Creator Money: YouTube Sponsorship Rates

The full rate model behind the Sponsorship Pricing Calculator, published as a rate card by niche and channel size.

Sponsorships are the largest income line for most mid-size YouTube channels, and the hardest to price, because there is no public rate card. Zen2B2's Sponsorship Pricing Calculator uses a simple, stated model: average views over the last ten videos ÷ 1,000 × a niche CPM × a format multiplier, with a low estimate at 75% and a high estimate at 140% of that fair rate. This hub publishes the whole model as a rate card: six niches, seven channel sizes, three formats. Every figure is reproducible from the formula on the page, and the disclosure on every page says what the model does not know.

Fair integration rate: niche × average views

Pick your niche first, then your average views. The niche pages explain why the CPM sits where it does and give the rate at every channel size; the size pages give the full card for that niche and size, a CPM sensitivity table and the neighbouring sizes. Use average views from the last ten uploads, not the channel's best video and not subscribers: sponsors pay for people who watch.

Niche (CPM) 10,000 25,000 50,000 100,000 250,000 500,000 1,000,000
Gaming ($10)$100$250$500$1,000$2,500$5,000$10,000
Entertainment ($15)$150$375$750$1,500$3,750$7,500$15,000
Beauty and fashion ($20)$200$500$1,000$2,000$5,000$10,000$20,000
Education and DIY ($25)$250$625$1,250$2,500$6,250$12,500$25,000
Tech and business ($35)$350$875$1,750$3,500$8,750$17,500$35,000
Finance ($50)$500$1,250$2,500$5,000$12,500$25,000$50,000

Dedicated videos are 2.5× the integration figure; Shorts are 0.4×. The low end of each range is 75% of the fair rate and the high end 140%. Cells under $50 are lifted to the model's floor. Column headings open the page for that channel size; row headings open the niche page.

What the model leaves out

What the model leaves out, deliberately: audience country (US and UK viewers are worth several times more than most others to advertisers), engagement (comments and click-through move real rates), brand fit, exclusivity, usage rights and whitelisting. Each of those is a separate line in a real negotiation and should be priced on top of the base figure, not folded into it. When you have three real offers, replace the model's CPM with your own and the calculator becomes your rate card.

How these numbers are made. These figures come from Zen2B2's own rate model, the same one behind the Sponsorship Pricing Calculator: average views ÷ 1,000 × a niche CPM × a format multiplier, with a low estimate at 75% and a high estimate at 140% of the fair rate. They are not surveyed market rates and they are not adjusted for audience country, engagement or brand fit. Use them as a starting point for a negotiation, and replace the CPM with your own once you have real offers.

By niche

By channel size

Frequently Asked Questions

How is a YouTube sponsorship rate calculated?

In this model: average views over the last ten videos ÷ 1,000 × a niche CPM × a format multiplier (integration 1.0, dedicated video 2.5, Short 0.4). The low end is 75% of that and the high end 140%.

Should I price on subscribers or views?

Views. Sponsors pay for the people who will see the integration, and average views over recent uploads is the honest measure of that. Subscriber count is a vanity figure in a negotiation.

Are these real market rates?

No. They are the output of a stated formula with model CPMs, published so the arithmetic is checkable. Real offers depend on audience country, engagement, brand fit, exclusivity and usage rights.

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