A YouTube channel can get paid eight ways beyond ad revenue: memberships, Super Thanks, affiliate links, brand deals, merch, digital products, content licensing, and paid live events. Each pays under a different set of rules, and each fits a different stage of a channel's growth.
Memberships and Super Thanks both pay creators 70% after YouTube's cut. That figure comes directly from YouTube's own Help pages, not a vendor's estimate, and most guides to this topic state a payout number with no source at all. This one sources every figure the same way, and ranks each method by what it pays, not by what the guide is selling.
What Pays, Ranked by Real Numbers
Every figure below is sourced, not estimated.
| Method | What YouTube takes | Barrier to start |
|---|---|---|
| Channel memberships | 30%, creator keeps 70% | Standard YPP eligibility |
| Super Thanks | 30% (incl. payment fees), creator keeps ~70% | Standard YPP eligibility |
| Affiliate links | 0% (the affiliate program sets its own commission, not YouTube) | None, no subscriber minimum |
| Brand deals | 0% (negotiated directly with the brand) | None, small channels land deals |
| Merch Shelf | 0% from YouTube (the print-on-demand platform takes its own cut) | 1,000 subscribers |
One pattern stands out. YouTube only takes a cut of the money that moves through YouTube itself, and everything off-platform pays YouTube nothing at all. That is not a reason to skip memberships and Super Thanks, a 70% share of real fan support is still real money, but the ceiling on the other six methods is set by the deal negotiated, not by a platform-wide rate.
The Two That Pay Through YouTube Itself
Memberships and Super Thanks both route through YouTube's own checkout, which is why both share the same eligibility bar, standard YouTube Partner Program acceptance.
Channel Memberships
Viewers pay a monthly fee for member-only perks, badges, emoji, members-only posts and streams, and creators keep 70% of it. This is the closest thing to predictable, recurring revenue on the platform, since a member who joins tends to stay for months, not one video, though typical conversion runs just 0.5% to 3% of subscribers.
Super Thanks
A one-time tip a viewer can leave on any regular video, not just live streams. Creators keep roughly 70% after YouTube's cut and payment processing fees. It has a lower ceiling than memberships, since it is a one-off, not recurring, but it works on any upload with no separate setup required.
The Six That Pay Outside YouTube's Cut
What each of these six pays depends on the deal, the product, or the audience, not a fixed platform rate.
Affiliate Marketing
Links in the description that pay a commission when a viewer buys through them. No subscriber minimum for most programs (Amazon Associates and most niche programs), though YouTube's own Shopping affiliate program requires YPP acceptance, a US base, and 20,000 subscribers. Format matters more than audience size. A product review converts far better than a link buried in an unrelated video.
Brand Deals and Sponsorships
A company pays directly for a mention, integration, or dedicated video. No subscriber minimum, and small channels with an engaged audience regularly land deals that pure-reach channels miss. Brands buy trust with a specific audience, not raw view count. Pricing, finding brands, and pitching are covered in full in our YouTube sponsorships guide.
Know what your channel can supportChannel Audit shows your real upload data, audience size, and engagement pattern side by side, the numbers that decide which of these methods is realistic right now. Free to try.Run a Channel Audit →Merch
Physical or print-on-demand products sold through YouTube's Merch Shelf, which sits directly beneath a video. It requires 1,000 subscribers and monetization approval. YouTube takes no direct cut, but the fulfillment platform does, so a $25 shirt often nets only $5 to $8 after production cost. It works best for a channel with a strong visual identity, not as a first income line.
Digital Products and Courses
An ebook, template, preset pack, or a structured course sold to an audience that already trusts your expertise. Margins are the highest of any method here, since there is no per-unit cost once the product exists. The trade-off is time up front. It only sells once an audience has a specific enough problem to pay to solve.
Content Licensing
Selling the rights to a specific viral or newsworthy clip to a licensing aggregator, which places it with TV networks or news outlets for a fee. This is a real income line for content that occasionally goes viral in a news-relevant way, but it is not a repeatable strategy, since it depends on catching something worth licensing.
Paid Live Events, Coaching, and Workshops
A workshop, a retreat, one-on-one coaching, a paid Q&A. This pays the most per person of anything here, trading direct time for a premium price instead of selling to everyone at once. It only works once an audience trusts a creator enough to pay for direct access, which is why it tends to arrive late in a channel's growth, not early.
What to Do at Your Channel's Size
| Channel size | Prioritize | Skip for now |
|---|---|---|
| Under 1,000 subscribers | Affiliate links, product-review brand deals (no minimum) | Memberships, Super Thanks, Merch (all need YPP or 1,000 subs) |
| 1,000 to 10,000 | Memberships or Super Thanks (whichever fits your format), continue affiliate | Coaching, paid events (audience too small to fill one) |
| 10,000 to 100,000 | Brand deals at real rates, merch if identity is strong, digital products | Content licensing (still opportunistic, not a strategy) |
| 100,000+ | All of the above simultaneously, plus paid events and coaching become viable | Nothing, this is the diversification stage |
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you make money on YouTube without running ads?
Yes. Memberships, Super Thanks, affiliate links, brand deals, merch, digital products, and paid live events all pay independently of AdSense, and several of them (affiliate links, brand deals) do not require YouTube Partner Program acceptance at all. Ad revenue is the easiest income line to turn on, but it is often not the largest once a channel diversifies.
How do you monetize a YouTube channel beyond AdSense?
Start with whichever method matches what you already have. An engaged niche audience points to memberships or Super Thanks, a product-review format points to affiliate links, and a channel brands already watch points to sponsorships. Most creators run two or three of these at once, since each pays from a different part of the audience.
Do people pay for YouTube memberships?
Yes, though the conversion rate is small. Typically 0.5% to 3% of subscribers become paying members. A channel with 500,000 subscribers might see 2,500 to 15,000 members. It works because a member is choosing to pay monthly to support a specific creator, not reacting to an ad, so the revenue is more predictable than AdSense even at a lower volume.
Can you make $10,000 a month with affiliate marketing on YouTube?
For a small number of creators in high-commission niches (software, finance tools, high-ticket gear), yes, but it is not typical and not fast. Realistic affiliate income scales with audience size and with how directly the content leads to a purchase decision. A product-review channel converts far better than a vlog with a link buried in the description.
Pick Two Monetization Methods, Not All Eight
Trying to run all eight methods at 500 subscribers spreads effort across income lines too thin for any of them to matter. Pick the two that fit the channel's current size and format, then add the next one once the first is paying, not before.
Memberships and Super Thanks will always cap at 70%, since both route through YouTube itself. The other six have no fixed ceiling at all, only the size of the deal, the audience, or the product behind them. That is the real reason to diversify past ads, not because ads are unreliable, but because everything past ads can pay more than a fixed platform rate ever will.
