Facebook Monetization 2025: New Lower Thresholds Guide

Facebook Lowers Monetization Threshold for New Creators

Meta has systematically lowered the barriers to monetization on Facebook, making it easier for smaller and newer creators to start earning from features like Stars, in-stream ads, and subscriptions. These changes are part of a broader push to compete with TikTok and YouTube while expanding creator programs into more countries.

What Actually Changed

Over the last few years, Facebook has reduced requirements in three major areas: follower counts, watch-time thresholds, and payout minimums. At the same time, Meta has rolled out monetization to new regions, opening the door for many first-time creators to earn directly on the platform.

For new or smaller creators, the most important shifts are:

• Lower eligibility for Stars (fan support).
• Dramatically reduced watch-time requirements for in-stream ads and the unified Content Monetization Program.
• A lower minimum payout threshold, so you get paid sooner.

Lower Stars Eligibility: 1,000 → 500 Followers

Stars is Facebook's built-in tipping system that lets viewers send paid "stars" during live streams, gaming streams, and video content. In mid-2023, Meta explicitly lowered the eligibility requirements so more early-stage creators could turn it on.

Previously, creators generally needed:

• At least 1,000 followers.
• Those followers accumulated over the last 60 days.

After the update, the requirement for Stars became:

• At least 500 followers.
• Followers gained over the last 30 days.

This change effectively halved the follower threshold and shortened the time window, meaning a small creator who grows quickly over a month can now unlock Stars far earlier than before. This is one of the clearest examples of Facebook deliberately lowering the monetization bar for new creators.

Lower Payout Threshold: $100 → $25 (for Some Products)

Beyond eligibility, Meta has also lowered how much you need to earn before Facebook actually sends you a payout. In late 2022, Meta announced that U.S.-based creators would see the payout threshold for Stars and Facebook Subscriptions drop from $100 to $25.

This means:

• You can receive your first payment after reaching $25 in revenue from Stars or Subscriptions, instead of waiting until you've hit $100.
• Meta said it would extend the lower threshold to additional monetization products over time, further easing cash-flow friction for creators.

For new creators, this is significant because early earnings are often lumpy and small; getting payouts faster makes the program feel real and reduces the time between experimentation and tangible rewards.

Watch-Time Thresholds: From 600,000 Minutes Down to 60,000

The biggest gate for ad revenue on Facebook has historically been the watch-time requirement.

In 2021, Meta's criteria for in-stream ads required:

• 600,000 total minutes viewed in the last 60 days, across on-demand and live video uploads.
• At least 5 active video uploads.

This effectively kept many small creators out of the ad program. However, creators and marketing educators began documenting a major shift in 2024: the watch-time requirement for monetization being reduced by a factor of ten.

According to Facebook's newer criteria, the updated baseline for monetization is:

• 60,000 minutes watched in the last 60 days (down from 600,000 under earlier criteria).

Some social-media education sources describe this as the new core threshold for monetizing a Facebook Page, replacing the previous 10,000-followers and 600,000-minutes combination that many creators struggled to reach. The consistent theme across 2024 guidance is that the watch-time requirement has been lowered by an order of magnitude, which dramatically reduces the time needed for a new page to become ad-eligible.

The Unified Content Monetization Program (2025)

In 2025, Meta began consolidating its scattered monetization tools into a single Content Monetization Program that covers in-stream ads, Reels ads, and performance bonuses under one umbrella. This unified system is designed both to simplify management for creators and to standardize eligibility rules.

Key requirements for the 2025 program include:

• A minimum of 5,000 followers.
• At least 60,000 minutes of watch time in the last 60 days.
• Compliance with Meta's Partner Monetization Policies and Content Monetization Policies.

Compared with older criteria that demanded 10,000 followers and 600,000 minutes, these unified-program thresholds are far more attainable for creators who are just starting to see traction. In practice, this gives mid-tier and fast-growing small pages a realistic path into ad revenue without needing near-YouTube-scale watch-time.

Expansion to New Countries Also Lowers the Barrier

Lower thresholds are only useful if monetization is actually available where you live, and Meta has been gradually expanding into more regions, especially across Africa.

