In a digital age where social media influencers and content creators, the likes of British pornstar Bonnie Blue, have become notorious and known for their large earnings, one name truly stands out: Sophie Rain, the 20-year-old OnlyFans sensation who reportedly raked in a staggering $43 million (£35m) in the past year alone.
She is the new online “IT Girl” after surpassing the site’s other top-earning, big name stars, including Rebecca Goodwin who earns around $130,000 (£100,000) monthly and Lucy Banks, who left her corporate job for OnlyFans, and now makes approximately $78,000 (£60,000) a month.
Another notable earner that Rain’s eclipsed is Bella Thorne who made $1 million within her first 24 hours on the platform, according to Statista, and former Glamour model Katie Price is reportedly making up to £2.2million a year from the X-rated site, which she confirmed after slamming claims she only earned £150 in a year.
Rain’s “reign” looks to be solidified this year when she estimates she’ll rake in a staggering $60 million (£49m) from allegedly only posing and dancing in her knickers and bikinis, now she has even more fans and subscriptions thanks to her higher profile.
The site is a paid subscription-based platform where fans pay a monthly fee to access a creator’s content, which can include photos, videos, live streams, or personalised interactions. Some creators also offer pay-per-view (PPV) content, charging extra for individual pieces of premium content, such as explicit photos or videos.
The platform allows creators to set their prices, offer discounts, and even accept tips.
In 2025, Rain, who is from Florida in the US, also plans to diversify her content and invest in branding opportunities beyond OnlyFans that will bring in even more revenue. The online star’s rise to fame on the adult subscription platform has been nothing short of meteoric.
She joined OnlyFans in November 2023 and within a year became one of it’s biggest stars. She initially built her online presence on Instagram and TikTok, where she shared lifestyle and modeling content.
This early engagement helped her amass a substantial following, which helped her achieve significant success on OnlyFans. This has sparked both awe and vitriol in equal measure. She’s complained that she faces “so much hate” on social media on a daily basis.
However, she has hit back saying that despite how she may be perceived: “My lifestyle choices don’t define who I am. I stay true to my values.”
Rain’s massive earnings are disturbingly attributed to her unconventional looks, having a shapely adult figure with the face of an underage girl. She has also said that she is a virgin, a declaration that has only added to the intrigue surrounding her.
When she said she was a virgin last year, her subscriptions increased as did criticism online for her overly sexualised image and involvement in adult content.
Sophie Rain shared her bank balance on X (Sohie Rain/X)
Prominent social commentator, Lovelyti, who has over a million YouTube followers, has discussed Rain’s strategies and done an extensive deep-dive on her rise to fame.
She’s pointed out the ethical concerns of marketing content that could attract underage viewers and older men. “A lot of [people are clearly] supporting her because this girl is rich… filthy rich,” she said.
“This young woman has grossed over 43 million, okay. That breaks down to $199,000 an hour I can’t even say it without laughing because sometimes you have to laugh to keep from crying. $9,000 an hour is what Sophie’s being paid,” she added. “It’s weird because she also looks 14.”
“I don’t know if she’s gotten her body done or she’s just naturally curvy, [but] she’s 20 and looks extremely young and we have a lot of [older] men out here who literally promote nothing but dating younger girls – barely legal girls.”
“I believe Sophie is playing into that. She knows she looks really young for her age, but she has a grown woman’s body. She’s also trying to play this virginal role so you have a lot of these weird guys who are probably hoping to take her virginity.
Millions initially believed Rain was much younger than her 20 years (Sophie Rain/Instagram)
“I’m seeing her in, like, this black Spider-Man outfits [sic],” she continued on her recent video. “These younger kids can ask their [unattentive] parents for their credit card or they have their own money.
“You know Gen Z [she meant Generation Alpha] is spoiled. She had over 4.3 million followers on Instagram 40 million on TikTok about 2.3 million on on Twitter (X).
“We are in a world where somebody like Sophie Rain makes more than professional models. We’re talking about more than Adriana Lima and Kendall Jenner.”
Speculation on platforms like YouTube also suggests that Rain appeals to younger audiences by wearing costumes such as Spider-Man outfits and other cartoon character attire. The assumption is that these young people would be using their parents’ credit cards.
But while Rain’s strategy has seemingly paid off financially, not everyone in the OnlyFans community is convinced.
The Supercreator app, that traces creator earnings, notes that the average OnlyFans performer earns between £150 and £180 per month, making OnlyFans stars like Rain anomalies and only the top 1% of creators.
One fellow creator said anonymously on Reddit: “I find it hard to believe anyone could make that much. It’s shocking, honestly. I make a fraction of that,” before they went on to highlight the vast disparity in earnings among online content creators.
