Chaturbate is one of the most popular camming sites on the internet. Hell, it’s one of the most popular sites, period, on the internet.
As of January 20, 2019, the site had a Alexa rank of 67 in the US and a global Alexa rank of 144. That means it’s the 144th most popular website in the entire world. For comparison, as of January 20, MFC is US 347 and global 841. Flirt4Free is US 1,028 and global 818, which is really interesting. On the other hand, livejasmin is US 28 and global 44. (Data is interesting!)
But, back to Chaturbate: The website has almost 2,000 current models, and it’s a popular cam site to start out your foray into camming with. With it’s modern look and easy design, it takes the confusion out of modeling. Let’s see if Chaturbate is right for you.
Setup and First Broadcast
Signing up literally takes two seconds. There’s no individual sign-in for models. Anyone can broadcast themselves immediately, but you cannot earn tokens until you submit an age verification form. Chaturbate normally approves the age verification within 42 hours.
Chaturbate denotes newer cam models with a “new” symbol on your screen on the homepage. Unlike MFC, Chaturbate does not automatically place you on the first page if you’re new. The “new” symbol helps promote you to viewers but can also harm you if this is your first time camming. Seasoned viewers can take advantage of unexperienced models and can “fake tip” you. Make sure you know what a real tip looks like (it usually makes a noise) before you get started.
Platform Ease of Use
The platform is simple and easy. As I’ve said earlier, there is no different sign-in for models, so you don’t need to use a specialized link to broadcast. Just click on the “broadcast yourself” tab, and you’re ready to go. The homepage is kept very modern and simple, so it’s not too overwhelming to the eyes.
Payment
The payment methods are: check (mail), direct deposit, wire transfer and Paxum. The payment minimum is $50, which is a bit high, but hopefully you’re making way more than $50 per paycheck. You can choose to receive the payments daily, bi-monthly or monthly. Payouts are *often* made on time, and they notify you if your payment is going to be late. You do have to remember to convert your tokens to cash.
Privacy and Piracy
Chaturbate allows you to block entire countries and states for privacy. Models’ identities and personal information is protected.
Piracy, however, can be an issue. A model who requested their identity be kept confidential emailed me stating that they had stopped using Chaturbate because they discovered one of their shows had been pirated. They also found their Chaturbate profile “write up” (model bio) on another website under a different model. They stated that they have not had this issue with any other site.
Chaturbate offers private show recordings for the customer, which can also create a piracy issue. This setting can be disabled, but that won’t 100 percent prevent your content from being pirated.
Traffic
Chaturbate broadcasts internationally, so it is generally always busy. Most models find camming in the early morning or late night (EST) is more profitable. Lacey from Whaaaaaaaat gives some insight on how she and her partner Jeff choose their airtime:
We cam as a couple and solo, when we first started we would try to determine what was a slow traffic day or time. We have decided now that there really is no rhyme or reason to the flow of traffic. What I like to tell new models is to know your audience, know your time zones. Some countries don’t tip as much as others, some countries prefer privates as opposed to public shows.
In regards to a schedule, my only real set time is 9 pm est 7 days a week, and that is mainly because my fan base is used to that time. I will do a single female show sometimes in the morning if requested, I have even schedule a 3 am est show just to hit a certain demographic or audience.
Let’s do bad things together!@chaturbate @Lovense @CamModelToys https://t.co/6dXQekHfsP pic.twitter.com/E9kbLpuvFv
— Lacey n Jeff Whaaaaaaaat NSFW 18+ (@laceycoffeegirl) January 15, 2019
Inclusivity
As far as inclusivity, Chaturbate is one of the better sites. They allow male, female and trans models and allow models to cam as couples — but they still have quite a lot to work on. Laila Delight explains their experience as a non-binary trans model on Chaturbate:
Chaturbate made things a lot better when they changed their trans category from “transsexual” to “transgender.” They are much more inclusive than Nood or MyFreeCams, both which prohibit trans women from modeling on their platforms. You can usually find me in the trans section, or the couples section with partners.
People are confused when I cam in the trans section, because they are expecting trans women with a penis. But “trans” is a term used by many people. I am a nonbinary, trans (masculine), genderfluid person… I kick anyone out of my room who is hateful and provide a glossary of gender studies terms on my bio. Some days, its not an issue and some days people just don’t get it. Some days I’ll cam in the female category because it’s really slow and I’m just trying to see if it will be better…
In any case, I defend anyone’s right to be in whatever section they deem appropriate. Trans women are not tolerated in the female section, unless they are post op, and I think that’s bullshit… Everyone should be able to place themselves wherever they feel best represented.
— Laila ? Goddess of Light (@LailaDelight) January 10, 2019
Sum Up
We know that’s a lot of information, so here’s a summary list of the sites pros and cons of Chaturbate as we see them:
Pros
- Quick and easy setup
- Platform is simple and modern
- Direct deposit
- Daily and Biweekly Payout
- Block entire states and countries
- Good Traffic
- Inclusive to Male and Trans Models
Cons
- Content Piracy
- Stolen Biographies
- Doesn’t convert tokens to cash automatically
Want more? Check out Ariane’s in-depth review of MFC right here.
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Ariane Torres is a writer who says funny things on occasion. Email her at ariane@ynotcam.com and find her on Twitter at @tofulumpia.
All screen grabs by the author. Blurring by the editor.
