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YouTube money calculator: video and channel earnings
How much money does a YouTube video or channel make? Paste a link or type the views, pick a niche, and see a realistic earnings range for long videos and Shorts.
More options
An estimate, not real earnings: only the channel owner sees real earnings, in YouTube Studio. It assumes the channel is in the YouTube Partner Program.
This YouTube money calculator turns views into an earnings range. Paste a channel link and it reads the channel's recent public uploads to estimate views per month; paste a video link and it reads that video's views; or just type a number of views. Pick the niche and you get a low-to-high range for long-form videos and Shorts, worked out from RPM data that creators read out of YouTube Studio, not from a guessed average. It works as a YouTube earning calculator, a YouTube revenue calculator for a whole channel and a video earning checker for a single upload. Every result is an estimate: only the channel owner can see real earnings, in YouTube Studio.
How much does YouTube pay per 1,000 views?
YouTube pays creators per view only in a loose sense. What a monetized channel actually earns is described by RPM, revenue per 1,000 views, after YouTube has taken its share. In AIR Media-Tech's data from 300 monetized channels (May 2025 to May 2026, read from YouTube Studio), the median long-form RPM was $2.30, or about $2,300 per million views. The spread by niche is large: the middle half of education channels earned $2.31 to $19.50 per 1,000 views, gaming channels $0.70 to $3.62, and kids channels $0.16 to $0.88.
Bars: the middle half of channels (25th to 75th percentile). Line and label: the median. * fewer than 10 channels in the sample. Data: AIR Media-Tech, 300 channels, May 2025 to May 2026.
How the YouTube money calculator works
The formula is the same one YouTube uses for RPM, run backwards:
earnings = views / 1,000 x RPM
For long-form videos the calculator uses the middle half of channels in your niche (25th to 75th percentile RPM) as the low and high RPM. For Shorts it uses the Shorts RPM AIR Media-Tech states for the niche (music $0.97 to $1.48, lifestyle $0.16 to $0.20, crafts $0.11, kids $0.02 to $0.05), and for every other niche $0.07 to $0.20, the range where AIR found Shorts RPM clusters for most niches. If you do not pick a niche, it uses the lowest to the highest niche median ($1.23 to $10.22), leaving out kids content, which earns far less.
Worked example: a gaming channel
Say a gaming channel gets 100,000 long-form views and 500,000 Shorts views in a month.
- Long-form: 100,000 / 1,000 = 100, and 100 x $0.70 to 100 x $3.62 = $70 to $362.
- Shorts: gaming has no niche-specific Shorts figure, so the range is $0.07 to $0.20, and 500 x $0.07 to 500 x $0.20 = $35 to $100.
- Total: $105 to $462 for the month. Five times more Shorts views than long-form views, yet the long videos bring in most of the money.
How to use the calculator
Step 1: Paste a link or type views
Paste a YouTube channel link, an @handle or a video link, or type a number of views such as 250000 or 250k, and press Estimate.
Step 2: Pick the niche
Choose the niche closest to the channel. Not sure? Leave it on Not sure and the range covers the typical niches.
Step 3: Check the views
For a channel, the calculator fills in long-form and Shorts views a month from recent uploads. Edit either number if you know better.
Step 4: Read the range
The result shows the low and high estimate for long-form, Shorts and the total, plus per year and per day for a channel. Share the link to keep the estimate.
How much do YouTubers make per 1,000 views by niche?
Here is the full table behind the calculator. RPM is what the creator keeps per 1,000 views; CPM is what advertisers paid per 1,000 ad impressions, before YouTube's share. The Shorts column shows the Shorts RPM the calculator uses: AIR's stated figure where it gives one for the niche, otherwise $0.07 to $0.20, where most niches cluster.
