If you’re thinking about writing on Medium, you’re probably wondering if there’s money in it. Do Medium writers get paid?
Yes, Medium writers can earn money from writing on the website. In some cases, the earnings can be substantial; some people have replaced their full-time jobs with writing on Medium.
Most writers will see more modest earnings. Almost anyone, though, can earn at least a little money writing on Medium. With some effort, it’s totally reasonable to earn a few hundred dollars per month.
How does Medium pay writers?
Medium pays writers through the Medium Partner Program. This is a program that compensates writers based on the amount of time that Medium members spend reading the writer’s stories.
As I write this, Medium only pays for internal views, which are views from Medium’s subscribed members. These members pay five dollars per month to read as many articles on Medium as they like. Medium distributes the funds from these subscriptions to the army of bloggers who post on the Medium platform.
If you write on Medium, the platform will keep track of how many minutes members spend reading your articles each day. You can often increase this number by improving your read ratio.
At the end of the day, Medium will tell you how much you’ve earned from your article. You can see this number in the stats sections of your Medium dashboard.
Does Medium pay for all traffic?
No, at the moment, Medium only pays for internal views. If you get external views from search engines, social media, or people who aren’t Medium members, the Medium partner program will not pay you for the reading time.
This might change in the future. At the moment, though, a reader needs to be a paying Medium member in order for you to earn money when they read your post.
Does Medium pay per article?
Medium pays based on member rating time. The platform does not directly pay writers a fee per article.
That said, some Medium publications do pay writers a per-article fee. These tend to be lower than freelancing rates when you’re writing directly for a publication. I find that among the publications that do pay for stories, most pay around $50 per story. Some pay as much as $200.
Over time, the number of publications on Medium that pay for stories has decreased dramatically. Most Medium writers today expect to earn primarily from the partner program, or from other earnings opportunities.
Do claps on your Medium article determine your earnings?
Several years ago, Medium compensated writers based on the number of claps that they got on their articles. Readers can clap for an article if they like it. Before, this was part of the calculation in terms of how much writers got paid.
The claps system was great for short-form writers with a big audience. Poets, for example, could write a short piece that their audience loved, get a lot of claps, and earn hundreds of dollars for their posts.
In 2019, Medium moved away from the system and switched to compensating writers based on member reading time. This is great for writers who write engaging stories but have a smaller audience because you don’t need to convince readers to take an action in order to be compensated.
It’s a challenge for short-form writers, though, because short articles tend to generate less reading time and thus have less earning potential.
To summarize, readers can still clap for your articles to express their enjoyment of a particular piece. Claps no longer factor into your earnings on Medium, though.
How does Medium pay you?
Medium pays using Square. You’ll need to create a Square account and connect it to your Medium partner program in order actually to get payments.
Medium pays once per month. I find that I usually get my partner program payment around the 8th of the month. Square payments are digital, so there are no checks to worry about. I find that payment usually hits my bank account about one day after it’s sent.
Requirements to earn on Medium
To earn money for your Medium articles, you need to be part of the Medium partner program. That generally requires having at least 100 followers on the platform. There are also country restrictions in terms of who can get paid on the platform.
Because of these requirements, it’s important to focus on getting followers in the beginning if you want to be paid to write a medium. You’ll want to get to your first 100 followers as quickly as possible so that you can be eligible for the partner program and can earn on Medium.