The YouTube Shorts monetization requirements change on February 1, 2027. Today the Shorts route into the YouTube Partner Program (YPP), the program that shares ad revenue with creators, takes 1,000 subscribers and 10 million qualified Shorts views in the last 90 days. From February 1, 2027, new creators need 20 million, and every channel, including those already in the program, needs at least 10 million qualified Shorts views in the last 90 days to earn a share of Shorts ad revenue for a given month. YouTube announced both figures in a blog post dated August 10, 2026 and repeats them on its Help pages, read on October 5, 2026.
Two things complicate that. The 10 million figure stops being a line you cross once and becomes a test YouTube runs every month. And a qualified view is not the number shown under a Short. The public counter counts a view the moment a Short starts to play, a rule YouTube's Shorts Help page dates to March 31, 2025, while the thresholds count only engaged views of public Shorts, meaning the viewer stayed past the initial seconds.
YouTube Shorts monetization requirements, today and from February 1, 2027
As of October 5, 2026, YouTube's pages carry four Shorts thresholds for earning, all counted in qualified Shorts views over the last 90 days. They are 3 million for fan funding and Shopping, 10 million to join for ad revenue today, 20 million to join from February 1, 2027, and 10 million to share in Shorts ad revenue each month from that date.
Three terms in the table need a definition. Fan funding is YouTube's name for features such as channel memberships, Super Chat and Super Thanks. The Creator Pool is YouTube's name for the part of each month's ad revenue from the Shorts Feed (the feed where Shorts play) that is allocated to creators. YouTube Premium is YouTube's paid subscription.
| What it decides | Requirement | When it applies | Source (YouTube page) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fan funding and Shopping features, without a share of Shorts ad revenue | 500 subscribers, 3 valid public uploads and 3 million qualified Shorts views, both in the last 90 days | Now, in countries with the expanded program; unchanged in 2027 | Overview of the expanded YouTube Partner Program; Changes to the YouTube Partner Program |
| Joining for ad and YouTube Premium revenue through Shorts | 1,000 subscribers and 10 million qualified Shorts views in the last 90 days | Now, as listed on October 5, 2026; for new creators, 20 million replaces it from February 1, 2027 | YouTube Partner Program overview & eligibility |
| Joining through Shorts as a new creator | 1,000 subscribers and 20 million qualified Shorts views in the last 90 days | From February 1, 2027 | Changes to the YouTube Partner Program |
| Earning a share of the Shorts Creator Pool and of YouTube Premium revenue on Shorts for a given month | At least 10 million qualified Shorts views in the last 90 days | Every month from February 1, 2027, existing members included | YouTube Shorts monetization policies |
The long-form route changes for new creators on the same date, from 4,000 to 8,000 qualified watch hours, and our guide to YouTube monetization requirements covers that side.
The 10 million rule becomes a monthly test on February 1, 2027
From February 1, 2027, 10 million qualified Shorts views in the last 90 days is a condition for sharing in Shorts ad revenue every month, where today it is only the number for getting in. YouTube's Shorts monetization policies page says, under the heading "Turning on Shorts ad revenue sharing": "Starting February 1, 2027, to be eligible to earn a share of Shorts ad revenue from the Creator Pool and YouTube Premium revenue for each month, you will need to have at least 10 million qualified Shorts views in the last 90 days."
It applies to channels already in the program. YouTube's Help page Changes to the YouTube Partner Program says, under "Shorts Earnings & Minimum Performance": "To earn each month from the Shorts Creator Pool, creators will now need to maintain 10M qualified Shorts views over the last 90 days." YouTube's blog post of August 10, 2026 adds: "Creators who already earn significant revenue from Shorts are unlikely to be impacted by these changes." It gives no figure for how many channels sit below the line.
Further down, under "How ad revenue sharing works for Shorts", the Shorts monetization policies page repeats the requirement in a sentence with no date. The dated sentence, the Changes page and the August 10 blog post all give February 1, 2027 as the start.
