You make money on YouTube in eight ways. Seven run through the YouTube Partner Program (YPP): ad revenue, Shorts revenue, YouTube Premium revenue, channel memberships, Super Chat and Super Stickers, Super Thanks, and YouTube Shopping. The eighth is direct income from sponsors, affiliate programs and your own products, which pay you directly and need no YouTube approval.
Ads need 1,000 subscribers plus 4,000 qualified watch hours in 12 months or 10 million qualified Shorts views in 90 days. Fan funding and Shopping open earlier, at 500 subscribers. Long-form creators keep 55% of ad revenue on their videos, and Shorts creators get 45% of their allocation from the Shorts creator pool.
Every Way to Make Money on YouTube
There are eight income streams on YouTube, and each one has its own entry bar. The table shows what each needs and who pays you. A channel can earn from several of them at once.
| Income stream | What you need | Who pays you | Opens at |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ad revenue (long-form) | YPP ad tier | YouTube, 55% of ad revenue on your videos | 1,000 subs + 4,000 hours or 10M Shorts views |
| Shorts revenue | YPP ad tier | YouTube, 45% of your Shorts pool allocation | Same as ads |
| YouTube Premium revenue | YPP ad tier | YouTube, from Premium members who watch you | Same as ads |
| Channel memberships | Expanded YPP | Viewers, monthly | 500 subs + 3,000 hours or 3M Shorts views |
| Super Chat and Super Stickers | Expanded YPP | Viewers, during live streams and Premieres | Same as memberships |
| Super Thanks | Expanded YPP | Viewers, on uploaded videos | Same as memberships |
| YouTube Shopping | Expanded YPP | Sales of products you tag | Same as memberships |
| Sponsors, affiliates, own products | Nothing from YouTube | Brands, affiliate programs, your customers | Day one |
The thresholds in the table come from YouTube’s help pages. The expanded tier also needs 3 valid public uploads in the last 90 days. Our YouTube monetization requirements page lists every rule, and how to get monetized on YouTube turns them into a plan.
Ad Revenue and Shorts Revenue
Ad revenue pays you 55% of the money advertisers spend on your long-form videos. It is the stream most people mean by “YouTube money”, and it scales with views.
RPM (revenue per mille, the amount you earn per 1,000 views) varies widely by niche, audience country and format. A finance or tech video watched in a high-ad-spend country earns far more per view than an entertainment Short. Two channels with the same views can earn very different amounts, so ignore any article that promises one “YouTube pays $X per 1,000 views” figure. Your own RPM shows in YouTube Analytics once you are monetized.
Shorts pay differently. Ad money from the Shorts feed goes into a pool, music licensing costs come out, the rest is split by engaged views, and you keep 45% of your allocation. For most channels, Shorts earn far less per view than long-form. The details are in YouTube Shorts monetization.
YouTube Premium revenue also comes with the ad tier. When Premium members watch your videos, you get a share of their subscription money, so ad-free viewers still pay you.
Fan Funding From Memberships and Viewer Tips
Fan funding opens in the expanded YouTube Partner Program at 500 subscribers, 3 valid public uploads in the last 90 days, and either 3,000 qualified watch hours in 12 months or 3 million qualified Shorts views in 90 days. It pays when viewers choose to give.
- Channel memberships. Viewers pay monthly for perks you set, such as badges, members-only posts or early access. Members give you recurring income that does not move with your view count.
- Super Chat and Super Stickers. Viewers pay to pin a highlighted message or animated sticker during a live stream or Premiere. Live streamers with chatty audiences earn most here.
- Super Thanks. Viewers tip on a regular uploaded video, and their comment gets highlighted.
Fan funding suits channels with a loyal, smaller audience better than ads do. A channel with 2,000 devoted viewers can earn more from memberships than from ads on the same views. Memberships take work, because you deliver the perks every month. Our channel memberships guide covers levels, perks and the 70% revenue share.
