23.6M
One of the largest structured creator benchmarks available
The research cohort contains 23.6M platform accounts at the 10,000-follower or subscriber floor. It is distinct from the 400M+ searchable index.
Source: ClickAnalytic, May 2026
Annual research report · 2026 edition
Creator EconomyReport 2026
First-party research across 23.6 million Instagram, TikTok and YouTube creator accounts, based on a December 31, 2025 database snapshot.
Try ClickAnalytic free23.6MCreator accounts analyzed
25Markets listed
3Platforms tracked
Dec 2025Data snapshot
What this report is built on
The research cohort contains 23.6M Instagram, TikTok and YouTube creator accounts with at least 10,000 followers or subscribers. The total counts platform accounts, not deduplicated people.
The cohort was drawn from ClickAnalytic's searchable index of 400M+ public profiles with at least 1,000 followers. The 25 country rows are a listed-market breakdown and total 13.1737M accounts; they do not replace the full 23.6M cohort.
- 23.6Mplatform creator accounts
- 25listed markets
- 3platforms
- 10K+follower floor
2.03x
TikTok has 2.03x as many accounts as Instagram and YouTube combined
The study counted 15.8M TikTok accounts, compared with 5.9M Instagram accounts and 1.9M YouTube accounts.
Source: ClickAnalytic, May 2026
8.48x
Instagram's public-email rate is 8.48x TikTok's
The source reports a public-email listing rate of 39.0% on Instagram and 4.6% on TikTok. The corresponding account counts are about 2.3M and 729K.
Source: ClickAnalytic, May 2026
30.8%
YouTube has the highest share above the 10% growth threshold
The source reports 30.8% of YouTube accounts above 10% six-month subscriber growth, compared with 17.7% on TikTok and 10.4% on Instagram.
Source: ClickAnalytic, May 2026
70.8%
Instagram's 10K-50K tier contains most accounts with 50%+ growth
Within the Instagram cohort, 115,700 accounts in the 10K-50K tier represent 70.8% of accounts that grew at least 50% over six months.
Source: ClickAnalytic, May 2026
14.6%
14.6% of Instagram accounts clear both quality and engagement filters
The source reports 862,200 Instagram accounts with good audience quality and at least 2% engagement. This metric is specific to the Instagram cohort.
Source: ClickAnalytic, May 2026
The market is growing fast. Understanding isn't.
The creator economy is one of the fastest-growing markets in digital media and one of the least understood. Most decisions are still based on individual creator profiles, surface-level metrics, outdated benchmarks, or agency assumptions. That breaks quickly when you scale.
This report takes a different approach. It treats creators as a market - measured, benchmarked, and compared at the same level of rigour that finance teams apply to any other asset class.
The numbers that matter most
TikTok gives you scale. Instagram gives you access. YouTube gives you momentum.
Most brands treat these platforms the same. Most end up misallocating budget. The headline takeaway: where a creator lives changes how you should think about them - supply, contactability, growth, and audience quality all behave differently per platform.
The report separates the full 23.6M cross-platform cohort from the 13.1737M accounts represented in the 25 listed country rows. Each comparison below uses the denominator stated for that metric.
The strategic takeaways behind the benchmarks
The biggest opportunities come from understanding where scale, access, momentum, and efficiency diverge across platforms.
Most brands optimize for visibility. The best ones optimize for fit. At scale, the difference becomes obvious. Some creators build audiences around craft. Others build audiences around themselves. The economics of partnering with each are not the same.
TikTok leads on account supply. Instagram has the highest public-email listing rate. YouTube has the highest share above the 10% six-month growth threshold and the 100K average-view threshold. Platform comparisons must keep their content types and denominators visible.
How to actually apply the data
The goal isn't more data. The goal is better decisions.
Start by filtering for relevance - niche, audience geo, audience age. Only then layer in engagement and authenticity signals. Sequencing matters: scoring creators on engagement first will surface optimized but irrelevant accounts.
Use cross-platform context. Don't benchmark a TikTok creator against an Instagram tier or vice versa. The audience and the economics behave differently.
What most teams get wrong
Treating all reach as equal
Follower count is one input, not a performance result. Compare accounts using the platform-specific activity, engagement, audience and view fields relevant to the campaign.
Assuming larger creators always perform better
The displayed engagement patterns are platform-specific. Instagram medians rise after the 50K-100K tier, while TikTok and YouTube medians decline across their displayed size tiers.
Benchmarking against outdated or anecdotal data
This report is a December 31, 2025 snapshot. Use current account-level data when a campaign decision depends on recent activity or performance.
Underestimating how rare high-quality audiences actually are
In the Instagram cohort, 14.6% of accounts combine good audience quality with at least 2% engagement. The source does not present this as the same cross-platform metric.
Making decisions without cross-platform context
Instagram Reels, TikTok videos and YouTube videos use different platform contexts. Compare like with like and keep the threshold, field definition and denominator visible.
Explore the Report by Topic
Instagram creator statistics
Engagement, audience quality, contactability and brand deals through the Instagram lens.
ExploreTikTok creator statistics
Scale, growth, demographics, and the gaps that separate TikTok from Instagram.
ExploreYouTube creator statistics
View performance, growth momentum, and how to find rising channels early.
ExploreCreator pricing benchmarks
What creators actually charge by tier, platform, and niche in 2026.
ExploreFind, vet, and track creators with ClickAnalytic
Search 400M+ profiles across Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, then apply the benchmarks in this report to your shortlist.