Which 90 days count
YouTube fixes the window to the middle of the previous month. Under "Turning on Shorts ad revenue sharing", the Shorts monetization policies page continues: "Total views will be measured against this threshold over the 90 day period ending on the 15th day of the calendar month preceding the month for which earnings are being calculated."
Read literally, earnings for February 2027 depend on the 90 days ending January 15, 2027, a window that opens around October 18, 2026. Those dates are our arithmetic from YouTube's sentence. YouTube publishes no calendar and does not name the first month it will test. If February 2027 is that month, the views that decide it start accruing in mid-October 2026.
For scale, 10 million views in 90 days averages about 111,000 a day, and 20 million about 222,000. Those are our divisions; YouTube states a 90-day total, not a daily minimum.
What happens to a channel below 10 million qualified Shorts views
From February 1, 2027, a channel with fewer than 10 million qualified Shorts views in the 90-day window stays in the YouTube Partner Program and keeps its other earnings. What stops for that month is revenue sharing on Shorts, both from ads and from YouTube Premium. The Changes to the YouTube Partner Program page says, under "Shorts Earnings & Minimum Performance": "If you miss this threshold, you will not be removed from YPP and this will not impact other YPP earnings, including long-form video."
The August 10 blog post says: "Channels below this threshold remain in YPP and continue earning on long-form content, with Shorts revenue sharing automatically resuming once they cross 10 million views again."
What YouTube's pages say about other ways to earn, as read on October 5, 2026:
- Fan funding and Shopping keep their own thresholds. The Changes page says, under "Updating YPP ads & Premium entry thresholds": "There are no changes to the eligibility requirements for fan funding, YouTube Creator Partnerships, or YouTube Shopping."
- New Shorts incentive programs are announced but not specified. The blog post says that for channels below the threshold they "introduce new ways to earn based on hitting certain milestones, like bonuses for YouTube Shopping, incentives for brand deals, and earnings boosts for starting and growing trends", and adds: "We'll share more details soon." The Changes page says eligible creators "will get direct notifications on how to opt-in as these programs launch". Neither page gives amounts, milestones or eligibility rules.
- Targeted Shorts ads start on February 1, 2027, according to the Shorts monetization policies page. The Changes page says: "If an advertiser targets an ad to a group of five or fewer channels, eligible creators can earn a direct 45% revenue share from those placements." Neither the Changes page nor the Shorts monetization policies page says whether a channel under 10 million counts as eligible.
Staying in the program is a separate test. From February 1, 2027, YouTube counts a channel as active if it meets any one of three conditions, among them 1 million qualified Shorts views in the last 90 days or 5 Shorts uploaded every 90 days; our YouTube monetization requirements article covers the activity rules.
Joining through Shorts takes 20 million qualified views from February 1, 2027
From February 1, 2027, a new creator applying to the YouTube Partner Program through Shorts needs 1,000 subscribers and 20 million qualified Shorts views in the last 90 days, double the 10 million on the eligibility page today. Under "Updating YPP ads & Premium entry thresholds", the Changes page says the entry threshold for new creators becomes "20M qualified Shorts views in the last 90 days, in addition to still needing 1k subscribers."
For channels already in the program, the same page says: "If you are already in YPP, your status is not impacted by this update." Their Shorts ad revenue still depends on the monthly 10 million test.
Until then, YouTube's eligibility page lists the Shorts route, under "How you can become eligible", as: "Get 1,000 subscribers with 10 million qualified Shorts views in the last 90 days." None of the pages read for this article says how YouTube will treat an application submitted before February 1, 2027 and still in review on that date, and the eligibility page says a decision typically takes "about 1 month". Do not assume a late-January application is judged on the old number.
Reaching the number is not the same as being accepted. The eligibility page says: "Every channel that meets the threshold will go through a standard review process."
