[3] The service is popular with sex workers who produce pornography,[3][4] but it also hosts the work of other content creators, such as physical fitness experts and musicians.

[15] A study published in the Archives of Sexual Behavior found that "OnlyFans users were predominantly white, married, males who identified as heterosexual, bisexual, or pansexual.

[29][11] The Independent claimed that after this, OnlyFans became increasingly focused on not safe for work (NSFW) content and "gained a pop culture reputation for being a hive of pornography".

[21] Amateur and professional sex workers drove OnlyFans' early growth, a process further accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic and the recession it caused.

[33] The site grew rapidly after it was mentioned by Beyoncé in the remix of the Megan Thee Stallion song, "Savage", released in April 2020.

[20][33] 2020 also saw numerous celebrities, including Cardi B, Rebecca Minkoff, and Tyler Posey, as well as media companies like Munchies and Barstool Sports join the platform, which further boosted interest in the site.

Six days after the initial announcement, OnlyFans said that it would be reversing the decision and that adult content would be allowed on the site indefinitely, citing that they had "secured assurances necessary" to do so.

Originally beginning operations in November 2020, Fansly's website design and functionality has been regarded by MEL Magazine as "nearly identical" to OnlyFans.

According to the lawsuits, adult performers including Alana Evans had traffic driven away from their Instagram accounts after being falsely tagged as terror-related, effectively shadow banning them and diminishing their ability to promote their content on rival websites.

[51][52] The plaintiffs withdrew the bribery claim in July 2023 and the case was dismissed in August 2023, with the court noting that it did not have jurisdiction over OnlyFans, which is based in the UK.

[53] Content creators from Russia and Belarus reported that they were not able to withdraw their funds or were excluded from the platform as part of the economic sanctions following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.

OnlyFans said that this was because "worldwide financial restrictions" led them to have "very limited methods to pay Creator accounts linked to Russia and Belarus".

OnlyFans was criticised by UK police for not doing enough to protect children;[62] however, the country's government regulator, Ofcom, praised the site in 2022 for its use of third-party verification tools.

[63] A BBC Three documentary alleged in 2020 that a third of Twitter profiles globally advertising 'nudes4sale' (or similar) belong to underage individuals, many of whom used OnlyFans to share their content.

[65] The Christian pressure group Exodus Cry and the National Center on Sexual Exploitation, founded as a Catholic organization, were cited as influencers in the campaign against the website.

Gizmodo and The Verge commented on the unclarity of the reports' figures, which are limited to July 2021 and combine requests for data from law enforcement and from charity helplines.

[69][70] The company gave $500,000 to the Child Rescue Coalition in 2022 for a project intended to investigate adult online behavior that is sexually threatening to children.

[72] Reuters documented 30 complaints from court and police records between December 2019 and June 2024 involving more than 200 explicit videos and images of children, including some adults having oral sex with toddlers.

Daly Barnett, a technologist from the Electronic Frontier Foundation, told BuzzFeed News that "These platforms routinely have terrible security posture and reprehensible incident response."

[74][75] In August 2020, Forensic News reported that some content creators' accounts had been deleted without warning, leaving them unable to withdraw their balances.

[77][78] In March 2021, the company launched its creative fund to provide £20,000 grants to four emerging musicians in the United Kingdom, as selected by Stokely and Stefflon Don.

[33] Professional boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr., DJ Khaled and Fat Joe, and Terrell Owens were among the new content creators during the year.

[94] The broken record led to social media criticism of Bhabie's subscribers, as her OnlyFans account launched shortly after she turned 18.