Viralmaker
Sign up
All articles

YouTube Shorts monetization requirements: the 2027 changes

September 21, 202611 min read
Young creator checking the Shorts statistics of his channel on a laptop in a small bedroom studio at dusk

YouTube Shorts monetization requirements are, today, 1,000 subscribers plus 10 million qualified Shorts views in the last 90 days, or 1,000 subscribers plus 4,000 qualified watch hours in the last 12 months. On February 1, 2027 the entry bar doubles for new applicants, and every partner, new or not, will need to keep 10 million qualified Shorts views over 90 days to be paid from Shorts in a given month.

Everything below comes from what YouTube itself published: one post on the official YouTube blog dated August 10, 2026 and three YouTube Help pages, all read on September 21, 2026.

TL;DR

  • Today you can apply to the YouTube Partner Program (YPP) with 1,000 subscribers and either 10 million qualified Shorts views in 90 days or 4,000 qualified watch hours in 12 months.
  • From February 1, 2027, new applicants need 20 million qualified Shorts views in 90 days or 8,000 qualified watch hours in 365 days. Channels already in YPP keep their status.
  • Also from February 1, 2027, every partner needs 10 million qualified Shorts views over the last 90 days to earn from the Shorts Creator Pool that month. Missing it does not remove you from YPP.
  • The 500 subscriber tier for fan funding and YouTube Shopping does not change.
  • Already a partner? Accept the updated terms in YouTube Studio by January 31, 2027, or the related earnings stop on February 1.

Table of contents

YouTube Shorts monetization requirements today

The YouTube Help page "YouTube Partner Program overview & eligibility" lists two ways in, and a Shorts creator can use either one:

  1. 1,000 subscribers with 4,000 qualified watch hours in the last 12 months.
  2. 1,000 subscribers with 10 million qualified Shorts views in the last 90 days.

The two paths do not mix. YouTube states that watch hours coming from Shorts views in the Shorts Feed do not count toward the 4,000 hours. A channel that only publishes Shorts therefore lives on the second path.

Reaching a number is not the same as getting in. The same page lists what you need before applying: following the YouTube channel monetization policies, living in a country or region where YPP is available, having no active Community Guidelines strike, 2-Step Verification on your Google Account, advanced features access, and an AdSense for YouTube account. A review follows, "typically in about 1 month" according to YouTube.

"Qualified Shorts views" also has a written definition: views from Shorts you have set public that appear in the Shorts Feed. Views on private, unlisted or deleted Shorts, on ad campaigns and on image posts in the Shorts Feed do not count. And for payments, YouTube works from Engaged views, not from the headline view count, a difference explained in how long are YouTube Shorts.

TikTok runs on different rules, covered separately in TikTok monetization requirements.

What YouTube announced on August 10, 2026

The post, signed by The YouTube Team on the official YouTube blog, presents the update as "the first significant changes since 2018" to a program that has "over 3 million creators". It comes in three parts: Premium Lite, Shorts, and the YPP entry thresholds.

The sentence that matters most for a Shorts creator opens the Shorts section: "Creators who already earn significant revenue from Shorts are unlikely to be impacted by these changes." Read the other way round, the channels most exposed are the ones earning a little from Shorts today.

YouTube justifies the higher entry thresholds with the scale of the platform, which it says now sees "over 200 billion daily Shorts views". For channels below the new Shorts threshold, it announces incentive programs instead: bonuses tied to YouTube Shopping, incentives for brand deals, and earnings boosts for starting and growing trends. Its own words on the details: "We'll share more details soon." On September 21, 2026, none of the pages cited here gives an amount or a condition for these programs.

The Premium Lite part, expanded to every country where Premium is offered, touches you less: from its dedicated revenue pool, Shorts creators receive 45% and long-form creators 55%.

Four thresholds that are easy to mix up

Most of the confusion around this update comes from treating one number as if it were the only one. There are four, and they answer four different questions.

Threshold Who it applies to What you need If you miss it
YPP entry, from February 1, 2027 New applicants only 1,000 subscribers, plus 20 million qualified Shorts views in the last 90 days or 8,000 qualified watch hours in the last 365 days You cannot join yet. Channels already in YPP are not affected
Shorts earnings floor, from February 1, 2027 Every partner 10 million qualified Shorts views over the last 90 days No Shorts Creator Pool earnings that month. You stay in YPP, long-form earnings continue, and Shorts revenue sharing resumes automatically once you are back above
Activity, from February 1, 2027 Every partner 1,000 qualified watch hours in 365 days, or 1 million qualified Shorts views in 90 days, or 2 long-form videos or 5 Shorts uploaded every 90 days A 90-day window to get back to 1,000 watch hours or 1 million Shorts views and stay in the program
Fan funding, Creator Partnerships, Shopping Unchanged 500 subscribers, plus 3,000 qualified watch hours in the last year or 3 million qualified Shorts views in the last 90 days Unchanged

The second line is the real change for Shorts creators. Being a monetizing partner who has accepted the Shorts Monetization Module is no longer enough on its own: from February 1, 2027 a volume condition applies, and it is checked again every month.

