There are 10 main ways to make money on YouTube in 2026. Only two, ads and YouTube Premium, need the Partner Program's ad tier. Sponsorships, affiliate links and your own products need no YouTube approval at all.
Memberships, Super Chat, Super Thanks and Shopping open earlier, at 500 subscribers in about 100 countries. The ad tier gets harder to reach on February 1, 2027, when new channels will need 8,000 watch hours instead of 4,000. If you're close to 4,000 hours now, I'd push to cross it and apply before then.
Key takeaways
- Only ads and YouTube Premium need the Partner Program's ad tier. Memberships, Super Chat, Super Thanks and Shopping open at 500 subscribers in about 100 countries, and sponsorships, affiliate links and your own products need no YouTube approval.
- From February 1, 2027, new channels will need 8,000 watch hours or 20 million Shorts views to join the ad tier, and monetized channels have to accept the new terms in YouTube Studio by January 31, 2027.
- In AIR Media-Tech's research of 300 monetized channels, the median RPM was $2.30 per 1,000 long-form views from May 2025 to May 2026, from $10.22 in Education & Science to $0.33 in Kids & Teens.
- Across the channels AIR Media-Tech works with, 0.5–3% of subscribers become members and 5–10% of members cancel each month.
- Distribution adds income without taking it from YouTube. Outdoors with Erik, a channel AIR Media-Tech works with, earned about as much on MSN as from AdSense in the first half of 2026, while other channels earn a few dozen dollars a month there.
10 YouTube Monetization Methods at a Glance
Each method has its own entry bar. The table shows what it needs before it can pay you and which channels it suits.
Sources: YouTube Help — Overview of the expanded YouTube Partner Program; YouTube Help — YouTube Partner Program overview & eligibility; YouTube Help — YouTube Shopping affiliate program overview & eligibility; YouTube Help — Get started with YouTube Creator Partnerships. Checked November 2026.
Eight of the ten don't need the ad tier, so a channel can start earning long before 4,000 watch hours.
How YouTube Monetization Works in 2026: The Two Partner Program Tiers
Most of YouTube's own money tools sit behind the YouTube Partner Program, and in 2026 it has two tiers.
- The 500 tier. 500 subscribers, 3 public uploads in the last 90 days, and 3,000 watch hours in the last 12 months or 3 million Shorts views in the last 90 days. It opens memberships, Super Chat, Super Stickers, Super Thanks, gifts and Shopping in about 100 countries. Elsewhere these features open with the ad tier.
- The ad tier. 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watch hours in the last 12 months or 10 million Shorts views in the last 90 days. It adds ads and Premium revenue, and watch hours from the Shorts feed don't count toward the 4,000.
Once you're in, the Earn tab in YouTube Studio shows which features you can turn on.
YouTube announced on August 10, 2026 that the ad tier gets harder to reach for new channels on February 1, 2027. The 500 tier stays the same.
Today
4,000 hours
of watch time in 12 months, or 10 million Shorts views in 90 days, plus 1,000 subscribers to join the ad tier
From February 1, 2027
8,000 hours
in 365 days, or 20 million Shorts views in 90 days, for new channels. Channels already in the program keep their status
Sources: YouTube Help — YouTube Partner Program overview & eligibility; YouTube Help — Changes to the YouTube Partner Program. Checked November 2026.
Two dates matter before then. An application that reaches YouTube by 23:59 UTC on January 31, 2027, is still reviewed against 4,000 hours, according to Olga Soshynskaya, Head of Customer Service at AIR Media-Tech, the group ScaleLab is part of. And channels already monetized have to accept the new terms in YouTube Studio by January 31, 2027, or ads and Premium stop paying on February 1 until they do. The channel stays in the program either way.
The rest of this year's rule changes are in YouTube monetization policy updates for 2026.
Ways YouTube Pays You Directly
1. Ads on Long Videos and Shorts (AdSense)
Ads are where most channels start. They come with the ad tier of the Partner Program, and long videos and Shorts earn from them by different rules.
Two terms help you read those earnings. CPM (cost per mille) is what advertisers pay for 1,000 ad impressions. RPM (revenue per mille) is what you get per 1,000 views after YouTube's share, from all your revenue on YouTube. I'd plan with RPM, because not every view shows an ad. YouTube Studio shows both, and YouTube Help explains how they're counted.
In AIR Media-Tech's research of 300 monetized channels, the median RPM was $2.30 per 1,000 long-form views, about $2,300 per million, from May 2025 to May 2026. Niche changes that number the most. In the same research, Education & Science channels had a $10.22 median RPM and Kids & Teens channels $0.33.
Sources: YouTube Help — YouTube partner earnings overview; YouTube Help — Changes to the YouTube Partner Program; State of YouTube Monetization 2026: Statistics From 300 Channels; YouTube Shorts RPM vs Long-Form: How Much Do Shorts Earn in 2026?. Checked November 2026.
