Every guide to building a media kit tells creators to include a rate card, and then says something like "be realistic and in line with other influencers, so calculate this correctly." None of them explain how. This is the missing half: a YouTube sponsorship rate card you can build in about twenty minutes, with real starting numbers for your channel size and every line item worth charging for.
The numbers below come from the average-view counts of real US channels at every size from 1,000 subscribers upward, priced with the same model that powers our sponsorship calculator.
Why per-follower rules of thumb break on YouTube
If you have looked for pricing advice, you have met some version of a per-follower rule: $100 per 10,000 followers is the figure that circulates for Instagram, and about $20 per 1,000 subscribers is the one most often quoted for YouTube. Both are the wrong shape for YouTube, for the same reason.
Your subscriber count records everyone who ever clicked subscribe, including people who did so in 2019 and have not opened YouTube since. Your views are who actually watches. That gap widens dramatically with size: channels in the 1k–10k band see views equal to about 64% of their subscriber count, while channels over 100k see about 18%. A follower-based rule undercharges active small channels and overcharges large quiet ones. Brands buy views. Price views.
The formula
Your rate = average views × niche CPM ÷ 1,000
Three inputs:
- Your recent average views. Take the last 10–20 uploads and find the median. Not your lifetime average, which is dragged down by old videos; not your best-ever video, which is not representative.
- Your niche CPM. What brands pay per thousand views in your category. Finance runs around $60, tech $35, health $22, beauty $18, gaming $16, comedy $13. The full list is in YouTube sponsorship rates by niche, or check yours with the CPM calculator.
- The deliverable multiplier: covered below.
A gaming channel averaging 5,000 views: 5 × $16 = $80. A tech channel averaging 30,000 views: 30 × $35 = $1,050. That is your standard integration rate, before add-ons.
What to charge at your size
Most rate-card advice quietly assumes you already have six figures of subscribers. Here is the whole ladder, including the bands where most creators actually are:
| Your size | Avg views | Gaming | Beauty | Tech |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1k–10k subs | ~3,000 | $72 | $34 | $98 |
| 10k–50k subs | ~11,000 | $218 | $144 | $222 |
| 50k–100k subs | ~31,000 | $540 | $312 | $1,102 |
| 100k–1M subs | ~61,000 | $1,895 | $1,585 | $1,335 |
| 1M–10M subs | ~828,000 | $35,814 | $12,817 | $17,302 |
Find your row, then adjust for your own views. If you are in the 10k–50k band but average 25,000 views instead of 11,000, your number is roughly double the table.
Sanity-check where you sit against the real leaders in your category on top YouTube channels.
Two honest observations. If you are under 10,000 subscribers, your integration is worth tens of dollars, not hundreds. Free product plus a small fee is a normal first deal, and there is no shame in it. And if you are between 50k and 100k in a high-CPM niche, you may be worth four figures already; a surprising number of creators in that band are still accepting $200.
Your rate card, line by line
A rate card is five deliverables and a short list of add-ons. Using a channel averaging 30,000 views in tech ($35 CPM, $1,050 base) as the worked example:
| Deliverable | Multiplier | Example rate | What it is |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30-second mention | 0.7× | $735 | Brief callout plus description link |
| Standard integration (60–70s) | 1.0× | $1,050 | Your default offer |
| Semi-dedicated segment | 1.75× | $1,838 | A chapter or demo built around the product |
| Dedicated video | 2.7× | $2,835 | Whole video, title and thumbnail included |
| Short (for brand's channels) | 0.55× | $578 | Vertical cut licensed to the brand |
Also state your placement pricing: pre-roll at 1.1× and end-roll at 0.7× against your mid-roll default. Brands ask for pre-roll constantly; if it is not on your card, you will give it away.
