How the YouTube Monetization Checker Works
1Step 1
Copy the Channel Link
On YouTube, open the channel and copy the URL from the address bar — or just copy the @handle next to the channel name.
2Step 2
Paste It Above
Paste it into the box at the top of this page and click Check Channel.
3Step 3
See the Signals
Get the channel's membership status and subscriber-threshold signal in seconds.
We do not use the official YouTube Data API. That API exposes no monetization status field, and its developer policies restrict creating derived metrics from API data. Everything here comes from the channel's own public page — not a guess, and not a paid third-party service.
What This YouTube Monetization Checker Can Confirm — and What Nobody Can
Determined
If we detect a channel membership button or a Store shelf, that channel is confirmed to be in the YouTube Partner Program — YouTube only lets Partner Program channels enable either one. This is a hard confirmation, not an estimate.
Measured
A channel's public subscriber count against YouTube's two published thresholds — 500 for the fan-funding tier, 1,000 for the ad-revenue tier. Meeting a threshold only means the subscriber requirement is met, not that a channel is approved.
Not public
Whether a channel is actually earning ad revenue right now. YouTube does not disclose this to the public, to competitors, or to us — no monetization checker, including this one, can answer that honestly with a yes or a no.
A channel's Store shelf (the shopping tab some channels show) counts the same way a membership button does — YouTube's Shopping affiliate program also requires YPP membership. Like a membership button, it only proves YPP participation, not that the channel earns ad revenue.
How to Check YouTube Monetization Yourself
You can check the same public signals by hand. This tool makes the process faster and more consistent; it has no access to hidden data.
Method 1
Look at the channel page
Open the channel and check the subscriber count next to the name, and whether a Join button sits beside Subscribe. A Join button confirms YPP membership. A Store tab is visible too, but on its own it doesn't confirm anything — see above.
Method 2
Inspect the page source
Right-click the channel page and choose “View page source,” then search the raw HTML for subscriberCount or the word Join. The same public fields this checker reads are sitting in that markup — no account or login required.
Method 3
Check YouTube Studio
Only the channel owner can sign into YouTube Studio and see watch hours, the manual review outcome, and AdSense linkage — the parts of YPP eligibility that never appear on the public page. That's the ceiling for any external tool, this one included.
YouTube Partner Program Requirements
YPP has two tiers, and clearing one does not mean a channel has cleared the other.
| Tier | Subscribers | Watch time | Unlocks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fan-funding | 500 | 3,000 hrs / 12 mo (or 3M Shorts views / 90 days), 3 uploads / 90 days | Memberships, Super Thanks, Store shelf |
| Ad-revenue | 1,000 | 4,000 hrs / 12 mo (8,000 hrs / 365 days from 2027-02-01), or Shorts-view equivalent | Ad revenue, Premium revenue share |
The 2027 change only affects new applicants. A channel already approved for the ad-revenue tier keeps that status if its subscriber count later drops below 1,000 — the higher bar only applies to first-time applicants after the change takes effect. See YouTube monetization requirements for details.
Are YouTube Shorts Monetized Differently?
The watch-time requirement has two paths, and Shorts uses a separate one. Long-form watch time counts toward 4,000 hours (3,000 for the fan-funding tier) over the past 12 months; Shorts views count separately — 10 million public views in 90 days for the ad-revenue tier, or 3 million for fan-funding — and a channel only needs to clear one path. Once monetized, Shorts revenue also splits differently: from a shared ad-revenue pool, not ads placed against a single video.
None of this shows on a channel's public page. Two channels that qualified through different paths look identical from the outside, since this checker — like any public YouTube monetization checker — can only read subscriber count and the membership signal, not which path a channel used.
Why Channels Get Rejected — and How to Fix It
Public signals cannot reveal every reason a channel is rejected. These common cases still have practical next steps:
Not enough watch hours in the qualifying window, even with enough subscribers.
Watch hours are only visible to the channel owner, in YouTube Studio — keep uploading and check that dashboard, not a third-party checker.
No public uploads in the last 90 days.
