YouTube Monetization Requirements

Right now: 1,000 subscribers, plus either 4,000 qualified watch hours in the last 12 months or 10 million qualified Shorts views in the last 90 days. There is also a lower 500 subscriber tier that unlocks fan funding but not ads.

From 1 February 2027 the bar for new applicants doubles, to 8,000 qualified watch hours or 20 million qualified Shorts views, still with 1,000 subscribers. And there is a deadline on 31 January 2027 that stops your earnings if you miss it, which almost nobody is writing about.

Every figure on this page was read from YouTube’s own help pages and blog on 9 October 2026, and each one is linked so you can check it.

The Requirements Right Now

There are two tiers, and most articles only describe the top one. Per YouTube’s eligibility page and the monetization modules page:

The two monetization tiers, as YouTube states them today

The two routes cannot be combined. YouTube is explicit: watch hours from Shorts in the Shorts Feed do not count toward the 4,000 hour threshold, and long form views do not count toward the Shorts threshold. If you are at 2,000 watch hours and 4 million Shorts views, you have met neither, and that surprises a lot of people.

Worth checking before you plan around the lower tier: it is limited by country. If yours is not on YouTube’s published list, that route is not open to you and the 1,000 subscriber threshold is your only path.

What Actually Counts as a Qualified Watch Hour

This is the section that explains why people sit at 3,800 hours for months without understanding what is missing, and it is the part most articles skip entirely. YouTube’s Creator Liaison published the definitions in August 2026.

Watch hours qualify when they come from public long form videos, podcasts included, or archived livestreams. Shorts views qualify when they come from public Shorts and are engaged views, meaning the viewer stayed past the initial seconds. Loops do not count. YouTube does not say how many seconds, so treat anyone who gives you a number as guessing.

What does not count, from YouTube’s own lists

Four of those catch people out repeatedly.

• Unlisted videos earn you nothing toward the threshold. If you unlisted old uploads to tidy the channel, you removed those hours from your count
• Deleting a video removes its hours retroactively. Clearing out weak early videos can move you backwards
• Livestreams must be archived. A stream that was never converted to video on demand contributed nothing, however long it ran
• Paid promotion does not count. Views and watch time generated by running ads for your own video are excluded, so buying traffic to reach the threshold does not work. Only the follow-on views count

The last one is worth stating bluntly because the search results for this topic are full of services selling watch hours. Bought watch time does not qualify, and paying for it risks the channel rather than monetising it.

If the Shorts route is the one you are chasing, there is a second step after qualifying that catches people out: a separate Shorts Monetization Module to accept, with no backdating of views. YouTube Shorts monetization covers it along with how the Creator Pool actually pays.

Everything Else You Need Besides the Numbers

Hitting a threshold is necessary and not sufficient. YouTube lists six further conditions, and a channel can meet the numbers and still be rejected on any of them.

1. Follow the YouTube channel monetization policies
2. Live in a country or region where the Partner Program is available
3. Have no active Community Guidelines strikes on the channel
4. Have 2-Step Verification turned on for your Google Account
5. Have advanced features access on YouTube
6. Have one active AdSense for YouTube account linked. Create it only from inside YouTube Studio, not separately

What the review actually involves

The review process, per YouTube

Everything Changes on 1 February 2027

In August 2026 YouTube announced the first significant changes to the Partner Program since 2018. Per YouTube’s page on the changes, here is what is different.

Before and after 1 February 2027

The entry bar doubles on both routes. If you are anywhere near 4,000 qualified watch hours, getting accepted before February is worth more than anything else on this page, because YouTube states plainly that creators already in the programme are not affected.

Two additions rather than restrictions, for completeness. YouTube is expanding Premium Lite, with creators sharing a pool representing 60% of net subscription revenue for Premium Lite and 30% for Premium. And where an advertiser targets five or fewer channels with Shorts ads, eligible creators can earn a direct 45% revenue share from those placements. YouTube has also promised new incentive programmes for channels under the Shorts threshold, mentioning Shopping bonuses and brand deal incentives, but has published no amounts, rules or dates, so there is nothing there to plan around yet.

The Deadline on 31 January 2027

This one is not a threshold and it is the most time-sensitive item in this article. YouTube requires existing partners to review and accept updated terms in YouTube Studio by 31 January 2027.

Miss it and you stop earning from the associated monetization features from 1 February 2027. Your place in the Partner Program is not affected either way, so this is not an expulsion, but the money stops until you accept. It is a two minute job inside Studio and it is the single cheapest thing on this page to get right.

Staying Monetized: the New Activity Rule

From the same date, YouTube is also redefining what counts as an active channel. You are active if you meet any one of these.

• 1,000 qualified watch hours in the past 365 days
• 1 million qualified Shorts views in the last 90 days
• 2 long form videos, or 5 Shorts, uploaded every 90 days

That third one is the safety net, and it is deliberately easy: two videos a quarter keeps a channel monetized regardless of how it performs. Channels that fall below all three get an extended 90 day window to meet one of the first two. The practical reading is that YouTube is clearing out dormant channels rather than small ones.

If you are starting from zero rather than from a threshold, how to become a YouTube influencer lays out the four stages and which number gates each one, including the paid work you can take with no threshold at all.

If You Are Not Close Yet

Here is the part the rest of the internet leaves out. Even once you qualify, ad revenue is the smallest of the three income streams for most channels, and it depends almost entirely on where your viewers live rather than on how hard you work. We worked the numbers through in how much YouTube pays per view: the same 100,000 views is worth about $15 with an Indian audience and up to $1,500 with a US one.

Neither of the other two streams has a subscriber threshold at all.

What you can earn from before you qualify for YPP

On Ainfluencer there is no subscription and no subscriber minimum: brands search, send offers, and you negotiate and get paid inside the platform, with a $10 minimum collaboration. It is how a channel with 400 subscribers can be earning while it works toward 1,000. For what to charge, see our data on influencer rates and our guide to sponsored YouTube videos. For the commission side, YouTube affiliate programs lists fifty programmes worth applying to.

And once you are earning, two smaller levers are worth an hour each: the best time to post on YouTube, and the creator-side section of our guide to YouTube influencer marketing agencies if you reach the point where someone else should be negotiating for you.

Frequently Asked Questions