Use an earnings split if you bill on a regular cycle regardless of when the creator withdraws. Use a cashout split if you bill against withdrawals, so you are only owed when money actually leaves the platform.
The choice is made at the "How should the balance accrue?" step when you create a split, and it changes when you get paid and how predictable that is.
Earnings splits
The balance grows every day from the creator's net platform revenue, whether or not they have cashed out. You then charge on a fixed cycle: weekly, bi-weekly, semi-monthly or monthly.
Choose earnings when:
You want predictable, calendar-based billing.
You do not want your revenue tied to a creator's withdrawal habits.
The creator leaves large balances sitting on the platform.
Available on OnlyFans, Fansly and SextPanther only — the other platforms have no daily earnings feed.
Cashout splits
The balance grows when the creator takes money off the platform. Melon detects the payout — through the platform's API, or by watching for the deposit in their bank — and adds your cut. The charge follows the cashout rather than the calendar.
Choose cashout when:
Your agreement is "a percentage of what they withdraw."
The creator should never be charged for money they have not received.
The platform has no API, which makes this your only option.
Available on every platform.
The practical differences
Earnings split | Cashout split | |
Balance grows | Daily, from net revenue | When a cashout is detected |
Charge timing | Fixed cycle you choose | When the cashout lands |
Predictable? | Yes — calendar-driven | No — depends on the creator |
Creator has been paid first? | Not necessarily | Yes |
Platforms | OnlyFans, Fansly, SextPanther | All |
The trade-off worth understanding
An earnings split can charge a creator for money still sitting on the platform. That is the point — your work happened whether or not they withdrew — but it means a creator who never cashes out still owes you, and the charge may land before they have the funds in their bank. See What happens if a creator does not have enough money?.
A cashout split never has that problem, but your income becomes as irregular as your creator's withdrawals.
Can I change my mind later?
The accrual basis is set when the split is created and is not one of the fields you can edit afterwards. To move a creator from one basis to the other, cancel the split and create a new one — settle the outstanding balance first, since cancelling does not clear what is owed.
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