YouTube finalizes each month's earnings between the 7th and 12th of the next month and pays them through AdSense between the 21st and 26th, once your balance reaches $100. If you'd rather reach the money sooner, MilX adds your channel's earnings to a balance every day once you connect it and lets you withdraw on any day in 70 currencies.
The math for a full million views is in how much YouTube pays for a million views, and Shorts get their own breakdown in how much YouTube pays for Shorts.
2. YouTube Premium Revenue
YouTube Premium members watch without ads, and YouTube shares their subscription fees with creators based on how much members watch their videos. It comes with the ad tier, so there's nothing extra to set up.
YouTube has announced how this money will be split from February 1, 2027. Creators will share a pool of 60% of net Premium Lite revenue and 30% of Premium revenue. From that pool, creators get 55% for long videos and 45% for Shorts.
I'd count Premium as a bonus that grows with watch time and plan the channel around the other methods.
Not sure which methods fit your channel?
The median channel earns $2.30 per 1,000 long-form views. We'll audit your channel's monetization and give you a plan with the methods to add first.
Ways Your Viewers Pay You on YouTube
3. Channel Memberships
Memberships let fans pay you a monthly fee for perks like loyalty badges, custom emoji, members-only videos and live streams. You can set up to six levels, each with its own price and perks, and YouTube pays you 70% of the net revenue. Channels set as made for kids can't offer them.
Across the channels AIR Media-Tech works with, 0.5–3% of subscribers become members, and 5–10% of members cancel each month. At those rates, a channel with 10,000 subscribers would have between 50 and 300 members. On some channels memberships grow into the main income. Rally Point, a Ukrainian entertainment channel AIR Media-Tech works with, got 46% of its YouTube income from memberships after six months and 60% after a year.
I'd launch memberships once the same names show up in every comment section, and give members something they can't get for free, like early access or a monthly members-only live.
4. Super Chat, Super Stickers, Super Thanks and Gifts
These let viewers pay to stand out, and each one works in its own place.
1
Super Chat and Super Stickers
Paid messages and animated stickers that stand out in the chat during live streams and Premieres
2
Super Thanks
A one-time tip on long videos and Shorts, outside live streams
3
Gifts
Viewers buy Jewels and send gifts during vertical and horizontal live streams
Sources: YouTube Help — Super Chat & Super Stickers eligibility, availability, and policies; YouTube Help — Super Thanks eligibility, availability, and policies; YouTube Help — Gifts eligibility & availability. Checked November 2026.
You need to be 18 or older to turn them on, and YouTube pays you 70% of the net revenue from Super Chat, Super Stickers and Super Thanks. Gifts pay in Rubies. Every two Jewels a viewer spends on gifts earn you one Ruby, and each Ruby is worth $0.01.
Streams earn ads too. In AIR Media-Tech's data from 404 channels across 2025 and the first quarter of 2026, channels that went live 8 or more times a month earned a median 50.2% of their ad revenue from streams. Super Chats come on top of that.
Supers follow how busy your chat is, so I'd turn them on if you stream regularly or reply under your videos. Here's how to keep viewers talking during a stream.
Ways Brands Pay You
5. Sponsorships and Brand Deals
Brands pay you to feature their product, from a short mention to a full integration or a dedicated video or Short. You don't need the Partner Program for this. I'd pitch with your average views per video and where your viewers live, because that's what a brand is buying.
Every paid deal needs a disclosure. In YouTube Studio, tick the box that says your video contains paid promotion, and YouTube adds a label at the start of the video. If you skip it and YouTube's systems spot the deal, it can add the label itself.
YouTube also matches brands and creators itself. YouTube Creator Partnerships, the program formerly called BrandConnect, lives inside YouTube Studio. It's open to Partner Program channels in 24 countries with no active Community Guidelines strikes, and you have to be 18 or older.
A clear rate card speeds deals up. pin.top puts your services, stats and prices on one link, so brands can book and pay upfront, and it works from 1,000 followers. If you'd rather have brands come to you than write cold emails, here's how to make sponsorships work without the awkward pitching.
6. Affiliate Links and YouTube Shopping
Affiliate links pay you a commission when viewers buy through your link. Programs like Amazon Associates, eBay Partner Network or ClickBank don't ask for the Partner Program. You put the links in your description or pinned comment and tell viewers they're affiliate links.
YouTube runs its own version inside Shopping. With the YouTube Shopping affiliate program, you tag products from partner retailers right in your videos and live streams.
Source: YouTube Help — YouTube Shopping affiliate program overview & eligibility. Checked November 2026.
