channel memberships eligibility, policies, & guidelines

We’re making a few changes to how we collect and use data on kids content on YouTube.com. As a
result, some of the instructions in this article may have changed. Learn more

Channel memberships allow viewers to join your channel through monthly payments and get members-
only perks like badges, emoji, and other goods. If you’re eligible, these policies and guidelines will help
steer you out of trouble.

Minimum eligibility requirements

You must meet minimum requirements to be considered for channel memberships on YouTube.

Keep in mind, meeting the following does not mean you'll automatically get channel memberships.
We're slowly rolling out this feature. If you have access, you'll see memberships as an option on the
Memberships page:

Your channel must have more than 1,000 subscribers.

Your channel is in the YouTube Partner Program.

You're over 18 years old.

You're in one of the available locations.

Your channel has a Community tab.

Your channel is not set as made for kids.

Your channel does not have a significant number of ineligible videos.

Videos set as made for kids, or videos with music claims are considered ineligible.

You (and your MCN) have agreed to and are complying with our terms and policies (including the
relevant Commerce Product Addendum).

Availability

Channel memberships are currently available to eligible creators in the following locations: Algeria,
American Samoa, Argentina, Aruba, Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Belarus, Belgium, Bermuda, Bolivia,
Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Cayman Islands, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia,
Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Estonia, Finland,
France, French Guiana, French Polynesia, Germany, Greece, Guadeloupe, Guam, Guatemala, Honduras,
Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Kuwait, Latvia,
Lebanon, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Morocco, Netherlands, New
Zealand, Nicaragua, Nigeria, North Macedonia, Northern Mariana Islands, Norway, Oman, Panama,
Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Romania, Russia,
Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden,
Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, Turks and Caicos Islands, U.S. Virgin Islands, Uganda, United Arab
Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Vietnam.

Learn how to set your location setting.

Channel memberships policies and guidelines

Channel memberships policies

Participating creators (and MCNs) must accept and comply with:

YouTube Terms of Service

YouTube Community Guidelines

YouTube monetization policies

Commerce Product Addendum

Participating creators can accept the Commerce Product Addendum under 'Agreements' in Settings in
YouTube Studio.

Channel membership content and perk guidelines

All perks or benefits offered to your members are subject to these policies, whether listed in your offer
window or offered by other means. We may update these policies from time to time.

You still must comply with all relevant laws as required by YouTube’s Terms of Service. Money you get
from channel memberships may be treated differently based on laws that apply to you and your
activities. Channel memberships aren't crowdfunding or donation tools. You‘re responsible for fully
complying with all relevant laws -- including if you can turn on, offer, and get money from channel
memberships.

We continually use signals to identify potentially abusive or fraudulent behavior. If we detect any of
those signals, we’ll terminate access to memberships. We reserve the right to terminate access to
channel memberships on any channel.
You should be aware of our Community Guidelines strike system and aware of potential loss of privileges
for actions that cause harm to the YouTube community.

Channel membership content and perk guidelines

All channel membership benefits you offer — including badges, emoji, perks, videos, live chats, and
other content — are subject to membership policies and guidelines.

While you can offer benefits that make your members feel special, the following members-only benefits
are not allowed under our policies and terms:

Downloads of content (including music) available on YouTube

In-person 1:1 meetings

Anything that one or some (but not all) of your members are chosen to get at random including, but not
limited to:

Contests

Lotteries

Sweepstakes

Perks that are marketed, directed, or targeted, to children, or that may be attractive to, or inappropriate
for, children

Perks encouraging children to ask their parents to join your channel membership

Policy and guideline violations

Paused mode

Memberships on your channel will enter "paused mode" if you:

Leave your MCN without having turned on monetization and accepted the Commerce Product
Addendum before joining that MCN.

Move to a new MCN that hasn't turned on channel memberships for its creators ("Paid features").

Set your channel as made for kids.

What happens when your channel is in paused mode

In paused mode, your members will lose access to membership offerings from your channel (including
badge, emoji, and members-only Community posts), and their payments will pause. In addition, the
"Join" button will disappear from your channel.

Note that members may cancel their membership at any time, including while your channel is in paused
mode.

Exit paused mode

To exit paused mode and resume channel memberships, you (or your new MCN) must go to
studio.youtube.com/channel/UC/monetization/memberships and click "Enable" in the channel
memberships box. You can only activate memberships if you (or your new MCN), agree to and are
complying with our terms and policies (including the Commerce Product Addendum).

