Methodology
How we source every number on SocialDB and turn public data into transparent earnings estimates and sponsorship rates — including the niche, geography and content-format adjustments that make our figures far more realistic than generic CPM sites.
Where our data comes from
Every statistic on SocialDB — subscriber counts, view counts, video counts, account age, profile details and live status — is pulled from the platforms' official APIs (the YouTube Data API v3, the Twitch Helix API and the equivalent official endpoints for each platform we track) and refreshed regularly. We don't scrape stats.
For an influencer's other social channels and the business contact email they publish, we additionally read the links and text an influencer lists publicly on their own channel page. This is information influencers choose to make public for people to reach them — we only collect what they've already published, never private data.
How we estimate earnings
Most stats sites multiply a channel's lifetime views by a generic CPM. That's wildly inaccurate — it ignores when the views happened and bakes in years of low-value old traffic. We do it differently: for each YouTube channel we look at the views of its recent uploads to estimate monthly views, then apply an RPM tuned to that specific influencer:
where RPM = base rate for the channel's niche × a country multiplier.
RPM is dominated by three factors, and we adjust for all of them:
| Factor | Range we apply | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Niche | Finance / tech / real-estate $9–$15 per 1k · entertainment / music / kids $1.50–$4 | Advertisers pay far more to reach high-intent audiences. We classify each channel from its platform topic. |
| Geography | US / UK / AU worth 3–5× an Indian or Indonesian audience | Ad rates track the audience's spending power. We scale by the influencer's country. |
| Shorts vs long-form | Shorts $0.05–$0.12 per 1k · long-form $2–$15 | Shorts monetize from a separate, far smaller ad pool. We detect Shorts by length and value that share at the Shorts rate. |
So a US finance channel and an Indian music channel with identical view counts get very different — and far more realistic — estimates:
🇺🇸 US finance channel
🇮🇳 Indian music channel
We still show a range (roughly ±35% around the tuned RPM), because real RPM also moves with season and ad formats. We won't pretend to a single exact number.
What the earnings estimate excludes
Our figure is ad revenue only. It does not include sponsorships and brand deals (often the largest income source), channel memberships, Super Thanks, merchandise, affiliate links, or off-platform income. Real total income is usually higher than our ad-only estimate.
How we estimate sponsorship & deal rates
Separate from ad earnings, each profile shows a recommended sponsorship rate — what a brand might reasonably pay for a placement. We price it on the metric that actually drives a placement's value for that platform (typical views for video, reachable audience for follower/listener platforms), times a per-platform CPM benchmark drawn from real creator deal data — then show a low–mid–high range. A claimed creator can override it with their own rate card at any time.
| Platform | Priced on | Benchmark |
|---|---|---|
| YouTube | Avg views per video | ~$22 per 1k (integration) |
| TikTok · Instagram · Rumble | Typical post views | ~$25 per 1k |
| X · Threads · Bluesky · Mastodon · Telegram · Pinterest | Followers | ~$7 per 1k |
| Twitch · Kick | Average concurrent viewers | Modeled on live reach |
| Podcasts | Est. listeners / episode | ~$22 per 1k (host-read) |
| Substack newsletters | Est. opens (~35% of list) | ~$30 per 1k |
| Discord · Reddit | Community members | ~$10 / ~$5 per 1k |
Try it yourself with the free influencer rate calculator.
How we estimate Twitch earnings
Twitch pays very differently from YouTube — income comes from subscriptions, ads and bits, none of which the API exposes. So instead of follower count (a poor predictor), we measure the metric that actually drives Twitch income: average concurrent viewers (ACV). We sample each channel's live viewer count every 15 minutes and, over time, derive its true ACV, peak viewers and monthly airtime.
From those we model the three revenue streams:
- Subscriptions: estimated active paid subs (a fraction of ACV) × ~$2.50 net per sub/month.
- Ads: scaled by hours streamed × ACV.
- Bits / cheers: a smaller amount, also scaled by viewer-hours.
We show a range because we're inferring revenue from viewership rather than reading it directly. The estimate excludes donations/tips and sponsorships (both unmeasurable, and often large). A new Twitch channel shows its viewer stats immediately but needs about a week of streams before we'll publish an earnings range, so the average is meaningful rather than a single snapshot. Followers are pulled from the Twitch API and shown when available.
Other platforms
The same philosophy applies everywhere: price the right metric for each platform rather than treating every follower the same. TikTok & Instagram are valued on typical post views; podcasts on estimated listeners per episode (we scale Apple ratings, which are a small fraction of real listeners); Substack on estimated opens of the free list, not raw subscriber count; and X, Threads, Bluesky, Telegram & Pinterest on followers at text-platform rates. Where a platform's API doesn't expose a number, we show what it does — and never invent one.
Corrections & independence
Numbers move constantly and APIs change. If something looks wrong, the "Updated" timestamp on each profile shows when we last refreshed it, and you can contact us for a correction or a free removal of an unclaimed listing. Better still, claim your listing for free to control your details and set your own rates. SocialDB is independent and not affiliated with, endorsed by, or a partner of any of the platforms we track. All figures are transparent estimates for informational purposes only — not financial advice.
Frequently asked questions
Where does SocialDB’s data come from?
How accurate are the earnings estimates?
Does SocialDB scrape data?
How do you calculate sponsorship / deal rates?
Is any of this financial or investment advice?
My numbers look wrong — how do I fix them?
Is SocialDB affiliated with the platforms it tracks?
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