Starting February 1, YouTube is significantly tightening the requirements for the YouTube Partner Program 2027. Anyone who wants to earn ad and subscription revenue from Shorts will need 10 million eligible views within 90 days going forward. New applicants to the Partner Program will have to meet twice the previous requirement. Read on to find out exactly what’s changing and what this means for creators.
In a nutshell:
- Starting February 1, 2027, new thresholds will apply to the YouTube Partner Program (YPP).
- To earn revenue from Shorts ads and subscriptions, creators will need 10 million eligible views within 90 days.
- New applicants will need 8,000 watch hours in 365 days or 20 million Shorts views in 90 days—twice as much as before.
- Existing YPP members are exempt from the new entry requirements.
- YouTube Premium Lite is launching worldwide and distributes revenue differently than the regular Premium subscription.
Shorts Monetization: Why 10 Million Views Will Be the Threshold Going Forward
Until now, channels in the Partner Program could earn money from Shorts as soon as they were accepted into the program. That will change starting in February 2027: To receive ad and subscription revenue from Shorts, channels must demonstrate 10 million eligible Shorts views within the last 90 days. Channels falling short of this threshold won’t be removed from the program, but they’ll lose their Shorts revenue and will only be able to monetize through long-form videos.
New applicants need twice as much as before
Getting into the Partner Program is also becoming more difficult. Currently, you need 1,000 subscribers and either 4,000 watch hours in 12 months or 10 million Shorts views in 90 days. Starting in February 2027, the following will apply to new applicants:
| Criterion | Previously | Effective February 1, 2027 |
|---|---|---|
| Playback Hours | 4,000 hours in 12 months | 8,000 hours in 365 days |
| Alternative via Shorts | 10 million views in 90 days | 20 million views in 90 days |
| Shorts revenue starting at | Immediately after YPP acceptance | 10 million eligible views in 90 days |
Existing YPP members will retain their status; the new requirements apply only to channels that apply for the program in the future.
YouTube’s rationale: The platform has grown, and the standards need to keep pace
Amjad Hanif, VP of Creator Products at YouTube, explains the move in an official YouTube blog post by citing the platform’s growth: The higher threshold reflects just how much YouTube has scaled. As evidence, the company cites more than 200 billion Shorts views per day. YouTube also emphasizes that over the past four years, more than $100 billion has been paid out to creators, musicians, and media companies; according to Forbes, advertising revenue alone totaled $9.9 billion in the first quarter of 2026. About 5 million channels are currently part of the Partner Program.
YouTube Premium Lite Launches Globally
In parallel with the stricter monetization rules, YouTube is expanding its more affordable subscription model: YouTube Premium Lite is being rolled out to all countries where YouTube Premium is already available. YouTube applies different revenue-sharing models: For Premium Lite, 60 percent of net subscription revenue goes to creators; for regular Premium, it’s 30 percent. The distribution itself is based on watch time and views, broken down into 55 percent for long videos and 45 percent for Shorts. You can read about how prices for the regular Premium subscription have changed recently in our article “YouTube Premium Is Getting More Expensive.”
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New Monetization Opportunities for Smaller Channels
To ensure that channels with fewer than 10 million subscribers don’t come away empty-handed, YouTube is announcing additional programs: bonus incentives for sales via YouTube Shopping, support in facilitating brand partnerships, and higher payouts for videos that pick up on trends early on. However, it’s not yet possible to reliably assess how effectively these programs will actually offset the lost Shorts revenue before their launch in February 2027.
How is the creator community reacting?
So far, skepticism has prevailed in the comment sections of German tech websites. A common sentiment is that smaller channels in particular—which put a lot of effort into producing quality content—will be hit hardest by the rule change, even though they helped build the platform. Other users criticize the fact that Google is reporting record profits at the same time, making the stricter rules seem more like a revenue-management measure than a reward for active creators. No official statements from major creator associations regarding the changes have been released yet.
Conclusion: How to Prepare for the YouTube Partner Program in 2027
You have until the deadline on February 1, 2027, to adjust to the new rules. Those already in the Partner Program don’t need to make any changes for now, but should keep an eye on whether their Shorts view counts exceed the 10-million threshold. If you’re planning to apply, it’s best to factor in the higher watch time and Shorts views early on, rather than relying on the old, lower thresholds. For anyone heavily focused on Shorts, it’s also worth exploring long-form content to avoid being completely dependent on a single source of revenue.
