YouTube channel membership perks

Channels with memberships turned on can create members-only perks. Members-only perks are only available to your active paid members. Perks include custom emoji, badges and access to other perks that you offer.

Note: All perks that you offer must follow our channel memberships policies.

Channel memberships

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Channel membership levels

You can offer multiple membership levels that all have different prices. Bear in mind that if you have multiple levels, their perks build on each other. This means that the highest-priced levels have access to perks offered at lower-priced levels.

See full pricing details for levels in available countries.

Add a level

You can add up to six levels at different prices. Each level must have between one and five perks.

Add membership levels

  1. Go to studio.youtube.com using your channel with memberships.
  2. In the left menu, select Earn.
  3. On the main dashboard, click Memberships.
  4. Click Edit in the box that says 'Step 1: Add levels and perks'.
  5. Follow the on-screen instructions. Once complete, click Publish.

Your levels and perks will need to be reviewed before going live. This process takes about a day.

How levels work with badges and emoji

Loyalty badges and custom emoji are unaffected by levels. All members receive the same badge based on loyalty, and members of all levels have the same access to all emoji.

Remove a level

If you remove a level, you'll delete all members at that level. All members at a removed level will lose access to perks immediately, and will be refunded their last month's payment.

Remove a level

  1. Go to studio.youtube.com using your channel with memberships.
  2. In the left menu, select Earn.
  3. On the main dashboard, click Memberships.
  4. Click Edit in the box that says 'Step 1: Add levels and perks'.
  5. Click on the level that you want to remove and then click the delete icon .
  6. Follow the rest of the on-screen instructions. Once complete, click Publish.

Channel membership perks

You must create and publish at least one perk (and up to five perks) that you'll offer to your members. Your perks must follow our policies and terms, and you must deliver all creator perks that you offer. YouTube does not take responsibility for your creator perks and you must carefully consider whether you can deliver what you offer to your members' satisfaction.

Members-only Community posts
You can use the Community tab to share content only with your members. If you have levels on your channel, you can also share Community posts with members at specific levels.
Follow these steps to make members-only Community posts:
  1. Click your profile picture  and tap on your channel name.
  2. Click the Community tab.
  3. In the drop-down menu, choose whether to make the post public or members only. Public is the default setting.
  4. Enter your post in the text field.
  5. Click Post.
Members-only video
You can set a video that only your active members can watch. Anyone can find a members-only video, but only members at the right levels can watch it. You can set an existing video or a new upload as members-only on a computer or mobile device.
Members-only videos must be fully original content. Don't offer videos that have copyright claims, including videos with claims from music partners.

Set a new upload as members only

  1. Upload a video.
  2. For Visibility, select Members only.
    • If you have more than one level, select the levels that can watch your video.
  3. Complete the rest of the upload process.

Set an existing video as members only

  1. Use a computer to go to YouTube Studio or open the YouTube Studio app on your mobile device.
  2. Select Content.
  3. Find the video that you only want to share with your members.
  4. Select Edit and then Visibility and then Select Members only and then Select Save.
    • If you have more than one level, select the levels that can watch your video.

Promote your members-only video

Your members can find members-only videos on the Memberships, Content and Community tabs. These videos may also surface on members' Home and Subscriptions feeds.

Viewers who are recommended your content but aren't members may also have members-only videos surface in their Home feed. Surfacing members-only videos to non-members can help them discover channel membership programmes that they may be interested in signing up for. Non-members can view the video's thumbnail and title, but cannot watch the members-only video unless they sign up.

To let all of your viewers know that a video is available, you can share the URL publicly on:

  • Cards
  • Public community
  • Playlists

Members at the right levels can immediately watch the members-only video. A note will surface for non-members, letting them know that the video is only available to members, and ways in which they can become a member

Members-only early access

Content that you upload can be set to members-only first, which allows members to view and engage with your content before it goes public. Your members will be notified when content is uploaded as 'Members-only to public'. When the video changes to public, all of your subscribers will be notified. We observed that, on average, when creators gave members access to videos first, those videos performed the same and were not negatively impacted when they became public. (On channels that published at least one early-access video and one public-only video between January and February 2023.)