YouTube Shopping
YouTube Shopping lets you tag products in your videos, Shorts and live streams so viewers can buy without leaving YouTube. It opens with the expanded tier. You can tag your own merch or, in some regions, products from other brands for a commission.
Shopping fits channels whose videos already show products: reviews, hauls, setups, cooking, beauty. A product tagged in a Short gives the viewer a buy button at the moment they want it. Channels that never show products will see little from it.
Sponsorships and Brand Deals
Sponsorships pay you a flat fee to mention or feature a brand in a video. They do not need YPP, so a small channel can earn from them before ads. One sponsor read can pay more than the ad revenue on the same video, because the fee is agreed up front instead of earned per view.
Brands judge you mainly on the audience and views per video, and total subscribers count for less. A channel about one software tool or one hobby can pitch sponsors well before it reaches 1,000 subscribers. Our guides to pitching brands and what to charge for a sponsored post cover the outreach and the price. Send a media kit with your first pitch. The free media kit template gives you the layout.
Sponsored videos need a clear disclosure. The FTC Endorsement Guides, revised in 2023, require you to disclose any material connection clearly and conspicuously in the video itself and in the description. Turn on YouTube’s paid promotion label as well, but do not rely on it alone. Saying out loud near the start that the brand sponsored the video, and writing “Sponsored” or “#ad” at the top of the description, are plain ways to do it.
Affiliate Links and Your Own Products
Affiliate links pay you a commission when a viewer buys through your link. They work from your first upload, which makes them the first income for many new channels. The Amazon Influencer Program is one option, and it requires a social account such as YouTube. Amazon reviews your engagement without publishing a hard follower number. It pays commission through a storefront and shoppable videos, at rates that vary by category.
Software companies, online courses and gear brands run their own affiliate programs, with commission rates set in each program’s terms. Put the link in the description and pinned comment, and say in the video that it is an affiliate link. The FTC treats affiliate commissions as a material connection that needs the same disclosure as a sponsor.
Your own products keep the full margin on each sale, because no brand or affiliate program sets your share. Common options include:
- Digital downloads such as templates, presets or guides
- Courses or coaching that teach what your videos show
- Services, such as editing or consulting, sold to viewers
- Merch, which can also be tagged through YouTube Shopping
A product works when your videos already prove you can solve a problem. A cooking channel selling a meal-plan PDF matches what its viewers came for more closely than one selling hoodies.
Which Income Streams to Start With
Start with the streams your channel size can reach. For most channels, this sequence works:
- Affiliate links from the first video. They cost nothing and pay from the first sale.
- Sponsors once views per video are steady. A consistent niche matters more than the subscriber count.
- Fan funding at 500 subscribers. Apply the day you qualify for the expanded tier.
- Ads and Shorts revenue at 1,000 subscribers. Ads add income on top of everything else.
- Your own product once viewers ask for more. Repeat questions in the comments show you what to sell.
This order is wrong for some channels. A live-streaming channel should push memberships and Super Chat early. A channel in a niche brands avoid will rely on ads and fan funding. A faceless channel can follow the same list, as long as its videos add original value. YouTube automation shows where the policy line sits.
Who Should Not Count on YouTube Income
YouTube is a slow income source, because ad money cannot start until a channel clears the thresholds and passes about a month of review. If you need money within a few months, YouTube is the wrong main plan. Paid UGC work, where brands pay you to film ads for their own accounts, pays without an audience. The UGC creator hub explains how it works.
Our recommendation to start with affiliates and sponsors would change if YouTube lowered the ad tier thresholds or raised the 55% and 45% shares. Updated YPP terms take effect February 1, 2027, and creators must accept them in YouTube Studio by January 31, 2027. YouTube’s help page does not say the thresholds or shares will change.
All of this income is taxable. In the US it counts as self-employment income, with 15.3% self-employment tax once net earnings reach $400. The Modern Wallet’s guide to how much to set aside for taxes shows the math.
Your next step to make money on YouTube is to add one relevant affiliate link to your best-performing video description this week.