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New YouTube Partner Program Eligibility Requirements and New Earning Options

YouTube announced major changes to the YouTube Partner Program that take effect on February 1, 2027.
  • Higher Shorts views and watch time eligibility requirements for new applications for ad revenue sharing. The requirements for the fan funding tier have not changed.
  • New requirements to maintain your status in the program.
  • More revenue from YouTube Premium Lite and new Shorts earning opportunities.
Channels that are currently in the YouTube Partner Program do not need to meet the new eligibility requirements, but will need to follow the new requirements for maintaining your Partner Program status.

Why the changes? Amjad Hanif, YouTube VP of Creator Product says:
“We want to make sure the earnings you get from the program are meaningful and allow you to reinvest in your channel.” It’s so you can “build a business”.

What he doesn’t say, but what I suspect is true, is that accounts that don’t pay out every month are an unwanted operating expense. These changes mean fewer new channels will be eligible, and existing small channels may eventually drop out, because they don’t meet the new maintenance thresholds.


That’s more in line with what Rene Ritchie says on Creator Insider:
"There are so many more creators, channels, and formats, and so much more content. To make sure YPP scales, remains sustainable, provides investment in new creator incentives, and continues to reward active engagement in meaningful ways, [these changes are being made]”

What do channels currently in the YouTube Partner Program need to do?

If your channel is currently in the YouTube Partner Program, you will need to accept the new terms of service by January 31, 2027.

Note that if you do not accept the terms, that will not affect your status in the YouTube Partner Program, but you won’t be able to earn from the covered monetization features.
You can find the new terms in YouTube Studio on the dashboard or Earn tab. As of this writing they don’t appear to be available yet.

You should also be aware of the new requirements for maintaining your status in the program (read on).

New YouTube Partner Program Eligibility Requirements


Currently there are two levels of the YouTube Partner Program, the entry level fan funding tier, and the higher tier that includes ad revenue sharing and Premium revenue.

You can check your channel’s current progress towards eligibility in YouTube Studio on the $ Earn tab.

Fan Funding Tier Eligibility

Eligibility for the fan funding tier is not changing. This includes Memberships, Supers, YouTube Shopping, and Creator Partnerships (Brand Deals).

Subscribers: 500
Viewership: Either 3,000 qualified watch hours in the past year
OR 3 Million qualified Shorts views in the past 90 days.
Content: At least 3 public uploads in the past 90 days.

If you originally set up fan funding before 2023, you may need to accept the newer Commerce Product Module of the YouTube Partner Program terms by January 31, 2027.

Ad Revenue Sharing Eligibility

To earn from ad revenue sharing and YouTube Premium subscription fees, there is a higher eligibility threshold.

The last update to the ad revenue sharing eligibility requirements was in 2018. At that time, the requirements were increased to 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 hours watch time over the past year.

Shorts ad revenue sharing launched in 2023. You could meet the eligibility requirements for the YouTube Partner Program with 10 Million Shorts views in the past 3 months.

The new requirements are significantly higher.

Subscribers: 1,000 (this isn’t changing)
Viewership: Either 8,000 qualified watch hours in the past 365 days
OR 20 Million Shorts views in the past 90 days.

This does not affect current YouTube Partners, however, there will be new requirements to maintain your YouTube Partner Program status.

What are qualified watch hours and qualified Shorts views?

The YouTube Partner Program eligibility requirements are based on qualified watch hours of long form videos or qualified Shorts views (formerly valid public watch hours and views). That won’t include all watch time and views. This isn’t really a change, but it’s worth a recap.

Note: Check the Earn tab in YouTube Studio to see your channel’s progress.

Qualified Watch Hours

Qualified Watch Hours includes watch hours from public long-form videos, including livestreams converted to video on demand.

It does not include:
  • Unlisted or private videos or livestreams.
  • Deleted videos or livestreams
  • YouTube Shorts
  • Ad campaigns
Qualified Shorts Views

In 2025, YouTube changed the way Shorts views are counted. Currently “Views” are more like impressions. When a viewer stops to watch, that is counted as an “Engaged View”.

Qualified Shorts Views include qualifying engaged views on public Shorts that appear in the Shorts Feed. The current help center eligibility information does not mention engaged views, but YouTube has made clear that is what they are counting.

"To count as a qualified shorts view, it has to be an engaged view. Meaning, someone didn't just see the first frame and swipe or cancel out, but actually watched for long enough for YouTube Analytics to count it as an engaged view. ... For an engaged view to count as a qualified view, it also has to be public ..."

It does not include:
  • Unlisted or private Shorts.
  • Deleted Shorts.
  • Ad campaigns.
  • Image Posts that appear in the Shorts feed.

Maintaining your YouTube Partner Program Status

There are new requirements to maintain your channel’s status in the YouTube Partner Program that will also go into effect on February 1, 2027.

Currently, your channel may become inactive if you have not uploaded new videos or posted new Posts for at least 6 months.

YouTube Partner Program Activity Requirements

The new activity requirements mean that starting February 1, one of the following must be met:
  • At least 1,000 qualified watch hours in the past 365 days OR
  • At least 1 Million qualified Shorts views in the past 90 days OR
  • 2 long-form videos or 5 Shorts uploaded every 90 days.
If your channel becomes inactive, you will have a 90 day window to meet the watch hour or Shorts views activity requirement.

The biggest change is that publishing Posts is no longer sufficient to keep your channel active. This was easy. Now, you will need to at least publish a Short every couple of weeks.
 
Shorts Minimum Performance Requirement


Currently, if your channel is in the YouTube Partner Program and earning from ad revenue sharing, your Shorts are eligible to earn from the Shorts Creator Pool. This is true even if your channel met the YouTube Partner Program eligibility requirements with long-form video watch time.

Now you will only earn from the Shorts Creator Pool if your channel maintains 10 Million qualified Shorts views over the past 90 days.

This is one of the more painful changes. I get a few thousand Shorts views in that time frame, and they earn very little. It probably makes accounting sense to just not allocate those earnings. But there are channels that get 8 Million or 9 Million Shorts views over 90 days, and under the new policy they get no revenue from the Creator Pool at all because they haven’t met the performance requirement.

New Ways to Earn

Premium Lite

Premium Lite is a lower cost version of YouTube Premium. It includes mostly ad-free viewing (except on music videos), downloads and background play. Premium Lite will now be available in all countries where Premium is available.

Creators share revenue from the subscriptions.
  • For Premium Lite the pool is 60% of net subscription revenue.
  • For Premium the pool is 30% of net subscription revenue.
Revenue is distributed based on how many subscribers watch your videos.

YouTube says, “On average, creators earn more per user from Premium than from ads (based on 2026 performance).”  And more Premium and Premium Lite subscribers means more potential revenue.

Shorts Incentive Programs

YouTube will be launching special programs for Shorts:
  • Bonuses for YouTube Shopping
  • Production credits for Brand deals
  • Earnings boosts for “cultural trend activations.”
There aren’t any details about these initiatives yet.

Direct Shorts Revenue

There is support for new Shorts ad formats that target specific channels. YouTube says:

“With these new ad formats, if an advertiser runs Shorts ads to specifically target 5 or fewer channels, creators will earn 45% of that ad's revenue in addition to regular earnings from the Shorts Creator pool.”

More Information

Blog post: New opportunities to earn and changes to the YouTube Partner Program (Watch the official video for an overview)

Announcement: Updates to the YouTube Partner Program - New earning opportunities & changes to eligibility

Detailed Information in the YouTube Help Center: Changes to the YouTube Partner Program

Previous YouTube Partner Program Updates:
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