IS IT YOURS OR THEIRS
Who owns what you build, every platform side by side
Yours, or a room you are allowed to sit in until the rules change?
22 PLATFORMS ANSWERED · SORTED BY NAME, NOT BY BETTER
Amazon KDPThe author keeps copyright in the book; Amazon's licence to print and distribute is nonexclusive and irrevocable for the term.Author keeps copyright · source · checked 2026-09-07
Anthropic APICustomer owns the Outputs and keeps all rights to Inputs; Anthropic assigns its interest in Outputs and may not train models on Customer Content.Commercial Terms, Section B (Customer Content) · source · checked 2026-09-07
beehiivThe publisher owns their content outright; beehiiv disclaims ownership but takes a royalty-free, sublicensable, worldwide licence to publish it.Publisher owns the content · source · checked 2026-09-07
CloudflareThe customer keeps all right, title and interest in the data, content and code sent through the services.Customer keeps title to content · source · checked 2026-09-07
DigitalOceanYou keep copyright and ownership of your Services Content. DigitalOcean takes only an operational licence to host, store and display it in order to run the service.You keep ownership · source · checked 2026-09-07
Empire FlippersEmpire takes a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide licence over any content a user submits to the platform.Content licence · source · checked 2026-09-07
EzoicYou keep ownership of your content, but grant Ezoic a worldwide, perpetual, sublicensable and transferable licence to use, modify and distribute it.You own content; perpetual licence to Ezoic · source · checked 2026-09-07
FlippaOwnership moves between the parties on paper: Flippa supplies embedded Letter of Intent and Asset Purchase Agreement templates for the handover.Transfer by Asset Purchase Agreement · source · checked 2026-09-07
Google AdSenseYou own the site. AdSense only runs on a site you own and can edit; Google verifies ownership before opening the account and takes no stake in the content.Publisher owns the site · source · checked 2026-09-07
GumroadSellers keep ownership, but grant Gumroad a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, non-exclusive and fully sublicensable licence over their content.Seller owns it; licence is perpetual and irrevocable · source · checked 2026-09-07
HetznerCustomer data stays the customer's. The terms grant Hetzner no content licence beyond running the service or complying with law.Data ownership clause · source · checked 2026-09-07
Lemon SqueezyThe store sits on a Lemon Squeezy sub-domain by default; any custom URL must be bought, owned and maintained by the seller.Store domain · source · checked 2026-09-07
MediavineThe publisher keeps the site, but Mediavine owns every figure in the Dashboard outright. Only the data supplied in the application is excepted.Mediavine owns the numbers · source · checked 2026-09-07
MonumetricPublisher keeps content IP: outside the ad-serving license granted here, neither side gets any rights to the other party content, materials or intellectual property.Publisher keeps content IP · source · checked 2026-09-07
NamecheapHanding a domain to another Namecheap account is free but irreversible; Namecheap will not undo it, only the new owner can hand it back.Change of ownership is final · source · checked 2026-09-07
NetlifyThe customer owns all IP rights in its own content; Netlify owns the platform. Netlify may still use Service Data to develop and improve its services.Self-Serve Subscription Agreement, s.7.2 Customer Content (Oct 2025) · source · checked 2026-09-07
OpenAI APIThe customer owns all Output - OpenAI assigns to the customer all of its right, title and interest in the Output, and the customer keeps ownership of its Input.Customer owns the output · source · checked 2026-09-07
PayhipThe store runs on a domain the seller owns and connects to Payhip, with all store pages served under that domain.Ten mien la cua minh, Payhip chi phuc vu trang duoi ten mien do · source · checked 2026-09-07
PorkbunThe customer is the registrant listed in WHOIS, but Porkbun claims worldwide ownership of the domain database and every derivative work from it.Registrant vs database · source · checked 2026-09-07
RaptiveEmail and subscriber lists Raptive builds or manages for a creator are owned by the creator, but Raptive alone holds the right to use them during the term.Who owns it · source · checked 2026-09-07
SubstackThe writer owns the content. Substack's terms state original content posted to the platform stays yours and keeps its copyright.Writer keeps copyright · source · checked 2026-09-07
WordPress.comOwnership is retained, but the user grants Automattic a worldwide, transferable and sub-licensable licence to use, modify and publish the content.Licence granted to Automattic · source · checked 2026-09-07
The other questions
Ten questions get asked of every platform here. This page answers one of them.
Where you can sign up25 platforms
Where you can be paid29 platforms
Minimum age28 platforms
What you are paid in29 platforms
Ways to get paid26 platforms
Minimum payout29 platforms
Fee taken out of the payout29 platforms
Time from earning to money in hand28 platforms
How a balance can be lost28 platforms
Who is legally on the hook30 platforms
What it really costs to start23 platforms
What it costs to keep alive20 platforms
The gate before it pays anything14 platforms
How long before the first payment17 platforms
Can you take it with you23 platforms
Can it be sold24 platforms
What takes it all away25 platforms
Why this page is sorted by name
Putting these in an order would mean deciding that one answer beats another, and on most of these questions that depends entirely on who is reading. A lower cash-out bar is better if you want the money soon and worse if it arrives as a gift card. A single payout method is fine until it is the one that does not work in your country.
So the rows sit in alphabetical order and the differences are left where you can see them. Every figure carries the page it came from and the day it was read. Found one that has moved? Tell us.