YouTube Feature Eligibility by Subscriber Count

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YouTube feature eligibility mostly comes down to verification. Verify your phone, and you get longer uploads, custom thumbnails, and live streaming from a computer. Build enough channel history or verify with an ID or a short video, and you get pinned comments, clickable links, and the right to apply for monetization. YouTube Studio shows where you stand on its Feature eligibility page.

Subscriber count gates only a few things. You need 50 subscribers to go live from your phone, 500 for memberships, Super Chat and Shopping, 1,000 for a share of ad revenue, and 100,000 for the verification badge and the Silver Play Button.

The money steps also need watch hours or Shorts views, and the bar for ads is about to double. YouTube has announced that from February 1, 2027, new creators will need 8,000 qualified watch hours or 20 million qualified Shorts views to share in ad revenue, while channels already in YPP keep their status. For a channel in the 500-subscriber tier, that status covers fan funding only, so ads after February 1 take the new bar, according to the partner support team at AIR Media-Tech, an official YouTube partner.

In this guide:


• the full table by subscriber count

• where to find feature eligibility and its three levels

• how many subscribers you need to go live

• what 500 subscribers gets you

• 1,000 subscribers and the 2027 change

• what happens at 10,000

• the badge and the Silver Play Button

• watch hours and Shorts views per tier


Full Feature Unlock Table by Subscriber Count

Sources: YouTube Help pages on feature access, intermediate and advanced features, mobile live streaming, the expanded YPP, changes to YPP in 2027 and verification badges, plus YouTube Creator Awards. Checked October 2026.

YouTube Feature Eligibility: Where to Find It and What Each Level Gives You

Feature eligibility sits in YouTube Studio on a computer, under Settings → Channel → Feature eligibility. YouTube Help splits it into three levels, and each one shows Enabled once your channel has it. The first comes with every new channel. A phone number opens the second, including uploads longer than 15 minutes, and channel history or an ID opens the third.

Most active channels already have enough history for advanced features, YouTube says. If yours doesn't yet, you can verify with an ID or a short video of your face, and the review usually takes 24 hours. That option isn't offered to every creator, and only the channel's primary owner can use it. A manager on a Brand Account sees the message "Advanced YouTube features aren't available for this account" instead.

YouTube gives no timeline for channel history. It looks at what you do on the channel, such as uploads, live streams and audience engagement, and at your Google Account, including when it was created and how often you use it. AIR Media-Tech's team hasn't seen a fixed wait either. Studio usually lists more than one way to reach this level, so if the features haven't switched on and you need them now, the team's advice is to try another route.

Advanced features can be switched off again. YouTube restricts them and sends an email after any of these.

• A Community Guidelines or copyright strike.
• Repeated uploads of the same or someone else's content.
• Spam or misleading metadata.

Channels that follow the guidelines usually rebuild enough history within 2 months, or can get access back sooner with an ID or a video.

Advanced features also decide whether you can join the YouTube Partner Program. YouTube lists them among the requirements, next to 2-Step Verification and no active Community Guidelines strikes. So a channel at 500 subscribers without them can't apply, however many watch hours it has.

Posts no longer depend on subscribers. Any channel without an active Community Guidelines strike can publish them, unless it's set as made for kids or run as a supervised account. The old 500- and 1,000-subscriber bars came off in May 2023, when YouTube opened posts to every channel with advanced features.

YouTube's feature table now goes further and lists the Posts tab among standard features, with a lower daily limit until you verify. Posts also aren't available in Germany for now, according to the posts help page. AIR Media-Tech's team sees the same in practice. A new channel can publish posts right away, without advanced features.

Content ID isn't tied to a subscriber milestone either. YouTube's qualification page bases Content ID eligibility on proven exclusive rights to original content and a demonstrated operational need for automated claiming. So, a 50,000-subscriber music label channel with clear exclusive rights can qualify; a 5-million-subscriber reaction channel without exclusive ownership cannot.

How Many Subscribers You Need to Go Live: 50 on a Phone, None on a Computer

At 50 subscribers, a channel can go live from the YouTube mobile app for the first time. Below that, mobile live streaming is unavailable; the desktop and webcam paths have no subscriber minimum at all, only phone verification.

Between 50 and 1,000 subscribers, YouTube may limit how many people can watch a mobile live stream, and the archived stream is private by default. After a channel passes 1,000, it can take several weeks for the limit to lift, and longer if the subscriber count dips during that time.

What Unlocks at 500 Subscribers: Fan Funding and Shopping, but No Ads Yet

In October 2025, a thread on r/NewTubers asked whether YouTube had just dropped the monetization bar to 500. The top answer said ads still start at 1,000, and that's still true. At 500 subscribers, YouTube doesn't pay you for views. The money comes from viewers and from Shopping.

At this tier, a channel in the expanded YouTube Partner Program can turn on channel memberships, Jewels and gifts, YouTube Shopping and YouTube Creator Partnerships. Viewers can also pay through Super Chat, Super Stickers and Super Thanks. Ads and YouTube Premium revenue come only at 1,000 subscribers. Our breakdown of how much channel memberships can earn shows what that income depends on.

To apply, a channel needs all of the following, according to YouTube Help on the expanded program.

• 500 subscribers and 3 public uploads in the last 90 days.
• 3,000 qualified watch hours in the last 12 months, or 3 million qualified Shorts views in the last 90 days.
• Advanced features, 2-Step Verification and no active Community Guidelines strikes.
• An AdSense for YouTube account linked to the channel.
• A channel based in one of the 99 countries and regions where the expanded program runs.

