How to use it
- Enter your current subscribers, public watch hours in the last 12 months and Shorts views in the last 90 days. YouTube Studio shows these on the Earn page once you're close.
- Enter your daily gains. The easiest way: open Analytics, set the range to the last 28 days, and divide net subscribers and watch time (hours) by 28.
- Add your own subscriber goal, such as 10,000 or 100,000, to see the timeline.
The YouTube Partner Program thresholds
YouTube's Partner Program overview lists two ways to become eligible. Either way you need 1,000 subscribers, plus one of:
- 4,000 qualified public watch hours on long-form videos in the last 12 months, or
- 10 million qualified Shorts views in the last 90 days.
You also need to follow the channel monetisation policies, live in a country or region where the programme is available, have no active Community Guidelines strikes, turn on 2-Step Verification, have advanced features access, and link one AdSense for YouTube account.
Watch hours from Shorts viewed in the Shorts feed don't count towards the 4,000 hours. YouTube has also announced that from 1 February 2027, channels will need at least 10 million qualified Shorts views in the last 90 days each month to earn a share of Shorts feed ad and Premium revenue (see the Shorts monetization policies). Some countries have offered lower thresholds for features such as memberships; YouTube Studio's Earn tab shows what's available to you.
The formula
Days to goal = (target − current) ÷ gain per day, rounded up. Progress bars show current ÷ target. The calculator also tells you which path, watch hours or Shorts views, you're further along.
One limitation: watch hours and Shorts views are rolling totals. Hours from more than 12 months ago and Shorts views from more than 90 days ago fall out of the window. If your older videos earned a lot of watch time, your real progress may move more slowly than the estimate.
Worked examples
Example 1. 420 subscribers gaining 6 a day, and 1,850 watch hours gaining 12 a day. Subscribers: (1,000 − 420) ÷ 6 = 97 days. Watch hours: (4,000 − 1,850) ÷ 12 = 180 days. The watch hours are the bottleneck, so the channel should focus on longer, more watchable videos and playlists rather than chasing subscribers.
Example 2. A Shorts-first channel has 1,300 subscribers and 4.2 million Shorts views in 90 days. It meets the subscriber requirement, but it's at 42% of the Shorts path. At its current 60,000 views a day it would add about 5.4 million in 90 days, so it needs to roughly double its daily views or add long-form videos to build watch hours alongside.
Speeding up the bottleneck
- Watch hours: longer videos that keep people watching, end screens to your next video, and playlists for series.
- Subscribers: a clear promise for the channel, a consistent schedule, and a reason to subscribe in the video itself.
- Discoverability: titles that front-load the topic. Check yours with the title checker.
Once you're monetised, estimate earnings with the YouTube money calculator and the Shorts money calculator.
Frequently asked questions
How many subscribers do you need to get paid on YouTube?
1,000 subscribers, plus either 4,000 qualified public watch hours in the last 12 months or 10 million qualified Shorts views in the last 90 days, along with YouTube's other Partner Program requirements.
Do Shorts count towards the 4,000 watch hours?
No. Views of Shorts in the Shorts feed don't count towards public watch hours. Shorts have their own path: 10 million qualified public Shorts views in 90 days.
Do live streams count?
Yes, if the stream is public and stays public after it ends.
What happens when I reach the thresholds?
You can apply in YouTube Studio under Earn. YouTube then reviews the channel against its monetisation policies before you can start earning.
Why does my progress go down sometimes?
Both totals are rolling windows. Older watch time and Shorts views drop off as time passes.
Sources
- YouTube Help: YouTube Partner Program overview and eligibility (checked 26 October 2026)