| Niche | Median RPM | Middle half of channels | Studio CPM (median) | Shorts RPM, estimated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Education and science | $10.22 | $2.31 - $19.50 | $5.91 | $0.07 - $0.20 |
| Cars and transport* | $5.69 | $3.17 - $9.81 | $5.88 | $0.07 - $0.20 |
| Lifestyle | $2.98 | $1.77 - $5.24 | $5.32 | $0.16 - $0.20 |
| News and politics* | $2.60 | $1.79 - $3.62 | $4.51 | $0.07 - $0.20 |
| Entertainment | $2.43 | $0.88 - $5.02 | $3.98 | $0.07 - $0.20 |
| Crafts and DIY | $2.39 | $1.00 - $3.90 | $3.42 | $0.11 |
| Tech and gadgets | $2.33 | $0.70 - $3.71 | $5.73 | $0.07 - $0.20 |
| Music | $2.28 | $1.35 - $4.16 | $4.05 | $0.97 - $1.48 |
| Food and cooking* | $2.25 | $1.50 - $3.11 | $4.04 | $0.07 - $0.20 |
| Gaming | $2.05 | $0.70 - $3.62 | $4.05 | $0.07 - $0.20 |
| Business and finance* | $2.01 | $0.73 - $5.17 | $4.84 | $0.07 - $0.20 |
| Health and sport | $1.23 | $0.72 - $1.53 | $3.54 | $0.07 - $0.20 |
| Kids and teens | $0.33 | $0.16 - $0.88 | $1.59 | $0.02 - $0.05 |
* Fewer than 10 channels in the sample, so treat these rows as a rough guide. Medians and ranges: AIR Media-Tech, May 2025 to May 2026.
How much money does a YouTube video with 1 million views make?
At the overall median RPM of $2.30, a long-form video with 1 million views earns about $2,300. By niche, the middle half of channels would earn the amounts below for the same views. The same million views as a Short earns far less: AIR's Shorts study found Shorts RPMs from $0.02 to $1.48 depending on niche, so roughly $20 to $1,480.
| Niche | 1,000 views | 10,000 views | 100,000 views | 1,000,000 views |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Education and science | $2.31 - $19.50 | $23.10 - $195 | $231 - $1,950 | $2,310 - $19,500 |
| Cars and transport | $3.17 - $9.81 | $31.70 - $98.10 | $317 - $981 | $3,170 - $9,810 |
| Lifestyle | $1.77 - $5.24 | $17.70 - $52.40 | $177 - $524 | $1,770 - $5,240 |
| News and politics | $1.79 - $3.62 | $17.90 - $36.20 | $179 - $362 | $1,790 - $3,620 |
| Entertainment | $0.88 - $5.02 | $8.80 - $50.20 | $88.00 - $502 | $880 - $5,020 |
| Crafts and DIY | $1.00 - $3.90 | $10.00 - $39.00 | $100 - $390 | $1,000 - $3,900 |
| Tech and gadgets | $0.70 - $3.71 | $7.00 - $37.10 | $70.00 - $371 | $700 - $3,710 |
| Music | $1.35 - $4.16 | $13.50 - $41.60 | $135 - $416 | $1,350 - $4,160 |
| Food and cooking | $1.50 - $3.11 | $15.00 - $31.10 | $150 - $311 | $1,500 - $3,110 |
| Gaming | $0.70 - $3.62 | $7.00 - $36.20 | $70.00 - $362 | $700 - $3,620 |
| Business and finance | $0.73 - $5.17 | $7.30 - $51.70 | $73.00 - $517 | $730 - $5,170 |
| Health and sport | $0.72 - $1.53 | $7.20 - $15.30 | $72.00 - $153 | $720 - $1,530 |
| Kids and teens | $0.16 - $0.88 | $1.60 - $8.80 | $16.00 - $88.00 | $160 - $880 |
How much do YouTube Shorts pay?