Once you have resumed memberships, your members will regain access to membership offerings by
your channel. They'll be charged again at the start of their next billing cycle unless they cancel.

What happens if you’re in paused mode for more than 90 days

If channel membership is not resumed within 90 days, membership on your channel will be ended and
you'll lose all members on your channel. Your members at the time of termination will automatically be
refunded for their last month’s payment for membership on your channel. If we need to refund your
members, your share will be deducted from your AdSense account.

Warnings and strikes

All content on YouTube is subject to our Community Guidelines. Anything you offer as part of channel
memberships must meet the same policy standards as any content you post.

What happens if your memberships perks violate our guidelines & policies

Our team reviews channel memberships perks you submit before the public sees them, and
inappropriate perks will be rejected. For minor violations, you’ll get a warning. For serious or repeated
violations, you may get a Community Guidelines strike.

What happens if you get a strike

We understand that users make mistakes and don’t intend to violate our policies — that’s why strikes
don’t last forever and can be appealed. Each strike expires after 90 days.

While you have a strike on your account, you may not have access to some features on YouTube. You can
see what features are active in your account's Status & Features.

If your channel gets 3 strikes

If your account gets three Community Guidelines strikes within a three-month period, your account will
be ended.

Appealing strikes

If you believe that the strike was issued without cause, you can appeal the strike on your account.

What happens if memberships are ended on your channel

If membership is terminated on a channel because of termination by the channel, removal from the
YouTube Partner Program, or as a result of abuse, fraud or breach of our terms or policies, all active
paying members will get a refund of their last month's payment. The channel's share of the revenue to
be refunded will be deducted from the channel.

Turn channel memberships on or off

Note that you're responsible for complying with YouTube terms and policies as well as all applicable laws
and regulations while using channel memberships.

Memberships for your channel

Eligible channels can turn on channel memberships

On a computer, sign in to your Google Account.

Go to the Memberships page.

Click Get started and follow the on-screen instructions.

Turn off channel memberships

Note: When channel memberships are turned off, all recurring payments by members will be cancelled.
These members cannot be recovered automatically. Viewers must voluntarily join your channel
membership again.
On a computer, sign in to your Google account.

Go to the Memberships page.

Click the gear icon > Turn off Memberships > Disable.

If membership is terminated on a channel because of termination by the channel, removal from the
YouTube Partner Program, or as a result of abuse, fraud or breach of our terms or policies, all active
paying members will get a refund of their last month's payment. The channel's share of the revenue to
be refunded will be deducted from the channel.

Channel memberships for your network

Allow network to turn on channel memberships

On a computer, sign in to YouTube Studio.

Go to Settings.

Click "Agreements and accept the Commerce Product Addendum".

Cancellations, terminations, and refunds

If a member requests a refund, YouTube has sole discretion as to the validity of that claim. When we
grant refunds to members, your share will be deducted from your AdSense account in order to pay back
the refunded members. Learn about YouTube’s refund policy for paid channel memberships.

If membership is terminated on a channel because of termination by the channel, removal from the
YouTube Partner Program, or as a result of abuse, fraud or breach of our terms or policies, all active
paying members will get a refund of their last month's payment. The channel's share of the revenue to
be refunded will be deducted from the channel

Manage channel memberships

We’re making a few changes to how we collect and use data on kids content on YouTube.com. As a
result, some of the instructions in this article may have changed. Learn more

Learn more about what you can offer your members and how your viewers experience memberships.

Each channel participating in memberships (including its offerings) is responsible for complying with our
terms and policies, including YouTube's Community Guidelines, as well as all relevant laws and
regulations.

See your members

If you get a new member while you're offline, you won't get a notification. You can see all of your active
members, how long they've been a member, and their subscriber count on the Memberships tab in
YouTube Studio. Members can cancel their membership at any time.

If you’re live streaming when a new viewer joins your channel membership, a bright green "New
Member" message will be sent in live chat. This message will be pinned at the top of chat for 5 minutes.

You can also see the total number of members per day in the Audience tab in YouTube Analytics. The
‘key metrics card’ shows a chart of how many members were gained or lost over time.

Promote memberships

You can add /join to the end of your channel URL to link directly to your membership offer window.

You can add this link:

To your video description.

On cards and end screens in your videos.

Block members from commenting

You cannot remove anyone who has joined as a member, but you can block comments. To block
comments from specific viewers, you’ll need to set up comment and live chat filters.

