Guide
How to start a TikTok LIVE agency
A TikTok LIVE agency recruits creators who go LIVE, supports them and can take part in TikTok's incentive programs. This guide covers what TikTok itself says about becoming one, the steps in order and how to organise the agency once you are approved. It promises no income: TikTok's page gives no figures.
On this page
Written for people who run, or are about to run, an agency. The facts about TikTok's rules come from TikTok's own pages, each with its link and the date we checked it. Where TikTok's page is silent, this guide says so instead of guessing, and TikTok can change its rules at any time.
What a TikTok LIVE agency is
A TikTok LIVE agency is a business that works with creators who go LIVE on TikTok. TikTok describes these businesses as its business partners on LIVE: they connect creators with tools, programs and growth opportunities, reach and develop creators, use incentive programs and tools on LIVE Backstage, and work on content quality, audience growth and monetization.
TikTok's English pages now call this a Creator Network. Its Arabic and Turkish pages call it an agency (وكالة, ajans), and agency is still the word most people search for, so this guide says agency.
It is a business of recruiting, supporting and paying people month after month. TikTok's page gives no income figures, and neither does this guide.
Source: TikTok (checked 2026-11-05): TikTok LIVE Creator Networks
What you need to start
TikTok's application page asks for these, and lists nothing else:
- A LIVE Backstage account. TikTok calls it the official operation platform for agencies, and you create the account as the first step of the application.
- Your incorporation or registration certificate, which means the agency has to be a registered business.
- Shareholding information.
- Key management and personnel information.
TikTok's page states no minimum number of creators, no follower count and no fee. It also says TikTok might ask for more information during the review. Rules like these can change, so check TikTok's current requirements before you apply.
Beyond the application, running an agency in practice needs a few things of your own: a way to find and talk to creators, a written agreement with each of them, a way to pay them, and someone to look after each creator day to day. TikTok's page does not set any of that. It is yours to decide.
Source: TikTok (checked 2026-11-05): TikTok LIVE Creator Networks, LIVE Backstage sign-up
The steps, in order
- Register your business. TikTok asks for an incorporation or registration certificate, so the agency has to exist as a registered business first. How to register depends on your country, so ask a local accountant or the company registry.
- Create a LIVE Backstage account. Start at TikTok's Creator Network sign-up (the "Set up Creator Network" button) and create an account on LIVE Backstage, the platform TikTok calls its official operation platform for agencies.
- Submit your application. Add the documents TikTok asks for: your incorporation or registration certificate, shareholding information, and key management and personnel information.
- Wait for TikTok's review. TikTok says it emails you about the status of your application, that the review usually takes 5 to 7 business days and that it might ask you for more information. TikTok can change this, so treat it as a guide and not a promise.
- Get access to LIVE Backstage. TikTok says you get access to LIVE Backstage once your application is approved. There you can operate your creators, track metrics such as Diamonds and active hours, analyze viewer engagement, manage contracts and review monthly bonuses and payouts.
- Find and recruit creators. TikTok says agencies can scout creators with tools inside LIVE Backstage, such as instant messages, see a list of potential creators and use referral programs to invite creators to join. Check TikTok's own rules on who may go LIVE, including age, before you sign anyone.
- Agree how you will pay each creator. Each agency sets its own terms. Decide which figures your pay follows, write the terms down for every creator and be clear that nothing is guaranteed. TikTok's page does not describe payout amounts, payout schedules or a revenue split, so read the terms in your own LIVE Backstage account and agreement.
- Set up your roster, team and levels. Bring your creators and staff into one place, decide who sees what and set your levels and pay rules. This is where CN Creator App helps: connect the Backstage login TikTok gave you, bring creators in by invitation, join link or spreadsheet, and let the setup assistant draft your pay rules.
Source: TikTok (checked 2026-11-05): TikTok LIVE Creator Networks, LIVE Backstage sign-up
What TikTok decides and what you decide
It helps to keep these two apart, so they are set side by side here.
| Question | Who decides | Where to check |
|---|---|---|
| Whether your agency is approved | TikTok, after you apply | TikTok's Creator Networks page and your LIVE Backstage account |
| Which documents the application needs | TikTok | TikTok's application page, which can change |
| Incentive programs and monthly bonuses | TikTok's programs; TikTok's page gives no amounts | LIVE Backstage |
| Who may go LIVE | TikTok | TikTok's page on age requirements for LIVE |
| What each creator is paid by you | You, in your agreement with that creator | Your own written terms |
| Your levels and pay rules | You | CN Creator App, or whatever tool you use |
| Who on your team sees what | You | The roles and permissions you set |
If another site quotes a number for fees, minimums or revenue shares, check it against TikTok's own page before you rely on it.
Source: TikTok (checked 2026-11-05): TikTok LIVE Creator Networks, TikTok's age requirements for LIVE, LIVE Backstage Help Center
Running the agency once you are approved
The work after approval is steady and repetitive: know who is on your roster, read each creator's month, decide who has earned what under your own rules, and keep your team and creators informed. You can start in a spreadsheet, but it gets hard as the roster grows.
CN Creator App is a management app for TikTok LIVE agencies, made by an official TikTok LIVE agency partner. It is not a TikTok product, and it starts after TikTok's approval: it reads the LIVE Backstage login TikTok gives your agency, so it cannot get you approved and it shows no figures you do not already have.
- Roster. Every creator, their month and who looks after them, read from your own Backstage account. It only reads.
- Creators and staff join. Creators come in by an invitation or through your agency's join link and are approved from a queue. Staff join with a join code, also with an approval queue. You can also import the roster from an Excel or CSV file: the app shows what it matched and saves nothing until you have checked it.