Shorts are paid differently. Ads shown between Shorts go into a Creator Pool, and YouTube pays each monetized creator 45% of the revenue allocated to them by their share of views, while long-form creators get 55% of the net ad revenue on their own videos. In practice Shorts earn a small fraction of long-form: most channels in AIR's study needed 11,000 to 34,000 Shorts views to earn what 1,000 long-form views earn. Where the viewers are matters even more than for long videos:
| Where Shorts viewers are | Shorts RPM | 1 million Shorts views |
|---|---|---|
| United States | $0.328 | $328 |
| Switzerland | $0.205 | $205 |
| Australia | $0.193 | $193 |
| South Korea | $0.185 | $185 |
| United Kingdom | $0.166 | $166 |
| Canada | $0.165 | $165 |
| Germany | $0.163 | $163 |
| Japan | $0.144 | $144 |
| New Zealand | $0.113 | $113 |
| France | $0.102 | $102 |
| Brazil | $0.045 | $45.00 |
| Mexico | $0.040 | $40.00 |
| Türkiye | $0.024 | $24.00 |
| Philippines | $0.023 | $23.00 |
| Indonesia | $0.012 | $12.00 |
| India | $0.008 | $8.00 |
Shorts RPM by viewer country, 2025 data: AIR Media-Tech. A Short is a square or vertical video of up to 3 minutes (since 15 October 2024).
CPM vs RPM: why the advertiser price is not what you earn
CPM is what advertisers pay for 1,000 ad impressions, before YouTube's share. RPM is what the creator earns per 1,000 views, after YouTube's share, from all sources: ads, YouTube Premium, channel memberships, Super Chat and more. RPM is lower than CPM for two reasons YouTube itself gives: the creator gets 55% of long-form ad revenue, and RPM counts every view, including views where no ad played. In AIR's data only 53% of views showed an ad. So a $10 CPM does not mean $10 per 1,000 views. To work with CPM directly, use the YouTube CPM and RPM calculator.
Does the viewer's country change YouTube earnings?
Yes, a lot. Advertisers pay much more to reach some countries than others. Median CPM in YouTube Studio across AIR's channels:
| Viewer country | Median CPM | Compared with the US |
|---|---|---|
| United States | $14.67 | 100% |
| Australia | $13.30 | 91% |
| Switzerland | $12.98 | 88% |
| Norway | $11.21 | 76% |
| New Zealand | $10.21 | 70% |
| Canada | $9.93 | 68% |
| Germany | $9.79 | 67% |
| Denmark | $9.13 | 62% |
| United Kingdom | $8.91 | 61% |
| Netherlands | $8.62 | 59% |
| Finland | $8.61 | 59% |
| Sweden | $8.16 | 56% |
| Austria | $7.36 | 50% |
| Belgium | $7.05 | 48% |
| France | $6.76 | 46% |
| Ireland | $6.65 | 45% |
| Singapore | $5.98 | 41% |
| South Korea | $5.73 | 39% |
| Japan | $5.68 | 39% |
| Argentina | $1.10 | 7% |
| Türkiye | $1.09 | 7% |
| Vietnam | $0.85 | 6% |
| Indonesia | $0.84 | 6% |
| Morocco | $0.78 | 5% |
| India | $0.74 | 5% |
| Egypt | $0.69 | 5% |
| Pakistan | $0.53 | 4% |
| Bangladesh | $0.53 | 4% |
The niche ranges in the calculator come from channels with mixed audiences, so they do not change when you pick a country. Instead, the calculator tells you how ad prices where your viewers live compare with the US. If most of your viewers are in a country with a low CPM, expect the bottom of the range or below it.
How to check how much a YouTube channel earns
Nobody outside a channel can see its earnings. YouTube does not publish them, and the YouTube Data API does not give them to anyone but the owner. What anyone can see is views. So an earnings checker for another channel always works the same way: public views, times an assumed RPM range. This calculator estimates views per month like this:
- It reads the channel's latest 50 public uploads through the official YouTube Data API.
- It adds up the views of the uploads from the last 90 days, split into Shorts and long-form using YouTube's own Shorts list for the channel.
- It divides by 90 and multiplies by 30. For very busy channels whose 50 latest uploads span less than 90 days, it uses that shorter window.
This leaves out views on older videos, which can be a big part of a channel's traffic, so the real monthly views are usually higher. The calculator also shows the channel's lifetime average (total views divided by the months since the channel was created). Both numbers are editable, so type your own if you know better.
