YouTube monetization works through the YouTube Partner Program, which requires meeting subscriber and watch-time thresholds. Creators then earn a share of ad revenue and other income.
Requirements
YouTube Partner Program: 1,000 subscribers and either 4,000 public watch hours in 12 months or 10 million Shorts views in 90 days. A lower tier (500 subscribers) offers fan funding.
Revenue
Creators keep 55% of long-form ad revenue, and 45% goes to YouTube.
Other income
Memberships, Super Chat, Shopping and Premium revenue.
Pay
RPM is typically $1 to $10 per 1,000 views, depending on niche.
Rules
Original content and following guidelines.
Requirements
To join the YouTube Partner Program, channels need to meet thresholds. The base tier requires 1,000 subscribers and either 4,000 valid public watch hours in the past 12 months or 10 million valid public Shorts views in the past 90 days. Since 2023, YouTube added a lower tier with 500 subscribers, 3 public uploads in 90 days, and either 3,000 watch hours or 3 million Shorts views for access to fan funding features.
- Creators must follow monetization policies and have 2-step verification on.
- Creators receive 55 percent of ad revenue on long-form videos, while YouTube keeps 45 percent. Shorts creators get 45 percent of the revenue pool allocated to creators.
- RPM (revenue per 1,000 views) varies from about 1 to 10 USD or more by niche, audience location and format.
Other income
Other income sources include channel memberships, Super Chat, Super Thanks, merchandise shelf and YouTube Premium revenue share. Payments go through AdSense after earnings reach 100 USD. Content with copyright or advertiser-unfriendly issues can be limited or demonetized. Reused content policy requires original, value-added content.
Requirements
YouTube Partner Program requires at least 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 public watch hours in 12 months, or 10 million public Shorts views in 90 days, and the 500 subscribers tier with lower thresholds for fan funding. Creators receive 55 percent of ad revenue from long videos and 45 percent from Shorts pool revenue.
Other income
Channel memberships, Super Chat, merchandise and sponsorships add income. Revenue per thousand views varies from about 1 to 10 USD or more by niche. Taxes apply.
Income streams and rates
Besides ads, YouTube creators earn from Super Chat, memberships, Super Thanks and merchandise shelves. Revenue per 1,000 views (RPM) ranges from about 1 to 4 USD for entertainment and 10 to 30 USD for finance niches. YouTube paid out more than 70 billion USD to creators, artists and media companies over the three years to 2024, according to the company.
Policy and taxes
Monetization requires following advertiser friendly content guidelines, original content policies and a linked AdSense account. Creators receive a 1099 in the US and owe self employment tax of 15.3 percent on net earnings. Reused content and mass produced videos can be demonetized.
Based on data from YouTube and the Internal Revenue Service