Set a new upload as members only

  1. Upload a video.
  2. For Visibility, select From members only to public.
    • If you have more than one level, select the levels that you want your video to be visible to.

Select the date and time that the video should change to public.

Promote your members-only video

Members-only videos can surface on members' Home and Subscriptions feeds. Members can also find videos on your channel page's content and Community tabs. To let all of your viewers know that a video is available, you can share the URL publicly on:

  • Cards
  • Public community
  • Playlists

Your members can immediately watch the members-only video at their right level(s). Non-members will see a note that says that it's only available to members, and will be shown ways to become a member.

Members-only Shorts

Members-only Shorts can be a great way to provide regular, lightweight content for your members, such as behind the scenes, clips of upcoming videos, short Q&As and more. Members-only Shorts are only discoverable by members, so you can experiment with Shorts that are more casual, or natural/organic, compared to your public content.

To create a members-only Short: 

  1. Select a short video file:
  2. Select members-only in the visibility settings. 

Or: 

  1. Edit the visibility state of a Short which has already been uploaded as unlisted, private or public to Members-only

[Note] If you record and upload a Short in one flow, you may not see the option to set it as members-only. You can still upload as unlisted and then change the visibility setting to members-only.

Members-only Shorts, like all members-only videos, must be fully original content and may not include music owned by third parties, including music from the Shorts music library.

Member-only Shorts do not trigger any notification. They can be discovered in members' Shorts Feed, Home and Watch next.

Members-only live streams

You can share live streams exclusively with your members.

From a computer:

  1. On a computer, sign in to YouTube Studio.
  2. Click CREATE .
  3. Click Go live .
  4. Follow the steps to create a live stream.
  5. In the visibility settings, select which paid members can view your live stream:
    1. All paid members allows any paid member to view the live stream
    2. Selecting a specific membership level allows paid members at the selected level (and higher) to view the live stream.
  6. To create a members-only Community post that links to the live stream, follow the prompts. If your members have their notifications turned on, they're told when you create a new members-only live stream.

From a mobile device:

  1. On your mobile device, open the YouTube app.
  2. At the bottom, tap Create and then Go live.
  3. Tap More options and then Show more.
  4. In the visibility settings, select Members-only and select which paid members can view your live stream:
    • All paid members allows any paid member to view the live stream
    • Selecting a specific membership level allows paid members at the selected level (and higher) to view the live stream.
  5. Tap Next and then Go live.
Members-only live chat
During public live streams, you can make the chat members-only. Everyone can still view the live stream, but only members will be able to post chats. Follow these steps on desktop to turn on members-only live chat:
  1. Sign in to YouTube Studio.
  2. At the top right, click CREATE  and then Go live.
  3. From the left-hand menu, click Stream.
  4. Create a stream:
    1. To copy a previous stream: Select a previous stream and click Reuse settings.
    2. To create a new stream: Enter your stream's info and click Create stream.
  5. From the top right-hand menu, click Settings .
  6. Under 'Live chat', select Enable members-only chat.
  7. Click Save

Member Milestone Chats

Channel members can send one special highlighted message per month in live chat to recognise and celebrate how long they've been a member. This feature is available to members who are in at least their second consecutive month as a member. Messages can only be sent during live streams or Premieres, and are visible to all viewers. 

(To turn off this feature, go to Studio and then Earn and then Memberships and set Member Milestone Chat to Off.)

Note: Since all eligible members can use Member Milestone Chats, you may observe high usage the first few times that you live stream after this feature is enabled. The rate should smooth out over time as each member can redeem a Member Milestone Chat once per month.

Member Recognition Shelf

To publicly recognise your channel members, you can feature their avatars in a shelf at the top of your channel page. This shelf is a way for you to thank your channel members and show others how much you appreciate your members. Featured members are randomly selected and will change often to give more members the chance to shine. Members viewing your channel page will always find their own avatar on the shelf. If a member cancels their membership, they'll no longer be featured on the shelf.  