The third line is the reassuring one for small channels that publish often. Uploading 5 Shorts every 90 days is enough to count as active, whatever those Shorts get in views.

How the 90 days are counted each month

The English version of the "YouTube Shorts monetization policies" page gives the rule for the monthly floor: views are measured "over the 90 day period ending on the 15th day of the calendar month preceding the month for which earnings are being calculated".

In practice, whether your Shorts earn in March 2027 is decided by the 90 days that end on February 15, 2027. A spike in views on February 20 counts toward April, not March.

Two consequences follow from that wording. A spike of views stays in your total for about three monthly checks, then leaves it. And a channel sitting just under the line cannot fix a given month at the last minute: by the time that month starts, its window has already closed.

The Shorts views YouTube does not pay

This is the part that concerns clip channels directly. The Shorts monetization policies page lists examples of views YouTube does not count when it calculates payments:

  • "Non-original Shorts, such as unedited clips from others' movies or TV shows, reuploading other creators' content from YouTube or other platform, or compilations with no original content added".
  • Artificial or fake views, such as those coming from automated click or scroll bots.
  • Views of Shorts that do not follow the advertiser-friendly content guidelines.

The same page reminds partners that they must follow the YouTube channel monetization policies, "including our policies on repetitious and reused content". For a channel that cuts other people's videos into Shorts, this means a clip can pile up views and still earn nothing. The rights side is a separate question, covered in using a YouTube video without permission: a clip can fail the copyright test, the originality test, or both.

The least risky raw material is your own long videos. If that is your case, cutting them is exactly what viralmaker does: you paste a YouTube link, the tool surfaces the best moments, reframes them to vertical 9:16 on the person speaking and burns in subtitles that read without sound. The method itself is detailed in how to turn a YouTube video into Shorts. No tool, ours included, turns someone else's content into original content.

Your back catalogue is also the simplest way to meet the activity rule of 5 Shorts every 90 days, and the same vertical clips can go out on TikTok and Reels too, as explained in posting one video to multiple social networks.

What to do before January 31, 2027

If you are already in YPP, this is the date to put in your calendar. The "Changes to the YouTube Partner Program" help page gives the steps:

  1. Sign in to YouTube Studio on desktop or mobile.
  2. Find the terms notification in your dashboard, or in the Earn tab.
  3. Select Review for each updated module.
  4. Check the box to accept, then select Next.
  5. Select Submit once you have reviewed all the updated modules.

The modules named are the Watch Page Monetization Module, the Shorts Monetization Module and, where it applies, the Commerce Product Module. You can accept some and not others. Whatever you have not accepted by January 31, 2027 stops earning on February 1, 2027. YouTube is explicit on two points: it does not remove you from the program, and accepting the terms later restores access.

If you are not in YPP yet, the thresholds on the eligibility page today are still 10 million Shorts views or 4,000 watch hours, and the higher ones take effect for new creators on February 1, 2027. The pages cited here do not say how an application still under review on that date is handled, so do not build a plan on that assumption.

Frequently asked questions

I am already in YPP. Do I need 20 million Shorts views? No. The 20 million threshold is an entry threshold for new applicants from February 1, 2027, and YouTube writes that channels already in YPP are not affected by it. To earn from Shorts in a given month, you will need 10 million qualified Shorts views over the last 90 days.

What happens if my Shorts drop under 10 million views in 90 days? You do not earn from the Shorts Creator Pool that month. You stay in YPP, long-form earnings are not affected, and Shorts revenue sharing resumes automatically once you cross 10 million again.

Do unlisted or private Shorts count? No. Only public Shorts that appear in the Shorts Feed produce qualified Shorts views. Private, unlisted and deleted Shorts are excluded. If your count stays near zero for reasons you cannot explain, start with why my Shorts get no views.

Is the Shorts revenue share changing? Not the rate: monetizing creators keep 45% of their allocated Shorts revenue. What is new is targeted Shorts ads. When an advertiser targets a group of five channels or fewer, eligible creators earn a direct 45% share from those placements, on top of the Creator Pool.

Where to start

Three checks this week. If you are a partner, open the Earn tab in YouTube Studio and look for the terms notification. Then compare your qualified Shorts views over the last 90 days with 10 million: that gap tells you whether February changes anything for you. Finally, sort your Shorts by origin, because clips of other people's content are the ones YouTube does not pay.

If your own long videos are your best source of Shorts, paste a YouTube link and see which moments come out first, each with its virality score. The analysis is free. To generate your clips, sign up on viralmaker; plans are on the pricing page.

Sources cited in this article, all read on September 21, 2026: the YouTube blog post New opportunities to earn and changes to the YouTube Partner Program, published by The YouTube Team on August 10, 2026, and three YouTube help pages on support.google.com, titled Changes to the YouTube Partner Program, YouTube Partner Program overview & eligibility, and YouTube Shorts monetization policies.