Here is how to go live on TikTok: open the app, tap + at the bottom centre, swipe across the capture modes to LIVE, add a title, and tap Go LIVE. You must be 18 or older, and most guides report a 1,000-follower threshold, so check that LIVE shows up in your + menu before you plan anything.
If you sell on TikTok Shop, a LIVE is one piece of a week that also includes short videos, and those videos are where the editing hours go. Upload a raw take and get your first clip cut free, no card.
Everything below was checked on 22 Oct 2026. TikTok changes these rules often, so treat your own + menu as the final word.
How to go live on TikTok, step by step
On your phone:
- Open TikTok and tap + at the bottom centre.
- Swipe across the modes at the bottom of the capture screen until you reach LIVE.
- Add a title. Livepush puts the limit at about 32 characters.
- Pick a topic.
- Set moderators and keyword filters.
- Check your framing and lighting.
- Tap Go LIVE. After a 3-second countdown you are broadcasting.
- To end, tap the power icon or End LIVE (Livepush, Teachable).
Do steps 4 and 5 every time. Moderators and keyword filters are easier to set before viewers arrive than after.
Who can go live
- Age: 18 or older to host. TikTok raised it from 16 in late 2022, so older articles saying 16 are out of date. Sending or receiving gifts needs 18, or 19 in South Korea (Teachable, Livepush, FrameOS).
- Followers: Most guides say 1,000, "may vary across regions" (Teachable, Livepush, StreamHouse). FrameOS reports that TikTok's "What is TikTok LIVE?" help page was rewritten by Nov 2025 to say you must "meet a local threshold of minimum followers", with no number. Treat 1,000 as the commonly reported figure. Your + menu is the test.
If the LIVE button is missing
Check these, in order:
- Follower count against the threshold above.
- A birthday on file that shows you are 18 or older.
- Recent Community Guidelines violations or a LIVE restriction on the account.
- Whether LIVE is available in your region.
- An outdated app. Update it.
If you qualify on every point and still see no button, go to Settings and privacy, then Report a problem, then LIVE (Teachable, Livepush, StreamHouse). Do not buy followers or pay anyone for a "LIVE access" service.
Going live from a computer
TikTok LIVE Studio is free on Windows and macOS. It runs its own access check, and it has an "Apply for LIVE access" form for streamers already established on other platforms. Streaming with a stream key through OBS needs separate permission, and keys are issued per session (Livepush, Teachable, StreamHouse). FrameOS notes that comment approval, keyword blocking, pinning and translation are app-only. For shoppable LIVEs, where you pin products, the phone is the default.
What TikTok Shop adds for affiliates
These are US rules from TikTok Shop's Creator Eligibility Policy, updated 09/25/2026.
- Self-applied Affiliate Creators need 1,000+ followers, must be 18+, US-based, and pass identity verification.
- An older TikTok Shop Academy Creator Center page, dated 05/13/2026, still says 5,000+. I treat the 09/25/2026 policy as current.
- Account-wide, effective 11 May 2026: up to 30 shoppable short videos and 60 shoppable photo posts per day.
The Affiliate Creator Pilot
Under 5,000 followers, for at least 30 days, you are in the pilot:
- Only products with a Shop Performance Score of 95%+.
- Up to 3 shoppable product videos per day and 3 shoppable LIVEs per week.
- No campaigns.
- Extended Pilot: 3 shoppable videos per week and 1 shoppable LIVE per week.
- To graduate: 5,000 followers plus 30 days.
- Early graduation: pass the probation quiz, reach 176+ Creator Health Rating points, and do one of these: 6+ shoppable videos of 8+ seconds, 1 LIVE of 5+ minutes promoting Shop products, or 10 orders.
Rules for the LIVE itself
Per OneStream, citing TikTok Shop Academy, a Shop LIVE needs a real host speaking in real time. Looping prerecorded video or audio, static images and product-page images are flagged as violations. So are medical or weight-loss claims and sending buyers off-platform.
A LIVE runs in real time with you hosting, and the edited short videos promote it.
