Does YouTube Shorts Make Money?

With short-form platforms like TikTok and Reels offering monetization opportunities for creators, it's only fair to ask: does YouTube Shorts make money? As if it isn't obvious already, the answer is a resounding yes!

Shorts has its own native monetization channel through ad revenue and YouTube Premium, while also fitting into external strategies like brand deals and product sales.

So, the question isn't really if YouTube Shorts makes money, but how much you can make, how each channel works, and what you need to do to qualify. This guide will cover just that. Let's get into it!

How Much Money Can You Make From YouTube Shorts?

YouTube Shorts can pay as much as (or even more than) $0.16 per 1,000 views, although it can also be absurdly low at around $0.007 per thousand views. At those rates, a Short racking up 1 million views could lead to a payout of roughly $7 to $160 solely from YouTube's native monetization.

The figures above are drawn from real creators who did us the favor of disclosing their earnings.

Creator Mark Andrew shared in one Medium post that he earned $11,229.16 from 72.4 million Shorts views over roughly eight months. This works out to just under $0.16 per 1,000 views. (This metric is also called revenue per mille, or RPM.)

Meanwhile, creator Nyitar Nelson likewise disclosed earning just $0.15 from 21,000 views, equivalent to roughly a $0.007 RPM.

As you can see, Shorts payouts can vary wildly.

As reflected in YouTube's Shorts monetization policies, one reason is location, 

YouTube distributes Creator Pool revenue based on each creator's share of engaged views within each country. Since the amount of ad revenue entering the pool can differ by market, your viewers' location can ultimately affect how much those views are worth.

Apart from that, it could also come down to the algorithm "normalizing", which YouTube creator Awais Jangli's experience illustrates perfectly well.

Across four months of monetizing his Shorts, he earned $420 in month two (4.2 million views), $1,850 in month three (18 million views), then dropped to $930 in month four (9 million views). The swings show just how much earnings can experience steep crests and troughs until the algorithm effectively settles your account into a baseline.

So, as useful as the RPM figures above are for plugging in the numbers and making your own calculations, it is not that simple.

You can't just say, "I'll just rack up 18.75 million views this month and cross my $3,000 earnings target." Your channel is more likely to settle into its own typical RPM range, and you'll need to establish what that range looks like from your own earnings data over time.

YouTube Videos vs. Shorts Monetization

If you're someone who's deciding between YouTube videos and Shorts purely from a monetization standpoint, you might fare better with the traditional long video format.

As we discussed in a previous guide, the main reason is that long-form YouTube videos can host a wider variety of ad types, which in turn can translate into greater earning potential.

BUT the main advantage of Shorts is the awareness and visibility they can generate, making them super useful for building an audience (especially if you're just starting out) and gaining subscribers. It is an earning vehicle in itself, albeit indirectly, when you strategically use it to funnel viewers toward your long-form YouTube videos.

Does Shorts or TikTok Earn More?

As for how its earning potential compares with its archrival TikTok, I wouldn't look at it purely from an RPM standpoint. Though both primarily deal in short-form video, comparing their algorithms is kind of like comparing apples to oranges.

Without going too far into the weeds, it has a lot to do with how content gets surfaced. TikTok tends to favor more recent, fresh, and trending videos. Shorts, meanwhile, is part of the much larger YouTube ecosystem, which also functions as a search engine. This gives Shorts content a longer shelf life, which means that a Short from six months ago has a real chance of resurfacing and pulling in views again.

This being so, it makes more sense to look at the comparison through the lens of strategy: Which platform is more likely to move you toward your goals, given your niche, audience, and content strategy? Only then does it make sense to weigh their respective monetization potential.

How to Make Money Online With YouTube Shorts

Below are several ways you can monetize YouTube Shorts.

Shorts Ad Revenue and YouTube Premium

The most direct way to make money from YouTube Shorts is through Shorts ad revenue (from the Creator Pool) and YouTube Premium revenue each month.

Firstly, Shorts ad revenue. YouTube pools revenue from ads shown between Shorts into what it calls the Creator Pool. Your allocation is based on your share of eligible engaged Shorts views in each country, after which you receive 45% of the revenue allocated to you.

YouTube has a hypothetical example that illustrates this well. 

As for earning from YouTube Premium subscribers, YouTube pays creators 45% of the net Premium revenue allocated to monetizing Shorts creators. Payments are likewise based on your share of Premium subscribers' Shorts views within each country.

You can access both revenue streams through the YouTube Partner Program (YPP), although you'll need to clear YouTube's higher monetization threshold before you qualify.

That means that, as of writing, you must have at least 1,000 subscribers and meet either of these requirements:

• 10 million qualified public Shorts views within the past 90 days

• 4,000 qualified public watch hours from long-form videos within the past 365 days

Note: Starting February 1, 2027, new YPP applicants will face much steeper qualification requirements under YouTube's updated monetization rules.

Once accepted into YPP, you'll need to accept the Shorts Monetization Module in YouTube Studio.

Fan Funding

You can also earn directly from your audience through YouTube's fan funding features. For Shorts specifically, a viewer can purchase a Super Thanks on your Short, which gives them an animated effect and the option to leave a highlighted, customizable comment.

