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Long Videos or Shorts for a Faceless YouTube Channel? YouTube's Own Terms, Side by Side

YouTube's own terms for long videos and Shorts: the two Partner Program paths, mid-rolls from 8 minutes, and the 55% and 45% revenue shares.

By , Editorial team at Heady · 7 min read

Long videos and Shorts are not two lengths of the same thing. On YouTube they have different routes into the Partner Program, different ad models and different revenue shares. Most advice on choosing between them leans on earnings screenshots. This post uses YouTube's own terms instead, quoted from YouTube Help and checked on 2026-10-29, so you can see what each format is built to do.

It contains no income figures, because YouTube's terms do not promise any. What a channel earns depends on its audience, its topics and YouTube's decisions.

The short answer

For a faceless channel, long videos are usually the better base and Shorts the better way to reach new viewers. Long videos get a fixed share of the ads shown on them and can carry mid-roll ads from 8 minutes. Shorts share a pooled revenue stream, and they reach people who would never click on a 20-minute video. Many channels do both, with each format doing its own job.

Two ways into the Partner Program

YouTube lists two eligibility paths for the Partner Program with ad revenue sharing (YouTube Help, checked 2026-10-29):

  • "1,000 subscribers with 4,000 qualified watch hours in the last 12 months", or
  • "1,000 subscribers with 10 million qualified Shorts views in the last 90 days".

The two paths ask for different things. The long-form path rewards depth: 4,000 hours is a lot of minutes watched, and long videos supply minutes fastest. The Shorts path rewards volume and reach over a short window.

The same page notes that "Starting February 1, 2027, we are introducing updates to the YouTube Partner Program". It did not list the details when we checked, so treat any figure you see elsewhere for 2027 as unconfirmed until YouTube publishes it.

How long videos earn, on YouTube's terms

The share. YouTube's Partner Program terms say "YouTube will pay them 55% of net revenues from ads displayed or streamed on their public videos on their content Watch Page" (YouTube Help, checked 2026-10-29). The ads run on your video, and the share is calculated on your video.

Mid-rolls from 8 minutes. "On monetized videos that are 8 minutes or longer, you can turn on ads during the middle of the video", which YouTube calls mid-rolls (YouTube Help, checked 2026-10-29). The same page says "Ad slots placed at natural breakpoints, such as a pause in audio or transition in visual, are more likely to serve ads", and that "Ad slots are not guaranteed to serve ads." You can place them yourself or let YouTube's automatic placement choose.

For a faceless channel, chapters are the natural breakpoints. A video planned in chapters, with a short pause and a chapter card between them, has good mid-roll positions built in. Our guide to YouTube chapters covers the rules.

The 8-minute line is a threshold for an ad option, not a target length. A topic that needs 6 minutes should get 6. Padding a video to reach 8 minutes costs you viewers, and viewers are the whole point.

How Shorts earn, on YouTube's terms

Shorts work differently. Ads run between Shorts in the feed, not on your Short. YouTube's Shorts monetisation page says: "Each month, revenue from ads running between videos in the Shorts Feed gets added together and used to both reward creators and help cover costs of music licensing" (YouTube Help, checked 2026-10-29).

From that pool:

  • Music comes off first. "If a monetizing creator uploads a Short with 1 track, half of the revenue associated with its engaged views would be allocated to the Creator Pool, and the other half used to cover the costs of music licensing." With 2 tracks, one third goes to the Creator Pool.
  • Creators share what is left. The Creator Pool is allocated by each creator's share of views, and creators keep "45% of the revenue allocated to them based on their share of views from the Creator Pool allocation" (YouTube Help).
  • Some views do not count. YouTube excludes "Non-original Shorts, such as unedited clips from others' movies or TV shows, reuploading other creators' content from YouTube or other platform, or compilations with no original content added", along with artificial views and views of Shorts that break its advertiser-friendly guidelines.

The last point matters for faceless channels. A Short made from someone else's footage, or a compilation with nothing added, earns nothing from the pool however many views it gets. A Short you wrote, narrated and illustrated yourself is not what that exclusion describes.

