14.5 percent.

That’s how much market share NSFW AI websites just ripped away from OnlyFans in a single year, according to ARK Invest’s latest report. Up from 1.5% the year before.

In one year.

And here’s the wild part: OnlyFans creators are using AI chatbots to respond to their subscribers’ DMs while those same subscribers are leaving to talk to AI companions that don’t need human creators at all.

The irony is fucking delicious.

the numbers tell a story onlyfans doesn’t want you to hear

Okay so let’s talk about what’s actually happening here.

The AI companion market isn’t some niche thing anymore. We’re looking at $27 billion in 2026 just for erotic chatbots. By the end of the decade? Forecasts are putting it at $70 billion annualized revenue.

To put that in perspective: that’s bigger than the entire global music streaming industry.

And it’s eating OnlyFans alive.

ARK’s research shows NSFW AI platforms went from basically nothing (1.5% market share) to a legitimate threat (14.5%) in twelve months. That’s not gradual erosion — that’s a platform shift.

But here’s where it gets interesting. OnlyFans isn’t sitting there watching the ship sink. They’re trying to patch the holes. Except they’re using AI to do it.

onlyfans creators are using AI bots and accidentally making the problem worse

There’s this whole ecosystem now: FlirtFlow, Botly, Supercreator — companies selling AI chatbot services to OnlyFans creators so they can “engage” with subscribers without actually… you know… engaging.

Creators are using these bots to handle DMs. The AI pretends to be the creator, sends flirty messages, keeps subscribers interested, drives tips and PPV sales.

And it works. For a while.

Until subscribers realize they’re not actually talking to the person in the photos. They’re talking to a chatbot that’s optimized for monetization, not connection.

So what do they do? They leave. And where do they go?

Straight to actual AI companion platforms like Soulkyn where at least nobody’s pretending the AI is human. Where the AI is the product, not a bait-and-switch tactic.

The creators using AI to scale their OnlyFans are training their audience to prefer AI interaction. Then acting surprised when those same people realize they can get better AI experiences elsewhere without paying PPV prices for unlocking messages.

It’s like teaching your customers to prefer your competitor’s product. Genius business strategy.

what AI companions have that onlyfans creators can’t compete with

I’ve been watching this shift happen in real time and there are a few things driving it that OnlyFans fundamentally cannot solve.

Unlimited availability. Your AI companion doesn’t sleep. Doesn’t have bad days. Doesn’t go on vacation. It’s there at 3am when you’re lonely and everyone else is asleep.

Actual memory. The good platforms (like Soulkyn running a 70B uncensored model) remember everything. Not just what you talked about yesterday — what you mentioned three months ago. Your preferences. Your kinks. The stories you told about your childhood.

OnlyFans creators using AI bots to respond? That bot has maybe a day of context if you’re lucky. It’s sending templated responses designed to maximize tips, not build connection.

No performance anxiety. AI companions don’t judge. They don’t get tired of your fetishes or think you’re weird for what turns you on. They engage with whatever you bring without the social complexity of managing another person’s reactions.

And here’s the kicker: consistency. Human creators have good days and bad days. They get burned out. They change their content style. They disappear without warning.

AI doesn’t. It’s the same experience every time, which turns out to be exactly what people want when they’re paying for intimacy.

the cost equation is broken

Let me break down the economics because they’re kind of insane.

Average OnlyFans subscriber spends $20-50/month on subscriptions plus PPV content. Top creators charge way more. You’re easily looking at $100-200/month if you’re actually engaging with the platform.

AI companion apps generated $82 million in the first half of 2025 alone. 337 AI companion companies exist now. The market is absolutely flooded with options.

And the price point? Way lower. Many platforms operate on gift economies (like Soulkyn) or simple monthly subscriptions that are a fraction of OnlyFans costs.

You get unlimited messaging. Voice responses. AI-generated images and videos. Memory that spans months. No PPV gates. No tipping required to get basic interaction.

