There is no minimum. In IU's index, 7.5% of active channels with 10K–50K subscribers carried a paid sponsorship in the last 90 days, against 8.2% of channels with over 1M — small channels get paid at almost the same rate. Brands price by views and audience fit, so a small channel with engaged viewers in a niche brands sell to is a real prospect.
| Subscribers | Active channels | Paid in 90 days | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10K–50K | 1,660 | 124 | 7.5% |
| 50K–100K | 762 | 72 | 9.4% |
| 100K–250K | 1,109 | 109 | 9.8% |
| 250K–1M | 1,470 | 126 | 8.6% |
| 1M+ | 1,887 | 155 | 8.2% |
"Paid" means IU saw an affiliate link, a discount code or a disclosed paid promotion in a public video description in the last 90 days (82,407 videos read, 7,831 sponsorship signals). A plain link to a brand does not count, and sponsorships that leave no trace in the description are not seen — so these shares are a floor, not the full picture.
Method
InfluencerUnion reads the public descriptions of recent videos from the YouTube channels it indexes (10K+ subscribers) and records affiliate links, discount codes and disclosed paid promotions. Rates use IU’s published rate method. Figures refresh daily. Not legal or financial advice.
Cite as: InfluencerUnion, “How many subscribers you need to get sponsored on YouTube”, influencerunion.com/answers/how-many-subscribers-do-you-need-to-get-sponsored (2026).