YouTube Watch Hours & Monetization Eligibility Calculator
How far you are from each YouTube Partner Program threshold, and when you get there.
Where you stand
Enter your subscribers and watch hours.
Thresholds from YouTube Help: YouTube Partner Program overview & eligibility and Updates to the YouTube Partner Program.
Views needed
Minutes:seconds.
Views of long-form public videos in a year.
About the YouTube Watch Hours & Monetization Eligibility Calculator
YouTube counts public watch hours of long-form videos over the last 365 days and Shorts views over the last 90 days to decide when a channel can join the YouTube Partner Program. This calculator turns your views and average view duration into watch hours (or takes the hours YouTube Studio shows you), then shows your progress towards each threshold: 500 subscribers with 3,000 hours or 3 million Shorts views for fan funding, YouTube Shopping and Creator Partnerships, and 1,000 subscribers with 4,000 hours or 10 million Shorts views for a share of ad revenue.
YouTube is raising the ad-revenue entry thresholds for creators who are not yet in the programme: from 1 February 2027 new applicants need 8,000 watch hours or 20 million Shorts views, still with 1,000 subscribers. The calculator shows both rules, and — if you add your numbers for the last 28 days — when you would reach each one at your current pace, allowing for old views dropping out of the rolling window.
How to use it
- Enter your subscribers. For watch hours, either type the public watch hours of the last 365 days, or choose Work it out from views and enter the views of your long-form videos with their average view duration (for example
4:30). - If you make Shorts, enter the Shorts views of the last 90 days.
- For a forecast, open Your pace and enter what you gained in the last 28 days — the default period of YouTube Studio Analytics — for subscribers, watch hours and Shorts views.
- Read the progress for each tier: what is still missing, which route (watch hours or Shorts) gets you there first, and the date you would reach it at that pace.
- Use Views needed to see how many views you need at your average view duration, or how long viewers would need to watch with the views you get.
Examples
12,000 views · average view duration 4:30
900 watch hours
12,000 × 4.5 minutes = 54,000 minutes; ÷ 60 = 900 hours.
Average view duration 4:30
53,334 views
4,000 hours × 3,600 seconds ÷ 270 seconds = 53,333.3, rounded up.
2,000 hours now · 200 hours in the last 28 days
Out of reach at this pace — settles at about 2,607 hours
200 hours every 28 days adds up to 2,607 hours over a year, so the 365-day total can never reach 4,000 at that pace. About 307 hours per 28 days keeps it at 4,000.
2,000 hours now · 400 hours in the last 28 days
4,000 hours in about 228 days
You gain 14.3 hours a day while about 5.5 hours a day of last year’s watch time drops out of the window, so the total grows by about 8.8 hours a day.
Common uses
- Checking how close a channel is to monetisation, and which route — long videos or Shorts — is quicker.
- Planning uploads: how many views, or how much longer viewing, you need to reach 4,000 or 8,000 hours.
- Deciding whether to apply before the higher entry thresholds for new applicants start on 1 February 2027.
- Explaining to a client or a new creator why watch hours can go down even while a channel grows.
The thresholds
From YouTube Help — YouTube Partner Program overview & eligibility and Updates to the YouTube Partner Program:
- Fan funding, YouTube Shopping and Creator Partnerships: 500 subscribers and either 3,000 qualified watch hours in the last year or 3 million qualified Shorts views in the last 90 days. YouTube says these requirements are not changing.
- Ad revenue sharing: 1,000 subscribers and either 4,000 qualified watch hours in the last 12 months or 10 million qualified Shorts views in the last 90 days.
- Ad revenue sharing for new applicants from 1 February 2027: 1,000 subscribers and either 8,000 qualified watch hours in the last 365 days or 20 million qualified Shorts views in the last 90 days. YouTube says channels already in the programme are not affected by this change.
The numbers are not all: you also need to live where the programme is available, follow YouTube’s channel monetisation policies, have no active Community Guidelines strikes, turn on 2-Step Verification, have advanced features and link an AdSense for YouTube account, as the overview page lists.
