What Are TikTok Coins? Prices, Gifts, Diamonds and What Creators Get (2026)

TikTok Coins are digital items you buy from TikTok and spend in the app: on Gifts for creators during a LIVE or on their videos, and on TikTok's Promote and Star Comments services. At the pack prices TikTok's recharge page showed on October 7, 2026, a Coin costs just over one US cent ($0.0103 to $0.0104), so 1,000 Coins work out to $10.33 to $10.43; the packs run from 30 Coins for $0.31 to 17,500 Coins for $180.99. You must be 18 or older (19 in South Korea), and Coins cannot be exchanged for cash.

What a creator receives is a different question, and TikTok answers it only in general terms. Its US Virtual Items Policy says that by gifting "you are not transferring money, Coins, or anything of value to other users", and that Diamonds, the creator-side unit, "do not automatically entitle a user to receive Rewards". TikTok publishes no coin-to-dollar payout rate. The clearest public measurement we found is a 2022 BBC News test, in which $106 of Gifts left the creator's account with $33.

What TikTok Coins are, in TikTok's words

TikTok Coins are digital items for use inside TikTok only. The TikTok Virtual Items Policy (US), last updated January 22, 2026 and read October 7, 2026, calls them "digital items that can be used on the Platform to access or activate other Virtual Items or services". It names the uses: other Virtual Items such as "Gifts, Heart Mes", and services such as "TikTok's Promote advertising service or the sending of Star Comments". The help center puts the services more simply: Coins let you "Access services like Promote or Star Comments to boost your content" (TikTok Help Center, Gifts and Coins, read October 7, 2026).

You get Coins mainly by buying them. The same policy says they can be purchased "by users of the Platform who are at least 18 years old (or the age of majority in their jurisdiction, whichever is older)", and adds that "TikTok may also allow users additional ways to collect Coins from time to time." Whatever their source, their value stays inside the app: "Virtual Items cannot be exchanged for cash or used as currency."

• Gifts on a LIVE: tap the Gift button at the bottom of the stream and choose one. The help center says "The number of Coins needed to activate each Gift is displayed below the Gift."
• Gifts on a video: open the comments and tap the Gift button next to "Add comment". TikTok's video Gifts page (read October 7, 2026) says Gifts can be sent to videos "by Personal Accounts only" and that "Gifts are available only in select countries."
• Promote and Star Comments: services TikTok says you can use Coins on "to boost your content".

How much TikTok Coins cost

TikTok Coins cost just over one US cent each on TikTok's website. The recharge page showed seven packs and a custom amount to a logged-out US visitor on October 7, 2026. The table shows four of them; the cost-per-Coin column is our division of TikTok's prices, not a figure TikTok displays.

The other packs are 700 Coins for $7.25, 3,500 for $36.20 (shown as "$36.2") and 7,000 for $72.39, and the custom option is labelled "Large amount supported". Bigger packs are not meaningfully cheaper: the 30-Coin pack has the lowest price per Coin, the 350-Coin pack the highest, and the per-Coin price varies by less than 1% across all seven packs, from $0.01033 to $0.01043. Where you buy can matter too. TikTok's US policy says "the cost per Coin differs depending on how many you buy and where you buy them."

The recharge page itself says "Recharge: Save around 25% with a lower third-party service fee." It does not say what the saving is measured against. Our reading is that the third-party fee is the app-store charge on purchases inside the app, which the policy says are "handled by a third-party app store such as Apple’s App Store, the Google Play Store, or Amazon's Appstore". We did not read in-app prices.

These are the prices a US visitor saw. Charges are made "in the currency specified at the point of purchase", and we did not read prices for other countries. Our TikTok Coins to USD calculator converts any amount at the US prices above, which were unchanged between our September 3 and October 7, 2026 reads.

How to buy TikTok Coins: app, website or gift card

You can buy Coins in the app, on TikTok's website, or with a TikTok gift card, depending on your country. The help center lists "On the TikTok app by linking a valid payment method through the app store", "Directly on the TikTok website in supported countries", and "Using TikTok gift cards that are redeemable on the TikTok website in supported countries" (read October 7, 2026).

1. In the app: tap Profile, then the Menu button, then Balance. Tap Get Coins, choose a package, tap Recharge and complete the purchase through your app store.
2. During a LIVE: tap the Gift button at the bottom of the stream, tap Recharge and choose a package. TikTok notes: "If you don't see Gifts, then gifting isn't available for this LIVE."
3. On the website: go to tiktok.com/coin, choose a package or a custom amount, click Recharge and follow the payment steps.
4. With a gift card: redeem it on the TikTok website by entering the PIN code from the card. TikTok notes that "Gift card redemption for Coins isn't available in all regions."

