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How to Make Money on YouTube Shorts Before You're Monetized
You can earn from YouTube Shorts before your channel is monetized. You just won't be paid by YouTube. Three routes pay a Shorts channel before the YouTube Partner Program (YPP) accepts it: per-view clipping campaigns on open marketplaces, affiliate links, and small direct sponsorships. The question is which route fits your channel's current size. This guide lays out YPP's two tiers, what each route needs before it pays, and a stage-by-stage plan from your first upload to full monetization.
The YPP Gate, Exactly
YPP has two tiers, and only the higher one pays a share of Shorts ad revenue.
| Tier | Subscribers | Plus one of | What it unlocks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lower tier | 500 | 3,000 public watch hours in 12 months, or 3M public Shorts views in 90 days (and 3 public uploads in the last 90 days) | Fan-funding features such as memberships and Super Thanks. No ad revenue |
| Full YPP | 1,000 | 4,000 public watch hours in 12 months, or 10M public Shorts views in 90 days | Ad revenue, including the Shorts revenue share |
Two details catch most creators out. First, the paths don't combine. Long-form watch hours and Shorts views never add together, so a channel with 3,500 watch hours and 8M Shorts views has qualified for nothing. It has to finish one path completely. Second, the Shorts path is a rolling 90 days. Views older than that drop off, so a strong month followed by two weak ones can erase your progress. YouTube has also announced higher thresholds from February 1, 2027: 8,000 watch hours or 20M Shorts views, with the 1,000-subscriber minimum unchanged. Our clipping vs YPP comparison covers the same bar next to TikTok and X.
What YPP Pays Once You're In
Reported Shorts RPM mostly falls between about $0.01 and $0.08 per 1,000 views. That makes a million Shorts views worth roughly $10 to $80. Where your viewers live and whether a Short uses licensed music move the number more than niche does. That is why "wait for YPP" is a weak plan on its own. Even after you qualify, the per-view pay is small. We cover the ad-revenue side in full in our Shorts RPM guide. The rest of this page is about the time before you qualify.
Route 1: Per-View Clipping Campaigns
In a clipping campaign, a brand pays for verified views on Shorts you post, usually with a logo, caption or product built into the clip. YouTube's thresholds don't apply. What you need depends on the platform:
- Open marketplaces such as Vues and Whop Content Rewards let anyone join, with no follower minimum. That makes them the realistic starting point for a new channel. The tradeoffs: brands approve each clip, budgets run out, and some platforms set view minimums a clip must clear before it earns anything. Our list of clipping platforms with no follower minimum covers the options.
- Curated networks such as FindClout screen channels first. FindClout accepts pages with hundreds of thousands of followers and a verified audience that is at least 40% American, and turns down about 19 of every 20 applicants. It's a later-stage option, not the first one.
Campaign pay follows a simple formula: eligible views ÷ 1,000 × the campaign's rate, up to the campaign's per-post cap. Compare that with YPP's views ÷ 1,000 × Shorts RPM, which only starts after you qualify. Our ranking of clipping platforms for Shorts compares the catches on each platform, and how to make money clipping covers campaign mechanics end to end.
Route 2: Affiliate Links
With affiliate programs, you earn a commission when viewers buy through your tracked link. Outside programs such as retailer and software affiliate schemes don't depend on your YPP status. YouTube's own Shopping features have separate eligibility rules. Shorts are hard to click out of, so put the link where people can reach it: a pinned comment, your channel description, or a link in your channel's About section. Then tell viewers where it is in the Short itself. Affiliate income depends on purchases, not views, so it suits product-led niches like tech, fitness gear and trading tools. It pays little on pure-entertainment clips, however many views they get.
Route 3: Small Direct Sponsorships
Once a channel has a clear niche and a few months of steady views, smaller brands will pay a flat fee for a mention or a logo on a Short. These are often apps, newsletters or niche e-commerce stores. To win them, show a short media kit: your average views per Short over the last 30 days, audience countries from YouTube Studio, and two or three of your best clips. Label every paid Short with YouTube's paid-promotion disclosure. For how buyers think about these deals, see how brands sponsor Shorts channels.
