Guide
How to price a YouTube sponsorship
There is no fixed rate card for creators, but there is a method. The core idea: estimate how many people will actually see the sponsor's message, decide what that view is worth in your niche, and adjust for the work involved. Everything else is negotiation.
Start from views, not subscribers
Subscriber count is a vanity number — brands pay for views on the sponsored video, not your total following. Use the median views of your last 10–20 videos as your baseline, not your single best performer. A channel with 50k subscribers that reliably gets 80k views per video is worth more to a sponsor than a 200k-subscriber channel averaging 20k.
Translate views into a CPM
Most deals are anchored on CPM — the price per 1,000 views. Pick a CPM that fits your niche, multiply by expected views (in thousands), and you have a defensible floor. See what CPM should you charge for the ranges. Example only: a $25 CPM on 40,000 expected views implies roughly $1,000 for the integration.
Adjust for deliverables and audience
Price up for more work and more value:
- Dedicated video costs more than a 60-second integration.
- Exclusivity (no competing sponsors for a period) is worth a premium.
- Usage rights (the brand re-using your clip in their ads) is a separate line item.
- A high-intent niche (finance, B2B software, education) commands a higher CPM than broad entertainment.
Quote a range, hold a floor
Open slightly above your target so you have room to negotiate down to a number you are happy with. Know your walk-away floor before the call. SponsorMonster builds a rate card from your real channel metrics so you walk in with a number instead of guessing under pressure.
Frequently asked questions
Should I price on subscribers or views?
Price on expected views of the sponsored video, using your recent median, not subscriber count or your best-ever video. Brands pay for impressions, and views are what they actually get.
Is a dedicated video worth more than an integration?
Yes. A dedicated video gives the brand the whole runtime and your full endorsement, so it typically commands a meaningfully higher fee than a short integration inside other content.