Almost no affiliate program has a subscriber minimum. Amazon will accept you with zero subscribers, and so will most software companies and camera shops. An affiliate program is just an agreement between you and the brand, and YouTube is not involved in it at all. Out of the 135 programs on this page, 134 have no subscriber requirement.

People get confused because of the name. YouTube Shopping is YouTube's own affiliate program, and that one does have rules you have to meet. Every other program on this page belongs to a brand, not to YouTube. You apply on the brand's own website, or through a network like Impact or PartnerStack, and YouTube never sees your application. A few brands read every application and can say no, but they are looking at whether your videos suit their product, not at your subscriber count.

You can start today. There is no waiting period, and there is nothing you have to qualify for first. A tech channel with 40 subscribers can put an Amazon link in the description of its first review and earn money the week someone buys.

Starting early gives you practice at the part that matters, which is disclosing properly. You learn how to do it while hardly anyone is watching, and that is a much better time to make a mistake. You also find out what your viewers actually buy, and it is usually not what you expected. That record helps you later, because a sponsor cares more about whether you can sell something than about your subscriber count. Just do not go back and add links to an old video without telling anyone.

Yes, every single time. The FTC treats it as a legal requirement, and the responsibility is yours, not the brand's. It covers free products as well as money. If a company sends you a camera to review, gives you a discount code, or pays for a trip, you have to say so.

One sentence is enough. Say it out loud in the video, near the part where you recommend the product, and write it in the description next to the links. The FTC has taken action against creators who kept ignoring this after being warned, although it usually goes after the brand first. In practice your audience matters more than the regulator. People trust a recommendation more, not less, when you tell them you earn a commission.

You have to say that you earn a commission, in plain language, before anyone clicks. Something like this works: "The links in my description are affiliate links, so I get a commission if you buy through them." The FTC has said that putting it only in the description is not enough for a video, so you have to say it out loud as well.

If a brand gave you the product, you also have to name the brand. "Gifted by Sony" works, but the word "gifted" on its own does not, because nobody knows who gifted it. The phrase "affiliate link" is not enough either, since most viewers do not know it means you get paid. "Ad", "Paid ad" and "Sponsored by Sony" are all fine. You need a disclosure on every video, because you cannot assume anyone watched the last one.

We are not lawyers, so please treat this as a starting point and get proper advice if you need it. The answer is most likely yes. US law applies when it is reasonably foreseeable that your video will be seen by people in the United States, and for most YouTube channels that is the case. A creator in London reviewing a product Americans can buy would be covered.

Your own country almost certainly has its own rules as well, so you may be following two sets at once. The UK, Canada, Australia and the EU all have their own versions of this. You also have to disclose in the same language you are speaking, because a line of English on a Spanish video does not help the people watching it. The simplest approach is to disclose the way the FTC asks, since that will usually satisfy the other rules too.

The best programs are the ones your viewers already buy. For most creators that means software rather than physical products, because software keeps paying you every month. 38 of the programs on this page pay you again for as long as the customer stays subscribed.

The ones we use ourselves are marked KDCC Pick in the table above, and you can see the whole set on our creator resources page. OpusClip pays 25% every month through a customer's first year. TubeSpanner pays 30% to 50% for as long as they stay subscribed. We earn a commission on both, which is exactly why they carry a label. Compare either with Amazon Associates, which pays 1% to 10% once, and only if the person buys within 24 hours of clicking. Fit still matters more than the rate though, and a cooking channel will make more from Z Grills than from any VPN on this page.

Most pay you in cash, by PayPal or bank transfer, once a month. You only get paid once your earnings pass a minimum, though, and that minimum trips up a lot of beginners. It ranges from nothing at SiteGround to $200 at Elementor, and until you reach it you get nothing at all.

Twelve programs on this page do not pay cash. Fourthwall gives new affiliates a $10 credit towards its own products. Epidemic Sound gives you a free month. Uscreen takes the commission off your own bill instead of sending you money. Amazon Associates and Audible let you choose between cash and an Amazon gift card. The wait varies as well. OpusClip pays on the 15th of the month, Walmart takes around 90 days, and YouTube Shopping takes 60 to 120 days and will take the money back if the customer returns the item.

YouTube has to invite you, and it only invites channels that are already in the YouTube Partner Program. To join the expanded Partner Program you need 500 subscribers, three public uploads in the last 90 days, and either 3,000 hours of watch time in a year or 3 million Shorts views in 90 days.

The program runs in 14 countries, including the United States, India, Brazil, Japan and Korea. Music channels and Official Artist Channels cannot join, and neither can channels set as Made for Kids. There is no separate subscriber number for Shopping itself, and meeting the Partner Program requirements does not guarantee an invitation. Each brand decides its own commission rate for each product, and you can see those rates in YouTube Studio.

More than you would earn from ads at the same size, as long as the product suits your audience. A channel with 1,000 views a month promoting a $65 hosting plan can earn more than a channel with 100,000 views promoting something that pays 1%. What you promote matters more than how many subscribers you have.

Here is a real example. One person signing up to OpusClip Pro pays you $7.25 a month, which adds up to $87 over a year. If five people sign up every month, then by month twelve you have 60 people paying you at once, and that is $435 in a single month. It assumes nobody cancels, and some people always do. It also only works if you would have recommended the tool anyway, which is why this page tells you what each program pays and lets you decide.