Medium changes constantly. Writers earn income through their Partner Program.
Medium works like an online magazine where anyone can share their writing.
The Partner Program pays you money when people read what you write. This happens when members spend time reading your articles.
Many writers ask if signing up makes sense for them. I’ll show you exactly what the program includes.
After reading this, you’ll understand if publishing on Medium matches your goals.
The facts will help you make your own choice about joining Medium’s Partner Program.
What is Medium?
Medium is a website where people write and share stories. Think of it as a giant online journal where millions of regular people write about what they know and care about.
The site started in 2012 when someone who helped build Twitter decided to create a place where anyone could write and share their ideas. Now, around 100 million people read and write on Medium each month.
Anyone can write on Medium – you don’t need special training or writing skills. If you have something interesting to tell others, you can share it. The site helps people find your writing through its own system, and search engines like Google can help more readers find your stories too.
They make their money from people who pay to read. Readers can pick between two options:
- $5 each month (or $60 for a whole year)
- $15 each month (or $150 for a whole year)
This money helps Medium pay the people who write on their site every month.
What’s the difference between writing on Medium and my own blog?
I often get messages from people reading my stuff online. They ask me why I write both on Medium and on my own website.
Some readers think I’m doing double work by writing in two places.
They ask me: if Medium helps people find your posts, why create your own blog?
Since I work with websites, I’ll tell you the biggest difference – it’s about who owns what you write.
Medium is like renting a space for your writing. They make their own rules. If they think you’re not following them, they can close your account and remove everything you wrote.
This happened to some writers in November 2024. Medium removed their accounts because of spam problems. I’m not saying Medium is wrong for doing this. It makes the site better for everyone who writes there. But think about spending months writing posts, only to lose them all.
Another issue is that Medium limits what you can do to help people find your posts online. You can only change a few things like titles and descriptions. You can’t even check if Google shows your posts to people searching online.
That’s why I decided to make my own website instead of focusing on Medium. Now I control everything about my posts and can make any changes I want.
What is the Medium Partner Program, and How can writers make money?
The Medium Partner Program pays writers for creating articles on their platform. It’s that simple – you write, they pay.
Writing articles is the main way to earn money here. If you want to try it out, you need to understand how it works and what you’ll need to do.
I’m going to explain what you’ll get paid for. This way, you can decide if writing for Medium matches what you’re looking for.
Let me show you exactly what you can earn from creating content on Medium.
How do you turn your writing into money on Medium?
Writing articles on Medium is like sharing your stories with friends online – and getting paid when people read them!
The first step is joining their partner program. After that, you can write about anything that interests you. The key? Write stuff other people want to read.
You earn money when:
- Someone spends at least 30 seconds reading what you wrote
- A member likes or comments on your post
- Someone new starts following you
It’s similar to having your own blog, except you don’t need to find advertisers. Your earnings come directly from readers engaging with your content.
But here’s what takes time: building an audience. Your articles won’t magically find readers on their own. You’ll need to share your Medium profile on other social media to help people find your writing.
As more people discover and read your stories, you’ll start seeing your earnings grow. The process takes patience and consistent effort – it’s not an overnight success kind of thing.
Some other options for online earning include:
- Poll Pay – Fill out surveys in your free time
- Pagazani – Mix of activities like watching videos and playing games
- GG2U – Different tasks that pay through PayPal
Will Medium kick you out if you stop writing?
Yup! Medium can actually stop paying you if you don’t write anything for 6 months.
They’ll send you a message first to let you know. But if you still don’t post anything new after that, they can turn off your ability to make money through their Partner Program.
So if you want to keep earning on Medium, just remember to share at least one story every 6 months!
How does Medium pay writers?
Your words on Medium can put cash in your pocket. Each time someone reads and engages with your posts, you make money.
When it comes to getting paid, Medium sends money through something called Stripe. It works just like a bank account where Medium can send your money directly.
Here’s what happens each month:
- Once you make $10 or more from your posts, Medium sends the money right to your Stripe account
- The money shows up in your Stripe account during the first week of the next month
- If you don’t make $10 yet, the money stays in your account until you reach that amount
Before you start writing on Medium, you’ll need to open a Stripe account. It’s the only way to get your money, so make sure to set one up first.
The whole payment process happens by itself – you don’t need to do anything once it’s set up. The money just lands in your account when it’s time.
If you’re checking out other ways to make money online, similar sites send payments through PayPal. You can read about one of them in an article about FreeCash.
How much money can you make?
Earning money on Medium isn’t as simple as just posting articles. Your income depends mostly on how many people read and interact with what you write.
Starting from scratch? You’ll need patience. Someone with lots of followers can make money faster, but building up takes time. Why? Because getting paid means getting people to read your stuff.
The money comes when readers do three main things:
- Leave comments on your posts
- Hit the like button
- Start following you
It’s different now than before. Medium used to pay based on how long someone spent reading your article. These days, they care more about people interacting with what you write.
This means many writers now focus on topics that start conversations. Instead of writing long, detailed posts, they write about subjects that make people want to comment and share their opinions.
So what does this mean for you? To make it work, you need:
- A bunch of loyal readers
- Posts that make people want to talk
- Time to research what topics get people talking
Truth is, putting in all this work might not pay off as much as you’d hope. But here’s something to think about – if you’re just starting to write online, Medium could work for you. Why? Because anyone can join their Partner Program if they meet the basic rules.
