Become a channel member on YouTube

Channel memberships on the main YouTube site and app allow you to purchase public badges, emoji and access to creator perks offered by the channel.

Memberships may be priced differently depending on your country and the platform that you use.

Note: Starting in January 2022, some users who become channel members on the YouTube Android app will be billed via Google Play. This will not impact pricing or cost, only where the purchase is billed from. You can visit pay.google.com to see recent charges and check how you are billed.

Join, change levels or cancel a membership

Become a channel member

Join a participating channel membership on the main YouTube site and app.

Visit youtube.com or open the YouTube app.
Go to the channel of, or a video uploaded by, the creator that you'd like to support and see if they've enabled memberships on their channel.
Click or tap Join.
Follow the prompts to enter your payment information.
Click or tap Buy.

You'll see a welcome announcement once your transaction is complete.

Change your membership level

To upgrade

Go to the channel homepage of the membership that you want to change and tap See perks.
Select the level that you want to join Change level.
Select Upgrade.
You'll immediately get access to the higher level.
- Pricing note: You'll only be charged the difference in the price of the levels, at an adjusted price. For example, if you upgrade halfway through your billing month, you'll be charged [|Original Price - New Price|] x [50%].
- Example: If you're paying £4.99 and you're changing to a £9.99 level with half a month left until your next payment, you'll be charged (£9.99 - £4.99) x (0.5) = £2.50.

To downgrade

Go to the channel homepage of the membership that you want to change and tap See perks.
Select the level that you want to join Change level.

Billing and access details for downgrades

You'll get access to your original level until your next payment date.
You'll be charged the new lower price at your next billing date.
You'll retain any accumulated loyalty reflected in your badge if offered by the creator.

Update or cancel a channel membership

Open the membership management screen by clicking See perks on a channel homepage and then

select

click End membership and perks.

You can also cancel your membership at any time by following the steps below:

Sign in to YouTube.
Tap your profile picture.
Select 'Purchases and memberships'.
Select the membership that you want to cancel.
Tap DEACTIVATE.
Tap END MEMBERSHIP.

If you're having trouble cancelling your membership, learn more here.

Opt in and get gift memberships

Memberships gifting is in Beta. This feature is only available on participating channels for purchase or redemption. Channel members must use a web browser to make the purchase, but viewers can opt in and get gifts using web, Android or iOS devices.

How to buy and get gift memberships

Viewers must opt in to be eligible for gift memberships. Once you've opted in to allow gifts on a channel, you're eligible to get gift memberships on any current or future gifts given on that channel.

To opt in for gift memberships, you must be signed in with a YouTube channel that isn't a Brand Account. Check if you're on a Brand Account. Channel members aren't currently eligible to get gift memberships.

To opt in for gift memberships:

Go to an eligible channel's live stream or Premiere.
Within the live chat:
1. Tap or click ALLOW GIFTS or
2. Tap or click the pinned Membership gifting .
Confirm that you'd like to opt in by turning on the 'Allow gifts on this channel' switch.

Note: If you're selected for a gift membership, your channel name is visible to the public. This info may also be available to the channel through our YouTube Data API service and the channel may share this info with third-party services.

To opt out of allowing gifts from a channel, go to your gift settings in 'My activity'.

Getting a gift membership:

When a channel member or creator buys gift memberships, it's announced in the live chat. If you've been selected to get a one-month membership, a notification will surface in the live chat and we'll send you an email notification.

Gift memberships are non-refundable and cannot be exchanged for cash value. All gift memberships give up to one month of access to channel membership perks before they expire.

To view your membership benefits and access perks:

Click or tap the 'Memberships' tab on the channel that you have become a member of, OR
Click or tap SEE PERKS on any video page of that channel.

Payment and billing information

Billing information

New and existing members

When you have an active paid membership, you'll automatically be charged at the start of each monthly billing cycle.

