What is Vella?

Vella is uncensored social media for adult creators and the people who support them. Most posts disappear. All payments are in Bitcoin.

Why Vella?

There was no good place for adult creators to build a real subscriber business without depending on credit card companies that periodically shut them down.

There are too many examples to list here of payment providers trying to shut down or influence content. These payment providers can freeze funds instantly, with no reason provided, and every adult platform built on the traditional payment rails is one boardroom decision away from getting cut off.

This is why we chose to use Bitcoin, it means freedom from these constraints, and it means the creators keep more of what they earn (less transaction and processing fees), and the users get more privacy (purchases do not show up on your bank statement).

We also designed Vella to be ephemeral (posts disappear within 1 to 72 hours) which means a less permanent online presence for the creator and a tighter connection between them and their community.

How accounts work

Anyone over 18 can sign up for a free Vella account. With an account you can browse creators, follow the free ones, subscribe to the paid ones, tip, and comment.

Creators can post content and get paid for it. To become a creator on Vella you must apply. We choose only the creators we feel are right for our platform. Most applications are denied.

How creating works

What is the platform cut?

We take 10%. We can afford to pass more profits onto creators than other platforms (OnlyFans 20%, Fansly 15%) because our payment infrastructure is cheaper.

How and when do I get paid?

You get paid weekly and there is no minimum amount (another benefit of our payment infrastructure). You withdraw your Bitcoin from Vella into your own wallet using the Lightning network. On-chain withdrawals are available but require operator review, so they take longer.

How do I become a creator?

Sign up for a regular Vella account, then submit an application at /apply.

How do I set up my creator page after being approved?

Pick your handle. Upload a few teaser items for your public profile. Set your price (free or monthly subscription). Set a subscriber cap if you want one. Start posting.

How do I support creators I like?

Sign up for a Vella account (free, 18+, takes a minute). You can follow a free creator immediately. For a paid creator, or to tip a creator, you will need to load sats into your Vella balance.

Money

Why don't you accept normal money?

Traditional payment rails (credit cards, debit cards, PayPal, bank transfers) put control of your money in someone else's hands. A short tour of the last 15 years:

The pattern is clear. Payment providers can freeze funds for anything they think is wrong, even if it is perfectly legal. A government can quietly strangle a legal industry just by leaning on its banks, with no law, no public trail.

In several of these cases the companies eventually reversed their position once there was enough public pressure. That is not reassuring, it is the opposite. It proves these decisions are discretionary, not legal necessities. They can do this to anyone, instantly, with no process, and they only walk it back if enough noise is made. Which means anyone living on those rails is always walking on eggshells.

We built Vella on Bitcoin so that lever does not exist on our payment infrastructure. Yes, you have to set up a wallet (takes 15 minutes, we have a guide). In exchange, your purchase does not show up on your bank statement, creators actually keep what they earn, and our payment system cannot be pulled out from under us by a third party.

We think it is a good trade.

I find crypto confusing to use.

Everything new is confusing at first. We have spent a lot of time building guides to walk you through it step by step. Bitcoin is also much easier to use today than it was a few years ago, and it gets easier as more people adopt it. The hardest part is getting your first sats. After that it works pretty much like any app balance.

What currency are payments in?

Sats (short for satoshis, the smallest unit of Bitcoin). 1 BTC = 100,000,000 sats. You see prices in sats throughout the app, with a USD equivalent shown when you top up or make a purchase. We chose sats directly rather than a generic "credits" system because they are already Bitcoin. No conversion games, no platform taking a cut on exchange rates.

Can I get a refund?

No. When you top up your Vella balance with Bitcoin, those sats are yours to spend. When you subscribe or tip, those sats go to the creator. Once they are sent, we cannot pull them back. Crypto transactions are final by nature.

This is where traditional banks and payment processors do have an advantage: they can reverse charges. Their disadvantage (control over your money) is also their advantage (a safety net). The price of using a system that respects your independence is that you have to spend wisely, because we cannot get your money back for you.

If you get scammed by a creator (content not delivered as promised), message us and we will investigate. We have admin discretion to take action against the creator: ban them, restrict their account, kick them off the platform. We cannot get your money back. (This is one reason we hand-verify every creator before approving them, to reduce the chance of this happening in the first place.)

What we do not allow

AI-generated content. We do not allow ANY AI-generated content, even if it is just the music. We are taking a hard stance on this not because we are against AI use (we are not), but because our platform is meant to be about authentic people.

Anything illegal. CSAM, non-consensual content, content depicting people under 18. Breaching this will result in an instant ban, no refunds, and law enforcement being involved.

Privacy and safety

What about my privacy as a subscriber?

We do not ask for your real name. We do not share your activity with anyone. Your Bitcoin payments do not show up on a bank statement. You can use a display name or stay anonymous, your choice.

What about content protection for creators?

We watermark content with your handle. We block search engine indexing. We strip EXIF metadata on uploaded media. We use signed URLs so links expire.

These are all things that other platforms (now shut down) who advertised themselves as "screenshot proof" did not do. Their creators' content and locations were leaked anyway.

The reality is that no content is safe. There is always a way to steal content. We could spend billions on the most advanced system in the world and still lose to the person who records the screen of the first phone with a second phone. Content protection eventually hits a wall where every extra dollar of effort buys very little extra protection.

We have chosen to do what we think is necessary and nothing more. Being ephemeral is part of this approach. It is about reducing risk, not eliminating it. We have taken all the reasonable steps we can. You need to understand before joining that content can and will be stolen.

Contact

Email us at hello@vella.now.