A Stage-by-Stage Plan
| Channel stage | What pays now | What to build |
|---|---|---|
| 0–500 subscribers | Open-marketplace campaigns; affiliate links in a product niche | One niche, daily uploads, a repeatable clip format |
| 500+ subscribers and 3M Shorts views in 90 days | Above, plus YPP lower-tier fan funding | A 30-day average views figure you can show sponsors |
| Steady views, clear niche | Above, plus small direct sponsorships | Audience-country data and a one-page media kit |
| 1,000 subscribers and 10M Shorts views in 90 days | Full YPP revenue share on top of everything above | Keep original editing so reused-content review doesn't pull eligibility |
| Large page, at least 40% US audience | Curated network campaigns and bigger direct deals | Connected-account audience data; consistent per-post views |
Each stage keeps what the earlier ones pay. A channel doesn't give up campaigns when it joins YPP. It adds the revenue share on top.
A Worked Example With Formulas
Take a channel posting one Short a day that averages 30,000 views per Short, about 900,000 views a month. We use only formulas and illustrative rates, not promises. Before YPP, its YouTube ad revenue is $0. On a campaign paying rate R per 1,000 views, the month is worth 900 × R, minus any clips that missed a view minimum. At an illustrative R of $1, that's about $900. At $0.30, it's about $270. If the same channel were already in YPP at an illustrative $0.05 RPM, the same 900,000 views would add roughly $45. Even at the high end of reported Shorts RPM, around $0.08, that's about $72. The campaign is the bigger number in almost every realistic case, which is why pre-YPP channels should start with campaigns. The same channel would need to average about 111,000 views per Short for 90 days to reach 10M Shorts views on daily posting. That's worth knowing when you set expectations.
Habits That Serve Both Paths
The habits that get campaign clips approved also move a channel toward YPP: one niche, a fixed posting schedule, strong hooks and real editing. Real editing also protects you under YouTube's reused content policy, which is the most common way clip channels lose eligibility after they qualify. For the time cost, see clipping as a side hustle. For realistic earnings, see how much clippers actually make. If you're choosing source videos, our YouTube clipping guide covers what cuts well into Shorts.
Already running a large Shorts channel?
FindClout matches established channels with at least 40% of their audience in the US to per-view brand campaigns, whatever their YPP status. Pay is based on verified views, and audience data comes from your connected account.
Apply to Join →Frequently Asked Questions
How much does YouTube pay for 1 million Shorts views?
Once a channel is in YPP, reported Shorts RPM of about $0.01 to $0.08 per 1,000 views works out to roughly $10 to $80 per million. The amount depends on viewer countries and music licensing. Before YPP, YouTube pays nothing.
Can you get paid on Shorts without 1,000 subscribers?
Not by YouTube's ad revenue share. You can earn through open-marketplace clipping campaigns, affiliate links and small sponsorships, none of which require a subscriber count. At 500 subscribers, YPP's lower tier adds fan-funding features but no ad revenue.
Do watch hours and Shorts views combine for YPP?
No. You have to clear either the watch-hour path or the Shorts-view path in full. The two never add together.
Do clipping campaigns require a monetized channel?
No. Campaigns pay for verified views whatever your YPP status. Open marketplaces also have no follower minimum. Curated networks screen on audience size and location instead.
What's the fastest way to start earning on a new Shorts channel?
Join an open-marketplace campaign that fits your niche, and read its view minimum before you post. Add an affiliate link if your niche sells products. Once you have a few months of steady views, approach small sponsors.
FindClout is a curated creator distribution network running per-view campaigns across Instagram, TikTok, X, YouTube Shorts, and Facebook Reels. Creators can apply at findclout.com/join. Brands can start a campaign at findclout.com/advertise.