But if you’ve been writing online for a while? The money might seem small compared to the work you put in.
How much does Medium pay per 1,000 views?
Writing on Medium isn’t magic… but it’s kinda close! You know what’s interesting? They don’t pay you based on how many people click that little clapping hands button anymore (yeah, they used to do that).
Instead, it’s all about how long people spend reading your stories. Makes sense, right?
Here’s what happens with the money:
- For every 1,000 people who read your story, you might get between $2.50 and $9.00
- Some writers make way more than that (seriously!)
- Others end up making less (aw man…)
Oh, and there’s this neat little bonus – if someone who isn’t a paying Medium member reads your story and then decides to become a member within a month… you get extra points! (Well, not actual points, but you know what I mean…)
See? That wasn’t so hard to understand! Just remember – the longer people spend reading your stories, the more money you can make. Simple as that!
How much does it cost to write on Medium?
Here’s what you need to know about writing on Medium:
First, you need to pay to join. It costs $5 each month, or you can save some money by paying $50 for the whole year.
Sure, you can make a free account. But with that, you can only:
- Read 3 articles monthly
- Follow some writers
- That’s about it
You can’t write paid articles with a free account at all.
Think about it: before you make any money, you need to earn back what you spent on membership. Starting out is tough because no one knows your articles yet. Many new writers spend more on membership than they make from their stories.
But wait… if lots of people already read your writing somewhere else? Then making back that membership money might happen faster.
The big question is: can you afford to spend money now and maybe wait a while before earning it back? This makes Medium writing better for some people than others.
Can you use it on your phone?
Writing for Medium needs a computer. A phone won’t cut it.
Most writing tasks on Medium need you to sit at an actual computer screen. When you write posts or share your stories, you’ll definitely need a laptop or desktop computer to do it right.
Your phone only lets you peek at your earnings dashboard – that’s it. No writing articles, no posting content… none of the important stuff that makes you money on Medium.
So the short answer? Nope – a phone alone won’t work. You just can’t do the main tasks needed to make money as a Medium Partner without a computer.
Where can you ask for help when you’re stuck?
The help center has answers to pretty much any issue you might run into. Seriously, they’ve packed it with info about everything – all those questions about accounts, writing, and making money through the partner program.
No luck finding what you need? Don’t sweat it… Just send in a quick note through their help center ticket system. You fill out a short form and – boom – your question goes straight to their team.
And y’know what’s kinda neat? Their whole system for getting help feels super smooth. I mean, since they’re such a big company now (yeah, they’ve grown a bunch!), they’ve put together this solid team of people whose entire job is making sure we don’t stay stuck when something goes wrong.
Honestly? That’s exactly what you’d expect from a site this size. They can’t just leave people hanging when they need a hand, right?
…and between the detailed guides and the quick responses from their team, you’re never really on your own when you hit a snag.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Medium Partner Program
Being part of the Medium Partner Program comes with some ups and downs. Here’s what I found after spending time writing there:
Advantages
- Signing up is a piece of cake – you just need to write posts often and live in one of the many countries Medium works with (they accept writers from more than 100 places).
- You don’t need to worry about all that search engine stuff – what works best is writing in a way that feels real to your readers.
- The money keeps coming in from old posts – once you put an article up, it makes money whenever someone reads it and likes what you wrote.
- The people who run Medium might pick your article to show to more readers.
- You can send special links to your friends – they can read what you wrote even if they don’t pay for Medium, and you still earn money when they check it out.
- You can write for bigger groups on Medium – this means more people see what you write, which means more money in your pocket.
- It helps you find people who like what you write – you can ask them to sign up for your email updates or check out other stuff you make.
Disadvantages
- The money jumps around a lot. Some months bring in $200, while others only $70. You never know what you’ll earn next.
- Writing takes time and effort. You need to put out several posts each week if you want to see any real results.
- The system keeps changing. What used to work a few years back doesn’t anymore. Medium switches up how it shows articles to readers all the time.
- Making over $1000 monthly is harder now than before. Many writers say the same – it’s not as easy to earn big anymore.
- Sometimes people steal your work. Once, another user copied my most popular article word for word.
- You can’t use regular online writing tricks. The usual ways to make articles show up in search results don’t work on Medium.
Is it still worth writing on Medium? My Final Thoughts
So… I started writing on Medium a while back and here’s what I learned about their Partner Program.
First off, yeah – you can make some extra money writing articles there. I mean, it’s simple enough: if you’re eligible and pay the membership cost, you can start posting right away.
I’ll be honest with you… this program isn’t gonna work for everyone. It’s kinda perfect if you’re just starting to write online since you don’t need much to begin. But listen… if you’ve been writing for a while now? You might wanna think twice.
See, when you’ve got experience under your belt, starting your own blog makes more sense. Why? Because then you keep all the earnings instead of splitting them with someone else.
Now, if you’re brand new to creating content but don’t wanna depend on other websites… maybe consider building your own online space.
Here’s the thing though – it takes forever to start seeing decent money from Medium. And between you and me? There are other sites out there where you could be making better money with less effort.
I mean, why spend ages trying to build up an audience when you could jump right into something that pays faster? For example, check out some survey websites in your area.
These platforms are super easy to understand – no complicated rules or weird payment systems. Just sign up and start earning.
What’s your experience with Medium? Drop a comment below and share what worked (or didn’t work) for you!