YouTube says Shopping tags get more than twice as many clicks as links in the description, and more than 1.3 million creators already use the program. It plans to reach 35 countries by the end of 2026.
I'd start with videos that already get search traffic, like reviews, tutorials and "what I use" lists, because their links keep earning as long as the video gets views.
Ways to Sell Your Own Products
7. Merch Through Your Own Store
Merch turns your channel's name, characters or catchphrases into products, like T-shirts, mugs or prints. With YouTube Shopping you can connect your own store and show products under your videos and on your channel. That needs the Partner Program at the subscriber threshold, and your store pays you, not YouTube.
You can also skip Shopping and link the store in your description, the way Blue Turtle does under its videos.
I'd start with print-on-demand, so you don't hold stock, and with one design your comments already ask for.
8. Courses, Digital Products and Consulting
If people watch you to learn something, you can sell them the next step. That can be a course, templates, presets, an e-book or one-on-one consulting, sold on your own site or a store platform and linked from your videos. None of it needs the Partner Program.
Views matter less here than anywhere else on this list, because you earn per buyer, not per view. I'd build the first product around the question viewers ask most in your comments.
Ways to Earn Outside YouTube
9. Patreon and Other Fan Platforms
Patreon, Buy Me a Coffee and Ko-fi let fans support you outside YouTube, for extra videos, early access or a private community. They work without the Partner Program and keep paying even when YouTube changes its rules.
I'd use them for what doesn't fit on YouTube, like downloadable files or a private community.
10. Distribution and Licensing on Other Platforms
Your videos can earn a second time on other platforms. These are the main options in 2026.
- MSN. Microsoft's news and video network shares ad revenue on the videos it hosts. You can't upload there yourself. You need an invite from Microsoft or a partner from its directory.
- Facebook and other social platforms. They pay through their own creator programs when you upload natively. This video distribution platforms list compares them.
- Streaming services. Tubi, Fox's free ad-supported streaming service with 110 million monthly viewers, adds creator shows to its library as series. Since June 2025 it has added over 35,000 episodes from more than 700 creators, and AIR Media-Tech has partnered with Tubi to place more of them. Tubi wants videos that hold together as a season, with every song and clip cleared for TV.
- Licensing. News outlets and licensing agencies such as Jukin Media and Storyful pay to use original viral clips.
In AIR Media-Tech's distribution network, videos on MSN got 543 million views between October 2025 and September 2026, and earnings ranged from a few dozen dollars a month to several thousand. Outdoors with Erik, a yard cleanup channel with 499,000 subscribers, earned $41,779 on MSN from January to June 2026, about as much as it makes from AdSense.
Distribution doesn't take money away from YouTube. MSN revenue runs in parallel and doesn't cannibalize YouTube earnings, according to AIR Media-Tech's MSN team, though the views stay on MSN and won't grow your channel.
Before signing any distribution contract, I'd check which platforms it covers and whether you own every song and clip in your videos. A distribution contract should cover only the platforms it names, so your YouTube channel stays as it is.
Which Monetization Methods to Start With at Your Channel's Size
Which method to add first depends on your channel's stage. This is the order I'd follow.
1
Before the Partner Program. Sponsorships with small brands in your niche, affiliate links in reviews and tutorials, and a course or service if you teach something.
2
The 500 tier. Memberships once regulars show up, Super Thanks on your videos, Super Chat if you stream, and Shopping if you sell or recommend products.
3
The ad tier. Ads and Premium revenue switch on. Then your back catalog can earn again on MSN or Tubi.
Sources: YouTube Help — Overview of the expanded YouTube Partner Program; YouTube Help — YouTube Partner Program overview & eligibility. Checked November 2026.
If you only have time for one thing before the Partner Program, I'd pick sponsorships when your videos get steady views and affiliate links when they answer buying questions. Both pay per deal or per sale, so they work at any channel size.
A channel on the 500 tier keeps memberships, Super Chat and Super Thanks after February 1, 2027. To turn on ads after that date, it needs the new bar of 8,000 watch hours or 20 million Shorts views, according to AIR Media-Tech's partner support team.
Once ads pay, the next step is earning more from the same videos and viewers, with 24/7 streams, translated versions and Content ID. Those are in 7 ways to monetize a YouTube channel.
Still earning from ads alone?
Eight of these ten methods don't need the ad tier. We'll go through your channel and give you a plan for the next two or three to add.
ScaleLab is a force multiplier for creators, designed to help them scale their digital presence. We are a US-based company and part of AIR Media-Tech, a leading global creator ecosystem. With a suite of 30+ tools and a team of experts, we help creators grow their income, increase engagement, and protect their content through growth strategies, AI-powered content management, global localization, financial flexibility, brand-deal enablement, distribution, live streaming, and channel safety services. ScaleLab is a YouTube Certified Partner.
