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How payments work

MoonX pays you every month for how readers engage with your new articles, and passes on every tip readers send you. This page explains what you earn, when and how you are paid, and what you need to do. The full rules are in the MoonX Payout Terms and the MoonX Author Agreement.

What you earn

For each article, during the calendar month in which it is published, you earn:

  • $0.01 for each view counted
  • $0.02 for each like
  • $0.02 for each comment

What counts. A view counts once per reader, per article, per day. A like counts once per reader. Every comment and reply on the article counts, unless it has been hidden. The view counter readers see counts every view, so it is higher than your "views counted".

When it counts. An article earns from the moment it is published until the end of that calendar month. After that it earns no more from views, likes and comments, but tips on it still count. For example, an article published on 10 March earns from 10 to 31 March. An article published early in a month has more days to earn.

We count days and months on one clock for everyone: the time in London in winter (GMT). So a day or a month can start a few hours earlier or later where you live.

Your first article

Your first published article does not earn from views, likes and comments. This is the same for every author. Tips on it still count, and it can win Editor's Choice.

Editor's Choice

In any month in which at least three new authors publish their first article, the first article that would have earned the most receives the Editor's Choice award of $50. The award is paid on its own: the article's earnings are not added to it.

Tips

Readers can send you tips in the MoonX app. A tip joins your balance as soon as it reaches us; you do not wait for the month to end.

  • You get the full price the reader paid in the app store. The store's fee is not taken from it.
  • A tip in another currency is converted to US dollars at that day's exchange rate.
  • Tips count on any of your articles, including your first, at any time.
  • If the app store refunds a tip to the reader, the tip is taken off your balance again.

Bonuses

The MoonX team may also grant you a bonus. It appears under Bonuses on your Payments page and joins your balance.

Your balance and the minimum payout

Your Payments page shows Available (your balance) and how it adds up: From earlier, Article earnings, Reader tips, Bonuses, Awards, Adjustments, and Paid out or on its way.

  • We pay you when your balance is $15.00 or more when the month is worked out. We pay the whole balance.
  • Under $15.00, your balance rolls over to the next month. Nothing is lost.
  • You do not need to publish in a month to be paid: any balance of $15.00 or more is paid.
  • Article earnings join your balance when the month is worked out. Until then, "This month in detail" shows an estimate. The estimate can go down, for example when a hidden comment stops counting.
  • Your balance can fall below zero, for example when a tip is refunded after you were paid. Your next earnings pay it off before anything is sent.

The monthly schedule

  1. The month ends.
  2. On the 5th, we work out the month before: your article earnings, your statement and your payout.
  3. A member of the MoonX team checks and approves it.
  4. We send the payouts by PayPal. We aim to send them by the 15th.

For example, October's earnings are worked out on 5 November, and we aim to send the payout by 15 November. The 15th is our aim, not a promise: sometimes PayPal, or a check on our side, takes longer. We let you know when your statement is ready and when your payout has been sent.

PayPal and US dollars

We pay only by PayPal, only in US dollars.

  • The PayPal account must be yours, in your name.
  • We send the exact payout shown on your statement. PayPal may charge you its own fee for receiving the money or converting it into your currency. Those fees are yours; PayPal's website lists them for your country.
  • If a payout cannot be delivered, or PayPal returns it, the money goes back on your balance and is paid with a later monthly payout.

Payment details: needed by 1 January 2027

Open Payment details from your Payments page, your Author profile or your Overview. You need:

  • your full legal name, exactly as it appears on your PayPal account (readers never see it);
  • your country of residence, the country where you live now;
  • your PayPal email;
  • a tick to confirm that the details are true and the PayPal account is yours;
  • your agreement to the MoonX Payout Terms, and a tick to confirm you have read how MoonX uses your payment details.

From 1 January 2027, we pay only authors whose Payment details are complete. The first payout this applies to is the one for December 2026, worked out on 5 January 2027. Until then, we pay as usual to your PayPal email. Without a PayPal email we cannot pay you at all.

Until your details are complete, your Overview, Payments page and Payment details page remind you. If you have added a PayPal email but something else is missing, we also send you a notification 30 days and 7 days before 1 January 2027.

To protect your money, changing your Payment details asks you to sign in again. Your legal name and PayPal email are stored encrypted.

Statements and Payout history

  • Statements. Once a month is worked out and approved, its statement appears on your Payments page if you had a balance or earned money that month, even when nothing is paid. It lists each article you published that month with its views counted, likes, comments and article earnings, and your totals: From earlier, Article earnings, Award, Total and Payout. You can download it as CSV. A statement is written once and never changed. If we find a mistake, we correct it later with an adjustment.
  • Payout history lists every monthly payout and its status: Being sent, With the payment provider, Paid, Failed, Rejected or Disputed.
  • Earlier months. If you wrote for MoonX before these monthly payouts began, your monthly reports from that time are listed for your records. Money that was still due then is already in your balance, as From earlier.

When a payout is held

We do not send a payout, and the money stays on your balance, when:

  • your account is on hold;
  • there is no PayPal email in your Payment details;
  • from 1 January 2027, your Payment details are not complete (this includes accepting a new version of the Payout Terms when your cabinet asks you to);
  • we are looking into suspected fraud, abuse of tips, or a serious breach of the Author Agreement.

For the first three, your statement for the month says why. Once the reason is cleared, the money is paid with the next monthly payout, if your balance is $15.00 or more. If a payout is questioned after we have sent it, Payout history shows "Disputed" until it is resolved. Then the payout either goes through, or the money comes back to your balance.

Taxes

You are responsible for your own taxes on what MoonX pays you. We cannot give tax advice; if you are unsure, ask a tax adviser.

If you delete your account

Deleting your author account is final. Any money on your balance when you delete it, and anything added later, is forfeited: we do not pay it.

To be paid first:

  1. Write to [email protected] and ask for a final payout before you delete your account.
  2. We pay your whole balance, even if it is under $15.00, with the next monthly payout, if your Payment details are complete.
  3. Delete your account after you have received it. Deleting your account removes your Payment details, and without them we cannot pay you.

We keep records of what we paid you as accounting evidence. For payouts already made, we keep the name, PayPal email and country we paid for 7 years after the end of the year of the payment, then erase them.

Questions

Write to [email protected]. The full rules are in the MoonX Payout Terms, How MoonX uses your payment details and the MoonX Author Agreement.