Set and manage your intro video

Set an intro video for potential members

You can create a video that will be seen by anyone who clicks the Join button.

What to know before adding an intro video

Ads will not run on intro videos

Your intro video must follow YouTube’s Community Guidelines

Your intro video can’t have 3rd party copyright claims

Your intro video can’t have music claims against it

Your intro video can’t be set as made for kids

If you want to mention specific prices of your levels, be mindful that prices can vary depending on
platform and country

How to add an intro video if you’re new to memberships

Create your intro video and make sure you publish as Unlisted.

Go to studio.youtube.com.

In the left menu, select Monetization and then click Memberships.

In step 3 under “Add videos that encourage fans to join” click Start.

Click Select intro video and then click Next.

Choose your intro video from the options.

How to add an intro video if you’re already using memberships

Create your intro video and make sure you publish as Unlisted. Go to studio.youtube.com.

In the left menu, select Monetization and then click Memberships.

Click Add intro video in the “Improvements you can make” box.

Follow the onscreen instructions to upload your intro video.

Edit or delete an intro video

Edit your intro video

Go to studio.youtube.com.

In the left menu, select Monetization and then click Memberships.

At the bottom right of the page, click Edit in the “Your intro video” box.

Follow the onscreen instructions to edit your intro video.

Delete your intro video

Go to studio.youtube.com.
In the left menu, select Monetization and then click Memberships.

At the bottom right of the page, click Edit in the “Your intro video” box.

Click the delete icon next to your memberships offer video.

You can then replace your video, using our set an intro video instructions.

Channel membership revenue, pricing, and refunds

Revenue share

Creators receive 70% of membership revenue after applicable taxes and fees are deducted. All
transaction costs (including credit card fees) are currently covered by YouTube.

Revenue share for creators in MCNs

If you are a part of an MCN, you should consult with your network. Some MCNs may take an additional
revenue share, meaning your revenue from memberships may be lower than 70% if you’re part of an
MCN.

You and your MCN (as applicable) are responsible for complying with all tax laws applicable to your
membership revenue.

Revenue reporting

You can see revenue reports in the YouTube Analytics > Transaction Revenue Report. You'll receive
membership revenue in the same way that you receive ad revenue with AdSense.

Cancellations, terminations, and refunds

Members can cancel their membership at any time.

If a member requests a refund, YouTube has sole discretion as to the validity of that claim, and may
deduct from the channel the channel’s share of the revenue to be refunded. Learn about YouTube’s
refund policy for paid memberships.

If membership is terminated on a channel because of termination by the channel, removal from the
YouTube Partner Program, or as a result of abuse, fraud or breach of our terms or policies, all active
paying members will get a refund of their last month's payment. The channel's share of the revenue to
be refunded will be deducted from the channel.

FAQs

My viewers say they can't see the "Join" button. Why not?
There could be a number of reasons for this, including:

The feature is not launched on your channel.

The feature is not launched in all countries.

Your video is set as made for kids.

The "Join" button is not yet launched on some platforms. Viewers can, however, become members on
desktop. You can still get access to perks on all available platforms if you sign up on desktop.

The "Join" button will only appear on eligible video watch pages of participating channels. For example,
watch pages of videos claimed by certain music partners are not eligible.

If your viewers can’t see the join button, you can always remind them of these workarounds:

Remind viewers they can become a member by clicking on the Join button on your channel homepage.

Viewers can add /join to the end of your channel URL to link directly to your membership offer window.

You can also add to your /join link to your video descriptions.

How can I get more data about my members?

We have a Sponsorships API that gives you access to the following info about your members. If you use a
3rd-party company to offer perks, you can share this info about your members with them so you can
deliver memberships benefits.

The member's channel URL

The name of the member's channel

A link to the member's profile picture

When the member joined your channel

Note: The Sponsorships API Service currently does not provide information about a member’s level.

Where can I see the new Memberships data?

You can find Memberships data at the audience tab in YouTube Analytics and in the Analytics deep dive.

What does Total vs. Active members mean?

Total members means all members who currently have access to perks. Active members doesn’t include
members who have canceled their membership, but who still have access to perks until the end of their
billing period.
When a viewer cancels their membership, they remain a member until the end of the current billing
period. Some members may choose to renew access again before their access expires.

Total Members = Active Members + Members who cancelled this month.

What are lost members? What’s the difference in lost members and canceled members?

Lost members are members whose access to perks expired during the time period selected. They may
have canceled their membership before the time period selected.