What counts as watch hours
Only qualified watch hours from long-form videos you have set public count. YouTube’s overview page says that private, unlisted and deleted videos, advertising campaigns, and live streams that are unlisted, deleted or not converted to video on demand do not count — and that watch hours from Shorts views in the Shorts Feed do not count towards the watch-hour threshold. Shorts count separately, as qualified Shorts views of public Shorts in the Shorts Feed.
So when you work the hours out from views, use the views and average view duration of your long-form public videos only. Studio’s numbers can differ a little from views × duration because YouTube decides which views qualify.
Why the forecast allows for a rolling window
The hours are counted over the last 365 days and Shorts views over the last 90 days, so every day the oldest day drops out of the total while a new one comes in. The forecast assumes your current total was earned evenly over its window and that your last 28 days continue:
- each day the total grows by your daily pace (
28-day number ÷ 28) and shrinks bycurrent total ÷ window; - after one full window the total settles at
daily pace × window— 365 days for hours, 90 for Shorts views.
If that settled total is below the goal, the goal is out of reach at your current pace, however long you wait, and the calculator shows the 28-day pace that would get there. Subscribers do not drop out, so they are simply missing ÷ daily gain.
Limitations
- This is an estimate from the numbers you enter. YouTube Studio’s Earn page is where YouTube shows whether you can apply, and YouTube reviews every channel before accepting it.
- The forecast assumes your current total was earned evenly over its window. A channel whose views came mostly from one older viral video will lose hours faster than the forecast shows.
- Views × average view duration is close to, but not exactly, YouTube’s qualified watch hours: YouTube decides which views qualify.
- Requirements other than the numbers — country, policies, strikes, 2-Step Verification, AdSense — are listed but not checked.
Privacy
Everything happens in your browser. What you enter or open here is not uploaded or stored by MySmartCoPilot.
Frequently asked questions
How many views do I need for 4,000 watch hours?
It depends on how long people watch: views = 4,000 × 60 ÷ average view duration in minutes. At 4 minutes 30 seconds that is about 53,334 views in 12 months; at 8 minutes, 30,000 views. Enter your average view duration under Views needed to see yours.
Do Shorts count towards the 4,000 watch hours?
No. YouTube says watch hours from Shorts views in the Shorts Feed do not count towards the watch-hour threshold. Shorts have their own route: 10 million qualified Shorts views in the last 90 days (3 million for the 500-subscriber tier), with the same number of subscribers.
What changes on 1 February 2027?
YouTube’s update page says that from then the ad-revenue entry thresholds for new creators are 8,000 qualified watch hours in the last 365 days or 20 million qualified Shorts views in the last 90 days, still with 1,000 subscribers. Channels already in the programme are not affected, and the 500-subscriber tier for fan funding, Shopping and Creator Partnerships does not change.
Do I have to keep my numbers up once I am in the programme?
YouTube’s update page also sets activity rules for channels in the programme, starting with the new entry thresholds: a channel counts as active with 1,000 qualified watch hours in the past 365 days, or 1 million qualified Shorts views in the last 90 days, or 2 long-form videos or 5 Shorts uploaded every 90 days, and a channel that drops below gets a 90-day window to reach the watch-hour or Shorts-view number. Monthly earnings from the Shorts Creator Pool need 10 million qualified Shorts views over the last 90 days, without affecting other earnings. This calculator checks the entry thresholds, not these.
Why did my watch hours go down?
Because they are counted over a rolling window of the last 365 days: hours from views more than a year ago drop out every day. If you gain fewer hours per day than drop out, the total falls even while the channel keeps growing. The forecast shows where your total settles at your current pace.
What happens if my numbers drop after I apply?
YouTube’s overview page says your application is still reviewed if your numbers fall below the requirements after you have applied.
Do unlisted or private videos count?
No. Only qualified watch hours from long-form videos set to public count; private, unlisted and deleted videos do not, and neither do advertising campaigns.