Publish a new video to reset the active-channel window before reapplying.
Content that does not pass YouTube's manual policy review.
Review YouTube's monetization policies for the specific content category and adjust before reapplying.
Regional or platform restrictions that hide membership features even for approved channels.
This is a display issue, not a rejection — the underlying YPP status is unaffected.
Repetitive or reused content — compilations or reaction videos without original commentary.
Add original narration, editing, or analysis so each upload is clearly transformative.
No AdSense account linked, or an existing AdSense account has an issue.
Check the AdSense account's own status page for unresolved flags before linking it to the channel.
An active Community Guidelines strike on the channel.
Strikes expire after 90 days; reapply once the strike is no longer active.
A related channel from the same creator was previously terminated, or content is duplicated across channels.
This kind of cross-channel review happens on YouTube’s side and is never made public — no checker, including this one, can confirm it in advance.
Watch hours and review outcomes remain private, so a missing signal is never a final verdict.
What to Do After Checking a Channel
A result from this — or any — YouTube monetization checker tells you what's publicly visible, not what to do next. If we found a membership button, that channel has cleared the 500-subscriber fan-funding bar; whether it also earns ad revenue stays private, so there's nothing further to check publicly.
If we found no signal, don't read that as a verdict. Check the channel's subscriber count against both YPP thresholds above, then look at whether it has uploaded in the last 90 days — those are the only two things a public page can confirm either way. For anything past that (watch hours, AdSense status, review outcomes), the channel owner is the only one who can look it up, in YouTube Studio.
If the channel is yours and you're short of a threshold, the fastest lever is usually watch time, not subscribers — Studio's own Analytics tab shows exactly how far you are from each requirement.
Estimate YouTube Earnings Separately
Pages cannot reveal RPM. Use the YouTube Money Calculator for a separate view-based estimate and its RPM assumptions.
More YouTube Tools
Try the YouTube thumbnail downloader, YouTube PFP downloader, YouTube channel banner downloader, or playlist length calculator.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this the official YouTube monetization checker?
No. YouTube does not publish an official monetization checker, and this site is not affiliated with YouTube or Google. We read the same public channel page anyone can see and report what it shows.
Why can't a YouTube monetization checker just tell me if a channel is monetized?
Because YouTube does not make that information public to anyone, including us. The only things we can confirm directly are whether a channel has enabled memberships or a Store shelf, both of which require YouTube Partner Program membership. Actual ad-revenue status stays private.
The checker says "Not detected" — does that mean the channel isn't monetized?
No. Many monetized channels never turn on memberships, and the membership button can be hidden depending on region or platform. "Not detected" only means we found no public signal, not that one doesn't exist.
Why does this YouTube monetization checker split subscriber count into two thresholds?
Because YouTube Partner Program has two tiers with different subscriber requirements — 500 for fan-funding features like memberships and Super Thanks, and 1,000 for the ad-revenue and Premium-revenue tier. A channel can clear one threshold and not the other, so showing a single yes/no answer would misrepresent channels in between.
Does meeting the subscriber threshold mean a channel is eligible?
No. Subscriber count is only one requirement. YouTube also requires recent public uploads, a minimum amount of watch time, and passing a manual review — none of which is publicly visible, so a YouTube monetization checker cannot check them.
Do you store the channels I search?
Results are cached for up to 24 hours so repeat lookups of the same channel are fast, but this cache is keyed by the channel, not by you. See our Privacy Policy for details.
What about a channel's Store shelf — doesn't that prove monetization too?
It proves YPP participation, the same way a membership button does — YouTube's Shopping affiliate program requires Partner Program membership, so a Store shelf on its own is enough even without a Join button. Like a membership button, it does not prove the channel earns ad revenue, which is a separate, higher tier YouTube keeps private.
Does this work for channel URLs with a video link instead of a channel link?
Yes. Paste a video URL (a youtube.com/watch link, a youtu.be link, or a Shorts link) and we'll look up the video's uploader and show that channel's report, with a note at the top saying it's showing the uploader's channel.