PLATFORM REQUIREMENTS<\/p>\n
YouTube has two entry tiers, and the lower one does not include ad revenue. Here is exactly what each unlocks — and what changes in February 2027.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div>
Most people think of YouTube monetization as a single finish line at 1,000 subscribers. It is actually two separate gates. The first opens at 500 subscribers and unlocks the fan-funding and shopping features — but not advertising. Ad revenue, the thing most creators are actually chasing, requires the full Partner Program.<\/p>\n
Which matters more than it sounds: a channel sitting at 600 subscribers can already be earning from memberships, Super Thanks and affiliate commissions while still being months away from its first ad payout.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div>
TIER ONE<\/p>\n
Fan funding and shopping, without ad revenue.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Unlocks:<\/strong> channel memberships, Super Thanks, Super Chat, Super Stickers, and the YouTube Shopping affiliate programme — which dropped from a 10,000-subscriber requirement to this tier in March 2026.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div> TIER TWO<\/p>\n The tier that includes advertising revenue.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Unlocks:<\/strong> everything in the expanded tier, plus ad revenue share and YouTube Premium revenue share.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div> Shorts views do not become watch hours<\/p>\n Watch time from Shorts viewed in the Shorts Feed does not<\/strong> count toward the watch-hour threshold. Shorts have their own separate qualifying pathway. This trips up a lot of creators who assume all view time pools together — if your growth is mostly Shorts, the Shorts view count is the number to track, not watch hours.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div> SCHEDULED CHANGE<\/p>\n Effective February 1, 2027<\/p>\n New Partner Program applicants will need 8,000 qualified watch hours<\/strong> over 365 days or 20 million qualified Shorts views<\/strong> over 90 days — double the current thresholds. The 1,000-subscriber requirement does not change.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n If you are already in the Partner Program<\/strong>, you are grandfathered in and will not need to meet the new entry numbers. However, every channel in the programme will need 10 million qualified Shorts views per 90 days<\/strong> to remain eligible for Shorts ad and subscription revenue share.<\/p>\n If you are currently between 4,000 and 8,000 watch hours<\/strong>, this is the single most actionable deadline on this page. Qualifying before February 1 means entering under the old bar and keeping that status permanently. After that date, the same channel would need to roughly double its watch time to get in.<\/p>\n This is YouTube’s first significant change to Partner Program entry requirements since 2018.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div> Check how close you are<\/a> All platforms<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":1440,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1511","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nFull Partner Program — 1,000 Subscribers<\/h2>\n
\n
Required for Both Tiers<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
\n
The Bar Doubles in February 2027<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
Ways to Earn Once You Qualify<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
\n