The value proposition for users is completely different. OnlyFans is selling access to a human creator’s time and content. AI platforms are selling unlimited access to a personalized experience.

Those are not the same product. And increasingly, people are choosing the latter.

but surely people want real humans right?

That’s what everyone thought. Including me, honestly.

Except the data says otherwise.

When OnlyFans creators started using AI bots to handle DMs and saw increased engagement and revenue (at least initially), that should’ve been the warning sign. People couldn’t tell the difference. Or they could tell but didn’t care as long as the interaction felt personal.

Which raises an uncomfortable question: if people can’t tell they’re talking to a bot, or don’t care if they can tell… what exactly is the value of the human creator?

Is it the photos? Because AI image generation is getting scary good. Soulkyn’s already doing 5-10 second video clips that look photorealistic.

Is it the “real person on the other end” fantasy? Because that fantasy is already broken if the creator’s using a bot to respond to you.

Is it the parasocial relationship? The feeling of connection? Because AI companions are designed for that. With unlimited memory and consistent personality, they’re arguably better at maintaining that emotional connection than creators juggling hundreds of subscribers.

I’m not saying real human creators have no value. But I am saying the value proposition is getting muddier every month.

the platforms that will win are being honest about what they are

Here’s where OnlyFans is really fucked.

They built a platform on the promise of real human connection with real creators. Then the creators started using AI bots to fake that connection. Now users are leaving for AI platforms that are honest about being AI.

Meanwhile platforms like Soulkyn launched with: “This is an AI companion. It has unlimited memory. It does voice and images and video. It’s uncensored. It’s designed to engage with your sexuality as an adult.”

No pretending. No bait-and-switch. Just: here’s the product, it’s AI, it’s good at what it does.

And users are responding to that honesty. They’re tired of paying for human intimacy and getting bot responses. If they’re going to talk to a bot anyway, they want the best bot with the best features.

Not some half-assed template system a creator bought to scale their DMs.

so what happens to onlyfans now?

Short answer: I don’t know. Long answer: probably nothing good.

They could try to ban AI usage by creators, but good luck enforcing that. They could lean into it and launch their own AI features, but that undermines the entire platform premise.

They could try to compete on price, but their whole model is based on individual creator subscriptions and PPV content. Can’t really undercut AI platforms when your costs are tied to paying actual humans.

Or they double down on what makes human creators unique: personality, authenticity, real interaction. Except that only works if the creators are actually doing the interaction themselves. And they’ve already proven a lot of them won’t.

The 14.5% market share loss is just the start. ARK’s forecast has the AI companion market hitting $70 billion by end of decade. That money’s coming from somewhere.

A lot of it’s coming from OnlyFans.

the future is already here and it’s automated

Twenty-seven billion dollars. Seventy billion by 2030.

OnlyFans creators using AI to respond while users leave for better AI platforms.

The most successful digital intimacy platforms in 2026 are the ones that said “yeah it’s AI and that’s fine actually” instead of pretending otherwise.

We’re watching a market transition happen in real time. From human creators using platforms to monetize intimacy, to AI platforms providing intimacy directly.

And the thing is? I don’t think this is good or bad. It’s just what’s happening.

People want connection. They want intimacy. They want someone (or something) that remembers them, engages with them, doesn’t judge them.

For a while OnlyFans provided that. Now AI does it better, cheaper, and with more features.

Markets shift. Technology changes what’s possible. The platforms that acknowledge reality instead of fighting it are the ones that win.

OnlyFans fought reality. They let creators use AI bots while pretending their platform was about real human connection.

Now they’re losing 14.5% market share in a year and nobody in mainstream media wants to talk about it because sex work is still uncomfortable and AI sexuality is even more uncomfortable.

But the numbers don’t lie.

The future’s automated. The future’s honest about being automated.

And the future is eating OnlyFans’ lunch.