What should a YouTuber charge for a sponsorship in 2026?
Most YouTube channels between 10K and 500K subscribers charge $20–$50 per thousand views on a dedicated integration, which works out to roughly $600–$3,000 for a video that reliably does 30,000 views. Engagement rate, niche and the rights the brand is asking for move that number more than subscriber count does.
CPM is a starting point, not a price. Two channels with identical view counts can be worth double or half of each other, depending on what the audience does after watching and how much of the video’s future the brand gets to keep.
What actually moves the number
Niche is the biggest multiplier: a finance or B2B software channel takes two to four times what general entertainment does at the same size, because the viewer is worth more. Engagement is second — a 1% comment rate is the number a good brand marketer checks first.
| Channel size | Typical CPM | Dedicated integration |
|---|---|---|
| 10K–50K | $18–$30 | $300–$1,200 |
| 50K–150K | $22–$40 | $900–$3,500 |
| 150K–500K | $25–$50 | $2,500–$9,000 |
The terms that quietly cost more than the fee
Creators negotiate hard on the headline number and then sign away far more than the difference in the paragraphs underneath it. Three clauses do most of the damage:
- Perpetual usage rights. The brand can run your video as a paid advertisement forever, at no further cost. Six months renewable is the reasonable version; perpetual should add 30–50% to the fee.
- Category-wide exclusivity. Twelve months of “no audio brands” in a hardware channel can cost you three or four sponsorships. Ask to narrow the category and shorten the window before you argue about the fee.
- Whitelisting. Running ads from your own handle is a separate product, normally priced at 20–30% of the integration fee. It is almost never included by default.
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How to set your own number
Take the median view count of your last ten videos — not your best video, and not your subscriber count. Multiply by a CPM from the table above, adjusted up for a strong niche or engagement rate. That figure is your base for one integration with standard terms: three months of narrow exclusivity, six months of organic usage, no whitelisting. Every term beyond that is priced on top, not absorbed.
If you don’t know your engagement rate, a free Buzz Score returns it along with the four other components brands weigh, and tells you which of them is currently your strongest argument.
Find your number first