Cancelled memberships

When you cancel a paid channel membership, you will not be charged again unless you reactivate it. You'll continue to receive membership perks until the end of that billing period.

Reactivated memberships

You can reactivate your membership at any time. If you reactivate during the same billing cycle in which you cancelled it, you will not be charged until that current billing cycle ends.

Update your payment info

You can change the credit card used for a paid membership in the My subscriptions section of your Google Account. Note that you may need to add a new card to your Google Account first.

When you have an active paid membership, you'll automatically be charged at the start of each monthly billing cycle. You can view your next billing date and manage your membership at youtube.com/paid_memberships.

Recurring purchases in India

Due to the Reserve Bank of India eMandate requirements, you may need to verify or re-enter your payment details to maintain access to your recurring memberships. Please follow the prompts in your YouTube app or on youtube.com. Note that your bank may not support recurring payments at this time. Check the list of banks that support recurring payments or learn more.

How paused channel memberships impact your payments

'Paused mode' explained

Sometimes, channel memberships are put in 'paused mode'. This may happen if a channel changes MCNs, sets their channel as Made for Kids or is unable to monetise. When 'paused mode' happens, it means that the channel cannot monetise with memberships – this is often a temporary state. If a channel is in 'paused mode', it means that they cannot deliver perks and other benefits.

Payment details

If you're an active paid member of a channel in 'paused mode', your monthly recurring payment, billing cycle and access to memberships will also be paused.

If you signed up for a channel membership on iOS or Android, your monthly recurring payments may be cancelled if the channel is in paused mode after your billing period ends. If this happens, you will be notified that your membership has been cancelled and you will be able to join again if/when the channel's membership is unpaused.

Memberships can remain paused on a channel for a maximum of 90 days; after that point, memberships and members' monthly recurring payments will be cancelled.

How terminated channel memberships impact your payment

If a channel is terminated or loses access to the memberships feature (e.g. if it is no longer part of the YouTube Partner Programme), all memberships monthly recurring payments and access to all membership perks will be terminated immediately. Viewers who were members at the time of termination will be sent a termination email with info on requesting a refund.

Channel membership refunds

You may cancel your paid channel membership at any time. Once you've cancelled, you won't be charged again. You'll be able to use the badge and have access to creator perks until the end of the billing cycle. Note that you won't be refunded for the period of time between when you cancel and when your channel membership officially ends.

If you notice an unauthorised channel memberships charge on your account, follow these steps to report the unauthorised charge. If creator perks or other features of your paid channel membership are defective, unavailable or do not perform as stated, you may contact our support team to request a refund at any time. We do not provide refunds or credit for partially elapsed billing periods.

If you're a member who signed up via Apple, you'll need to contact Apple support to request a refund for your paid channel membership. Apple's refund policy will apply.

Channel membership revenue share with creators

Creators receive 70% of memberships revenue recognised by Google after local sales tax and other fees (depending on country and users' platform) are deducted. Payment processing fees (including credit card fees) are currently covered by YouTube.

Use and manage your memberships benefits

Channel membership benefits for all members

When you become a member, you'll gain access to certain benefits. You'll get different perks based on the different levels that you join at.

Member Recognition Shelf: If the Creator has this shelf turned on, then your avatar will be featured with other active members on the channels page. This shelf is the creator's way of publicly thanking you for being a member of their channel. If you cancel your membership, you'll no longer be featured on the shelf.
Member Milestone Chats: For each month you remain a member (starting from your second consecutive month) youll get one Member Milestone Chat. Member Milestone Chats are special highlighted messages that can be used in live chat on live streams or Premieres. These special messages will highlight how long you've been a member of this channel in total and will be visible to all viewers.
Exclusive public-facing membership badge next to your channel name in all comments and live chats that you make on the channel you're a member of
- On some channels, the badge will reflect how long you've been a member, either through different-coloured default badges or through different badges uploaded by the channel
If you become a channel member during a live stream on that channel, a bright green 'New member' message will be sent in live chat and your profile picture will be pinned at the top of the chat for five minutes
Access to members-only posts on the channel's Community tab (if offered by the channel)
Access to creator perks that may be offered by the channel and are subject to change
Exclusive access to members-only live chat (if offered by the channel)
Exclusive access to a channel's public-facing custom emoji in live chat (if offered by the channel)
Slow mode – which limits how often you can comment in live chat – does not apply to active paid members

By becoming a channel member, your exclusive membership badge will surface on all comments and live chats that you make on that channel.