The country list is easy to miss. It includes India, the Philippines, Nigeria, the US and the UK, but not Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka or Ukraine. A channel based outside the list has no 500 tier and joins YPP at 1,000 subscribers, with ads from the start. A channel can also sit at 10,000 subscribers and still miss this tier if it hasn't posted in 90 days or never built up watch hours.

Shopping got wider this year. Since March 25, 2026, channels in YPP with at least 500 subscribers can join the YouTube Shopping affiliate program and tag other brands' products in Shorts, long videos, and live streams.

Hype also starts at 500. Viewers can hype long-form videos from YPP channels with 500 to 500,000 subscribers during the video's first 7 days, up to three times a week. The smaller the channel, the more each hype counts. At 500 subscribers, one hype gives 7,500 points; at 500,000 it gives 50. Hype works only in some countries.

Moving up to ads doesn't happen by itself. Some guides say ad revenue switches on automatically once a channel in this tier reaches 1,000 subscribers. At 500, you accept the Commerce Product Module for fan funding and Shopping. Ads take a separate Watch Page Monetization Module in the Earn tab, and AIR Media-Tech's partner support team says the channel goes through a full review at that step, even though YouTube Help describes the switch more simply.

If Studio shows a notice about updated terms in the Earn tab, accept it by January 31, 2027, or the features it covers stop earning on February 1. The full list of YPP requirements is in our YouTube Partner Program requirements guide. For the application itself, step by step, see how to get monetized on YouTube.

1,000 Subscribers: Full YPP, Ad Revenue and the 2027 Change

At 1,000 subscribers, a channel can apply for full monetization in the YouTube Partner Program, with a share of Watch Page ads, Shorts Feed ads and YouTube Premium revenue.

The bar works the same way as at 500, only higher. Alongside 1,000 subscribers, a channel needs either 4,000 qualified watch hours in the last 12 months or 10 million qualified Shorts views in the last 90 days.

This threshold is changing for new applicants on February 1, 2027. YouTube has announced the first rise in the ad bar since 2018. New channels applying for full monetization will need 1,000 subscribers plus 8,000 qualified watch hours in 365 days, up from 4,000, or 20 million qualified Shorts views in 90 days, up from 10 million.

Channels already in YPP keep their current status and aren't affected by the change. For channels in the 500-subscriber tier, that protection covers fan funding only. A channel that reaches the ad bar after February 1 needs 8,000 hours or 20 million Shorts views to turn on ads, according to AIR Media-Tech's partner support team. Our breakdown of the 2027 YPP changes covers the rest, and Tech Times reported the change the day after.

What Unlocks at 10,000 Subscribers: Nothing Official

Nothing official opens at the 10,000-subscriber mark. YouTube hasn't tied any feature to that number, and access to Creator Support comes with YPP membership, not with a subscriber count.

For most channels, this range is the stretch between the 500 tier and the 100,000-subscriber badge. If ads still aren't on at this size, subscribers aren't the blocker. Check watch hours or Shorts views, advanced features and any Community Guidelines strikes.

100,000 Subscribers: The Verification Badge and the Silver Play Button

At 100,000 subscribers, a channel can apply for YouTube's official verification badge, the grey checkmark, and can receive the Silver Play Button once YouTube reviews it.

The verification badge also needs three things besides subscribers.

• 2-Step Verification must be turned on for the linked Google Account
• A complete channel profile (banner image, profile picture, description, and at least one public video)
• Passing YouTube's authenticity review confirms the channel represents the real creator, brand, or entity it claims to be

YouTube is explicit that the badge itself adds no features and isn't an award or endorsement; it's a credibility marker distinguishing the real channel from impersonators, separate from the monetization tiers above.

The Silver Play Button isn't automatic. When a channel reaches 100,000, YouTube reviews it for strikes, inflated subscriber counts and original content, and a channel that passes gets a redemption code in Studio within 10 days. YPP membership isn't required. The Gold Play Button comes at 1,000,000 subscribers and the Diamond at 10,000,000.

Each money tier above pairs subscribers with watch hours or Shorts views, covered next.

Watch Hours and Shorts Views Each Tier Needs

Every monetization tier on YouTube pairs a subscriber threshold with a second requirement, watch hours or Shorts views.

• 500-subscriber tier: 3,000 qualified watch hours in the last 12 months, or 3 million qualified Shorts views in the last 90 days, plus 3 public uploads in the last 90 days.
• 1,000-subscriber tier: 4,000 qualified watch hours in the last 12 months, or 10 million qualified Shorts views in the last 90 days.
• From February 1, 2027, new applicants for ads: 8,000 qualified watch hours in 365 days, or 20 million qualified Shorts views in 90 days. Channels already in YPP keep their status, but a 500-tier channel that reaches the ad bar after that date needs the new one.

YouTube draws a line around what counts. Qualified watch hours come only from public long-form videos, including podcasts and archived livestreams. They exclude private, unlisted, or deleted videos, ad watch time, Shorts, and unarchived live streams. Qualified Shorts views must be engaged views, meaning the viewer watched past the opening seconds, with looped replays excluded.

From February 1, 2027, YouTube also changes how it decides whether a monetized channel is active. A channel counts as active with 1,000 qualified watch hours in 365 days, 1 million qualified Shorts views in 90 days, or 2 long videos or 5 Shorts uploaded every 90 days. A channel that drops below all three gets 90 days to get back to 1,000 hours or 1 million Shorts views and stay in the program.

From the same date, earning from the Shorts Creator Pool each month takes 10 million qualified Shorts views in the last 90 days. A channel that misses it stays in YPP and keeps its long-form earnings. If you're still collecting hours, our guide to getting 4,000 watch hours covers the routes.