YouTube Money Calculator
Free YouTube money calculator: estimate how much a video or channel earns from views, by topic, Shorts or long-form and viewer location, or work out how many views you need to hit an income goal. Uses your own RPM if you know it.
RPM = what you earn per 1,000 views, after YouTube’s cut. Find yours in YouTube Studio → Analytics → Revenue. Leave it blank to use the topic’s typical range.
Charts — the same numbers, drawn out
The bar runs from zero to the high estimate; the shaded part is the low-to-high range and the tick is the typical figure. RPM varies a lot from channel to channel and month to month, so treat the range as the honest answer, not the middle.
Running total of what the entered views would earn, with the low-to-high band. Growth is your own assumption, not a prediction: it compounds each month on the monthly views above.
Views needed at this topic’s typical RPM; your goal is highlighted. The figures in brackets are the fewest (high RPM) and most (low RPM) views that might be needed. Estimates, not guarantees.
Bars show the typical RPM per 1,000 views, whiskers the low-to-high range, for the viewer location you picked. Your topic is highlighted; a dashed line marks your own RPM if you typed one. Click a bar to use that topic. RPM differs hugely between topics, and Shorts pay a small fraction of long-form.
Typical RPM by topic — click a row to use it
US dollars per 1,000 views for long-form videos, after YouTube’s share, for an audience mostly in high-paying countries. These are broad creator-reported ballparks, not guarantees — your own Analytics is always the better number.
How do YouTubers get paid?
Most of a channel’s income starts with ads. Once a channel is in the YouTube Partner Program, YouTube shows ads (and counts YouTube Premium watch time) against the videos and pays the creator a share of the revenue: 55% of ad revenue on long-form videos. For Shorts, ad revenue from the feed is pooled and divided among creators by views, and the creator receives 45% of their share of that pool — which is why Shorts pay far less per view.
CPM vs. RPM — which one is this calculator using?
- CPM is what advertisers pay per 1,000 ad impressions, before YouTube takes its cut. It can look high, but not every view shows an ad.
- RPM is what you actually take home per 1,000 views, after YouTube’s cut and counting views with no ad. RPM is always lower than CPM, and it is the number this calculator uses.
Why do different channels earn so differently?
- Topic. Finance, business and tech attract advertisers who pay more than gaming, music or kids’ content.
- Viewer location. Advertisers pay more to reach viewers in the US, Canada, the UK, Australia and Western Europe.
- Video length. Videos over 8 minutes can carry mid-roll ads, which raises RPM.
- Season. Ad prices peak in Q4 (around the holidays) and dip in January.
- Advertiser-friendliness. Videos with limited ads earn a fraction of full RPM.
Do I need to be in the Partner Program?
To earn a share of ad revenue you must join the YouTube Partner Program. At the time of writing that takes 1,000 subscribers plus either 4,000 public watch hours in the last 12 months or 10 million public Shorts views in the last 90 days; a lower tier (500 subscribers) unlocks memberships and fan funding first. Check YouTube’s own requirements for the current rules in your country.
Ads aren’t the only income
Many creators earn more from sponsorships, affiliate links, channel memberships, Super Chat and Super Thanks, merchandise and their own products or courses. None of those are included in the estimate above.
How accurate is this estimate?
It is a ballpark. The low and high figures come from typical creator-reported RPM ranges for the topic you choose, adjusted for where your viewers live, and the real number can fall outside them. If you run the channel, the true figure is in YouTube Studio’s Revenue tab — type your RPM in the box above to project it forward. Nothing you type leaves your browser.
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