Creator perks for different levels

Each level has its own price point. Your perks stack up as you go up each level. This means that if you join at the most expensive level, you'll get access to perks at all the lower levels.

What do I get for each level and how do I join?

This varies from channel to channel. You can see the different perks when you click Join.

I'm already a member, so how do I see the different perks available?

Go to the channel homepage that youve already joined and then select See perks.

Turn channel membership notifications on or off

As a channel member, you can find members-only content in the Community tab or Membership tab. We'll also use notifications or email to tell you when a channel:

Creates a new members-only post
Uploads a new members-only video
Starts a members-only live stream
Schedules a members-only live stream that will begin in 30 minutes

You can also opt out of getting notifications and emails for members-only content.

Turn off notifications

If you don't want to know about new members-only content, you can:

Opt out of notifications and emails for individual channels that you're a member of.
- To opt out of notifications for members-only content: Go to Settings Notifications Turn off the switch next to Members only.
- To opt out of emails for members-only content: Use the Unsubscribe link in any members-only email you get. If you'd like to resubscribe to email notifications, go to Settings Notifications Under 'Email notifications' select 'Unsubscribed emails' and choose which emails you'd like to get.
Opt out of all notifications for an individual channel:
- Go to a channel that you're subscribed to Notifications None . This will turn off all notifications for this channel, not just members-only content.
Turn off all notifications on your account.

See exclusive content in the Community tab

Exclusive content is tagged as 'Members-only' in the Community tab. This includes text posts, GIFs, polls, videos and more.

Report inappropriate perks

If you see an offering that you believe is in breach of YouTube's Community Guidelines (including sexual, violent or hateful content, misleading offers, or spam), you can report it by clicking Report perks in the offer screen upon clicking the Join button (or See perks, if you're already a member).

Privacy information

Visible membership status

Once you join a channel, the following info will be publicly visible on YouTube and the channel may share info with third-party companies:

Your channel URL
The name of your YouTube channel
Your profile picture
When you joined the channel as a member
The level that you're a member of

Note: The channel may share this info with a small, select group of third-party companies to provide the channel's perks.

How your information may be used

Other viewers may see your info above. The info shared may depend on the channel that you've joined. This list is not exhaustive:

All members have a visible badge that appears next to your channel name in comments and chat.
If you become a channel member during a live stream on that channel, a bright green 'New member' message will be sent in live chat and your profile picture will be pinned at the top of live chat for five minutes, which shows your channel name when hovered over.
Some channels may add your info above to a list of 'thank yous' in their videos or your info may be added to the channel's Recognition Shelf.
Some channels may share your info above to give a service (for example, member-only access to a chatroom hosted by a third-party company).

Check and remove third-party site or app access

Remove third-party site or app access

If you gave account access to a site or app that you no longer trust, you can remove its access to your Google Account. The site or app won't be able to access any more info from your Google Account, but you may need to request that they delete the data that they already have.

Go to your Google Account.
On the left navigation panel, select Security.
On the Third-party apps with account access panel, select Manage third-party access.
Select the site or app that you want to remove.
Select Remove access.

Report a third-party site or app

Follow these steps if you believe that a site or app is misusing your data, for example, by creating spam, impersonating you or using your data in harmful ways.

Go to the Apps with access to your account section of your Google Account. You might need to sign in.
Select the app that you want to report Report this app.

Learn more about account access for third-party sites and apps.

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