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How to Use Super Thanks on YouTube to Earn Extra Revenue

Published July 2026

By Ivaylo Zhivkov, founder of TubeMilestone

Super Thanks is YouTube's tipping feature — viewers pay between $2 and $50 on any eligible video and get a highlighted comment and an animated graphic as acknowledgment. It's not the most talked-about monetization tool, but for creators who make high-value tutorial content, it consistently generates meaningful supplemental income without requiring any ongoing overhead once it's enabled.

What Super Thanks actually is and how it works

When a viewer clicks the "Thanks" button below a video (the heart icon with a dollar sign), they're shown a payment prompt with four tiers: $2, $5, $10, and $50. After paying, their comment appears highlighted in a distinctive color in the video's comment section, and a small animated graphic plays for them in the video player.

Unlike Super Chat — which is tied to live streams and disappears from the feed after a few hours — Super Thanks is permanently attached to a specific video. A tutorial you uploaded two years ago can continue generating Super Thanks indefinitely as new viewers discover it. That persistence makes it especially valuable for evergreen content.

Super Thanks is available on both regular long-form videos and YouTube Shorts. Viewers in the YouTube mobile app, desktop, and some smart TV apps can send Super Thanks. It is not available on embedded players (e.g., videos embedded on external websites).

Eligibility and how to enable it

Super Thanks requires YouTube Partner Program membership. Once you're in YPP, it's enabled by default for most channels — you don't have to turn it on manually. To confirm it's active, go to YouTube Studio → Earn → Supers. If you see "Super Thanks" listed with a green status, you're set.

The only channels that can't use Super Thanks are those flagged as made for kids, channels in countries where YouTube hasn't launched the feature, and channels that have had monetization suspended. Age-restricted videos also cannot receive Super Thanks.

The revenue math

YouTube keeps 30%. You receive 70% before taxes. That means:

Super Thanks revenue is paid out through AdSense on the same monthly schedule as ad revenue. It aggregates with your other YouTube income and is subject to the standard $100 minimum payout threshold.

Which videos earn the most Super Thanks

Super Thanks income is highly content-dependent. The categories where it consistently performs best:

Find your best Super Thanks candidates: In YouTube Studio → Analytics → Revenue tab, filter by "Super Thanks" to see which videos have already earned tips. If you're not in YPP yet, look at your highest-retention evergreen videos — those are the ones most likely to attract Super Thanks once you're eligible.

How to encourage Super Thanks without being pushy

Heavy-handed begging for tips is the fastest way to make viewers feel exploited. The approaches that work without damaging the relationship:

Acknowledge existing Super Thanks publicly. When someone sends a Super Thanks, reply to their highlighted comment personally — by name, with a genuine response to what they wrote. Other viewers see this and understand that Super Thanks gets real acknowledgment, not a copy-pasted auto-reply. That visibility encourages future tips far more than any direct ask.

Mention it once, at the end, in a low-pressure way. Something like: "If this video saved you time, there's a Thanks button below — I read every comment there." That's it. Saying it in every video trains viewers to skip it; saying it occasionally when genuinely relevant keeps it meaningful.

Pin a comment on your best tutorials. A pinned comment like "Got a question about this? Ask below — I check comments here regularly" increases comment engagement, which increases the chance a grateful viewer leaves a Super Thanks comment.

Don't beg on short videos or light content. A 3-minute entertainment clip or a quick vlog is rarely the context where viewers tip. Pitching Super Thanks on content that doesn't deliver unusually high value feels extractive and can generate backlash in the comments.

Comparing Super Thanks to other YouTube revenue streams

Super Thanks is not a primary revenue stream for most channels — it's supplemental. Compared to the other options:

Tax and reporting considerations

Super Thanks income is ordinary income and is reported on your AdSense tax forms (1099-K in the US, or equivalent in other countries). YouTube doesn't separate Super Thanks from ad revenue on your tax form — it's all aggregated as AdSense income. Keep this in mind when estimating quarterly tax payments if you're self-employed.

TubeMilestone tracks your path to YPP eligibility — the prerequisite for Super Thanks and all other fan funding features. See your real-time subscriber and watch hour progress, plus a forecast date for when you'll hit the thresholds.
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Frequently asked questions

What percentage does YouTube take from Super Thanks?
YouTube keeps 30% of Super Thanks revenue. Creators receive 70% before applicable taxes. The amounts viewers can send range from $2 to $50 per Super Thanks, so the maximum creator payout per individual Super Thanks is $35 before taxes.
Do you need to be in YPP to use Super Thanks?
Yes. Super Thanks is a YouTube Partner Program feature. Your channel needs to meet YPP requirements (1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watch hours, or 1,000 subscribers and 10 million Shorts views in the past 12 months) and be accepted into the program before Super Thanks becomes available.
Which types of videos get the most Super Thanks?
Videos where the creator provides direct personal value — tutorials that solve a specific problem, in-depth reviews, emotional storytelling, or milestone celebrations — consistently attract more Super Thanks than general content. Viewers are most likely to tip when they feel the creator gave them something unusually useful or meaningful.

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