Tumblr adds yet another way to pay creators

Tumblr is trying once again to keep creators on the platform — and encourage more bloggers to sign up — by launching its second monetization feature in eight months.

The new tip jar feature allows users to tip their favorite creators on the platform. All you have to do is select the "Tip" tab on a post you want to tip, then choose the amount you want to give — up to $100. You can send it anonymously or add a message and see who else has sent tips on the same post. The tip jar is already available to all users in the U.S., and is going to be extended soon. Tumblr isn't taking a cut from the payments, which will go through Stripe, although credit card fees will still apply.

This feature comes eight months after the launch of Tumblr's Post+, a subscription service that allows creators to charge users for some exclusive content. So for the tip jar, fans can tip an individual post and can choose how much to give; Post+, on the other hand, is a recurring payment fans give to creators who provide exclusive content in return.

Post+ starts at $3.99 per month, with additional tiers at $5.99 and $9.99 per month. You can use both Tumblr Tips and Post+ simultaneously.

It's not entirely clear how successful Post+ has been, but adding another monetization tool so soon is a fascinating move for the platform.

"We aren’t disclosing our numbers, but we can share that, with the open beta, we opened the funnel to a much broader audience and gleaned more insights, especially from international creators. These newly discovered learnings will help us prepare for a full launch later this year," Bohdan Kit, Tumblr’s head of product for subscriptions, told TechCrunch. 

These tools are likely set up to increase users. The platform lost almost a third of its users after banning porn in 2019, and is still struggling to attract more people. About half of all users on Tumblr are Gen Z and they spend about 26 percent more time on the platform than other users, according to Tumblr. But it's unclear how many people are on the site every day.