Creator platforms and the post-2016 reshape of adult-industry distribution

Abstract. Between OnlyFans' founding in 2016 and the broader creator-platform consolidation visible by 2026, adult-industry distribution acquired a third durable layer alongside studio-tier production and free-tube aggregation. This entry surveys the historical arrival of the creator-platform model, the operational mechanics that distinguish it from the two pre-existing layers, the regulatory and payment-processor pressures that reshaped it over 2020–2022, and the current equilibrium that has stabilised — which is additive, not substitutive, despite the trade-press narrative of decline in the older rails.

By Lena Hoffmann. 1,620 words · 7 min · 6 citations.