How to earn money on YouTube

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You can earn money on YouTube by applying for and being accepted to the YouTube Partner Program. Only channels that follow our YouTube channel monetization policies may be able to monetize.

A few notes

  • We won’t tell you what you can create on YouTube, but we do have a responsibility to do right by our viewers, creators and advertisers. If you’re in the YouTube Partner Program, you can earn money through YouTube. When in the YouTube Partner Program, we hold you to a higher standard.
  • To make sure we’re rewarding good creators, we review your channel before you’re accepted in the YouTube Partner Program. We also constantly review channels to make sure you’re meeting all our policies and guidelines.
  • You may be liable to pay taxes on your earnings from YouTube; find out more below.

Ways to make money in the YouTube Partner Program

You can make money on YouTube through the following features:

  • Advertising revenue: Earn revenue from Watch Page ads and Shorts Feed ads.
  • Channel memberships: Your members make recurring monthly payments in exchange for special perks that you offer.
  • Shopping: Your fans can browse and buy products, like merch, from your store on YouTube.
  • Super Chat & Super Stickers: Your fans pay to get their messages or animated images highlighted in chat streams.
  • Super Thanks: Your fans pay to get their message highlighted in your video’s comments section.
  • YouTube Premium revenue: Get part of a YouTube Premium subscriber’s subscription fee when they watch your content.

Each feature has its own set of eligibility requirements on top of subscriber and view count requirements. If our reviewers believe that your channel or video is not eligible, specific features may not be available. These extra thresholds exist for two main reasons. The most important one is that we have to meet legal requirements in every area where the feature is available. Then, because we want to reward good creators, we need to make sure we have enough context on your channel. Generally, this context means we need more content to review.

Keep in mind that we constantly review channels to make sure your content is in line with our policies.

Minimum eligibility requirements to turn on monetization features

Keep in mind that each feature has its own requirements. Some features may not be available to you due to local legal requirements.

Once you've been accepted in the YouTube Partner Program, you may get access to these monetization features:

  Requirements
Ad revenue
  • Be at least 18 years old, or have a legal guardian older than 18 years of age who can handle your payments via AdSense.
  • Accept the relevant contract Modules.
  • Create content that meets our advertiser-friendly content guidelines

Channel memberships

  • Be at least 18 years old
  • Live in a country/region where channel memberships is available
  • Channel isn’t set as Made for Kids and doesn’t have a significant number of videos set as made for Kids
  • Not a music channel under SRAV
Shopping
Super Chat & Super Stickers
  • Be at least 18 years old
  • Live in a country/region where Super Chat and Super Stickers are available
Super Thanks
  • Be at least 18 years old
  • Live in a country/region where Super Thanks is available
  • Not a music channel under SRAV
YouTube Premium revenue
  • Create content watched by a viewer who is a YouTube Premium subscriber
Get creator tips on how to make money on YouTube.

Your YouTube earnings and tax liability

Earning money on YouTube or receiving Shorts bonuses are a great way to be rewarded for good, engaging content on the platform. Keep in mind that you may be liable to pay taxes to your country of residence on any income earned from your monetized videos on YouTube. Check with your local tax authorities for detailed guidance.

Watch how to earn money on YouTube

Watch the following video from the YouTube Creators channel on how to earn money on YouTube.

Intro to Making Money on YouTube

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