Recent expansions include:

• Ghana and Nigeria: Meta officially launched in-stream ads and Facebook Ads on Reels, enabling eligible creators to start earning from video content in these markets.
• Kenya and other African countries: Meta introduced in-stream ads with requirements like 5,000 followers and 60,000 minutes watched in the last 60 days.

These expansions effectively lower the barrier for entire ecosystems of creators who previously had no access to official monetization tools, even if they hit all the usual follower and watch-time metrics.

What New Creators Need to Qualify Today

Exact requirements can differ slightly by country, content type, and whether you're using a Page or Professional Mode profile, but most monetization paths now share a common pattern.

For a new creator aiming to monetize via ads and fan support, plan around:

• Followers: Stars requires roughly 500–1,000 followers depending on current regional rules; ads and unified monetization target around 5,000 followers as a realistic benchmark.
• Watch time: Aim for at least 60,000 minutes watched in the last 60 days to unlock most ad-based tools under the newer standards.
• Content volume: At least 5 active video uploads, sometimes with specific requirements around live vs on-demand content.
• Policy and geography: You must be 18+, live in an eligible country, and fully comply with Meta's monetization and community standards.

This is significantly more attainable than the earlier requirement of 10,000 followers and 600,000 minutes of watch time that many creators struggled to hit.

Why Meta is Lowering the Thresholds

There are clear strategic reasons behind Meta's decision to make monetization more accessible.

• Competitive pressure: YouTube loosened Partner Program rules and added revenue sharing for Shorts, while TikTok introduced Creator Fund and ad revenue-sharing programs. Meta needs a compelling offer to keep creators publishing on Facebook and Instagram.
• Engagement and retention: Letting smaller creators earn sooner increases their incentive to post consistently, experiment with formats like Reels, and stay within Meta's ecosystem instead of migrating to competitors.
• Regional growth: In emerging markets, even modest payouts from Stars or ads can be highly motivating, helping Meta rapidly seed local creator economies in regions like West and East Africa.

By lowering thresholds, Meta effectively broadens the middle class of creators who can make side-income or part-time income from the platform, not just a top tier of large pages.

Practical Steps for New Creators to Take Advantage

If you are starting from scratch or running a small page, the lowered thresholds fundamentally change your roadmap.

1. Lock in policy compliance early. Make sure all your content follows Meta's Partner Monetization Policies and Content Monetization Policies; violations here can block you regardless of your numbers.
2. Optimize for watch time, not just views. Longer, engaging videos and live streams help accumulate the 60,000 minutes watched far faster than short clips alone.
3. Leverage Reels for fast growth. Reels remain one of the fastest ways to gain followers and rack up watch time, especially if you post consistently around a clear niche.
4. Turn on Stars as soon as you qualify. With eligibility lowered to around 500 followers in 30 days in many regions, Stars is often the earliest revenue stream you can enable.
5. Watch your Professional Dashboard or Monetization tab. Facebook surfaces eligibility status and criteria directly in the dashboard for both Pages and Professional Mode profiles, so you can see which thresholds you've met and what's left.

By aligning your content strategy around these newer, lower thresholds, you can realistically move from zero to first payout in months instead of years, especially if you already have an audience on other platforms that you can funnel into Facebook.

Caveats: Not All Barriers Are Gone

Even with lower thresholds, monetization is not automatic or guaranteed.

• Geography still matters: Many tools are limited to specific countries, and rollouts happen in waves, so two creators with identical stats in different regions may see different options.
• Requirements are evolving: Meta continues to test and refine programs, and some criteria for invite-only variants have not yet been reflected in official documentation.
• Program type differences: In-stream ads, Reels ads, Stars, subscriptions, and the unified content monetization program each have slightly different metrics and may appear at different times in your dashboard.

For serious creators, the safest move is to treat the published thresholds — especially the 5,000 followers / 60,000 minutes pattern and the lowered Stars eligibility — as the baseline, and then check your own Monetization tab frequently for region-specific opportunities.