Reward limits reference: contest tier caps and leaderboard winners

This reference explains the settings that determine how many creators win at each reward level. A contest's Winner limit and a leaderboard's Winners field look similar but have different meanings and different defaults.

Compare the limit fields

Leaving a leaderboard's winner count blank does not make that level unlimited. Entering zero in a contest winner-limit field does not configure a tier with zero available spots; the editor clears that optional limit. To stop offering a tier, remove or change the reward configuration instead.

Set a contest cap on each tier

1. Open the contest's reward settings.
2. Add or select a tier and set its GMV, post-count, and/or views requirements.
3. Configure its reward and enter an optional Winner limit in that tier's reward section.
4. Repeat for other tiers. Each tier can have its own cap or be unlimited.
5. Leave Automatically assign tiers enabled for metric-based allocation, or disable it if the brand will assign tiers manually.
6. Preview and save. Review the campaign budget separately if it is enabled.

A tier must have at least one positive requirement. Use the add/remove requirement controls to choose which metrics it requires. All positive requirements on a tier must be satisfied together. Removing the views requirement, for example, is different from reducing the reward or the winner limit.

Example: a limited top tier with an unlimited lower tier

• Lower tier: three qualifying videos, $50 reward, no winner limit.
• Higher tier: five qualifying videos and $500 qualifying GMV, $150 reward, winner limit of two.

With automatic assignment, the higher tier can have two winners. A later creator who meets that tier's thresholds can fall back to the lower $50 tier if they meet its requirements. They do not receive $150 merely because their metrics are high enough, and they do not receive $150 plus $50.

If the lower tier also has a cap and is full, a creator may receive no tier. If a total budget is enabled, available funding can further reduce funded winners. Unlimited lower-tier spots are not unlimited money when a campaign cash budget is active.

What decides who gets a limited spot?

Automatic allocation uses the qualifying content timeline and the available metrics to determine qualification order. It does not award priority based on when a creator joined, when an application was approved, or when a manual link was submitted. Later-arriving TikTok data can affect allocation before finalization.

A full higher tier can cascade to a lower qualifying tier. Each creator is assigned a single tier for the period. Read the actual assigned tier and payment state when resolving a dispute, rather than treating every passed threshold as another payout.

Manual tier assignment

When automatic assignment is off, the brand-set tier is the source of the creator's reward. Passing a threshold does not fill in a tier automatically, and a creator with no assigned tier has no assigned reward. Do not promise that the automatic first-qualifier allocation will make manual assignments for the brand; review manual awards and available funding explicitly.

Set leaderboard winners at each reward level

1. Open the leaderboard's reward settings.
2. For each rank/reward card, choose cash, prize, or both.
3. In Winners, enter how many consecutive placements receive that card's reward, or leave it blank for one.
4. Add another reward card for the next group of placements.
5. Check the placement ranges and rewards in the preview before saving.

The editor accepts whole-number winner counts from one through 100 per reward card. Add another card if you need another group; 100 is not a single campaign-wide winner limit. The optional winner count is independent for every card.

Example: three reward levels

This configuration funds nine winning placements and $925 in cash. “Three winners at $100” means $100 each, not a $100 pot divided three ways. The second card does not assign three creators the same competitive score; it gives three consecutive placements the same reward.

If you change the first card from one winner to two, the later cards' placement ranges shift. Recheck the preview after changing counts, adding a card, or removing a card. A card's editor label is not enough to infer the final placement range.

Qualification and unfilled places

A leaderboard's optional minimum qualification threshold applies across the leaderboard, in the selected ranking metric's unit. It is not a separate GMV minimum or maximum for each reward card. A creator must qualify before they can fill a rewarded placement.

If there are fewer qualifying creators than configured places, unfilled places do not automatically increase the remaining winners' payment. Being below the minimum is not cured by the existence of an unused prize position.

Winner count is not a tie policy. Do not infer that tied scores split a prize, receive extra places, or all receive a grouped reward; confirm the finalized ranked placements.

Cash, prize, or cash plus prize on each tier/rank

The reward dropdown is configured per card. You can mix a cash-only card with a prize-only card and another card offering both.

• Cash: enter the creator's cash amount. Selecting cash-only clears the prize rows for that card.
• Prize: add a named physical/non-cash prize. Selecting prize-only clears its cash amount.
• Both: keep the cash amount and prize information you intend to award together.

The contest/leaderboard reward editor supports up to two prize entries per card, with a title and optional image for each. Every prize row you keep needs a title. A blank prize row can prevent saving; remove the unused row rather than leaving it empty.

A tier/card needs an actual reward: a positive cash amount and/or a named prize. For a leaderboard group, every winning creator gets the stated reward package. For example, three winners each receiving $100 plus a named product means $300 total cash and a product for each winner. It is not one physical item shared between three winners.

Physical items are fulfilled by the brand. Reward limits do not check warehouse inventory, and a cash transfer does not mark a prize as shipped.

Related references

Read Contest allocation and budgets, Leaderboard ranking, and Race rates and caps for the rest of each campaign's rules.