YouTube has recently increased the cost of entry for its Partner Program twofold.
Starting from February 1, 2027, channels applying to join the YouTube Partner Program will need to have 1,000 subscribers and 8,000 valid public watch hours over the previous 365 days. This is an increase from the current requirement of 4,000 hours over a 12-month period.
The criteria for Shorts have also been doubled. Channels will now need to achieve twenty million valid public Shorts views within 90 days, up from the previous ten million.
YouTube announced these changes on Monday with the title “New opportunities to earn.” Emma Roth from The Verge reported it first, using a more straightforward headline: YouTube is making it harder to earn money on YouTube. Both headlines are correct, which is an interesting observation.
This new threshold affects those who have not yet reached it. However, channels already in the program will not lose their status. YouTube clarified that the new requirements will only apply to channels applying after February 2027, and current partners will not be impacted by these changes.
Over three million creators are already part of the program, and none of them will need to meet the new 8,000 watch hour requirement. This means that a channel with 5,000 watch hours today would qualify this year but would not qualify the following year. This marks the first major adjustment to the program since 2018, focusing solely on those still trying to enter.
The queue of applicants has been relatively sparse over the last year. YouTube tightened monetization rules during the summer for mass-produced channels, affecting many human creators in the process. Alternatively, Patreon, a key option for creators seeking to bypass platform payouts, laid off 20% of its workforce in July.
For the Shorts Creator Pool, earning will now require a distinct target of 10 million valid public Shorts views over a rolling 90-day period. Falling below this threshold will not disqualify a channel from the Partner Program and will not affect long-form earnings; Shorts payments will pause and then resume automatically once views recover.
YouTube reported that Shorts now receive more than 200 billion views daily and is the format that many competitors are pursuing. For example, Netflix began licensing short-form videos from sources like Variety, Rolling Stone, and BuzzFeed in August to counteract viewer attrition.
In terms of subscriptions, Premium Lite will be made available in every country where Premium currently exists. YouTube will allocate 60% of net Premium Lite subscription revenue to the creators' share pool, compared to 30% from net Premium revenue. From these pools, creators will earn 55% from long-form watch time and 45% from Shorts.
YouTube also claims that “when a user subscribes to Premium, partners, on average, earn more than when the user was watching ads.” It's essential to note that this statistic is based on performance data from 2026 and represents an average from one year. The company has been actively promoting subscriptions, including a recent deal to integrate Peacock into Premium without additional cost starting in early 2027.
Three important details are found in Google’s support documentation rather than in the main announcement. First, there will be a new Targeted Shorts Ads revenue share. If an advertiser purchases ads against five or fewer channels, eligible creators will receive a direct 45% cut of that revenue, in addition to the standard pool.
Second, there will be a new definition of what constitutes an active channel. Starting February 2027, a channel will remain active with either 1,000 valid public watch hours in 365 days, one million Shorts views in 90 days, or having uploaded two long-form videos or five Shorts within any 90-day period. The current rule deactivates monetization after six months of inactivity.
The third point is about contract migration. Creators who agreed to the old Commerce Product Addendum before 2023 will transition to the current Commerce Product Module. The eligibility, mechanics, and revenue share will remain unchanged. Creators must accept this in YouTube Studio by January 31, 2027, or risk losing fan funding earnings.
All partners must adhere to this deadline. Terms should be accepted in Studio by January 31, 2027, for the new agreement to take effect the following day.
What remains unchanged are the lower tiers: Fan funding, Creator Partnerships, and Shopping still require 500 subscribers along with either 3,000 valid public watch hours in a year or three million Shorts views in 90 days.
YouTube is also introducing incentives alongside the stricter standards, such as bonuses for creators utilizing YouTube Shopping, production credits linked to brand partnerships, and earnings enhancements for channels engaging with cultural trends. Additionally, the company claims it expects to pay creators more in 2027 than in 2026.
Both a larger financial pool and stricter entry requirements can coexist. The amount of money distributed can increase even as the number of creators eligible to receive it decreases
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YouTube has recently increased the cost of entry for its Partner Program twofold.
Starting in February 2027, YouTube is raising the entry requirements for its Partner Program to either 8,000 watch hours or 20 million views on Shorts. Current partners will retain their status.