Canceled members are members who have canceled their membership during the time period selected,
whether or not their access to perks expired during that time.

When a viewer cancels their membership, they remain a member until the end of the current billing
period. Some members may choose to renew access again before their access expires.

Channel membership perks

Channels enabled for memberships can create members-only perks. These perks are only available to
your active paid members. These include custom emoji, badges, and access to perks you offer.

All perks you offer must comply with our channel membership policies.

Channel membership levels

You can offer multiple membership levels which all have different prices. Keep in mind that if you have
multiple levels, their perks build on each other. This means the highest-priced levels have access to perks
offered at lower-priced levels.

See full pricing details for levels in available countries.

Add a level

You can add up to 5 levels at different prices. Each level must have between 1 and 5 perks.

Add membership levels

Go to studio.youtube.com using your channel with memberships.

In the left menu, select Monetization.

On the main dashboard, click Memberships.

Click Edit in the box that says “Step 1: Add levels and perks”.

Follow the onscreen instructions. Once complete, click Publish.

Your levels and perks will need to be reviewed before going live. This process takes about a day.

How levels work with badges and emoji

Loyalty badges and custom emoji are unaffected by levels. All members receive the same badge based
on loyalty and members of all levels have the same access to all emoji.

Remove a level

If you remove a level, you’ll delete all members at that level. All members at a removed level will lose
access to perks immediately, and will be refunded their last month’s payment.

Remove a level

Go to studio.youtube.com using your channel with memberships.

In the left menu, select Monetization.

On the main dashboard, click Memberships.

Click Edit in the box that says “Step 1: Add levels and perks”.

Click on the level you want to remove and then click the delete icon .

Follow the rest of the onscreen instructions. Once complete, click Publish.

Channel membership perks

You must create and publish at least one perk (and up to five perks) that you will offer to your members.
Your perks must comply with our policies and terms, and you must deliver all creator perks that you
offer. YouTube takes no responsibility for your creator perks and you must carefully consider whether
you will be able to deliver what you offer to your members' satisfaction.

Members-only Community posts

You can use the community tab to share content only with your members. If you have levels on your
channel, you can also share Community posts with members at specific levels.

Follow these steps to make members-only Community posts:

Click your profile picture and select Your channel.

Click the Community tab.

In the dropdown menu, choose whether to make the post public or members-only. Public is the default
setting.

Enter your post in the text field.

Click Post.

Members-only video

You can set a video that can only be seen by your active members. Anyone can find a members-only
video, but only members at the right level(s) can watch it. This feature can only be set on a desktop, and
may be different depending on whether it’s a new upload or an existing video.

Members-only videos must be fully original content. You should not offer videos that have copyright
claims, including those from music partners.

Set a new upload as members-only

Upload a video.

Select Members only.

If you have more than one level, select the level(s) that you wish this to be viewable by.

Choose your sharing option:

Post to members: Your video will be shared with members on your Community tab. You can customize
your Community tab message at this stage. Once you’ve completed this step, your members will get a
notification.
Not now: When you select this, notifications won’t be sent to your members which won’t be posted to
the Community tab. Anyone can still find the members-only video, but only members at the right level(s)
can watch it.

Complete the rest of the upload process.

Set an existing video as members-only

Go to studio.youtube.com.

In the left-hand menu, select Videos.

Find the video that you only want to share with your members and then Click the "Visibility" column and
then Select Members only and then Click Save.

If you have more than one level, select the level(s) that you want your video to be visible to.

Choose your sharing option:

Post to members: Your video will be shared with members on your Community tab. You can customize
your Community tab message at this stage. Once you’ve completed this step, your members will get a
notification.

Not now: When you select this, notifications won’t be sent to your members which won’t be posted to
the Community tab. Anyone can still find the members-only video, but only members at the right level(s)
can watch it.

Promote your members-only video

To let your viewers know that a video is available, you can share the URL publicly on:

Cards

Public community

Playlists

Your members can immediately watch the members-only video at their right level(s). Non-members will
see a note that says that it’s only available to members, and will be shown ways to become a member.

Members-only live streams (beta)

To share live streams exclusively with your members:

Sign into your Google account.

Go to Creator Studio.

Click on the camera .

Select “Go live.”

To allow all members to view the live stream, select “All paid members” in the visibility settings.

Or, select the level (and higher) that should be allowed to view.

To create a members-only Community post linking to the live stream, follow the prompts. Members will
not be notified on YouTube unless you create a Community post. However, they will be able to view the
live stream if they have access to the link.