Add-ons you should be charging for
This is where most creators leave money on the table, not on the base rate, but on everything bundled around it.
| Add-on | Uplift | Example | Why charge |
|---|---|---|---|
| Usage rights, 1 month | +19% | +$200 | They run your video as a paid ad |
| Usage rights, 3 months | +51% | +$536 | Longer paid-media window |
| Usage rights, 6 months | +84% | +$882 | Sustained campaign use |
| Usage rights, 10+ months | +100% | +$1,050 | Effectively a second placement |
| Rush turnaround | +20% | +$210 | You reorder your production schedule |
| Extra 60s of talk time | +21% | +$221 | More of your runtime, more viewer patience spent |
| Category exclusivity | Negotiated | n/a | You turn away their competitors |
Usage rights are the big one. If a brand wants to run your video as a paid advertisement, they are buying a second media placement on top of the first, and on YouTube that video keeps working for years, unlike a 24-hour Instagram Story. Ten months of usage rights should roughly double your fee. Never let it be assumed silently in a contract; make it a line item.
One negotiating detail worth knowing: because the uplift curve flattens after ten months, twelve months costs about the same as ten. If a brand wants a long window, sell them the full year, since you are not giving much away, and it reads as generous. The full breakdown is in what each YouTube deliverable costs.
Bundles, floors and negotiating room
Bundles. Multi-video deals normally discount around 5% per additional video, compounding, so three videos is about −10% each, five is −18.5%, and ten is −37%. Offer that deliberately as an upsell. Do not concede it reactively when someone asks for a package.
Set a floor. Pick a number you will not go under, whatever the deliverable. It protects you on the days a deal feels better than it is.
When they say it's too expensive, ask what budget they are working with before you move at all. If the gap is real, cut scope, not rate: offer a 30-second mention at 0.7× rather than discounting your integration. Discounting teaches every future buyer that your published rate is decorative; changing the deliverable keeps your pricing intact and still gets the deal done.
Quote a range if your views swing. "$900–$1,200 depending on final scope" is honest and gives you room. What you should not do is quote from your best-performing video and hope.
Presenting it in your media kit
Your rate card lives at the end of a one-page media kit. Above it: your recent average views, engagement rate, audience geography and age split, and two or three example videos. That ordering matters: by the time a brand reaches your prices, they should already understand what they are buying.
Include your engagement rate and check it with the engagement calculator, but judge it against your own size band rather than a generic benchmark: median engagement runs about 2.8% for nano channels and 3.6% in the 100k–1M range, so a 3% rate is perfectly healthy at most sizes.
If you want to know which companies to send it to, brands that sponsor YouTubers breaks down who is actively buying in each niche, and the complete guide to YouTube sponsorships covers deal mechanics end to end.
Everything here is a list-rate corridor, a defensible starting point, not a market guarantee. Your real leverage depends on demand in your niche, how much of your audience sits in tier-1 countries, your track record with past sponsors, and how badly the brand wants you specifically. Sub-100k figures come from a 300-creator US sample across three niches.
Frequently asked questions
How much should I charge for a YouTube sponsorship?
Average views × niche CPM ÷ 1,000. A gaming channel averaging 5,000 views at a $16 CPM should ask around $80; a tech channel averaging 30,000 views at a $35 CPM around $1,050. Subscriber count never enters the calculation.
What should be on a YouTube sponsorship rate card?
Five deliverables (30-second mention, standard integration, semi-dedicated, dedicated video, and a Short licensed to the brand) plus add-ons for usage rights, exclusivity, rush turnaround and extra talk time. Put your recent average views and engagement rate on the same page so the number is justified where it appears.
Should I charge based on subscribers or views?
Views. Subscribers record everyone who ever clicked subscribe; views measure who watches now. Small channels convert about 64% of subscribers into views, channels over 100k about 18%, so a follower-based rule undercharges active channels and overcharges quiet ones.
How much should I charge for usage rights?
Roughly +19% for one month, +51% for three, +84% for six, and +100% at ten months. Always a separate line item: if a brand runs your video as a paid ad, they are buying a second placement.
What if a brand says my rate is too high?
Ask their budget before moving. If the gap is real, cut scope rather than rate, a 30-second mention at 0.7× instead of a discounted integration. Discounting signals that your published rate is negotiable; changing the deliverable does not.