DeviantArt Bet Big on Generative AI — And It Paid Off Handsomely

For years, DeviantArt was written off as a relic of the early internet. As users migrated to Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok in the 2010s, and especially after the platform embraced AI-generated art, many predicted its inevitable decline or even death.

Instead, DeviantArt has staged one of the most unlikely comebacks in the creative industry.

In 2025, creators on the platform earned a staggering $23 million through sales of their artwork. That figure is 11 times higher than in 2022 and exceeds the total earnings of all creators on DeviantArt across the previous five years combined. A significant portion of this revenue came from subscriptions to exclusive content, prints, commissions, and other direct fan support.

From Ad-Supported Decline to Creator-First Revival

The turnaround didn’t happen by accident.

DeviantArt Bet Big on Generative AI — And It Paid Off Handsomely After being acquired by Wix in 2017, the platform underwent a multi-year transformation. In 2023, DeviantArt made a bold and controversial move: it completely removed third-party advertising from the site. Instead of renting out its users’ attention to advertisers, the company decided to bet everything on the success of its creators.

As CEO Moti Levy (Wannabby) wrote in a recent journal post:
> “Today, DeviantArt only makes money when our artists make money.”

DeviantArt Bet Big on Generative AI — And It Paid Off Handsomely The platform shifted its entire business model toward building a true creator economy. It invested heavily in tools that help artists monetize directly — from better storefronts and subscription features to improved discovery and community engagement.

At the same time, DeviantArt launched DreamUp, its own generative AI art tool. The decision sparked fierce backlash from many traditional artists who feared AI would flood the platform and devalue human-created work. Yet it also attracted a new wave of users and creators eager to experiment with AI as a creative tool.

The result? User growth accelerated. By 2025, DeviantArt had surpassed 110 million registered users (more than triple the number at the time of the Wix acquisition). Daily active users, submissions, watches, comments, and favorites all showed sustained upward trends.

Embracing All Forms of Creativity

Levy framed the AI decision as deliberate and philosophical:
> “This was a deliberate choice, made with the conviction that it would expand access to creativity, welcome new types of creators, and become a vital tool for the next generation of artists.”

Rather than picking sides in the AI vs. human art debate, DeviantArt chose to become a “full-spectrum home for creators” — supporting traditional art, digital art, and AI-generated work alike, while introducing transparency features like AI tagging.

While some artists left in protest, many others stayed or joined, and overall platform activity and monetization grew significantly.

A Rare Success Story in the AI Era

DeviantArt Bet Big on Generative AI — And It Paid Off Handsomely DeviantArt’s revival offers a fascinating case study. While many creative platforms struggled with declining engagement or ad fatigue, DeviantArt proved that putting creators first — even at the cost of short-term ad revenue — can create a more sustainable and vibrant ecosystem.

By removing ads, embracing new tools like generative AI, and doubling down on direct monetization, the platform didn’t just survive — it thrived.

In the CEO’s own words, the transformation is now complete:
> “The network isn’t ‘coming back.’ It already has. BIG time!”

For an internet dinosaur once left for dead, DeviantArt has quietly unlocked a new growth level — proving that betting on artists (and giving them modern tools) can still be a winning strategy.