TikTok's troubleshooting steps include confirming that a valid payment method is linked to your Google Play or App Store account, using the latest version of TikTok, checking that your connection is stable, and confirming you are not using a VPN.

Coins, Gifts and Diamonds: how they connect

Coins connect to creator payouts through four stages: Coins, Gifts, Diamonds and, for some creators, a cash Reward Payment. TikTok shows prices for the first two, Coins on its recharge page and each Gift's Coin price in the app, and publishes no fixed rate for the last two.

Gifts are activated with Coins, and the US policy says "The number of Coins required to activate a Gift will depend on the type of Gift." It is explicit that a Gift is not a payment to the creator: "By gifting, you are not transferring money, Coins, or anything of value to other users on the Platform." Instead, "The type and number of Gifts activated in a LIVE is used by TikTok to determine the popularity of content and a user (which TikTok measures in Diamonds)."

Diamonds are the creator-side unit. TikTok's help center calls them "a type of virtual item that TikTok uses to recognize creator popularity, their ranking, and their contributions to the platform", collected "from Gifts sent in their LIVE streams, or by contributing to the platform through missions and campaigns" (TikTok Help Center, Diamonds, read October 7, 2026).

Gifts are public, too: "When you gift, other Platform users can see your username and the details of the Gift." One Gift has a second job. TikTok's Fan Club help page (read October 7, 2026) says "You can join a Fan Club by watching a creator's LIVE and sending that LIVE a Heart Me Gift."

How much is a TikTok Gift worth?

A Gift costs the number of Coins TikTok shows under it in the app, so its dollar cost to the sender is that Coin price times about $0.0103 to $0.0104 at the October 7, 2026 web prices. A 100-Coin Gift, for example, uses about $1.03 to $1.04 worth of Coins. We did not read the in-app gift tray for this article, so we do not list named Gifts and their prices; the tray in your app is the current source. What a Gift is worth to the creator is a separate question, answered in the next section.

How much a creator gets from a Gift

TikTok does not publish how much of a Gift's Coin value reaches the creator. Under its US policies, Gifts activated in a LIVE count toward a creator's popularity, measured in Diamonds, and money arrives only as a Reward Payment that TikTok decides. The Virtual Items Policy says a user's popularity "is one of several factors we take into account to determine the Rewards it may give a user", and that "Diamonds do not automatically entitle a user to receive Rewards, including a Reward Payment."

TikTok's US Rewards Policy (last updated January 22, 2026, read October 7, 2026) lists the factors for LIVE. They "may include: your popularity on the Platform (measured in Diamonds collected), LIVE duration, the number of new unique followers while you are LIVE, viewer engagement, the number of days you have gone LIVE, your league or ranking, and the quality and safety of your LIVE content." Diamonds are one item on that open list, so on TikTok's own wording two creators who receive the same Gifts need not be paid the same.

The same policy says TikTok "maintains full discretion on whether to provide Rewards and the nature and amount of Rewards." It adds two lines anyone counting on Gift income should read: "Until you receive a Reward Payment in your Preferred Account, any amount displayed to you belongs to TikTok," and "Minimum and maximum Reward Payment limits may apply, along with transaction fees." Payments are "calculated in USD" and go to a Preferred Account "such as a bank account or a PayPal account".

The clearest public measurement we found is old and partial. In a 2022 investigation, BBC News reported: "BBC staff in London sent TikTok gifts worth $106 from another account. At the end of the livestream, the balance of the Syrian test account was $33. TikTok had taken 69% of the value of the gifts." TikTok told the BBC its commission was "significantly less than 70%" but "declined to confirm the exact amount" (BBC News, October 12, 2022). It was one test, on an account obtained through a TikTok-affiliated agency, and TikTok sets rewards at its discretion, so treat it as a single data point from 2022, not today's rate.

If you see a fixed dollar value per Diamond quoted elsewhere, ask for its source: none of the TikTok pages cited here publishes one. Other platforms do publish a split. Kick tells streamers "You keep 95% of all revenue you receive, the other 5% is taken as a processing fee", covering "KICKs revenue — when a Viewer sends you KICKs during your stream" (Kick Help Center, read October 7, 2026). Our guide to how much Kick pays streamers has the details.

Rules to know before you buy Coins

Before you buy, know that Coins and Gifts are for users 18 or older, Gifts cannot be refunded, Coins bought directly from TikTok cannot be refunded, and Coins cannot be resold or transferred. These rules come from TikTok's Help Center and its US Virtual Items Policy, both read October 7, 2026.

