How Much Can You Earn With 10,000 Claps on Medium? (2024)

The other day I received an email from a new Medium author who became a referred member after watching one of my free YouTube tutorials.

When he signed up for Medium through my referral link, I thanked him and told him he could email me if he had a question.

I’m glad he did because this topic is interesting for every new writer (and any person on the internet): money.

In fact, “How to make money online” is one of the most searched topics on Google.

I don’t frown when someone asks me how to make money on Medium because I know that…

• 6 in 10 Americans don’t have $500 in their bank account
• 77% of Americans report feeling anxious about their financial situation
• 60% of Americans have a side hustle

(*Since New Writers Welcome only allows me to put more than 2 links in my post, I’m sorry that I can’t provide you with the links. Just trust me or google for the articles. The same goes for the stories and writers mentioned. Thanks!*)

No matter where we are located in the world, in this day and time (inflation, pandemic, job loss, AI, boredom), I totally get that people want to make some money on the side — me too.

The gist of the new writer’s super smart question is:

Is there a solid correlation between claps and $ and how much money can I make with 10,000 claps?

Let me give you some background information first.

Medium does allow writers to make money through the Medium Partner Program (MPP).

The Partner Program distributes funds from its subscription revenues.

So far, so good, but how does it work?

Medium calculates your earnings based on an arcane formula related to how much time paying (!) members spend reading each writer in relation to other writers in the program.

“Our partners are more…