YouTube Earnings Calculator
Estimate YouTube ad revenue from views, monetised playback and RPM.
YouTube pays per thousand monetised playbacks, not per view. Shorts, skipped ads, premium plays and non-monetised views all reduce the number that actually earns, which is why a video with a million views can pay far less than expected.
Enter your views, the share that is monetised and your RPM, and this calculator shows the monthly and annual revenue, what each video averages and what the channel earns per 1,000 views.
At a glance
- What you enter
- Views per month, Share of views that are monetised, RPM (revenue per 1,000 monetised playbacks), Videos published per month, Other monthly income, Monthly channel costs
- What you get
- Ad revenue per month, Ad revenue per year, Revenue per 1,000 views, Revenue per video, Total monthly income
- Formula shown
- Yes - every step, right below your results.
- Cost and privacy
- Free, no account needed, and nothing you type is stored.
See worked examples ↓ Read the FAQ ↓ Share this calculator ↓
Results are estimates for general information only - always verify with a professional or official source before acting on them.
How to use the YouTube Earnings Calculator
- 1 Enter Views per month
- 2 Enter Share of views that are monetised - Long-form viewers who see an ad. Shorts and skipped ads earn much less.
- 3 Enter RPM (revenue per 1,000 monetised playbacks)
- 4 Enter Videos published per month (videos)
- 5 Enter Other monthly income - Memberships, Super Thanks, merchandise, affiliate income.
- 6 Enter Monthly channel costs - Software, music licences, equipment, an editor.
- 7 Press Calculate. You get Ad revenue per month, Ad revenue per year, Revenue per 1,000 views, Revenue per video, Total monthly income, and every intermediate step stays visible under “How is this calculated?”
- 8 Change one number at a time to see what moves the result - that is usually the most useful thing a calculator can tell you.
Worked examples
Real numbers run through this calculator. Open any example to load it into the form above and change it.
180,000 views a month at an $8.50 RPM
A small finance channel with memberships alongside the advertising.
You enter
- Views per month
- 180,000
- Share of views that are monetised
- 45%
- RPM (revenue per 1,000 monetised playbacks)
- $8.50
- Videos published per month
- 8 videos
- Other monthly income
- $900.00
- Monthly channel costs
- $600.00
You get
- Ad revenue per month
- $688.50
- Ad revenue per year
- $8,262.00
- Revenue per 1,000 views
- $3.83
- Revenue per video
- $86.06
- Total monthly income
- $1,588.50
Of 180,000 views, 81,000 are monetised playbacks, which at $8.50 an RPM produce $688.50 of ad revenue a month and $8,262 a year. That is $3.83 for every 1,000 views of any kind and $86.06 for each of the eight videos published. Adding $900 of membership income gives $1,588.50 a month, and after $600 of costs the channel contributes $988.50. Advertising is 43.3% of the income, and 261,438 views a month would be needed to reach $1,000 from ads alone.
1.25 million views a month at a $1.20 RPM
A large entertainment channel with heavy Shorts traffic and a paid editor.
You enter
- Views per month
- 1,250,000
- Share of views that are monetised
- 45%
- RPM (revenue per 1,000 monetised playbacks)
- $1.20
- Videos published per month
- 30 videos
- Other monthly income
- $250.00
- Monthly channel costs
- $2,200.00
You get
- Ad revenue per month
- $675.00
- Ad revenue per year
- $8,100.00
- Revenue per 1,000 views
- $0.54
- Revenue per video
- $22.50
- Total monthly income
- $925.00
The 562,500 monetised playbacks earn $675 a month at a $1.20 RPM, or $8,100 a year, which is $0.54 per 1,000 views and $22.50 for each of the 30 videos. With $250 of other income the total is $925 a month, and $2,200 of costs leave a shortfall of $1,275 a month. Reaching $1,000 from ads at this rate would need 1,851,852 views a month, and the 41,064 views a day that implies is the reason the RPM matters more than the view count.
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Frequently asked questions
Does the calculator pay on views or on monetised playbacks?
On monetised playbacks only. The monthly views are multiplied by the share you enter, and the RPM is then applied to that smaller number in thousands. Of 180,000 views with 45% monetised, 81,000 playbacks carry an ad, and at $8.50 an RPM they earn $688.50.
The revenue per 1,000 views line is the honest comparison between channels, because it applies the same rate to every view of any kind. Here it is $3.83, which is well below the $8.50 RPM and is the figure a sponsor or a buyer would be shown.
What RPM should I use if my dashboard shows a different figure?
Use the one from your own dashboard over the last twelve months, not a single month and not a figure from a blog post. The field is labelled as revenue per 1,000 monetised playbacks, which is the way a creator dashboard reports it, so the two line up directly.
RPM moves with the topic, the countries your audience is in, the device, the length of the video and the time of year. General entertainment can earn a small fraction of what finance or software content earns on the same views, and the last quarter of the year is usually the strongest.
Are memberships and sponsorship income included in the ad revenue?
No. Ad revenue is only the playback income. Memberships, Super Thanks, merchandise, affiliate links and sponsorship deals belong in the other monthly income field, and the share of income that is ads line shows how dependent the channel is on advertising.
That split is worth watching. In the example here ads are 43.3% of total income, so a bad quarter for advertising rates costs less than half of the month. A channel where ads are 90% of income is exposed to a single number it does not control.
Should equipment and editing costs go in the monthly costs field?
Yes, at their monthly equivalent. A camera bought once for $1,200 and used for three years is about $33 a month, and an editor paid per video is the fee multiplied by the videos you publish. Music licences, stock footage, thumbnail tools and the software subscription all belong there too.
The income after channel costs line is what the channel actually contributes. In the second example here the ad revenue of $675 a month does not cover $2,200 of costs, and the position improves only if the other income grows or the costs fall. A channel that loses money every month is a hobby with an audience, which is fine as long as it is a deliberate choice.