Note: When your channel has eight or more members this feature will automatically be turned on. 
Members must be active and recurring to be featured in the shelf.

To turn off the member recognition shelf:

  1. Use a computer to sign in to YouTube Studio.
  2. Go to Earn and then Memberships.
  3. Switch the Member Recognition Shelf to Off.

Custom channel badges

Members will stand out in live chat, comments and the Community tab via exclusive members-only badges.

Custom channel badges overview
There are eight different badges, and each one highlights how long a viewer has been a member of your particular channel. The badge times count for how long each member has cumulatively paid for a membership. For example, if an active member joined your channel a year ago but only paid for a total of 9 months out of the past 12 months, their badge will show that they have been a member for 9 months.
Here are the durations associated with each of the eight badges:
  • New
  • 1 month
  • 2 months
  • 6 months
  • 1 year
  • 2 years
  • 3 years
  • 4 years

Upload custom channel badges

There are default badges, but you should upload and customise your badges on the Memberships page and then Loyalty Badges.
If you don't upload a different badge into each available slot, any empty slots will be filled by the highest custom badge that you have uploaded or the default YouTube badge for that duration (if you have only uploaded custom badges at higher durations).

Custom channel badges specifications

File format: JPEG or PNG files.
File size: Less than 1 MB.
Image dimensions: Minimum 32 px x 32 px.
Badges will be rendered at 14 px x 14 px in comments and the Community tab, and 16 px x 16 px in live chat.

Custom emoji

Upload custom emoji
Members will gain access to one or more exclusive custom emoji that can be sent via YouTube in video comments. They can also be sent in any of your live chats. By default, there are no custom emoji.
To upload custom emoji, go to the Memberships page and select Edit on the 'Your badges and emoji' card.

Surname

Custom emoji can be sent in video comments or any live chats.

When you upload your first emoji, you'll create a prefix name for all of your emoji, called a 'family name'. Members will use this name to auto-complete your emoji. You can also auto-complete your channel's emoji with :_ .

Family names aren't unique across YouTube and must be 3–10 characters.

As a best practice, we recommend picking a family name that is easily recognisable as your brand.

Emoji name

Each emoji will have a name that members can use to auto-complete in live chat. To change the emoji name, you must delete and re-upload the emoji. Emoji names must be 3–10 alphanumeric characters and unique within their emoji family (but not across YouTube).

Number of custom emoji that you can upload

As you gain more members, you will unlock additional slots for more custom emoji. You will not be notified when new slots are unlocked.

No. of members No. of emoji
0 4
2 5
5 6
10 7
15 8
20 9
30 10
40 11
50 12
75 13
100 14
125 15
150 16
175 17
200 18
225 19
250 20
300 21
350 22
400 23
450 24
500 25
600 26
700 27
800 28
900 29
1,000 30
1,200 31
1,400 32
1,600 33
1,800 34
2,000 35
2,200 36
2,400 37
2,600 38
2,800 39
3,000 40
3,200 41
3,400 42
3,600 43
3,800 44
4,000 45
4,200 46
4,400 47
4,600 48
4,800 49
5,000 54
Custom emoji specifications
File format: GIF, JPEG and PNG files are preferred. Note: GIFs will be displayed as a static image, not an animation.
File size: Less than 1 MB.
Image dimensions: 48 px x 48 px (preferred) to 480 px x 480 px.

Device differences

Emoji will show up in different sizes on mobile devices and on computer monitors. Here's how to make sure that your emoji look good on both platforms:
On mobile devices: Emoji are shown at 24 x 24 points. The image is scaled to match the pixel density of the device.
On most monitors: Emoji are shown at 24 x 24 points. On Retina and HiDPI devices, the images are shown at 48 x 48 points or higher.

What can I design?

Emoji are a way for you to express your creativity. Learn more about designing emoji.
Bear in mind that all member-only perks offered through YouTube memberships – including badges, emoji, perks that you offer, videos, live chats and other content – are also subject to membership policies.
If you've got extra footage, you can offer it as a membership perk. It's a quick way to reward your members.

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