The YouTube Partner Program in 2026: what you need, the two thresholds, and the date on the calendar

The YouTube Partner Program is the door between posting videos and being paid for them. YouTube’s own description of what lies behind it is brief: the programme “gives creators greater access to YouTube resources and monetization features, and access to our Creator Support teams. It also allows revenue sharing from ads being served on your content.” The eligibility page that follows is longer, and it rewards a careful read.

Six things you need before the numbers matter

The page separates what a channel needs from what a channel has to achieve. Under “What you need to join”, it lists six conditions:

• Follow the YouTube channel monetization policies, which the page describes as “a collection of policies and guidelines that allow you to monetize on YouTube” and which a creator accepts as part of the partner agreement.
• Live in a country or region where the Partner Program is available.
• Have no active Community Guidelines strikes on the channel.
• Have 2-Step Verification turned on for the Google account.
• Have advanced features access on YouTube.
• Have one active AdSense for YouTube account linked to the channel, or be ready to set one up in YouTube Studio. The page adds a warning in bold: only create a new AdSense for YouTube account inside YouTube Studio.

None of these involve an audience. They are the paperwork, and a channel with a million views that fails one of them is not eligible.

Two thresholds, either one

Once the conditions are met, the page says, “your channel can become eligible for YPP with either Shorts or long-form video.” The thresholds are quoted here exactly as YouTube states them:

1. “Get 1,000 subscribers with 4,000 qualified watch hours in the last 12 months, or”
2. “Get 1,000 subscribers with 10 million qualified Shorts views in the last 90 days.”

The two routes do not mix. The page is specific: “any qualified watch hours from Shorts views in the Shorts Feed won’t count towards the 4,000 qualified public watch hours threshold.” Watch hours, elsewhere on the page, are defined as those “gained from long-form videos you’ve set public.”

There is a subtlety in the Shorts route that the page on creating Shorts supplies. Since March 31, 2025, the public view counter on a Short counts every start, with no minimum watch time; the older measure survives in YouTube Analytics as “Engaged views”. Eligibility and Shorts ad revenue, YouTube says, “will both be based on ‘Engaged Shorts views.’” The 10 million figure is therefore not the number under the video. It is the engaged count, which only the channel owner can see.

Creators who want to know when they qualify can, in the page’s words, “select Get notified in the Earn area of YouTube Studio” and will “get an email once you’ve met either of the below eligibility thresholds.”

Applying, and what happens next

The application is a short sequence inside YouTube Studio: open the Earn tab, select Apply Now, review and accept the base terms, then set up or link an AdSense for YouTube account. Once that is done, the page says, “you’ll see In Progress in the Get Reviewed step, which means we have your application!”

Review is automatic to start: “your channel will automatically be put in a review queue.” The thresholds themselves are described as a screening device rather than a prize: “These thresholds help us make a more informed decision about whether your channel meets our policies and guidelines.” Acceptance is not permanent. “Keep in mind we continuously check channels in YPP to make sure they continue to meet our policies and guidelines over time.”

What membership unlocks

Once in, a creator turns on individual features from YouTube Studio after accepting the relevant module terms. The page names “Watch Page Ads, Shorts Feed Ads, Memberships, Supers, and more.” Ads on the watch page and ads in the Shorts feed are separate modules, which is consistent with the two separate routes into the programme.

The date on the calendar

At the top of the page sits a notice that will matter to every existing partner: “Starting February 1, 2027, we are introducing updates to the YouTube Partner Program (YPP). To continue fully monetizing your content, review and accept the updated terms in YouTube Studio by January 31, 2027.” The page does not, at the time of writing, summarise what the updated terms contain; it directs creators to Studio.

A worked example

Consider a Shorts-only channel such as PopcornTheory, profiled on this site, which stood at 187,000 subscribers and 685 million public views on September 25, 2026. The subscriber condition is met many times over. But whether the channel clears “10 million qualified Shorts views in the last 90 days” is not something an outsider can check, because the public counter and the engaged counter are different numbers and only one of them is visible. The Partner Program’s Shorts threshold is, by design, a private figure.