YouTube Earnings Per Million Views India 2026: Niche-by-Niche Breakdown

The most common question from Indian YouTube creators — and the answer that varies most by niche. Here's what 1 million long-form video views earns from YouTube ad revenue alone in India in 2026. Finance and investing content: ₹80,000-250,000 (avg ₹150,000). At ₹150 average RPM: 1,000,000 × ₹150 / 1,000 = ₹150,000. Tech reviews and comparisons: ₹60,000-180,000 (avg ₹110,000). Health and fitness: ₹50,000-150,000 (avg ₹90,000). Education (competitive exam): ₹40,000-120,000 (avg ₹80,000). Lifestyle and vlogs: ₹20,000-70,000 (avg ₹45,000). Gaming: ₹15,000-60,000 (avg ₹35,000). Entertainment and comedy: ₹10,000-40,000 (avg ₹25,000). Important caveat: these are ad revenue only. Total income from 1 million views in the finance niche — including affiliate income and sponsorship value — could realistically reach ₹300,000-500,000+ because high-value affiliate actions (demat account openings, insurance policy purchases) are triggered by the same views.

YouTube Shorts earnings in India are dramatically lower per million views. Gaming Shorts: ₹2,000-5,000 per million views. Entertainment Shorts: ₹2,000-6,000 per million views. Finance Shorts: ₹3,000-15,000 per million views. Tech Shorts: ₹4,000-20,000 per million views. Education Shorts: ₹3,000-12,000 per million views. Comparison: 1 million long-form finance views = ₹150,000 average. 1 million finance Shorts views = ₹8,000 average. Long-form earns 18-20x more per million views. This doesn't mean Shorts are worthless — it means they serve a different purpose. Shorts drive subscriber growth (which grows the long-form audience), affiliate click volume (Shorts driving demat account clicks can earn more than Shorts ad revenue), and brand awareness (which converts to sponsorship deals at higher channel scale). A creator getting 5 million Shorts views and 300,000 long-form views in the same month earns: Shorts: ₹40,000 (at ₹8 RPM). Long-form finance: ₹45,000 (at ₹150 RPM). Combined: ₹85,000 — with Shorts doing significant work despite the lower per-view rate.

Moving beyond ad revenue alone, here's the total income picture for an Indian creator generating 1 million monthly long-form views in 2026. Finance channel (1M monthly views): Ad revenue: ₹150,000. Affiliate income (Zerodha/Groww referrals at ₹300 avg per conversion, 2% viewer conversion): ₹60,000. Sponsored video: ₹30,000-100,000 (for a channel at this scale). Total monthly income: ₹240,000-310,000 ($2,880-3,720 USD). Tech channel (1M monthly views): Ad revenue: ₹110,000. Amazon/Flipkart affiliate (3% of product click revenue): ₹30,000-80,000. Sponsored video: ₹20,000-80,000. Total: ₹160,000-270,000. Education channel (1M monthly views): Ad revenue: ₹80,000. Course sales or EdTech affiliate: ₹20,000-60,000. Sponsorships: ₹20,000-60,000. Total: ₹120,000-200,000. Gaming channel (1M monthly views): Ad revenue: ₹35,000. Gaming affiliate (Amazon gaming gear): ₹10,000-25,000. Sponsorships: ₹15,000-80,000 (highly variable by channel reputation). Total: ₹60,000-140,000. Entertainment channel (1M monthly views): Ad revenue: ₹25,000. Limited affiliate opportunity. Brand deals: ₹10,000-50,000. Total: ₹35,000-75,000. The finance channel earns 3-8x more total income than the entertainment channel for the same number of views — across every revenue stream, not just ad RPM.

Getting to 1 million monthly views in India typically requires one of: 200,000-400,000 subscribers with strong view-per-subscriber ratio (2-5 views per subscriber per month), OR consistent viral Shorts performance driving long-form traffic, OR multiple viral long-form videos generating sustained search traffic. The fastest paths to 1 million monthly views in 2026 for Indian creators. Shorts-led growth: Post 3-5 Shorts daily in your niche for 6-12 months. Channels hitting 1 million Shorts views/day reach 30 million Shorts views/month. Converting 3-5% of Shorts viewers to long-form watch sessions generates millions of long-form views. Consistent long-form SEO: Publishing 2-3 times per week targeting specific search keywords (e.g., 'best mutual fund SIP 2026 India,' 'JEE preparation tips 2026') accumulates search traffic over 12-18 months. Finance and education channels with 50-100 well-optimized videos often reach 300,000-500,000 monthly search-driven views. Collaboration growth: Guest-featuring on channels with 500K-2M subscribers can add 10,000-50,000 subscribers per collaboration in India. Three to four strategic collaborations per year significantly accelerate path to 1M views/month. To scale content production without proportionally scaling production costs, FluxNote enables building an AI-assisted content pipeline — scripting multiple finance explainer videos per week, generating voiceovers, and producing consistently publishable content that accumulates views over time.