• Age (Help Center): "You must be at least 18 years old (or 19 in South Korea) to access Coins and Gifts."
• Gifts cannot be refunded (Virtual Items Policy): because Gifts are "consumed immediately upon activation, they are not returnable or refundable in any circumstances".
• Refunds depend on where you bought (Virtual Items Policy): for "Coins purchased directly from TikTok", "Coins are not returnable or refundable." For Google Play purchases you ask TikTok through "Report a problem" in your profile settings; for the Apple App Store and other stores "you will have to directly contact the relevant app store". If a refund succeeds and your balance is short, TikTok may deduct "the applicable amount from your future Coin purchases."
• No resale or transfers (Virtual Items Policy): "You cannot buy, sell, assign, transfer or exchange Virtual Items outside of the Platform".
• Closed accounts (Virtual Items Policy): if your account is deactivated or terminated before you use your Virtual Items, including any Coins, "you will not be entitled to a refund or any additional access to, or value from, such Virtual Items, unless required by applicable law".
• Who can gift (Help Center): Business Accounts and government, politician and political party accounts "are ineligible to send Gifts or receive Gifts" on videos, and TikTok may restrict purchases "if unusual or suspicious transactions are detected on your account".

Are cheap TikTok Coins from other sites safe?

No, not from sellers who load Coins into your account. TikTok's US Virtual Items Policy says "Virtual Items can only be purchased or received from TikTok USDS Joint Venture", the company named in that policy as providing them. An official TikTok gift card is different: it is one of the channels TikTok lists, and you redeem it yourself on TikTok's website with the card's PIN, where gift-card redemption is offered. Never hand your TikTok login to anyone selling Coins. The policy also says TikTok "may terminate or suspend your right to access Virtual Items, or to buy Coins, immediately and without notice" if it believes you have broken its rules.

What this means if you are growing on TikTok

For viewers, the price side is transparent: just over a cent per Coin, with TikTok's own recharge page advertising savings of "around 25%". For creators, Gifts are one income line among several, and their value depends on factors TikTok controls. To turn on LIVE Gifts, TikTok's LIVE Gifts page (read October 7, 2026) says you must live where the feature is available, "Be 18 years of age or older (or 19 in South Korea)" and "Be eligible to go LIVE".

Our guide to how many followers you need to go LIVE on TikTok covers that last step, and TikTok monetization requirements covers the other programs. For income beyond Gifts, see how much TikTokers make or run your own numbers in the TikTok money calculator.

If you are tempted to inflate a LIVE instead, read TikTok's rule first. Its Community Guidelines say "We don’t allow accounts that mislead or try to manipulate our platform, or the trade of services that artificially boost engagement or trick the recommendation system" (TikTok Community Guidelines, read October 6, 2026). The US Virtual Items Policy adds that if TikTok believes a user's popularity "has been influenced by a breach of our Terms of Service, Community Guidelines", TikTok "may apply a proportionate reduction to the number of Diamonds collected by that user at its sole discretion."

A higher viewer count does not by itself add Gifts: viewers activate Gifts with Coins. If you are researching paid LIVE viewers anyway, our TikTok LIVE views page ranks two sellers on their published terms, and HowSociable may earn a commission if you buy through it.

The short version

• TikTok Coins are digital items you buy from TikTok and spend on Gifts, Promote and Star Comments.
• At tiktok.com pack prices (October 7, 2026), 1,000 Coins work out to $10.33 to $10.43, and bigger packs are not meaningfully cheaper per Coin.
• TikTok's recharge page advertises savings of "around 25%" through "a lower third-party service fee", and its policy says the cost per Coin depends on where you buy.
• You must be 18 or older (19 in South Korea), and Coins cannot be exchanged for cash.
• Gifting does not transfer money to the creator; TikTok uses Gifts activated in a LIVE to measure their popularity in Diamonds.
• TikTok publishes no payout rate; a 2022 BBC test, the clearest public measurement we found, saw the creator's account keep $33 of $106 in Gifts.
• Gifts cannot be refunded, Coins bought directly from TikTok are not refundable, and Coins cannot be resold or transferred.

Next, convert any amount with the TikTok Coins to USD calculator, check whether you can go LIVE on TikTok, or compare what Kick pays streamers.

Sourcing: prices were read from tiktok.com/coin as served to a logged-out US visitor on October 7, 2026. Rules are quoted from TikTok's US Virtual Items Policy and US Rewards Policy (both last updated January 22, 2026) and its Help Center pages on Gifts and Coins, video Gifts, LIVE Gifts, Fan Club and Diamonds, all read October 7, 2026, and from its Community Guidelines, read October 6, 2026. The gift test is a BBC News investigation (published October 12, 2022, read October 7, 2026), a secondary source. Kick's split is from its Help Center, read October 7, 2026. HowSociable did not buy Coins or send Gifts for this article.