How many subscribers do you need to get paid on YouTube?

To earn ad revenue you need 1,000 subscribers plus either 4,000 valid public watch hours in the past 12 months or 10 million valid public Shorts views in the past 90 days. In many countries, a lower tier at 500 subscribers unlocks fan funding such as memberships and Super Thanks, but not ad revenue.

Do Shorts views count toward YouTube monetization?

Yes, through their own path: 10 million valid public Shorts views in the last 90 days, together with 1,000 subscribers, qualifies you for the full Partner Program. Shorts views do not count toward the 4,000 watch hours requirement.

How long does it take to get monetized on YouTube?

It varies hugely. Channels in a focused niche that publish weekly often take 6 to 18 months to reach 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 hours. After you apply, YouTube’s review usually takes around a month.

How much does YouTube pay once you are monetized?

Most channels earn roughly $1.20 to $8 per 1,000 long-form views after YouTube’s 45% share, and $0.02 to $0.15 per 1,000 Shorts views. Niche and audience country move the number most.

YouTube growth

YouTube Monetization Requirements in 2026: How to Reach 1,000 Subscribers and 4,000 Hours

The YouTube Partner Program has two tiers, two ways to qualify for the big one, and a handful of rules that trip people up at the last step. Here is the whole picture, plus a practical plan for getting there.

The requirements at a glance

YouTube Partner Program tiers and requirements
	Fan funding tier	Full Partner Program
Subscribers	500	1,000
Watch time path	3,000 hours in 12 months	4,000 hours in 12 months
Shorts path	3M Shorts views in 90 days	10M Shorts views in 90 days
Uploads	3 public uploads in 90 days	No fixed minimum
Unlocks	Memberships, Super Chat, Super Thanks, Shopping	Everything, plus ad revenue and YouTube Premium revenue

The fan funding tier is available in many but not all countries. YouTube adjusts these thresholds from time to time, so confirm the current numbers in YouTube Studio under the Earn tab before you plan around them.

The rules everyone forgets

Only public, valid views count. Watch time from private, unlisted or deleted videos does not count, and neither do Shorts views toward the 4,000-hour path.
Live in an eligible country and follow YouTube's monetization policies, including its rules on reused and repetitive content.
No active Community Guidelines strikes on the channel.
2-Step Verification turned on for your Google account.
A linked AdSense account to receive payments.

Reused content is the most common reason for rejection. Compilations, reuploads and lightly edited clips of other people's work rarely pass review, even with plenty of views.

Watch hours or Shorts: which path is faster?

4,000 watch hours is 240,000 minutes. That is 24,000 views at an average of 10 minutes each, or 48,000 views at five minutes. 10 million Shorts views in 90 days sounds bigger, but a single viral Short can deliver several million views in a week.

The catch is what happens next. Long-form views pay far more per view than Shorts, and subscribers who found you through long-form videos are much more likely to keep watching them. If your goal is income, the watch time path usually builds a stronger channel. If your content is naturally short and punchy, Shorts can get you through the door, and long-form can follow.

A practical plan to reach 1,000 subscribers

Pick a search-friendly niche. New channels get most of their early views from search, not recommendations. Tutorials, reviews, comparisons and "how to" videos answer questions people are already typing.
Win the click. Your title and thumbnail decide whether anyone watches. Write titles that promise a specific result, using our title formulas or the YouTube title generator.
Hold the first 30 seconds. Skip the long intro. State what the viewer will get, then start delivering it. Retention is what tells YouTube to recommend a video.
Make videos around 8 to 15 minutes. Long enough to build watch hours and, once monetized, to carry mid-roll ads; short enough to finish.
Publish on a schedule you can keep. One good video a week for a year beats three a week for a month. Use end screens and playlists to send each viewer to your next video.
Use Shorts as trailers. Cut a 30-second highlight from each long video and link to the full version. Shorts bring new viewers; long-form keeps them.

What you will earn once you are in

Long-form creators keep 55% of the ad revenue from their videos, which typically works out to $1.20 to $8 per 1,000 views. Shorts creators share 45% of a pooled Shorts ad pot, which pays roughly $0.02 to $0.15 per 1,000 views. Finance, business and tech channels with US or UK audiences earn at the top of those ranges. Our RPM vs CPM guide explains why your payout may look lower than the CPM in your dashboard.