---
title: 'Should You Start a YouTube Channel Membership?'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=Ijr4DsnuSno'
video_id: 'Ijr4DsnuSno'
date: 2026-08-04
duration_sec: 302
---

# Should You Start a YouTube Channel Membership?

> Source: [Should You Start a YouTube Channel Membership?](https://youtube.com/watch?v=Ijr4DsnuSno)

## Summary

This video evaluates YouTube channel memberships as a monetization strategy for creators, comparing them to independent video membership platforms. It outlines the benefits, such as recurring support and perks, and highlights significant drawbacks like lack of control, branding limitations, and high platform fees. The video concludes that while memberships can be useful, independent platforms offer more control and scalability for serious creators.

### Key Points

- **Introduction to YouTube Channel Memberships** [00:01] — YouTube channel memberships, introduced in 2018, allow creators to receive recurring support from fans and offer perks like badges, emojis, and exclusive videos.
- **Example: Rose and Rosie** [00:28] — The channel Rose and Rosie, with nearly 1 million subscribers, uses memberships effectively with tiers from $0.99 to $14.99 per month, offering perks like loyalty badges and custom emojis.
- **When Memberships Make Sense** [01:36] — Channel memberships are suitable when premium content is one of many income streams and you don't need to build a fully-fledged business.
- **Drawbacks: Lack of Control** [01:50] — Creators have little control over branding and customization; all channels look the same, and YouTube's branding dominates.
- **Restrictions on Perks** [02:46] — YouTube restricts the types of perks you can offer, such as contests or downloadable content, limiting monetization options.
- **High Platform Fees** [02:58] — YouTube takes 30% of membership earnings, with no limit, meaning as you scale, the cost increases proportionally.
- **Scaling Challenges** [03:24] — Flat-rate pricing and per-subscriber fees on independent platforms allow the percentage of income going to platform fees to decrease as you grow, unlike YouTube's constant 30%.
- **Unpredictable Pricing Changes** [03:52] — YouTube has a history of changing its pricing structure, offering no guarantee that you can charge what you want.
- **Independent Video Memberships as Alternative** [04:06] — Independent platforms offer total control over website design, content library, perks, and pricing, plus the ability to create branded apps for a distraction-free community.

### Conclusion

YouTube channel memberships can be a useful tool if used with the right expectations or as a stepping stone, but for creators aiming to build a scalable business, independent video membership platforms offer greater control and financial benefits.

## Transcript

in 2018 changing the landscape of monetization on the platform forever suddenly creators could get recurring support from their biggest fans and give them special perks in return right on their Channel if you're looking for the
your biggest fans and monetize your premium content you might be wondering are YouTube channel memberships the golden ticket to actually making money as a Creator or are there better ways to monetize your premium content the answer
depends on what you want to put in and get out of your monetization efforts first let's dig into what you can do with a YouTube channel membership if you you'll be able to turn on channel memberships and create membership tiers
for your audience to choose from the YouTube channel Rose and Rosie has almost 1 million subscribers and they use the YouTube channel membership pretty effectively when subscribers click the join button on their Channel a
pop-up appears with the tiers that they can join from 99 cents a month for the can join from 99 cents a month for the time tiny tatties to 14.99 for the Frog Royale members each new tier unlocks new perks like loyalty badges custom emojis
and membership only videos every month right there on the YouTube channel their main YouTube channel their Vlog Channel gaming channel and Spotify original podcast these two already have a wide variety of income streams and a
YouTube membership makes perfect sense for them they don't need to depend on that channel membership as their primary revenue stream so it's a simple way to sell and distribute premium content on a platform where their viewers already
to that where your premium content is just one of many many income streams or you want to monetize without building a fully fledged business then a channel membership might be right for you but if you're looking to build a true business
are some major drawbacks to a channel membership that you need to know about starting up a food truck you want it to look a certain way you have a menu all planned out and then someone shows up with a list of rules about a mile long
they tell you that your food truck can only have one design with no customization and they say you can only offer a certain number of menu items and and after that they tell you there's only one spot in the entire city that
thousand other identical food trucks are already right next door that's the experience of trying to build a business on YouTube you don't have much if any control a channel membership on YouTube looks like YouTube sure you can change
the name and offer different perks but at the end of the day it's YouTube's branding and not yours that gets the Lion's Share of the screen and every other channel looks the same as for the list of banned ingredients well that's
YouTube's restriction on the type of perks you can offer if you want to do contests for only your highest tier of membership or offer downloads of content that's on YouTube tough luck if that's not bad enough the hypothetical food
truck police also come around around every month demanding their share of the earnings if you've been successful it's going to cost you even more and here's why if you charge five dollars for your membership YouTube takes a dollar fifty
per member that's because as of filming YouTube takes 30 of your earnings with no limit no 30 doesn't sound too bad at the start but that's almost a third of means that as you scale the cost of doing business on the platform will just
go up and up and up to seriously scale your business flat rates paying a set price per month and per subscriber fees are a better way to go they're for creating and selling high value content the way that YouTube does that
way as you grow the percent of your income that goes to platform fees will actually go down instead of staying at that 30 percent plus I've got to point out that YouTube has a habit of changing its pricing structure there's just no
guarantee that you'll be able to charge what you want or that they won't change sound like I'm trashing Channel memberships pretty harshly but here's the thing they can still be an incredibly useful tool for your business
if you go in with the right expectations or if you're using it as a stepping stone to greater things but if you're already looking for greater things then membership what I'm talking about here is an independent video membership
platform with your own website and your own branding not somebody else's the membership and a YouTube channel membership is that you'll have total control like control over what your website looks like what's included in
your Content Library what perks you offer and even what your prices are plus you can even create your own branded apps to create a distraction-free environment specifically for your community independent video memberships
are built specifically for Creative entrepreneurs who want to turn their content membership into a scalable profitable business without the own membership is actually pretty easy check out the video on screen for our
complete guide on how to launch one thanks so much for watching I'll see you thanks so much for watching I'll see you next time