If you have been posting videos and wondering when the checks start, 2026 is a good year to get serious. The path to make money on YouTube is clearer than it used to be: there is now a lower entry point for fan funding, a bigger ad split for long videos, and built-in tools for shopping and brand deals. Here is exactly what YouTube requires right now, every way creators get paid, and what to expect in your first year.

How to Make Money on YouTube: The 2026 Eligibility Rules

Everything runs through the YouTube Partner Program, known as YPP. According to YouTube’s official overview of the expanded program, there are two levels.

Level one: fan funding and Shopping

You qualify with 500 subscribers, 3 valid public uploads in the last 90 days, and either 3,000 qualified watch hours in the last 12 months or 3 million qualified Shorts views in the last 90 days. This level unlocks channel memberships, Super Chat and Super Stickers, Super Thanks, and Shopping features.

Level two: ad revenue

To share in ad money and YouTube Premium revenue, the YPP eligibility page says you need either 1,000 subscribers plus 4,000 qualified public watch hours in the last 12 months, or 1,000 subscribers plus 10 million qualified Shorts views in the last 90 days. One catch: watch hours from Shorts in the Shorts feed do not count toward the 4,000 hours.

At either level, you also need to live in a country where the program is available, have no active Community Guidelines strikes, turn on 2-Step Verification for your Google account, enable advanced features, and link an AdSense for YouTube account.

Every Way Creators Get Paid

YouTube’s Partner Program page for creators lists memberships, gifts, Supers, Shopping, brand partnerships, and ads plus Premium revenue. Here is how each one works.

• Long-form ads: Per YouTube’s partner earnings overview, creators get 55% of net revenue from ads shown on their watch pages.
• Shorts: Ad revenue from the Shorts feed is pooled and allocated, and creators keep 45% of what is allocated to them. The YouTube blog’s YPP explainer spells out the same split: “55% for long-form videos and 45% for shorts.”
• Channel memberships: Fans pay monthly for perks like badges, emojis, and members-only posts or videos. YouTube’s memberships guide notes your channel cannot be set as made for kids.
• Super Thanks, Super Chat, and Super Stickers: Viewers tip you on videos and during livestreams. For these commerce products, the earnings overview says YouTube pays creators 70% of net revenue.
• Shopping: You can tag products and earn commission. The Shopping affiliate program is available to YPP channels in the United States and a list of other countries, but not to music channels or channels made for kids.
• Brand deals: YouTube Creator Partnerships lets brands find YPP creators inside YouTube Studio. You can also pitch brands directly.

When you do a paid deal, disclose it. The Federal Trade Commission’s Disclosures 101 guide for influencers says to disclose any financial, family, or personal relationship with a brand, including free products, and to put the disclosure “with the endorsement message itself” where it is hard to miss.

Realistic Expectations for Your First Year

The money is real. YouTube says it paid more than $100 billion to creators, artists, and media companies from January 2021 through December 2024. But most of that goes to channels that spent years building an audience. A few truths to plan around:

• Ad earnings vary a lot. What you earn per view depends on your topic, where your viewers live, and the time of year.
• Payments run on a monthly cycle. According to YouTube, finalized earnings show up in AdSense between the 7th and 12th of the next month, and payouts go out between the 21st and 26th if you have met the payment threshold and have no holds.
• Fan funding can come first. Because memberships and Super Thanks unlock at 500 subscribers, a small but loyal audience can start paying you before ad money means much.
• Stack your income. Many working creators combine ads, memberships, affiliate links, brand deals, and their own products or services. A channel can also be the marketing arm of a business you already run.

A Simple Game Plan to Reach Monetization

Pick a lane you can sustain

Choose a topic you could make 50 videos about. Hair care, cooking, personal finance, gaming, faith, local history, travel, and career advice are all lanes where Black creators are building loyal audiences.

Upload on a schedule

The lower tier requires 3 public uploads in the last 90 days, so consistency is built into the rules. One solid video a week beats five rushed ones followed by silence.

Use Shorts as a front door

Shorts can bring in new viewers fast, but remember that Shorts feed views do not count toward the 4,000 watch hours. Use Shorts to point people to your longer videos.

Learn from the source

YouTube’s own YouTube Creators channel posts free tutorials, including “How to Monetize with the YouTube Partner Program”, a short walkthrough of the application. To save hours on editing, captions, and thumbnails, check our roundup of free AI tools every Black small business owner should try.

What About Funds for Black Creators?

In 2020, YouTube launched the #YouTubeBlack Voices Fund, a $100 million commitment to Black creators and artists that ran in yearly creator classes. The most recent round we could confirm was the Class of 2023, which opened applications in eight countries in June 2022, and we did not find an open YouTube application for a Black creator fund this fall. We will update readers if one opens.

Other programs come and go in cohorts. Blavity Inc. launched its Creator Collective Fellowship in January 2025 as a paid quarterly program with a stipend and mentorship, so check that page for the next round. If your channel is part of a business, BCN’s guide to small business grants for Black founders lists funding that may cover cameras, lighting, or editing help.

One warning: legitimate creator funds do not charge an application fee and YouTube will never ask for your password. If a “creator grant” asks for money up front or login details, walk away.

Start Where You Are

You do not need a studio. You need a phone, a topic you love, and a schedule you can keep. Set a goal of 500 subscribers and 3 uploads in the next 90 days, turn on 2-Step Verification today, and share this guide with the friend who keeps saying they are going to start a channel. The next big Black creator could be posting their first video this week.