What counts as a qualified Shorts view
A qualified Shorts view is an engaged view of a public Short, and it is the unit every Shorts threshold is measured in. YouTube's blog post of August 12, 2026 defines it: "To count as qualified, Shorts views have to come from public Shorts and be engaged views." It continues: "An engaged view means the viewer stayed to watch past the initial seconds, and does not include any loops." Under "Qualified Shorts views", the eligibility page describes what counts in these words: "Qualified views from Shorts you’ve set public that appear in the Shorts Feed".
Neither that post nor YouTube's post of August 19, 2026 on engaged views gives a number of seconds. The second one describes the Shorts case this way: "The moment it starts to play, it’s counted as a view. If you let it keep playing for some amount of seconds after that first frame, it’s an engaged view."
The August 12 post lists the views that do not count as qualified:
- "Private Shorts"
- "Unlisted Shorts"
- "Deleted Shorts"
- "Shorts viewed as an ad"
- "Long form video views"
- "Image posts that appear in the Shorts feed"
The number under your Short is not this number. YouTube's Help page Get started creating YouTube Shorts says, under "Changes to Shorts views count": "Starting 3/31/2025, we're updating how Shorts views are counted. Views will count the number of times a Short starts to play or replay, with no minimum watch time requirement." The Help page How engagement metrics are counted, which dates the same count-on-start rule for all formats to August 24, 2026, adds: "YPP eligibility will still be based on “qualified views.”" A public count of 10 million does not show that the threshold has been met.
For checking progress, the August 12 post says creators "can check engaged views per video directly in YouTube Analytics". None of the pages read says that figure equals the qualified total YouTube tests, so treat it as an estimate. Our explainer on what counts as a view on YouTube sets the public count, engaged views and qualified views side by side.
How Shorts revenue is shared once a channel qualifies
Creators keep 45% of the revenue allocated to them from the Shorts Creator Pool. The pool is the creators' part of each month's ad revenue from the Shorts Feed, after a portion goes to music licensing. YouTube distributes it according to each creator's share of engaged views in each country. The Shorts monetization policies page says: "Monetizing creators will keep 45% of their allocated revenue, regardless if music was used or not."
The channel has to accept the Shorts Monetization Module, the contract terms for earning from Shorts; views from before it is accepted are not eligible. And only eligible engaged views are paid: the page's examples of ineligible views are non-original Shorts such as unedited clips and reuploads, "Artificial or fake views of Shorts, such as from automated click or scroll bots", and views of Shorts that do not follow the advertiser-friendly content guidelines.
The page gives no rate per view; its only dollar figures belong to an example YouTube labels hypothetical. For what Shorts earn in practice, our page on how much YouTubers make quotes third-party ranges of creator-reported payouts per 1,000 views for Shorts and long-form, and the YouTube money calculator has a Shorts setting. The calculator's RPM (revenue per 1,000 views) bands are our editorial estimates, not YouTube figures.
Do bought or promoted Shorts views count toward 10 million?
Bought and promoted Shorts views do not count toward the 10 million or 20 million thresholds under YouTube's published rules: traffic YouTube finds to be artificial is not counted, and a Short viewed as an ad is not a qualified view. Artificially increasing a view count, whether you do it or pay someone to, is also what YouTube's Fake engagement policy prohibits. It says: "YouTube doesn’t allow anything that artificially increases the number of views, likes, comments, or other metrics either by using automatic systems or serving up videos to unsuspecting viewers."
The same policy states the consequences: "Content and channels that don't follow this policy may be terminated and removed from YouTube." It adds: "Page traffic found to be artificial will not be counted on YouTube and can lead to strikes on your account." It also covers work you pay someone else to do: "Any method that violates our policies may result in content removal or a channel takedown, whether it's an action taken by you or someone you've hired."
YouTube's own advertising does not count either. "Shorts viewed as an ad" is on the list of views that are not qualified, and the Help page for YouTube Promote says watch hours and subscribers "gained through ad campaigns do not count towards YPP eligibility thresholds". The same page names one exception, Follow-on Views, "organic views you get when someone watches your videos after seeing your promoted content", which it says "are only available for Audience Growth promotions and count toward YPP eligibility". The page does not say how they are treated in the monthly 10 million test.
