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.

Buy a gift membership

Gift memberships are only available on participating channels for purchase or redemption. Viewers can opt in and get gifts using web, Android or iOS devices.

Memberships Gifting

Gift memberships let viewers buy the opportunity for other viewers to access the perks of a channel membership for up to one month. To buy gift memberships, you must be watching a live stream or Premiere on a channel with gifting turned on.

Gift memberships are available on live streams and Premieres on eligible channels. If gift memberships are available for the channel, you can buy a gift membership during a live stream or Premiere:

Sign in to YouTube on the Android app.
Go to the eligible channel that you want to buy gift memberships on.
Join the channel's live stream or Premiere.
Within the live chat, tap .
Tap Membership Gifting .
Select the number of viewers that you want to gift memberships to.
Complete the transaction.

Gift memberships are offered at the closest highest price level available up to and including $5.

Once you buy gift memberships, a countdown ticker will highlight your purchase in live chat for a limited amount of time. The amount of time depends on your purchase amount. The creator may end the live chat or live stream before your gift is announced, but YouTube will still continue distributing gifts for a period of time afterwards.

Note: The number of gifted memberships, your channel name and your profile picture are 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. Your gift membership purchase is considered fulfilled once YouTube distributes the first gift to a viewer.

Opt in and get gift memberships

Gift memberships are only available on participating channels for purchase or redemption. 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 have opted in, you are eligible to receive gift memberships on any channel that has gifting enabled and that you have interacted with recently (e.g. by watching a video on that channel). When you receive a gift, it will be automatically applied to your account, giving you access to special perks like badges and custom emoji.

If you previously opted in for a specific channel only, you're still eligible to receive gifts on that channel. You'll still need to opt in globally to be eligible to receive gifts on other channels.

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.

Opt in for gift memberships

There are many ways to opt in for gifts, including but not limited to:

In live chat
On a video's watch page
Using a creator's unique opt-in URL (link to channel page with /allow_gifts at the end)

Opt in through live chat

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

Opt in through a video watch page:

Go to an eligible channel's video.
Click JOIN More 'Gift settings'.
Confirm that you'd like to opt in by toggling on the 'Allow gifts' 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, open 'Gift settings' by clicking JOIN on any channel or watch page with memberships enabled and toggle off 'Allow gifts'. You'll no longer be eligible to receive gifts on any channel.

Get 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:

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

Gift memberships are non-recurring and you will not be charged after it ends. If you wish to end your gift membership early, contact support. You will lose access to the gift membership benefits.

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 charges in India

Due to the Reserve Bank of India eMandate requirements, you have to verify or re-enter your payment details to maintain access to your recurring memberships. To do so, follow the instructions in the 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 120 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 membership 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 membership revenue recognised by Google after local sales tax and other fees (depending on the country and users' platform) are deducted. Payment processing fees (including credit card fees) are currently covered by YouTube.

Use and manage your membership benefits

Channel membership benefits for all members

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

Members-only Community posts: You can view members-only posts on the channel's Community tab. Exclusive content is tagged as 'Members-only' and includes text posts, GIFs, polls, videos and more.
Member Recognition Shelf: If the creator has this shelf turned on, then your avatar may be featured with other active members on the channel's 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're no longer featured on the shelf.
Member Milestone Chats: For each month that you remain a member (starting from your second consecutive month), you 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 highlight how long you've been a member of this channel in total, and are visible to all viewers.
Channel badges: An exclusive public-facing membership badge that shows up next to your channel name in all comments and live chats that you make on that channel.
- On some channels, the badge will reflect how long you've been a member through different coloured default badges or custom badges.
Members-only videos: Exclusive videos only available for channel members at the right levels to watch. Anyone can find a members-only video, but only members at the right levels can watch it. These videos can be found on the channel's Memberships, Content and Community tabs. These videos may also surface in a member's Home and Subscriptions feed.
New member message: 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. Your profile picture is also pinned at the top of the chat for five minutes.
Members-only live chat: During public live streams, creators may make the chat members-only. While everyone can still view the live stream, only members can post chats.
Custom emoji: If uploaded by the creator, channel members can use exclusive emoji in comments on the channel's videos and live chats. You will use the family name assigned by the creator to autocomplete emoji in live chat.
Other creator perks: If offered by the channel, you may also get access to other exclusive creator perks.

Note: 'Slow mode' – which limits how often you can comment in live chat – does not apply to active paid channel members.

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 that are available?

Go to the channel homepage that you've 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, Membership tab or the channel's Content tabs. You may also notice members-only videos surface in your Home and Subscriptions feed. 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.

View 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 have joined 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 their 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 the live chat and your profile picture will be pinned at the top of the 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 (e.g. 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.
In the left-hand 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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