How to use the Shorts calculator
- Enter the number of Shorts views for a day, a month or a single Short. The result covers the same period.
- If you entered total views, set the share that counted as engaged views. If you already entered engaged views, leave it at 100%.
- Put your own Shorts RPM in the middle box. In YouTube Studio, open Analytics, choose the Revenue tab and filter the content type to Shorts. Use the low and high boxes for a worse and a better month.
How YouTube pays for Shorts
Shorts don't carry an ad on each video the way long-form videos do. Ads run between Shorts in the feed, so YouTube pools that revenue and divides it. According to YouTube's Shorts monetization policies, the process works in three steps:
- Ad revenue from the Shorts feed in each country goes into a Creator Pool, after an amount is set aside to pay for music licensing.
- The pool is allocated to monetising creators based on their share of total Shorts views in that country.
- Creators keep 45% of the revenue allocated to them. For long-form videos the published creator share is 55%.
That is why Shorts RPMs are usually much lower than long-form RPMs, and why they move from month to month even when your views stay flat: the size of the pool and the total number of Shorts views both change. Using music in a Short can also reduce the part of the pool attributed to it, because some of that revenue goes to the rights holders.
Worked examples
Example 1: one viral Short. A Short gets 2,000,000 views, and Analytics shows that 80% were engaged views. With an RPM of $0.05: 2,000,000 × 0.80 = 1,600,000 views; 1,600,000 ÷ 1,000 × $0.05 = $80. At $0.10 it would be $160. It's a useful reality check: millions of Shorts views alone rarely add up to a salary.
Example 2: a steady month. A channel gets 6,000,000 engaged Shorts views in a month. At a $0.04 RPM that's 6,000 × $0.04 = $240; at $0.08 it's $480. Compare that with the long-form money calculator: 200,000 long-form views at a $3 RPM produce $600. That gap is why many creators use Shorts to find new viewers and long-form videos to earn.
What moves your Shorts RPM
- Where viewers are. Each country has its own pool, and advertisers pay different amounts in each.
- Season. Ad budgets usually rise towards the end of the year and drop in January.
- Music. Shorts that use licensed music share revenue with the rights holders.
- Eligibility of views. Views from inauthentic traffic, or on Shorts that break the monetisation rules, are excluded.
- Your share of the market. The pool is split by view share, so the same views can be worth more or less depending on everyone else's views that month.
We deliberately don't publish an “average Shorts RPM”. Figures quoted online come from small, self-selected samples and change quickly. The example inputs in the calculator only show how sensitive the result is. Your own Analytics is the only number worth planning with.
Before you can earn from Shorts
You need to be in the YouTube Partner Program and accept the Shorts Monetization Module. The common route for Shorts creators is 1,000 subscribers and 10 million qualified Shorts views in the last 90 days. YouTube has also announced that from 1 February 2027, a channel will need at least 10 million qualified Shorts views in the last 90 days each month to earn a share of Shorts feed revenue for that month. Check your progress with the monetization calculator, and read our Shorts monetization guide for the details.
Frequently asked questions
How much does YouTube pay for 1 million Shorts views?
It depends entirely on your Shorts RPM. At an RPM of $0.03 it would be $30, and at $0.10 it would be $100. Put your own RPM from YouTube Analytics into the calculator for a real estimate.
Why is my Shorts RPM so much lower than long-form?
Shorts revenue comes from ads shown between videos in the feed, pooled and shared by view share, with creators keeping 45% of their allocation. Long-form videos earn from ads on the video itself, and creators keep 55%.
Do all Shorts views count?
No. Only engaged views on eligible Shorts are counted for revenue sharing. Views from invalid traffic, and from Shorts that break YouTube's rules, are excluded.
Can I earn from Shorts without being in the Partner Program?
Not from Shorts ad revenue. You need to join the YouTube Partner Program and accept the Shorts Monetization Module first.
Is this calculator official?
No. It's an independent estimate that multiplies the numbers you enter. YouTube's own figure in Analytics is what you'll actually be paid.