Buying views for another reason, such as a visible counter on a launch, is not separate from monetization. The policy above applies to the public counter as well. And YouTube's channel monetization policies, which cover channels in or applying to the program, say creators "should not artificially inflate a channel’s engagement, such as views, subs, likes, watch time, and ad impressions", and that doing so "may result in removal from the YouTube Partner Program or termination of your channels."
This section reports YouTube's rules, not a result of ours. HowSociable's first-hand purchase testing is a five-order pilot on Instagram and TikTok that tracked retention at day 7, 14 and 30, and it included no YouTube order.
Our YouTube views page ranks the sellers, and its Shorts section reaches the same conclusion: a purchased view is the class of view YouTube's rules exclude. For what the policy can mean for a channel, see can you get banned for buying YouTube subscribers.
What this means if you are growing a Shorts channel
From February 1, 2027, what a Shorts channel has to do depends on whether it has 10 million qualified Shorts views in the last 90 days. Every channel already in the program also has to accept YouTube's updated terms by January 31, 2027 to keep earning from the affected features.
In the program and well above 10 million
A channel that stays above 10 million qualified Shorts views in each 90-day window keeps passing the monthly test, but there is one task. The Changes page says existing members need to accept updated terms, including the Shorts Monetization Module, in YouTube Studio: "If you don’t accept the updated terms by January 31, 2027, you’ll stop earning from the associated monetization features beginning February 1, 2027."
In the program and near or below 10 million
From February 2027, Shorts revenue sharing can switch off and back on from one month to the next. Track engaged views in YouTube Analytics, not the public counter, and remember that the test looks at the 90 days ending on the 15th of the month before. The January 31, 2027 deadline for accepting the updated terms applies to you too. The incentive programs had no terms on the YouTube pages read on October 5, 2026, so they are not something to budget around yet.
Not yet in the program
The join figure is 10 million qualified Shorts views today and 20 million from February 1, 2027, with 1,000 subscribers either way, the same count as on the long-form route. Our guide to getting more YouTube subscribers covers the channel-level work: titles, thumbnails, the first 30 seconds and when to ask for the subscribe. It is written around long-form videos. If 20 million is out of reach, the tier at 500 subscribers and 3 million qualified Shorts views still opens fan funding and Shopping in the countries where YouTube offers its expanded program.
The short version
- Today, joining the YouTube Partner Program through Shorts takes 1,000 subscribers and 10 million qualified Shorts views in the last 90 days; from February 1, 2027, new creators need 20 million.
- From February 1, 2027, every channel needs at least 10 million qualified Shorts views in the last 90 days to earn a share of Shorts ad and YouTube Premium revenue for that month.
- YouTube measures the 90 days ending on the 15th of the month before the earnings month.
- Below 10 million, a channel stays in the program and keeps long-form earnings; Shorts revenue sharing resumes automatically when it crosses 10 million again. The new incentive programs for these channels had no terms on the YouTube pages read on October 5, 2026.
- Existing members must accept YouTube's updated terms, including the Shorts Monetization Module, in YouTube Studio by January 31, 2027, or they stop earning from those features on February 1, 2027.
- A qualified Shorts view is an engaged view of a public Short. Loops and ad views do not count, and the public view counter is a different number.
- Traffic YouTube finds to be artificial is not counted. YouTube's Fake engagement policy prohibits artificially increasing views, and says channels that do not follow it may be terminated.
Next: YouTube monetization requirements for watch hours and the activity rules, what counts as a view on YouTube for the three kinds of view, and how much YouTubers make for earnings once a channel is paid.
Every YouTube rule quoted here was read on October 5, 2026 from YouTube's official blog (posts dated August 10, 12 and 19, 2026) and from the YouTube Help pages linked above. The Help pages showed no last-updated date when read; the channel monetization policies page carries dated change notes, the latest dated July 15, 2025. YouTube says more details on its incentive programs are coming, so check its pages before making a decision.