Portfolio Subscriptions & Monetization
Monetize your trading strategies by charging subscribers, or subscribe to top traders' portfolios.
# Portfolio Subscriptions & Monetization
NexusTrade lets you **earn money** by sharing your trading portfolios — or **subscribe** to top traders to access their strategies, positions, and trade signals.
## Portfolio Subscriptions vs. Platform Subscriptions
NexusTrade has **two completely separate subscription systems**:
| | Platform Subscription | Portfolio Subscription |
|---|---|---|
| **What is it?** | Your NexusTrade plan (Observer, Data-Driven Investor, etc.) | A monthly fee to access another user's shared portfolio |
| **Who do you pay?** | NexusTrade | The portfolio creator (via Stripe) |
| **What do you get?** | Platform features: AI tokens, optimizations, backtesting, live trading | Access to a specific portfolio's strategies, positions, and copy trading |
| **Can you have both?** | Yes — you need a platform subscription AND a portfolio subscription if the portfolio is monetized | Yes |
| **Required to subscribe to others?** | No — even free-tier users can subscribe to monetized portfolios | N/A |
**Key takeaway:** A free-tier user can subscribe to and copy trade a monetized portfolio. The platform subscription controls your own strategy-building tools and limits. The portfolio subscription controls access to someone else's portfolio.
## For Creators: Monetizing Your Portfolio
### Requirements
To monetize a portfolio, you need:
1. **A paid NexusTrade subscription** (Data-Driven Investor or higher)
2. **A Stripe Connect account** — NexusTrade uses [Stripe Connect](https://stripe.com/connect) to handle payments. You'll set one up directly in the app.
3. **Approval** — Your monetization request must be approved before subscribers can pay you.
### Setting Up Monetization
1. Navigate to your **[portfolio dashboard](/portfolio)** and click **Settings → Share Portfolio**.
2. Select **Monetized** as the share mode.
3. Set your **monthly subscription fee** (e.g., $10/month, $25/month, $50/month — you choose, up to $999/month).
4. If you haven't already, you'll be guided through **Stripe Connect onboarding** to set up your payout account.
5. Submit for approval. Once approved, your portfolio goes live on the [Community](/community) page.
### The Approval Process
To maintain quality in the marketplace, monetization requests require approval. When you submit, you'll provide:
- **Your name** — First and last name for your creator profile
- **Years of trading experience** — Helps subscribers understand your background
- **Social links (optional)** — LinkedIn, YouTube, TikTok, or Instagram to build credibility
- **Strategy description** — A brief explanation of your trading approach and what subscribers can expect
The NexusTrade team reviews requests to ensure creators meet basic quality standards. Most approvals complete within a few business days. This step is **only required for monetization** — free sharing (Public or Specific Emails mode) is instant and requires no approval.
### Platform Fees
NexusTrade takes a small platform fee from each subscriber payment. The fee depends on your NexusTrade subscription tier — higher tiers keep more of each payment:
| Plan | Platform Fee | Creator Keeps | Can Monetize? |
|------|-------------|---------------|---------------|
| Observer (Free) | — | — | No |
| Data-Driven Investor | 20% | 80% | Yes |
| Algorithmic Trader | 10% | 90% | Yes |
| Unstoppable Quant | 5% | 95% | Yes |
**Example:** If you're on the Algorithmic Trader plan and charge $20/month, you keep $18/month per subscriber (90%), and NexusTrade retains $2/month (10%).
### What Subscribers See
When someone subscribes to your monetized portfolio, they get:
- **Full performance history** — Returns, drawdowns, Sharpe/Sortino ratios
- **All positions** — Current holdings with quantities and values
- **Trade history** — Every buy/sell with timestamps
- **Copy trading** — Automatic real-time trade mirroring
- **Strategy details** — Unless you enable strategy obfuscation
If you **obfuscate strategies**, subscribers can still copy trade and see your performance, but they won't see your strategy conditions — protecting your trading edge while still allowing them to follow your trades.
## For Subscribers: Following Top Traders
### Discovering Portfolios
Browse the **[Community](/community)** page to find portfolios to follow. Monetized portfolios display a premium badge and their monthly subscription fee.
### Subscribing
1. Click on a monetized portfolio to view its details and performance metrics.
2. Click **"Subscribe"** to see the subscription details — fee, performance stats, and what you'll get.
3. Click **"Subscribe $X/month"** — you'll be taken to Stripe Checkout to enter payment details.
4. After payment, you immediately get full access to the portfolio.
### What You Get as a Subscriber
- **Real-time portfolio data** — See exactly what the creator holds
- **Full trade history** — Every transaction with timestamps
- **Copy trading** — Set up automatic trade mirroring so your portfolio tracks the creator's moves
- **Strategy cloning** — Fork the creator's strategies to your own portfolio and customize them (if not obfuscated)
- **Performance analytics** — Sharpe ratio, Sortino ratio, max drawdown, and more
### Managing Your Subscription
- View all active subscriptions from your **[portfolio](/portfolio)** page.
- **Cancel anytime** — Your access continues until the end of the current billing period.
- **Resume** — If you cancel, you can reactivate before your access expires.
- When a subscription expires, any active copy trading strategies connected to that portfolio are automatically paused, and you'll receive a notification.
## Sharing Portfolios for Free
Not interested in charging money? You can still share portfolios for free:
- **Public mode** — Share your portfolio link with anyone. They can view your performance, strategies, and copy trade — all at no cost.
- **Specific Emails mode** — Share privately with friends, family, or a trading group by entering their email addresses. Only those users can access your portfolio.
Free sharing is available on **all plans**, including the free Observer tier. No Stripe Connect account or approval needed.
> **Tip:** Free sharing is a great way to collaborate with friends, share your track record publicly, or build an audience before monetizing.