← ALL COMPARISONS
[ COMPARE ]
Substack vs YouTube Partner Program
Side-by-side comparison of Substack and YouTube Partner Program referral programs. Which one earns you more? Here are the facts.
[ HIGHER PAYOUT ]
Substack offers up to 90% revenue share (lifetime).
Substack
YouTube Partner Program
CATEGORY
CREATOR
CREATOR
COMMISSION
Keep 90% of paid newsletter revenue
$1-30 per 1000 views (varies by niche)
MODEL
revenue-share
revenue-share
MAX REV SHARE
90%
55%
PAYOUT
fiat
fiat
MIN PAYOUT
$10
$100
FREQUENCY
WEEKLY
MONTHLY
FIRST PAYOUT
~7d
~30d
COOKIE
LIFETIME
LIFETIME
KYC
YES
YES
GEO BLOCKED
NONE
NONE
RISK
LOW
LOW
RATING
4.4/5 (850)
4.1/5 (3500)
PROGRAM AGE
8y
18y
Substack
PROS
- +Keep 87% of revenue (after Stripe)
- +Own your email list
- +No upfront cost
CONS
- −Need to grow your own audience
- −Discoverability is weak
- −Slow growth without existing platform
YouTube Partner Program
PROS
- +Largest video platform
- +Multiple revenue streams (ads, memberships, Super Chat, shopping)
- +Long-form content compounds
CONS
- −1000 sub + 4000hr threshold
- −Algorithm-dependent
- −Adsense cuts 45% of revenue