Worked example: one affiliate LIVE week
All numbers here are illustrative. They show the workload.
The affiliate: US-based, 3,200 followers, in the Affiliate Creator Pilot. Limits: 3 shoppable videos per day, 3 shoppable LIVEs per week. They plan one 45-minute shoppable LIVE on Thursday at 7pm for a $30 product.
Step 1: the teaser take
They film a 4-minute talking-head take: "LIVE Thursday 7pm, demoing the $30 X." Four minutes is 240 seconds of raw footage. A take like that has pauses, a few "um"s, retakes of the opening line and a spoken slate at the start. Say trimming it by hand on a phone takes 15 minutes. That 15 is my assumption, so time your own.
A take can be up to 5 minutes long and up to 2 GB, so a 4-minute take fits. The editor on this site cuts pauses, filler words such as "um", retakes, and spoken "Clip N" slates. The finished clip is 1080×1920 (vertical 9:16) with sound in sync, ready for TikTok, Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts. It does not add captions, music, b-roll, effects or transitions.
Upload one raw take from your phone, get the first clip cut free, no card.
Step 2: the 45-minute run of show
OneStream suggests 5–8 hero products and a 45-minute run of show in these blocks: 0–5, 5–20, 20–25, 25–40 and 40–45 minutes. The labels below are my own use of those blocks:
- 0–5: say what you are showing and when each product comes up.
- 5–20: demo the first products, pinning each one as you show it.
- 20–25: re-pin the current product for people who just arrived.
- 25–40: demo the remaining products.
- 40–45: last pitch and close.
To add products, open LIVE Manager through TikTok Shop for Creators. You need at least 1 product and can add up to 100. On the phone, tap the cart icon on the Go LIVE screen, then Products, then Add All. Use Practice Mode first to test before you go live (OneStream).
A 45-minute LIVE also clears the 5-minute shoppable LIVE that counts toward the early graduation route.
Step 3: the week
3 shoppable videos a day is the pilot ceiling. Here is the ceiling used in full, with 2 of the 3 allowed LIVEs:
| Day | Shoppable videos | LIVE |
|---|---|---|
| Mon | 3 | none |
| Tue | 3 | none |
| Wed | 3 | none |
| Thu | 3 | 45 minutes at 7pm |
| Fri | 3 | none |
| Sat | 3 | none |
| Sun | 3 | 45 minutes |
That is 21 videos and 90 minutes live. If each video starts as a 4-minute take, that is 84 minutes of raw footage a week. At 15 minutes of hand trimming per take, that is 315 minutes, or 5 hours 15 minutes, before you have posted anything. Over a month, 21 videos a week comes to roughly 90.
After the first clip, plans are monthly: Starter $19 for 20 clips, Creator $49 for 60 clips, Pro $99 for 150 clips, plus sales tax where it applies. Cancel any time. Plans and prices are listed at /pricing.
Step 4: the commission arithmetic
Gross commission is eligible revenue times the seller-set rate. Creators Agency gives an example of 40 orders × $50 × 15% = $300, which falls to $225 after 10 returns.
Using the same formula with a $30 product at an illustrative 15% rate:
- One kept order: $30 × 15% = $4.50.
- 40 kept orders: $180.
- After 10 returns: $135.
This is example arithmetic. There is no single rate, sellers set their own, and returns and refunds reverse commission. Nothing here predicts sales.
Step 5: after the LIVE
Per FrameOS, citing TikTok's replay help page, the host can view, download or clip the replay for 30 days. Only the host sees replays, and viewers get no archive. Download it within the window if you want to keep it.
A note on LIVE growth claims
One site claims LIVEs bring 3–5× engagement. FrameOS argues those multipliers trace back to old Facebook stats. I would not plan around any LIVE growth number.
Your next teaser
Film the teaser on your phone, say the day, time and product once, and keep going through the mistakes. Uploaded videos are deleted 7 days after upload and finished clips 30 days after they are made, so download your clips. To get the first one cut free with no card, upload a raw take. More walkthroughs are on the blog.