YouTube operates the world’s largest video platform, serving as a significant source of income for millions of creators globally. Understanding the platform’s revenue split is important for anyone looking to monetize content. The percentage YouTube retains is not a single, fixed number; it changes based on the specific revenue stream, such as advertising, direct fan payments, or short-form video monetization. These varying financial arrangements determine the actual income a creator receives before external deductions like taxes.
The Core Ad Revenue Split for Long-Form Videos
The primary method for a creator to earn revenue involves displaying advertisements on their traditional, long-form videos. This monetization is managed through Google AdSense, which serves the ads and collects revenue from advertisers. The financial arrangement for this core revenue stream is a consistent split between the platform and the content creator.
YouTube retains 45% of the net advertising revenue generated from ads played on the creator’s video watch page. The creator receives the remaining 55%. This 55/45 split applies to various ad formats, including display, overlay, and skippable or non-skippable video ads.
The creator’s portion is only a share of the ads actually served and viewed, not the total number of video views. This is why the metric of Revenue Per Mille (RPM) is often lower than the Cost Per Mille (CPM) paid by advertisers. This standard split remains the most significant source of income for most established creators.
Splits for Direct Viewer Payments
The platform offers several ways for viewers to directly support creators, operating under a different revenue-sharing model than traditional ad revenue. Features like Channel Memberships, Super Chat, Super Stickers, and Super Thanks are known as fan-funding mechanisms. These features allow viewers to make direct monetary contributions, either through a recurring subscription or a one-time payment during live streams or video playback.
For these direct viewer payments, YouTube retains 30% of the transaction value, with the creator receiving 70% of the net revenue. This higher creator share reflects the nature of the transaction, which is a direct exchange between the fan and the creator, facilitated by the platform.
The creator’s 70% share can be subject to further reductions if the transaction occurs through a third-party payment system. For example, if a viewer purchases a Super Chat using the YouTube app on an iOS device, Apple may take a portion of the payment before the 70/30 split is applied. This means the actual take-home percentage for the creator can be closer to 49% or less of the original payment, depending on the purchasing device and associated third-party fees.
Monetization for YouTube Shorts
Monetization for YouTube Shorts uses a distinct revenue-sharing model that differs from long-form content. Ad revenue is generated from ads that run between videos in the Shorts Feed, rather than ads placed directly on a specific video. This pooled ad revenue is collected monthly and is subject to a two-step distribution process.
First, the platform determines the amount needed to cover music licensing costs, which is factored out of the total Shorts ad revenue pool. The remaining amount forms the Creator Pool, which is then allocated to monetizing creators based on their proportion of the total engaged views from all monetizing Shorts. For instance, a creator whose Shorts account for 5% of all eligible views receives 5% of the Creator Pool.
In the second step, the creator receives 45% of this allocated revenue, with YouTube retaining the remaining 55%. This 45% creator share applies regardless of whether the creator used licensed music, as music costs are handled before the Creator Pool is distributed. The pooling and allocation method means revenue is determined by a channel’s overall performance against all other monetizing Shorts.
Understanding Tax Obligations and Withholding
Creators must account for mandatory tax withholding, which is a separate legal obligation from platform fees. U.S. tax regulations require Google to withhold taxes on earnings generated from U.S. viewers for creators located outside the United States. This withholding is applied to revenue streams like ad views, YouTube Premium, Channel Memberships, and Super features.
The actual withholding rate for non-U.S. creators can range from 0% to 30%, depending on whether the creator’s country has a tax treaty with the U.S. Creators must submit the appropriate tax documentation, such as the W-8BEN form or the W-9 form, through their AdSense account. Failure to provide this tax information can result in a maximum backup withholding rate of up to 24% on a creator’s worldwide earnings, not just their U.S.-sourced revenue.
Other Financial Considerations and Deductions
Beyond the standard revenue splits, creators may face other financial deductions or use features that involve no platform fee. One deduction involves music licensing for long-form videos through the Creator Music feature. If a creator chooses to use a track eligible for revenue sharing instead of purchasing a license, their standard 55% ad revenue share is reduced.
The creator’s 55% share is first split with the music rights holders based on the number of revenue-share tracks used. YouTube may also apply a small deduction, sometimes up to 5%, to cover additional music rights costs, such as public performance fees.
Conversely, the YouTube Merch Shelf feature allows creators to display products below their videos but involves no revenue cut for the platform itself. YouTube simply facilitates the connection to a third-party merchandise vendor, and the financial transaction and associated fees are handled entirely by the external merchandising platform.
Eligibility Requirements for Earning Revenue
Before a creator can share in any revenue streams, they must first be accepted into the YouTube Partner Program (YPP). This program establishes the foundation for monetization across all revenue types. To be eligible for the full program, a channel must have at least 1,000 subscribers and meet one of two public viewing thresholds.
The creator must have accumulated either 4,000 valid public watch hours over the past 12 months or 10 million valid public Shorts views in the last 90 days. The channel must also have no active Community Guidelines strikes and be linked to an approved AdSense account to receive payments. A lower threshold exists for accessing fan funding features, requiring 500 subscribers and either 3,000 public watch hours or 3 million Shorts views.