Yes, virtually every new YouTube channel starts with 0 subscribers, and there are definitely channels with zero or very few subscribers, including some that are even verified through special circumstances (like being a politician, media figure, or getting verified under older rules) or have hidden subscriber counts. While most creators aim to grow, new channels, inactive ones, or those with privacy settings on will often show zero subscribers.
Answer. Technically, every new YouTube channel starts with 0 subscribers.
Channels that are newly created or inactive often have the least subscribers, sometimes even zero. Moreover, subscriber counts change constantly as users subscribe or unsubscribe. Therefore, there is no single known channel that has the absolute least subscribers on YouTube.
Creators in eligible countries can apply to the expanded YouTube Partner Program when they reach either of the below eligibility thresholds: Get 500 subscribers with 3 valid public uploads in the last 90 days, and 3,000 valid public watch hours in the last 12 months, or.
The top 1 most-subscribed channel on YouTube is MrBeast (Jimmy Donaldson), who surpassed the music giant T-Series in early 2025 to become the most-subscribed individual creator, boasting well over 450 million subscribers by late 2025/early 2026. His content focuses on high-budget stunts, massive giveaways, and philanthropy, attracting a massive global audience.
100 Million YouTube Subscribers was first achieved by Pewdiepie, one of YouTube's most legendary creators, and then by T-Series, a media company based in India.
The first "YouTuber" was Jawed Karim, one of YouTube's co-founders, who uploaded the platform's first video, "Me at the zoo," on April 23, 2005, making him the first person to post content on the site, which marked the beginning of user-generated video sharing.
On average, YouTube pays between $0.003 and $0.005 per view. For 1 million views, you can expect to earn between $3,000 and $5,000.
YouTube is capable of detecting fake subscribers. It has special tools and systems in place to detect foul play in accounts. If they consider that a channel has manipulated the system and violated YouTube's Terms of Service, they will take action against that channel as they see fit.
The richest YouTuber in the world is Jimmy Donaldson, known as MrBeast, with estimated net worths ranging from $500 million to over $1 billion and reported earnings exceeding $700 million in 2025, thanks to his massive YouTube presence, business ventures like Feastables, and ventures such as Beast Games on Amazon Prime. He leads a list of high earners that includes Jeffree Star, Logan Paul, and Anastasia Radzinskaya (Like Nastya), who also generate significant wealth from branding, merchandise, and other entertainment projects.
Someone that has 100K subs might be thought of as small to some but if you think of the percentage of YouTube channels that have that many subscribers than I would consider them quite big. Very few people grow above that amount, however those are the ones we see.
7 Ways to Get 1000 YouTube Subscribers Now
To make $2,000 a month on YouTube from ad revenue, you generally need 400,000 to 1 million monthly views, depending heavily on your niche's CPM (cost per mille/thousand views) and RPM (revenue per mille), but many creators report needing 500,000 to 1 million+ views for a comfortable living, with high-value niches like finance potentially reaching it with fewer views and lower-value niches needing significantly more, plus other income streams like sponsorships.
And you don't have to wait till you have you know a hundred subscribers or whatever. Just start right away. Now if you go live from your phone you do need 50 subscribers to be able to do that. But there's no such limit if you go live from YouTube studio on your computer.
To make $1000/month on YouTube, you generally need around 100,000 to 500,000 views, but this varies wildly from $100 to $1000+ because earnings depend heavily on your niche (high-paying niches like finance vs. low-paying ones like gaming), viewer demographics (location), ad engagement, and diversifying revenue with sponsorships or affiliate links. A popular estimate suggests 500,000 views might yield around $1000 from AdSense alone, while some creators reach it with fewer views via high-value niches or better strategies.
YouTube doesn't allow content that encourages dangerous or illegal activities that risk serious physical harm or death. In some cases, we may make exceptions for content with educational, documentary, scientific, or artistic context, including content that is in the public's interest.
Create and share a clip
Below the Subscribe button, slide the options to the right, tap Clip . Select the section of the video you'd like to clip by dragging the slider. You can increase or decrease the length of your selection to a maximum of 60 seconds or minimum of 5 seconds.
1 billion YouTube views can earn anywhere from a few thousand dollars (for Shorts) to several million (for long-form videos), with estimates often falling between $250,000 and $5 million, heavily depending on the Cost Per Mille (CPM) and viewer engagement, with gaming/music potentially earning $0.50-$1/1000 views and high-engagement content seeing higher rates. The wide range is due to factors like viewer location, ad types, video niche, and if it's a YouTube Short (which pays much less) versus longer content.
YouTube Premium subscription revenue sharing for Shorts
This offering also applies to engaged views on Shorts. YouTube will pay 45% of the net revenue from YouTube Premium that is allocated to monetizing creators for Shorts.
Is it hard to make money on YouTube? Making money on YouTube requires consistency and hard work. You'll be competing against thousands of other content creators, so you need to create high-quality videos that engage your viewers and provide them value.
MrBeast recently celebrated reaching 100 million subscribers, prompting a reflection on his first subscriber, Roggan Minoggan, who subscribed in 2011. Minoggan created his YouTube account in 2006 and was the first to support MrBeast's initial channel, Beast5YT.
Her main point was that she had a toxic relationship to Youtube during her journey as a content creator and needed to work out her connection with Youtube.