Side by side

Long videosShorts
Partner Program path1,000 subscribers + 4,000 qualified watch hours in 12 months1,000 subscribers + 10 million qualified Shorts views in 90 days
Where ads runOn your videoBetween Shorts in the feed, pooled
Your share55% of net revenues from ads on your video45% of your allocation from the Creator Pool, by share of views
MusicNo pool deduction describedHalf of a Short's revenue to licensing with 1 track, two thirds with 2
Extra ad slotsMid-rolls on monetised videos of 8 minutes or longerNone described
LengthMid-rolls need 8 minutes or moreUp to 3 minutes (YouTube Help)
What does not countContent that breaks YouTube's policiesNon-original Shorts, artificial views, views inconsistent with advertiser-friendly guidelines

Sources as linked above, all checked 2026-10-29.

What each format costs to make

The terms are one half of the decision. The other half is the work.

A long video of 10 to 12 minutes is about 1,500 to 1,800 words of narration at a typical pace, five to eight chapters, and a new visual every few seconds for the whole runtime. The script carries most of the weight: a question, an argument and a payoff at the end. Expect to spend most of your time on the script and the review.

A Short is one idea in 30 seconds to 2 minutes: often 75 to 300 words, one hook and one payoff. Less to write, but the first line has to work in under two seconds, and you need more of them to matter. A channel that relies on Shorts is a channel that publishes often.

In Heady the difference shows in credits. A Short up to 60 seconds is 12 credits, and up to 2 minutes is 24. A 10-minute long video is 60 credits in Standard and 80 in Motion mode. Heady makes Shorts on every plan and long videos on Pro and Studio. See what each video costs.

How the two work together

The formats help each other when each one is made for its own job.

  • Shorts as a way in. A Short that makes one surprising point can bring a viewer to a 20-minute video on the same topic. Name the long video in the Short's description, and if YouTube offers you the option to link a related video, point it there.
  • Long videos as the source. Every long video holds several Short-sized ideas: a number, a myth and its correction, a single vivid detail. Plan them while you write the long script.
  • Make each Short stand alone. A Short lifted mid-sentence from a long video is a confusing fragment. Rewrite the first and last lines so it works for someone who has seen nothing else. Our guide One long video, ten Shorts shows how.

Heady treats the two as separate videos: a Heady Short is written and illustrated for 9:16 from the start, rather than cut from a long video.

A decision table

If your situation is…Lean towardsWhy
Your topic needs an argument, a timeline or a story with stagesLong videosIt needs the minutes, and chapters make it easy to follow
Your topic is one fact, one comparison or one "what if"ShortsOne idea fits one Short
You can make one careful video a weekLong videosFewer, deeper uploads suit the watch-hours path
You can publish several times a weekShorts, with long videos when you canVolume suits the Shorts path
Your niche relies on licensed musicLong videosMusic reduces a Short's share of the pool
You want older videos to keep finding viewersLong videosA long video that answers a lasting question can be found long after upload
You have long videos alreadyAdd ShortsEach long video holds several Short ideas

Our take

Build the channel on long videos and use Shorts for reach. Long videos carry the depth that makes a faceless channel worth subscribing to, they get a fixed share of the ads on them, and from 8 minutes they can carry mid-rolls. Shorts bring new people to that work. If your topic only ever needs a minute, Shorts alone can work, but you are then betting on a pooled revenue stream and a high publishing rate.

Whatever you choose, make every video its own piece of work. Both formats sit under the same policy against repetitive, mass-produced content; our post Can faceless YouTube channels be monetised? quotes it in full.

Heady makes both formats from a script you approve: long videos of 8 to 30 minutes with chapters, and Shorts of up to 2 minutes. It isn't open yet. Join the waitlist and we'll email you when Heady opens.

Can Shorts views alone get a channel into the YouTube Partner Program?

Yes, there is a Shorts path: 1,000 subscribers and 10 million qualified Shorts views in the last 90 days. The other path is 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 qualified watch hours in the last 12 months. YouTube decides whether a channel is accepted, and both paths also require following its policies.

Why do long videos start at 8 minutes?

Because YouTube lets you turn on mid-roll ads on monetised videos that are 8 minutes or longer. It is a threshold for an ad option, not a quality bar, so a topic that only needs 6 minutes should stay at 6.

Do Shorts with music earn less?

On YouTube's terms, part of a Short's share of the pool goes to music licensing. With one music track, half of the revenue tied to its engaged views goes to the Creator Pool and half to licensing; with two tracks, one third goes to the pool.

Should a new faceless channel post both?

Most can, once the long format works. Long videos carry the channel's depth; Shorts introduce it to people who would not click on a 20-minute video. Start with the format your topic needs, and add the other when you can keep both at a standard you are happy with.

Sources

All checked on 2026-10-29.

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