Your members will be notified when you post a link to the live stream with a members-only post in
Community.

Please note: During the beta, your channel moderators will not be able to view members-only live
streams or moderate live chat on members-only live streams unless they are members.

Members-only live chat

During public live streams you can make the chat members-only. Everyone can still view the live stream,
but only members will be able to post chats. Follow these steps on desktop to turn on members-only live
chat:

Sign in to YouTube Studio.

At the top right, click CREATE and then Go live.

From the left, click Stream.

Create a stream:

To copy a previous stream: Select a previous stream and click Reuse settings.

To create a new stream: Enter your stream's info and click Create stream.

From the top right, click Settings .

Under "Live chat," select Enable members-only chat.

Click Save.

Custom channel badges

Members will stand out in live chat, comments, and the Community tab via exclusive members-only
badges.

Custom channel badges overview

There are six different badges, and each one highlights how long a viewer has been a member of your
particular channel. The badge times count how long each member has cumulatively paid for a
membership. For example, if an active member joined your channel a year ago, but only paid for a total
of 9 months out of the past 12 months, their badge will show that they have been a member for 9
months.

Here are the durations associated with each of the 6 badges:

New

1 month

2 months

6 months

1 year

2 years

Upload custom channel badges

There are default badges, but you should upload and customize your badges on the Memberships page
and then Loyalty Badges.

If you don’t upload a different badge into each available slot, any empty slots will be filled by the highest
custom badge that you have uploaded, or the default YouTube badge for that duration (if you have only
uploaded custom badges at higher durations).

Custom channel badges specifications

File format: JPEG, or PNG files.

File size: Less than 1MB.

Image dimensions: Minimum 32px x 32px.

Badges will render at 14px x 14px in comments and the Community tab and 16px x 16px in live chat.

See our Creator Academy lesson for custom channel badges best practices, and tips & tricks.

Custom emoji
Upload custom emoji

Members will gain access to one or more exclusive custom emoji that can be sent via YouTube in video
comments. It can also be sent in any of your live chats. By default, there are no custom emoji.

To upload custom emoji, go to the Memberships page and select Edit on “Your badges and emoji” card.

Family Name

When you upload your first emoji, you’ll create a prefix name for all of your emoji, called a 'family name'.
Members will use this name to auto-complete your emoji. You can also autocomplete your channel’s
emojis with :_ .

Family names aren’t unique across YouTube and must be 3–10 characters.

As a best practice, we recommend picking a family name that is easily recognizable as your brand.

Emoji Name

Each emoji will have a name that members can use to autocomplete in live chat. To change the emoji
name, you must delete and re-upload the emoji. Emoji names must be 3–10 alpha numerical characters
and unique within their emoji family (but not across YouTube).

Number of custom emoji you can upload

As you gain more members, you will unlock additional slots for more custom emoji. You will not be
notified when new slots are unlocked.

# Members # Emojis

0 4

2 5

5 6

10 7
15 8

20 9

30 10

40 11

50 12

75 13

100 14

125 15

150 16

175 17

200 18

225 19

250 20

300 21

350 22

400 23

450 24

500 25

600 26

700 27

800 28

900 29

1000 30

1200 31

1400 32
1600 33

1800 34

2000 35

2200 36

2400 37

2600 38

2800 39

3000 40

3200 41

3400 42

3600 43

3800 44

4000 45

4200 46

4400 47

4600 48

4800 49

5000 Talk to us

Custom emoji specifications

File format: GIF, JPEG, and PNG files are preferred. Note: GIFs will be displayed as a static image, not an
animation.

File size: Less than 1MB.

Image dimensions: 48px x 48px (preferred) to 480px x 480px.

Device differences

Emoji will show up in different sizes on mobile devices and on computer monitors. Here’s how to make
sure your emoji look good on both platforms:
On mobile devices: Emoji show at 24x24 points. The image is scaled to match the pixel density of the
device.

On most monitors: Emoji show at 24x24 points. On Retina and HiDPI devices, the images show at 48x48
points or higher.

What can I design?

Emoji are a way for your to express your creativity. Learn more about designing emoji.

Keep in mind that all members-only perks — including badges, emoji, perks you offer, videos, live chats,
and other content — offered through YouTube memberships are also subject to membership policies.

If you've got extra footage, you can offer it as a memberships perk. It's a quick way to reward your
members. Get more advanced tips in the Creator Academy.

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