X wants more creators filming for its feed, and it’s now offering cash to make that happen. According to Social Media Today‘s Andrew Hutchinson, the platform has launched the Video Kickstart Bonus, an invite-only pilot that pays creators extra for posting a steady stream of their own short, vertical videos.

The 15-day rule

The formula is simple. In X’s own words, creators who “post 15 qualifying videos on 15 different days during a program period” earn the bonus for that period. Each clip has to be shot vertically and run under three minutes.

The videos must be original, but they don’t have to be brand-new. X says creators can post clips they’ve already shared on other platforms “as long as they are yours.” According to MediaPost‘s Colin Kirkland, that includes videos first posted to Instagram, TikTok or YouTube.

Programs run in periods of about a month. Each one has an enrollment deadline and a last day to post, and both are listed in the creator’s invitation and in Creator Studio.

Who gets in, and what doesn’t count

You can’t just sign up. According to Social Samosa, selected creators get an invite through an in-app notification and email, then have to enroll in Creator Studio before the deadline. Only videos posted after enrolling count toward the goal, and all deadlines are set in Pacific Time.

The list of exclusions is long. Reposts, quote posts, duplicate videos and other people’s content won’t count. Neither will videos claimed by another rights holder, posts carrying a Community Note rated Helpful, or paid partnerships and third-party sponsored posts. Anything that breaks X’s rules or its Creator Monetisation Standards is also out.

How much, and how it pays

X hasn’t published a public rate. MediaPost reports that bonus amounts are based on a creator’s total follower count across X and other platforms, and that the set amounts are only visible to invited creators inside Creator Studio.

Creators who hit the target get a notification, and the bonus is added to their next Original Content Rewards payout, Social Samosa says. U.S. creators are paid through X Money, while creators outside the U.S. are paid through a connected Stripe account. A Video Kickstart Bonus section in Creator Studio tracks qualifying videos, posting days and time left, though X warns that updates can take up to 48 hours and that the numbers shown during a period are estimates, not a promise of payment.

Enrolled creators roll into later periods automatically if the pilot keeps going, with their count resetting each time. Creators who miss one enrollment window may be able to join a later period.

The extras

The bonus also opens a side door into X’s ad money. Participants are fast-tracked into the Original Content Rewards Program, which lets them earn a share of ads shown alongside their posts. MediaPost notes that X replaced its old revenue-sharing program with that original-content initiative in August. Social Samosa adds that participants who don’t already pay for Premium+ get a free year of it, which comes with a blue checkmark, a reply boost and ad-free For You and Following timelines.

Part of a bigger video push

The pilot is the latest move in X’s effort to make video central to the app. Social Media Today points out that X launched an updated livestream studio in July with $1 million in funding for livestream creators, added new video overlay options in August and rolled out an updated video composer last month. MediaPost frames the bonus as X following YouTube’s recent test of creator bonuses for short vertical videos, even as Instagram pushes in the opposite direction with long-form, horizontal content.

The takeaway

For creators who already film short clips for other apps, this is close to free money if the invite shows up: X is openly letting people repost their own work, as long as they show up on 15 separate days. The catch is in the fine print. Sponsored posts don’t count, payouts are estimates until they land, and the rate is tied to your total following across platforms. Treat it as a bonus for consistency, not a business plan, and keep your best content working on the platforms you own the relationship with.

Image: “Recording a concert” by veeterzy (Unsplash), via Wikimedia Commons, released under CC0 1.0. Resized.