How to see your real YouTube earnings
If it is your channel, you do not need an estimate. In YouTube Studio, open Analytics and then the Revenue tab: it shows your estimated revenue, your RPM and your CPM, by month and by video. Type your own RPM under More options above to turn any view count into money at your real rate.
When does a channel start earning?
Views only earn money once a channel is in the YouTube Partner Program. Today that takes 1,000 subscribers plus either 4,000 public watch hours in the last 12 months or 10 million Shorts views in the last 90 days. From 1 February 2027 new applicants will need 8,000 watch hours or 20 million Shorts views instead. Check a channel against the public part of these rules with the YouTube monetization checker.
How accurate is this YouTube earnings estimate?
- RPM varies more than any calculator can know. Two channels in the same niche can differ several times over. The range covers the middle half of channels in AIR's sample; a quarter of channels earn less, and a quarter earn more.
- The data comes from one company's network. AIR Media-Tech's 300 channels are real Studio numbers, but not every niche has many channels, and finance in particular has only three.
- Views per month are an estimate. They come from recent uploads only and leave out older videos.
- It assumes the channel is monetized. A channel outside the YouTube Partner Program earns nothing from ads, whatever its views.
- Seasons matter. AIR's median RPM ran from $1.56 in January to $2.35 in November, because advertisers spend more before the holidays.
- It is not financial advice. Use it to get a sense of scale, not to plan a budget.
Sources
- YouTube monetization statistics 2026 (RPM by niche, 300 channels, May 2025 to May 2026), AIR Media-Tech, updated 1 Oct 2026.
- Which YouTube niche makes the most money in 2026 (RPM and Studio CPM by niche), AIR Media-Tech, updated 1 Jul 2026.
- What is YouTube Shorts RPM in your niche in 2026 (274 channels), AIR Media-Tech, updated 17 Sep 2026.
- What RPM can you expect from Shorts in 2026 (Shorts RPM by country, 2025 data), AIR Media-Tech, updated 23 Jan 2026.
- How much can creators make with AdSense in 2025 (CPM by country), AIR Media-Tech, updated 27 Jun 2025.
- YouTube partner earnings overview (revenue shares), YouTube Help, checked 26 Oct 2026.
- Revenue per mille (RPM) and CPM in YouTube Analytics, YouTube Help, checked 26 Oct 2026.
- YouTube Partner Program overview and eligibility, YouTube Help, checked 26 Oct 2026.
- Understand three-minute YouTube Shorts, YouTube Help, checked 26 Oct 2026.
- YouTube Data API: channels resource (subscriber rounding, view counting from 24 Aug 2026), Google for Developers, checked 26 Oct 2026.
Why we built this YouTube money calculator
Most YouTube earnings calculators ask for views and give back a number from a rate nobody can trace, or a range so wide it says nothing. Nitin Raja, who builds PlaylistTime, tested a lot of these pages before building this one: after testing out a lot of websites, he found what people need and what they do not, and built around that. People want to paste a channel and get a sensible answer, see the Shorts and long-form money apart, and know where the numbers come from. So that is what this page does.
What this calculator measures
- From YouTube: public view counts of a video or of a channel's 50 latest public uploads, their publish dates, and whether each is a Short (from YouTube's own Shorts list for the channel, or by length when that list is not available). It uses the official YouTube Data API.
- From published data: long-form RPM by niche (median and middle half of channels), Shorts RPM by niche, and CPM by viewer country, all from AIR Media-Tech's studies of creators' YouTube Studio numbers, with dates in the sources above.
- What it does not measure: the channel's real earnings, its watch time, which videos had ads, its audience countries or whether it is monetized. None of that is public.
- Nothing you type is stored. The share link only holds what you entered.
Why it is different
| This calculator | A typical single-rate calculator | |
|---|---|---|
| Where the rate comes from | Studio RPM from 300 channels, by niche, dated and linked | One fixed rate or a slider |
| Shorts | Estimated separately from Shorts RPM data | Same rate as long videos |
| Channel link | Reads recent uploads and estimates views a month | Type the views yourself |
| Result | A range, with the method shown | One exact-looking figure |
| What is not public | Said plainly | Often not mentioned |
Built by Nitin Raja. Last updated 26 October 2026.
