YouTube Shorts Earnings Calculator
Estimate your YouTube Shorts ad-share revenue. Shorts use a creator pool model — RPM is much lower than long-form, so volume is everything.
Pro tips
- Shorts RPM averages $0.04–$0.10 — much lower than long-form
- Tier 1 audiences (US/UK/CA) push RPM toward $0.10+
- Use Shorts to drive subs to monetized long-form videos
- Music-licensed Shorts split revenue with rights holders
Shorts pay differently than long-form
YouTube Shorts use a Creator Pool model: ad revenue from the Shorts feed goes into a pool, then is split based on each creator's share of total monetized Shorts views.
How we calculate
Data sources. Public creator earnings reports, official platform payout disclosures, ad-tech benchmarks (e.g. published CPM/RPM ranges) and aggregated data shared by creators in our community.
Assumptions. We blend publicly reported YouTube payout data, industry RPM/CPM benchmarks and creator-shared earnings to build niche-weighted ranges. Numbers are interpolated from real ranges — not pulled from a private ad account. RPM (revenue per 1,000 views) and CPM (cost per 1,000 impressions) vary heavily by niche, region, seasonality, watch time and audience demographics.
Estimates only. All results are illustrative estimates, not financial advice or a guarantee of earnings. Actual payouts depend on your specific account, monetization status, advertiser demand and platform policy changes.
FAQ
How much do YouTube Shorts pay?+
Most channels earn $0.04–$0.10 per 1,000 monetized Shorts views. A million views typically generates $40–$100 in ad-share revenue.
Why is Shorts RPM so low?+
Shorts use a revenue pool — total advertiser spend on Shorts is divided across all eligible creators based on their share of total Shorts views.
Are Shorts worth making?+
For pure ad revenue: only at huge scale. For audience growth that funnels into monetized long-form videos: absolutely yes.