as a guest — no account to open, no community to belong to, and nothing you have to keep posting to hold onto them. |
| Preply / italki | For every new Preply student, you teach the trial lesson while Preply takes 100% commission, so your first lesson with them earns you nothing. | Your follower stays on your own page instead of signing up to a tutor marketplace: they pay upfront for one written answer and you reply on your own time, so your first exchange with them is paid work rather than a free trial lesson. |
| TikTok (Creator Rewards, LIVE gifts, Shop) | TikTok pays for how content performs — Creator Rewards on qualified views, LIVE Diamonds on engagement, Shop on products sold through your videos — so the money follows performance rather than one follower buying the particular thing they want from you. | The follower pays for the request itself: you publish the price, scope and delivery time, their question or brief is collected at checkout, and you make one answer, commission or video for that person instead of waiting to see how a video performs. |
| Instagram (badges, subscriptions, gifts) | Instagram gates all three payment tools by account size: Gifts requires 500+ followers; Badges and Subscriptions require 10K, plus age, country and policy conditions—so willing followers cannot pay through them until your account qualifies. | Brillay works from your first follower, with no follower minimum, application or eligibility review: you publish a price and delivery window, and that follower can pay upfront for one request without waiting for your audience or account to qualify. |
| YouTube (Partner Program, memberships, Super Thanks) | Memberships and Super Thanks stay conditional after approval: YouTube reviews the channel against its policies, and losing Partner Program status ends the entitlement to that revenue, so one ruling on the channel can stop both at once. | Each order stands on its own: you set the price, scope and delivery time, the follower pays upfront for that one request, and the next order does not depend on a channel keeping its status. |
| Twitch (Affiliate, Partner, Bits) | With Bits, your follower’s spend is confined to Twitch’s product: they buy a virtual good to Cheer in chat, which Twitch says can only be consumed there and not exchanged for goods or services with monetary value. | Brillay lets that follower buy a priced custom request from you: they submit the brief and pay upfront, and you deliver one package for that person instead of limiting their purchase to a Twitch-only virtual good. |
| Substack | Readers buy ongoing access to your writing rather than one finished piece, so keeping paid-newsletter revenue means publishing and promoting on a schedule — stop, and there is nothing new for the next renewal to buy. | One reader buys one finished outcome: they pay upfront for a private written answer, scoped custom work or a personalized video, and that payment never depends on you publishing again. |
| Amazon wishlist | An Amazon registry has you preselect the products first; a supporter then buys one from that list and it ships to your address, so their support is locked to a choice you made before they arrived and arrives as a parcel rather than money for what the project needs now. | A Goal takes money toward the target you name, every contribution is yours whether or not the target is reached, and you decide what the project needs when you spend it — nothing to list in advance, nothing to ship. |
| Etsy | On Etsy, your expertise has to become an item: services are generally barred unless they produce a new tangible item, while digital work must become a file, so you cannot sell a follower an answer as the outcome itself. | On Brillay, the answer itself is what you sell: a follower pays upfront for one private question, and you send one written reply on your own time, with no item or file to create first. |
| beehiiv | A paid beehiiv plan is priced by subscriber tier: on monthly billing, Scale costs $49 at 1,000 subscribers and $109 at 10,000, so list growth raises your bill even if the additional readers never pay you. | Growing costs you nothing here: a hundred followers or a hundred thousand is the same deal, and the platform fee only exists on the orders that actually get paid for — the ones who only read cost you nothing. |
| Discord | A shared server makes moderation your job: roles and permissions to configure, verification levels to set, and decisions about who can post and who can remove people, for as long as it runs. | One follower pays upfront for one private question and you send one written reply on your own time — then the work is finished, with no members, roles or shared conversation to keep running. |
| Throne | Support arrives as objects: you pick the products in advance and a supporter buys one for Throne to ship you, so anything your project costs that is not a purchasable item — studio time, a print run, a fee, travel — cannot be funded there, and taking the money instead charges your supporter a higher service fee. | Nothing physical is involved: followers put money toward the target you name, every contribution is yours whether or not the target is reached, and you spend it on what the project really costs — including everything no wishlist can stock — with no address to hand out and nothing to ship. |
Frequently asked questions
How many followers do I need to make money on Instagram with Brillay?
None. Brillay has no follower minimum or application gate. If followers already ask you for advice, try one $5 Paid Question for a real answer from an expert instead of waiting for a large audience or an Instagram eligibility milestone.
Can I use Brillay with Instagram Subscriptions or Gifts?
Yes. They’re independent. Instagram’s tools pay you within the app; Brillay lets followers pay you directly through your link. You can run both.
Does Brillay read or charge inside my Instagram DMs?
Brillay lives at your link, outside your DMs. You redirect followers to your Brillay link, and paid questions, personalized videos, and custom work come in there.
How do I turn story replies and DMs into paid requests?
When a reply or DM is really a request for advice or a custom video, send your Brillay link instead. Casual conversation stays free; only the real asks — a written answer, a personalized video, a review — go to your paid offers.
Is Brillay a subscription my followers have to sign up for?
No. Every Brillay purchase is one-time — a single question, a single video, a single service order, or a one-off tip. Your followers don’t have to subscribe to anything to pay you.
What if a follower disputes the payment later?
Followers pay upfront before you start the work, which cuts down on doing something for free and then trying to collect afterward. You’re not left waiting on payment after you’ve already delivered.
Start getting paid for the questions and requests you already get
Create your free Brillay link. No monthly fee, you only pay a small platform fee when you get paid. 8% platform fee when a follower pays for work, 5% platform fee on tips and goals. Card processing is separate.
Create your free Brillay link