Questions
How much does YouTube pay per 1,000 views?
There is no fixed rate. In AIR Media-Tech’s YouTube Studio data from 300 monetized channels (May 2025 to May 2026), the median long-form RPM was $2.30 per 1,000 views. The middle half of channels earned $0.70 to $3.62 in gaming, $1.77 to $5.24 in lifestyle and $2.31 to $19.50 in education. Shorts earn about 3% to 14% of that.
How much money does 1 million views make on YouTube?
About $2,300 for long-form videos at the median RPM of $2.30, and roughly $700 to $3,620 for a gaming channel or $2,310 to $19,500 for an education channel. One million Shorts views earn far less: about $20 to $1,480 depending on niche.
Can I see how much money another YouTube channel makes?
No. Real earnings are only visible to the channel owner in YouTube Studio. Any earnings checker, including this one, multiplies public views by an assumed RPM range, so the result is an estimate.
How does the calculator estimate a channel’s views per month?
It reads the channel’s 50 latest public uploads through the YouTube Data API, adds up the views of those from the last 90 days, divides by 90 and multiplies by 30, split into Shorts and long-form. Views on older videos are left out, so you can edit the numbers.
Do YouTube Shorts pay less than long videos?
Yes, much less per view. Shorts creators get 45% of the revenue allocated to them from the Shorts Creator Pool, and in AIR Media-Tech’s data Shorts earned 3% to 14% of the same niche’s long-form RPM. Most channels needed 11,000 to 34,000 Shorts views to match 1,000 long-form views.
Why is my RPM lower than my CPM?
CPM is what advertisers pay per 1,000 ad impressions before YouTube’s share. RPM is what you earn per 1,000 views after YouTube’s share (you keep 55% of long-form ad revenue), and it counts every view, including views with no ad.
How many views do you need to make money on YouTube?
Views only pay once a channel is in the YouTube Partner Program: 1,000 subscribers plus 4,000 public watch hours in 12 months or 10 million Shorts views in 90 days. From 1 February 2027, new applicants need 8,000 watch hours or 20 million Shorts views.
Related creator tools
- YouTube Monetization Checker: Check a channel against the public part of the YouTube Partner Program rules.
- YouTube Sponsorship Rate Calculator: Average views of the latest long videos, turned into a sponsorship price range by niche and format.
- YouTube Engagement Rate Calculator: Likes and comments per view across recent videos, compared with published benchmarks.
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- YouTube Comment Picker: Pick random giveaway winners from the comments of one video or up to ten.
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- YouTube Shorts Money Calculator: What Shorts pay: an earnings range from a channel's Shorts, one Short or typed views, from Shorts RPM data.
- YouTube Shorts Analyzer: Shorts vs long videos vs live streams for any channel: counts, views, posting pace and top Shorts.
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- YouTube Shorts Checker: Pick a video file and see if YouTube will treat it as a Short: length, size and aspect ratio.
- YouTube Shorts Safe Zone: See which parts of your frame the Shorts buttons, title and top bar cover, and save it as a PNG.
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- How to Block YouTube Shorts: Every working way to hide or turn off Shorts on a computer, Android, iPhone and kids' accounts.
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- YouTube Thumbnail Preview: See your thumbnail and title in feed, search, suggested and phone layouts, light or dark.
- YouTube Thumbnail Size Checker: Check an image against YouTube's thumbnail rules and get a fixed copy under 2 MB.
- YouTube Banner Size and Safe Area: Your banner on the 2560 x 1440 template with what TV, desktop, tablet and phone show.
- YouTube Title Length Checker: Count against the 100-character limit and see where your title gets cut.
- YouTube Bitrate Calculator: YouTube's recommended upload and live bitrates, plus file size and length.
All of them in one place: YouTube creator tools.