Stars such as Lily Allen are also using the site as a side hustle. Lily Allen, started selling pictures of her feet on OnlyFans last summer. She had the idea after seeing that her feet had a perfect five star rating on WikiFeet, a photo-sharing foot fetish website. Subscribers pay £8 a month to access her posts. In October, Allen claimed that shots of her well-pedicured trotters were earning her more money than Spotify streams – and that’s saying something, considering Allen has over 7 million monthly listeners and more than a billion streams on her top three songs. Kate Nash followed in her footsteps, announcing last year that she would start posting pictures of her bottom on OnlyFans to raise money for her tour. The Foundations singer has nearly a million monthly listeners on Spotify, and is playing all across the UK, including a sold out gig in London, but says that touring is a loss making exercise.
Another adult performer added that while she does believe Rain’s financial assertions, she questioned the machine behind her success. “Rain’s success shows the power of niche marketing, but it also raises questions about fairness. Some of us work just as hard and barely make ends meet,” she said.
Rain’s viral fame reached new heights when she boldly shared a screenshot of her eye-watering bank balance from November 28th of 2023 to November 28th on X and captioned the image: “Thankful for one year on here.”
Speaking to the New York Post, she added, “I wanted to show that anyone can make it big if they’re daring enough.” And Rain’s brand will likely need to continue fuelling controversy to remain successful.
The influencer’s success is said to be down to her playing-up on her youthful looks (Sophie Rain/ Instagram)
She maintains that her faith and profession are not in conflict, stating in a podcast interview, “The Lord’s very forgiving. God knows my heart,” Rain added, addressing the controversy surrounding her dual identity as a Christian and an OnlyFans star.
The 20-year-old’s voluptuous figure has also seen her frequently referred to as a young Kim Kardashian, 44. Nut while the reality TV star mogul, is believed to have undergone some surgical enhancements, in a recent interview Rain suggested that she herself is au naturel. “I embrace my body the way it is,” she said. “People will always have opinions, but I choose to focus on the positive.”
Her family, who she admitted were initially shocked and not on board with her career choice, are now firmly onside as she rakes in the millions.
The influencer, who said she grew up poor, has cleared her religious parents £11,300 debt and also bought them a new car and fridge. She had previously worked as a waitress for minimum wage.
A significant portion of Katie Price’s OnlyFans income is said to be going towards paying off her debts (PA Wire)
The speculation surrounding Rain’s content appealing to minors raises significant ethical concerns. Ensuring that adult content remains inaccessible to underage individuals is a pressing issue for platforms like OnlyFans.
OnlyFans says it has a strict age verification process to prevent younger users from creating accounts. To sign up, users must provide proof of their identity and age, usually by submitting ID (like a passport or driver’s license) and a selfie to match the photo on the ID.
However, it’s been said b y social media experts that many under 18 users have slipped through the cracks using fake ID’s, IDs from older family members or friends and in some cases, the tech savvy manipulate digital data.
Rain’s associations with American rapper NLE Choppa and popular streamer Adin Ross have sparked further scrutiny. She has been seen partying and rumoured to have been dating NLE Choppa, who has faced criticism for his public statements promoting violence.
This includes a controversial comment where he suggested that people should “not be afraid to take risks, even if it means putting yourself in danger.” Such comments have raised concerns about the influence he has on younger, impressionable audiences.
Meanwhile, Adin Ross, whose YouTube channel she has appeared on hanging out in the background, has been known for hosting white supremacists on his streaming show and not pushing back on their racist assertions, prompting concerns about the potential negative influence on his audience.
OnlyFans star Lily Phillips, 23, has filmed herself sleeping with 100 men in 24 hours (Lily Phillips Instagram)
Rain and other successful OF creators, the likes of controversial British sex workers Bonnie Blue and Lily Phillips – who have famously recorded themselves sleeping with hundreds of men (Blue targeting college students for sex) – are said to influencing a trend among young girls who aspire to follow in their footsteps. Bonnie Blue claimed in January that she had broken the world record for having sex with the most men in a day – after “bedding 1,057 in 12 hours”, she says.
Bonnie Blue (TikTok/bonniebluclips)
Studies have shown an increase in teenagers expressing interest in joining platforms like OnlyFans and wanting to ditch higher education and more conventional jobs for quick wealth and fame.
Experts warn this could have long-term implications for their mental health and societal perceptions of success.
The worry for impressionable youth is that the adult content creators who see the most success financially are generally those willing to cross “ethical lines”, purposely court controversy and increasingly up the ante to potentially harmful degrees.
According to WorldStar, 10 percent of women aged 18-24 are performing on OnlyFans and 82 million men, many of who are married, are paid subscribers to them.