YouTube pays creators 70% of net revenue from its fan-funding features, which, beyond Super Thanks on Shorts, include Channel Memberships, Super Chat, and Super Stickers.

You can access fan funding by becoming a YouTube Partner, specifically once you have:

• 500 subscribers

• Three public uploads within the past 90 days

• Either 3 million qualified public Shorts views in the past 90 days or 3,000 qualified public watch hours from long-form videos in the past year

Brand Deals and Sponsorships

Over the past few years, brands have invested more heavily in influencer marketing, micro-influencers, and user-generated content (UGC) because of their effectiveness in reaching and influencing target audiences.

As such, many creators have found that brand deals and sponsorships are where the real money is. A business pays you to promote its product, service, or message in a Short, with earning potential that can make Shorts ad revenue look like pocket change.

YouTube has features built around these partnerships, including the option for a brand partner to activate a clickable external link on a sponsored Short. The link can appear as a sticker on the Short, in its description, or both, directing viewers to the brand's website or product page.

The challenge? Getting a brand to trust you enough to approach you or take your pitch seriously. That usually means you must have something to show for your work, whether that's views, subscribers, engagement, or a track record of content that performs.

And speaking of content that performs, content intelligence tools like Virlo can show you what's already working in your niche before you spend time, money, or resources creating content yourself.

By showing you the hooks, formats, topics, and videos already gaining traction, Virlo gives you a concrete basis to work from instead of relying on assumptions or guesswork.

Affiliate Marketing and Product Sales

You can also monetize Shorts by selling products. You can connect your own store and tag products directly in Shorts through YouTube Shopping.

Another option is to promote products available through YouTube's Shopping Affiliate Program, where you earn commissions on qualifying purchases. Obviously, how much you’ll make from this revenue stream depends on how effectively you can drive sales.

Using Shorts to Funnel Viewers to Your YouTube Videos

Another way Shorts can make you money is by helping your long-form YouTube videos make more money. And you can do that through a straightforward funnel: use your Shorts as teasers for your full YouTube videos.

Transformation content is almost tailor-made for this strategy. I bet you've seen those before-and-after lawn care or dirty driveway transformations where they hold back the final result. This works just as well for podcast snippets that leave one wanting to hear the rest of the conversation.

As such, it can also be a really effective strategy for growing your YouTube channel.

YouTube has a Related Video feature built for this very purpose. After uploading a Short, you can select one of your videos, Shorts, or live streams as its related video in YouTube Studio.

From the viewer's point of view, they'll see a clickable link below your channel handle that takes them straight to the related content.

A handy shortcut here is YouTube's Edit into a Short feature. When you use it to create a Short from one of your existing long-form videos, YouTube automatically links the Short back to its source video.

YouTube Shorts Monetization: Do's and Don'ts

Monetization is something you maintain over the long haul. Your actions along the way can support your Shorts income stream, jeopardize it, or even get your monetization revoked altogether.

Do Post Consistently

There’s no prescribed magic number of Shorts you should upload each day or week. But posting consistently can build familiarity among your viewers while giving YouTube’s recommendation system more viewer-response data to work with.

Do Research What Already Performs Before Creating Shorts

Content intelligence platforms such as Virlo can help you identify winning Shorts content in your niche before you spend money or time producing your own. Our YouTube Research Tool is pretty easy to use. There’s no reason to build your content strategy based on a hunch.

Do Track Your Shorts Revenue and Performance

How else can you know how well your strategy is working but by looking at the numbers! Use YouTube Analytics in YouTube Studio to monitor metrics such as views, engaged views, subscribers, estimated revenue, and Shorts Feed ad revenue.

Do Collaborate With Other Creators

This way, you can gain exposure to other niches while building creator relationships at the same time. YouTube lets you add up to five collaborators to a video or Short. 

Don’t Violate YouTube's Monetization and Community Guidelines

Your Shorts can remain on YouTube yet still be unsuitable for advertising. Meanwhile, violations of Community Guidelines can lead to warnings, strikes, or removal.

YouTube's monetization policies also cover areas such as reused and inauthentic content, so publishing at scale shouldn't come at the expense of originality or creative input.

Don't Buy Views or Fake Engagement

Buying artificial traffic through bots, click farms, or paid engagement services is risky as those views may not count as qualified views for monetization.

Worse, fake engagement can get your content or entire channel taken down. Never cut corners when it comes to monetization. You could end up losing far more than you gain.

FAQs

Can You Make Money Off YouTube Shorts?

Yes, you can make money from YouTube Shorts through Shorts Feed ad revenue, YouTube Premium, and fan funding (Super Thanks). Other options include brand deals, sponsorships, affiliate marketing, product sales, and funneling viewers to monetized long-form videos.

Can I Earn Money From YouTube Shorts Without Subscribers?

If you're looking to earn money from ad revenue and YouTube Premium revenue, you won't be able to monetize Shorts until you're eligible for the YouTube Partner Program (YPP), which requires a minimum of 1,000 subscribers.

Can You Make Money from YouTube Shorts With AI?

Yes, Shorts created with AI can be monetized. YouTube doesn't prohibit AI use, but your content must still comply with its monetization policies. That includes rules against repetitive, mass-produced, or otherwise inauthentic content. You may also need to disclose AI-generated or altered content when it appears realistic.