An OnlyFans model who earns $100,000 a month has warned other women against joining the platform, saying it could be the "worst" decision of their lives. Elia Hills, 19, from Oklahoma, has been creating content on the subscription site for a year and credits it with transforming her finances. However, she says glamourising OnlyFans is "wrong" because the reality involves gruelling hours, online abuse, and lasting stigma.
Why she warns others
Hills told Metro she would never actively promote OnlyFans to another woman. "I would never go to another woman and encourage or promote OF to them," she said. "I think it's a really hard decision that a woman has to make on her own. It could be really detrimental to her but it could also be really good." She emphasised that each woman must decide for herself, as only she knows if she can handle the workload, trolling, and societal judgment. "I can't know that, which is why I'd never encourage another woman to do it," she added. Instead, she advises women to learn the facts before making an informed choice.
Working 100-hour weeks
One of the biggest challenges Hills faced was the time commitment. "OF models have to work really long hours," she explained. Subscribers expect constant availability, and if a model is offline, they may move on to someone else. Hills said she spends 40 hours a week on the site and another 20 hours making content for other social media platforms, often alongside a full- or part-time job, totalling around 100-hour weeks. "It's not possible to work at this level for very long so you have to hope you can stomach it and it takes off before you're burnt out," she said.
Learning technical skills alone
Without funds to hire editors or videographers, Hills said most models must teach themselves everything from scriptwriting to video editing. "These take hours to go from an idea to a 10-second post and often fail to go viral," she noted. She recalled being thrilled when a video got 1,000 views, but later realising that hundreds of thousands of views are needed to make a living. "When you create something that no one watches, it's really disheartening," she said.
Social and family repercussions
While Hills said her own relationships survived, she knows others who lost partners, friends, or family. "I know of some women who have lost husbands over it," she said. She warned that the label of being an OnlyFans model sticks permanently, affecting future relationships and even children, who may face bullying if images circulate in their community. "Once you've done OF there isn't any going back," she added.
Online abuse and trolling
As income grows, so does negative attention. Hills said people make up horrible comments and try to uncover personal details. She advised ignoring most trolling but reporting threats. "If you can't do that, you should ask yourself 'is this for me?'" she said.
Having a long-term plan
Hills originally joined OnlyFans to pay for college tuition, a goal that gave her motivation. She recommends that anyone considering the platform write down their financial target and plan how to save the money. "It's easy to waste it or assume you'll earn the same amount for the rest of your life," she said. "That's unlikely to be true so I would look into saving as much of it as you can."
