How Much Do Creators Really Earn? Indian Creators Breaking the Money Taboo Online

For years, creator income has lived in whispers. Screenshots of brand emails, vague “six-figure months”, and carefully edited success stories made social media money feel either unreal or unreachable. Looks like the perspective is changing now. A trend of ‘How Much I Earned as a Creator” has been on everyone’s feed. At the centre of this conversation is one US-based Indian creator whose disclosure triggered a wider trend. Alongside her, smaller creators across niches are also reshaping how we understand earning online.

Shivee Chauhan

Followers: 2.2 lakh+
Niche: Lifestyle, parenting, career, travel and everyday life in the US

Shivee Chauhan, a San Francisco-based working mother, set off widespread discussion after revealing that she earned nearly Rs 40 lakh in 2025 purely through brand partnerships.

Her content centres on everyday life in the US, from skincare routines and food habits to parenting, work-life balance, travel, and career realities for Indian families abroad. What stood out was not just the total amount, but the transparency with which she shared it.

In a detailed video, Chauhan broke down her earnings month by month, clarifying that the figures reflected brand partnerships only, excluding digital product sales.

Her monthly earnings were:

• January: Rs 3.8 lakh
• February: Rs 20,000
• March: Rs 5 lakh
• April: Rs 3.8 lakh
• May: Rs 5.26 lakh
• June: Rs 2.6 lakh
• July: Rs 3.3 lakh
• August: Rs 5 lakh
• September: Rs 1.8 lakh
• October: Rs 2.1 lakh
• November: Rs 3.7 lakh
• December: Rs 3.5 lakh

Chauhan explained in a post that she didn’t chase deals early on. Instead, she focused on consistent content and authenticity, which led brands to approach her directly via the email listed in her bio.

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She also addressed visa-related concerns, clarifying that monetisation restrictions apply to H1B, L1 and F1 visas. Chauhan earns legally as a US permanent resident, with income split between USD and INR, roughly on a 50–50 basis. Her journey spans five years of content creation, with earnings of approximately Rs 25 lakh each in 2023 and 2024, highlighting steady, long-term growth rather than overnight success.

The Transparency Trend: Smaller Creators, Bigger Honesty

What makes this moment significant is that income transparency is no longer limited to large influencers. Mid-sized and small creators are also sharing what they earned, how they earned it, and what didn’t work.

Here’s how other Indian creators contributed to this conversation.

Deboshree Roy (@deboshreeroy_official)

Followers: 58K
Niche: Fashion, beauty, lifestyle, food

Deboshree Roy shared her 2025 earnings as a full-time content creator, posting an honest reflection on how far she’s come. With 58,000 followers, her content blends everyday lifestyle, beauty routines, food moments and personal style.

In her post, Deboshree acknowledged that there was a time when content creation paid almost nothing. According to her, consistency, showing up regularly, and staying real with her audience slowly changed the trajectory. Her earnings post wasn’t framed as a flex, but as reassurance for creators still in the early stages.

Ana Mishra (@anamishraa)

Followers: 67.7K
Niche: City life, travel guides, content creation tips

Ana Mishra took a similar approach, sharing how much she earned in 2025 while emphasising how different things looked just two years earlier. Until 2023, she was barely making money through social media.

Her turning point came when she focused on consistent, authentic, and informative content, especially around life in Bangalore, travel planning and creator insights. Her post reinforced a recurring theme across creators: growth came from usefulness, not aesthetics or virality.

Shefali (@journeywithshefali)

Followers: 9.8K
Niche: Dance, desi culture, lifestyle

Shefali’s story stood out for a different reason. With under 10,000 followers, she revealed that she earned money in 2025 without any brand deals at all.

Her Instagram page had existed for seven years, mostly as an unpolished space for dance videos and personal moments. Monetisation wasn’t even a goal until mid-2024, when growing her dog’s page to 20K followers taught her about community and trust.

After one of her videos went viral, instead of chasing views, she created a simple digital product, a Bollywood game hosted on a Google Doc. That product became her first real income stream. She highlighted that:

• You don’t need brand deals to earn
• You don’t need an aesthetic feed
• You do need to create something people genuinely find useful

Her earnings came from creativity and effort, not sponsorships.

Ritali Nayak (@ritali_nayak)

Followers: 25.6K
Niche: Parenting, travel, staycations, motherhood

Ritali Nayak offered one of the most grounded perspectives on creator income. With 25,000 followers, she shared that her 2025 income came from a mix of:

• Brand collaborations
• Affiliate marketing
• YouTube AdSense (only twice during the year)

As a full-time mother with limited support, she openly stated that she declined many brand deals. For her, collaborations needed to feel genuine, not transactional. Her post wasn’t about high numbers, but about setting realistic expectations and choosing slow, intentional growth over burnout.

What links all these creators is not the amount they earned, but the clarity they brought to the conversation. Together, they show that creator income is not a single path.

Some earn through brand partnerships. Others through digital products. Some combine multiple streams. And many take years before seeing consistent returns.