How to make money on YouTube before the Partner Program

YouTube shares ad revenue from 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watch hours or 10 million Shorts views, a bar that doubles for new creators on February 1, 2027. Memberships start at 500 subscribers. Before that, brand deals and clip campaigns can pay. We read YouTube's rules on October 23, 2026.

We build PaysFair, an earning app that runs campaigns like the ones below, so check every number yourself. PaysFair is for people 16 and over.

What does YouTube require before it pays you?

YouTube pays creators through its Partner Program, and it opens the program in two tiers. Its help center sets these bars.

Both tiers ask for more than numbers. You'll need to live where the program is available, have no active Community Guidelines strikes, turn on 2-Step Verification and link an AdSense for YouTube account. YouTube says a review typically takes about a month. Watch hours from Shorts in the Shorts feed don't count toward the 4,000.

The 2027 change matters if you're starting now. Channels already in the program keep their status. The lower tier doesn't change either: YouTube says memberships, Shopping and YouTube Creator Partnerships, its brand-deal marketplace, still open at 500 subscribers. Creators in the program have to accept updated terms by January 31, 2027, or they'll stop earning from those features until they do.

How much does YouTube pay per 1,000 views?

YouTube doesn't publish a rate per view. It publishes your share of what it takes in.

Shorts pay from a shared pool. YouTube allocates it by each creator's share of views and pays 45% of what's allocated to you. From February 1, 2027, you'll also need 10 million qualified Shorts views over 90 days to earn from that pool in a given month. Missing it won't remove you from the program, and it doesn't touch your long-form earnings.

YouTube pays through AdSense for YouTube. In the US, the payment threshold is $100. A month's earnings show up between the 7th and 12th of the next month, and they're paid by the 21st to 26th once your balance passes the threshold.

Two of the five guides we read print a rate per 1,000 views, $2 to $5 and $2 to $10, and neither names a source.

How can you make money on YouTube without 1,000 subscribers?

The lower tier is YouTube's own answer. Outside the program, two ways pay without any YouTube bar.

Brand deals. A brand can pay a channel of any size to feature its product. YouTube's tips for pitching one suggest sharing numbers such as your active subscribers, views and unique viewers. When you partner with a brand or get a free product for content, "you may have disclosure obligations," the same tips say. YouTube's paid promotion setting "adds a disclosure label that appears at the beginning of your video." The FTC wants the disclosure "in the video and not just in the description," and it warns: "Don't assume that a platform's disclosure tool is good enough."

Clip campaigns. A clip campaign pays for views on short videos that a brand approves. On Content Rewards, a clip marketplace run by Content Rewards Inc. that pays out through Whop, the brand sets a rate per 1,000 views, a budget and a minimum payout per video. Its own example: with a $3 rate and a $6 minimum, only videos with at least 2,000 views reach the brand's review. Its creator terms require you to be 18, even with a parent's consent, and keep a flat 10% of each view-based payout as its fee. A pay round generally settles about 10 days after it opens. Withdrawals go through Whop and take about 3 to 5 business days, or arrive instantly for a fee. Buying views "results in a permanent ban," and each paid clip needs a disclosure "placed at the beginning of the video."

PaysFair, the app we build, also runs campaigns that pay for posting clips and content on TikTok, YouTube, Instagram and X. Each campaign names its rate, its minimum and its cap up front, and PaysFair pays a gift card by email. Our guide to making money on TikTok has TikTok's own bars for the same kind of clip.

A channel built only from other people's clips may never join the Partner Program, though. YouTube's reused content policy covers channels that repurpose content "without adding significant original commentary, substantive modifications, or educational or entertainment value." Clip pay comes from the brand. YouTube's own pay needs something you've added.

Can YouTube Shorts make money?

Yes, once you're in the program. Shorts open ad revenue at 1,000 subscribers and 10 million qualified Shorts views in 90 days, and from February 1, 2027 at 20 million for new creators. You'll keep 45% of the Shorts revenue allocated to you. From 2027, YouTube adds a direct 45% share when an advertiser targets an ad at five channels or fewer.

Can teenagers make money on YouTube?

Only in part. For ad revenue, YouTube asks you to "Be at least 18 years old, or have a legal guardian older than 18 years of age who can handle your payments via AdSense for YouTube." Memberships, Super Chat and Super Thanks have no guardian route: each asks you to be at least 18. Content Rewards also requires 18, even with a parent's consent.

Channels set as made for kids can't use memberships or Shopping, whatever their size.

Can you make money on YouTube by watching videos?

Not from YouTube. Its programs pay the person who posts. Offers to pay you for liking or watching videos fit the FTC's description of task scams: simple, repetitive tasks, such as liking videos, that show you earning, until you're told to deposit your own money. "Never pay anyone to get paid, or to get a job," the FTC says. "That's a sure sign of a scam." Our guide to apps that give you money shows who pays the real ones, and what they want back.

Which YouTube money offers are scams?

One that Google documented targets creators directly. In 2021, Google's Threat Analysis Group reported attackers who sent YouTubers "fake collaboration opportunities," such as sponsorship demos for antivirus software, VPNs, music players, photo editing tools and games. The software stole the browser cookies that keep you signed in, and the attackers took over channels to sell them or to run crypto scams. Google said it blocked 1.6 million of those messages and restored about 4,000 accounts.

Google's advice still holds. Take browser safety warnings seriously, scan any file a sponsor sends before you open it, and keep 2-Step Verification on. YouTube already requires 2-Step Verification for the Partner Program.

Does YouTube money get taxed?

Yes. YouTube says "you may be liable to pay taxes to your country of residence on any income earned from your monetized videos on YouTube." The IRS says gig income is taxable, even when no Form 1099 arrives.

Google doesn't withhold US tax from US creators who've given valid tax info. For creators outside the US, it withholds 0% to 30% of earnings from US viewers, depending on tax treaties. Without any tax info, it may deduct up to 24% of earnings worldwide.

What do other guides on this leave out?

We read five guides on this question on October 23, 2026. Only one mentions the February 1, 2027 change, and only one gives YouTube's age rule. None names the FTC or YouTube's paid promotion label, and none warns about a single scam. Two print a rate per 1,000 views without a source. One dates from February 2020 and gives no Shorts bar at all.