YouTube Monetization Requirements: Today’s Thresholds and the February 2027 Changes

To join the YouTube Partner Program (YPP) with ad revenue sharing, a channel needs 1,000 subscribers plus one of two alternatives: qualified watch hours on long-form videos, or qualified Shorts views. On February 1, 2027, YouTube doubles both alternatives for new applicants.

Subscribers are required on both paths: the watch hours or Shorts views come on top of the 1,000 subscribers, not instead of them. You only need to complete one of the two paths, not both.

YouTube announced the change on its official blog on August 10, 2026. Channels already in the YPP keep their status and don’t have to meet the new entry thresholds.

Some YPP features open before ad revenue sharing does. Fan funding, such as channel memberships and Super Chat, along with YouTube Shopping and YouTube Creator Partnerships, requires 500 subscribers plus either 3,000 qualified watch hours in the last year or 3 million qualified Shorts views in the last 90 days.

These features earn money from viewers, products or brand deals rather than from ads. YouTube says the 2027 update makes no changes to their requirements, while sharing ad revenue still takes the 1,000-subscriber thresholds shown in the table above.

Reaching the thresholds is only part of the process. YouTube also lists the following conditions for any channel that wants to join.

Once a channel applies, it goes through a standard review to check that it follows YouTube’s policies and guidelines. A channel with Community Guidelines strikes can apply once they expire. Meeting the thresholds makes a channel eligible to apply, not automatically accepted, and YouTube keeps checking channels after they join.

Qualified watch hours come only from long-form videos you’ve set to public. Watch time from private, unlisted or deleted videos, from ad campaigns, from YouTube Shorts, and from live streams that are unlisted, deleted or not converted to video on demand doesn’t count.

Qualified Shorts views come from public Shorts that appear in the Shorts Feed. Views of private, unlisted or deleted Shorts, views from ad campaigns, and Image Posts appearing in the Shorts Feed don’t count.

The two paths don’t mix: watch time from Shorts in the Shorts Feed doesn’t count toward the watch-hour threshold. Both windows are rolling, so older watch time and Shorts views gradually drop out of the totals.

Starting February 1, 2027, a channel in the YPP is considered active if it meets any one of three conditions: 1,000 qualified watch hours in the past 365 days, 1 million qualified Shorts views in the last 90 days, or 2 long-form videos or 5 Shorts uploaded every 90 days. YouTube says most channels in the program already meet these thresholds.

Channels that fall below get an extended 90-day window to reach 1,000 qualified watch hours or 1 million qualified Shorts views and stay in the program. For that window, YouTube lists only those two thresholds, not the upload option.

To earn each month from the Shorts Creator Pool, a channel will need 10 million qualified Shorts views over the last 90 days. Missing that threshold doesn’t remove a channel from the YPP and doesn’t affect its other earnings, including from long-form videos.

Every creator in the program also needs to review and accept the updated terms in YouTube Studio by January 31, 2027. Creators who haven’t done so stop earning from the related monetization features on February 1, 2027, but stay in the YPP and can regain access by accepting later.

The formula is simple: watch hours = views × average view duration in minutes ÷ 60. Average view duration is a standard YouTube Analytics metric, and only qualified watch time on public long-form videos counts toward the thresholds.

At a 10-minute average, 24,000 views give about 4,000 hours (24,000 × 10 ÷ 60 = 4,000), and 48,000 views give about 8,000 hours. At a 5-minute average, 4,000 hours take about 48,000 views and 8,000 hours about 96,000.

Spread over a year, 4,000 hours means about 333 hours a month, or roughly 11 hours a day. The 2027 threshold of 8,000 hours over 365 days works out to about 667 hours a month, or roughly 22 hours a day.

These figures are approximations, since averages vary from one video to the next. The table shows how many views each threshold takes at four different averages.

YouTube’s fake engagement policy states: “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.” Its examples include content that promotes “third-party services that artificially inflate metrics like views, likes, and subscribers.”

The policy also says: “Page traffic found to be artificial will not be counted on YouTube and can lead to strikes on your account.” A channel that gets three strikes within 90 days may be terminated, and YouTube adds: “If you hire someone to promote your channel, their decisions may impact your channel.”

This site sells YouTube visibility services, but they don’t replace qualified watch hours or qualified Shorts views. Only YouTube decides what counts toward its thresholds and which channels join the program.