Checker Features

What the checker looks at

YouTube removed the public monetization flag from channel pages on 17 November 2023. Since then a channel page does not say whether the channel earns money. So the checker reads the features that only a channel in the Partner Program can show:

• Join button. Channel memberships are a Partner Program feature, so a Join button proves the channel is in the program.
• Store tab. Shopping is also a Partner Program feature, so the Store tab proves the same.
• Subscribers. YouTube shares ad money only from 1,000 subscribers. So a channel under 1,000 gets a not monetized answer, unless it shows a Join button or a Store tab. Above 1,000, the count and the views only give the answer context, because they do not say whether YouTube accepted the channel.

What the ads tell you

An ad on a video does not prove the channel is paid. YouTube's own help pages say ads may appear on videos a creator has not monetized, and YouTube confirmed in November 2025 that this covers two cases: a channel outside the program, where YouTube keeps the money, and a video claimed by a rights holder, where the rights holder keeps it. In both cases the channel earns nothing from the ad.

Ads enabled on most of a channel's uploads is still the strongest public evidence there is, and it is what the rest of the market calls monetized. So the checker answers monetized when ads run on most of the recent uploads of a channel with 1,000 subscribers or more. The answer card shows each sign it found, so you can see whether the answer rests on a Join button, a Store tab or the ads.

How the answer is made

• Monetized. A Join button or a Store tab is visible. Or the channel has 1,000 subscribers or more, and ads are enabled on most of its recent uploads.
• Not monetized. None of those signs is there on the pages and the uploads that were read. A channel under 1,000 subscribers with no Join button and no Store tab also gets this answer.
• Could not check. The channel has no public videos, posts only Shorts, or YouTube did not answer. Shorts carry no public sign of monetization, so the checker says so instead of guessing.
• Ads by month. Each month of uploads is counted on its own, so a channel that loses its ads shows it as a change, not as a single number.

Every answer shows the evidence beside it: the three signals and the month strip. If YouTube returns too little to read, the checker says so instead of guessing.

The Partner Program rules, in plain words

To earn a share of the ad money today, a channel needs 1,000 subscribers. It also needs 4,000 public watch hours in the last 12 months, or 10 million public Shorts views in the last 90 days.

From 1 February 2027, new channels need 8,000 watch hours in 365 days, or 20 million Shorts views in 90 days, plus the 1,000 subscribers.

YouTube also opens some fan funding features, such as memberships, to smaller channels in the program. So a Join button shows that a channel is in the program, but it does not prove that the channel earns ad money.

Price

The checker is free. You need no account and no card. We plan to pay for the site with ads, and each ad stays in its own box, away from the buttons.

What the checker does not do

• It never asks for your YouTube password or a login.
• It cannot see the private earnings or the YouTube Studio of a channel.
• It cannot check private or deleted channels.

Read how it works or the questions people ask.