- Team. There are two staff roles, owner and agent. An agent works the creators assigned to them, and you set what each person can see and do, including whether they can see pay.
- Levels. Five activeness levels. TikTok fixes the gate for each one, and you set what each level pays. Each creator sees where they stand on the ladder.
- Pay rules. Pay follows levels or diamonds, under rules you set; every agency sets its own formula. The app works out what each creator is owed and keeps a month-by-month ledger of who is owed what; you pay outside the app. It never takes, sends, holds or processes the money.
The AI setup assistant
A new agency owner can ask the setup assistant to draft the agency's pay rules. It is optional, it is for the owner only, and it is offered to the owner of a new agency that has not set up pay yet. Before anything leaves the app, the app shows a consent screen and asks for the owner's agreement.
How it works:
- It asks a few short questions: the market most of your creators are in, how you pay your creators today, which levels you pay and how much, whether you pay the tier bonuses (Maintenance and Rank-Up), whether any creators have a different deal, how many agents you have and whether the in-app points programme is on.
- It drafts your pay rules from your answers and shows how they work. It saves nothing itself: you review the draft and tap Save.
- Nothing is final. You can change everything later in Settings, and for 7 days after saving you can undo the assistant's setup, which puts pay back the way it was.
- What the app cannot calculate yet, such as commission for agents, caps or time-limited periods, is listed as not included, not squeezed into the wrong place.
- You choose which creators a special deal applies to in the app, after the rules are saved.
The assistant records how you say you pay. If you are not sure, it offers a common starting setup that you can accept or change. If it is not offered on your account, the same levels and pay rules can be set by hand in the app.
Questions new owners ask
How do I start a TikTok LIVE agency?
You apply to TikTok. According to TikTok's Creator Networks page (checked 2026-11-05), you create an account on LIVE Backstage, submit your incorporation or registration certificate, shareholding information and key management and personnel information, and pass TikTok's review, which TikTok says usually takes 5 to 7 business days. After approval you get access to LIVE Backstage, recruit creators and set up how you run and pay them.
What do I need to become a TikTok LIVE agency?
TikTok's application page asks for a LIVE Backstage account, an incorporation or registration certificate, shareholding information, and key management and personnel information. It states no minimum number of creators, no follower count and no fee. Requirements can change, so check TikTok's current page before you apply.
How much does it cost to apply to be a TikTok LIVE agency?
TikTok's Creator Networks page does not state a fee for applying. Check TikTok's own page and your LIVE Backstage account for current terms rather than relying on a figure from another site.
How long does TikTok take to approve a LIVE agency?
TikTok says it emails you about the status of your application and that the review usually takes 5 to 7 business days, and it might ask for more information (checked 2026-11-05). That can change.
Is a TikTok LIVE agency the same as a Creator Network?
On the TikTok pages we checked, yes. TikTok's English pages use the name Creator Network, and its Arabic and Turkish pages for the same program use the word agency.
How do agencies find creators to sign?
TikTok says agencies can scout creators with tools inside LIVE Backstage, such as instant messages, see a list of potential creators and use referral programs to invite creators to join. Check TikTok's own rules on who may go LIVE, including age, before you sign anyone.
How much can a TikTok LIVE agency earn?
TikTok's page names no figures, and neither does this guide. TikTok says agencies can take part in incentive programs for monthly bonuses, so an agency's income depends on those programs and on the terms it agrees with its creators. Treat anyone who promises a figure with caution.
Do I need software to run a TikTok LIVE agency?
No. TikTok gives approved agencies LIVE Backstage to operate creators and review metrics, bonuses and payouts. Some owners add CN Creator App to keep the roster, levels and pay rules in one place. It works from the agency's own Backstage login and is not a TikTok product.
Can I use CN Creator App before TikTok approves my agency?
CN Creator App reads its figures from the agency's own TikTok Backstage account, so without one it has nothing to show. Apply to TikTok first, then connect the login TikTok gives you.
What does the AI setup assistant do?
In CN Creator App the setup assistant interviews a new agency's owner about how the agency pays its creators and drafts the pay rules from the answers. It is optional and asks for the owner's agreement on a consent screen first. It saves nothing itself: the owner reviews the draft and taps Save, and can undo the setup for 7 days afterwards.
How do creators and staff join my agency in CN Creator App?
Creators join by an invitation from the agency, through the agency's join link with the owner's approval, or by signing in with TikTok and claiming a matching roster row. Staff join with a join code that has an approval queue. A creator cannot give themselves a place on a roster.
Does CN Creator App pay my creators or hold any money?
No. CN Creator App never takes, sends, holds or processes the money between an agency and its creators and links to no payment service for it. It works out what each creator is owed under the rules the owner sets and keeps the record.
Is CN Creator App an official TikTok product?
No. It is made by an official TikTok LIVE agency partner, but CN Creator App is not a TikTok product. It reads the agency's own Backstage account on the agency's behalf, not through a TikTok API. TikTok and TikTok LIVE are trademarks of ByteDance Ltd.
TikTok sources
Every statement about TikTok's rules on this page comes from these pages, checked on 2026-11-05. TikTok can change them.
- TikTok LIVE Creator Networks: how to apply, documents, review time, LIVE Backstage: https://www.tiktok.com/live/creator-networks/en
- LIVE Backstage sign-up for Creator Networks: https://live-backstage.tiktok.com/signup/?lang=en
- LIVE Backstage Help Center: https://live-backstage.tiktok.com/helpcenter?lang=en
- TikTok's age requirements for LIVE: https://support.tiktok.com/en/safety-hc/account-and-user-safety/age-requirements-for-tiktok-live