Planning guide · October 2026 · Rates in USD
What AI and tech creator sponsorships cost: October 2026 benchmark
Method: This early benchmark draws on rate cards and quotes supplied or approved by 17 creator and publisher groups, collected by GreenPulse Talent in September and October 2026; 10 of them are YouTube channels with a rate and enough view data to appear in the tables. Views are the median of each channel's last six long-form videos (Shorts excluded, measured 14 October 2026). Most observations are asking prices or rate cards, not completed-deal prices. The bands are indicative planning ranges chosen around the tier medians, not observed minimums and maximums. Figures are rounded and never attributed to an individual creator.
Rates below are what the creator receives. A brand pays more once an agency or sales fee is added. Effective CPM is the creator rate divided by median views, times 1,000.
YouTube: creator rates by channel size
| Format | Median views per video | Typical creator rate | Typical CPM |
|---|---|---|---|
| Integration (60 to 90 seconds) | Under 30K | $1,000 to $2,000 | about $100 |
| Integration (60 to 90 seconds) | 30K and above | $2,000 to $4,000 | about $55 |
| Dedicated (full video) | Under 30K | $1,500 to $3,000 | about $180 |
| Dedicated (full video) | 30K and above | $4,000 to $8,000 | about $185 |
How to read it:
Channels are split at 30,000 median views, and every row draws on at least three creators. We show a typical band rather than the lowest and highest quotes, to avoid publishing individual quotes or observed extremes.
Spreads are wide: a few premium rate cards sit well above these bands, and some creators quote below them. This is an early benchmark from a small sample; we will update it as more deals close.
Integrations cost more per thousand views on smaller channels: a typical CPM of about $100 under 30,000 median views, against about $55 above it. Dedicated-video CPMs show no clear size pattern in our data, and the lowest CPMs of all sit on the largest channels.
A dedicated video typically costs about twice an integration from the same channel (our pairs ran from about 1.3 times to 3.6 times).
Format notes
Integration (60 to 90 seconds): the standard unit. It sits inside a regular video and is usually the cheapest way to buy a channel's audience.
Dedicated video: the whole video built around the product. Most channels want the product to fit what they teach, and several take only select partnerships.
Shorts: three creators quoted a Short, from about $1,000 to $3,000. It is not comparable to long-form on a per-view basis, so no CPM is shown.
Newsletters: placements are priced per issue, by slot. Top-of-issue slots on large lists ran from the low thousands to five figures, with lower slots priced at about a quarter to four fifths of the top slot. The smallest creator newsletters quoted under $1,000 a placement. Multi-issue discounts of 5 to 20 percent are common. We have too few quotes to publish a range per subscriber.
Podcasts and live shows: host-read ads ran from about $600 to the low thousands per read. Sponsored interviews and segments ran from the low thousands to the mid thousands as single items, and interview-led packages with several reads reached five figures. Annual sponsorship packages for small business podcasts were quoted at about $5,000 to $10,000 a year. Audience sizes vary too much for a single benchmark.
Monthly or quarterly packages: common for live shows and larger channels. They bundle several placements at a discount to buying each one alone. We have too few quotes to publish a range.
External reference points (not GreenPulse data)
These come from third-party sites and are estimates, not audited prices.
1. OutlierKit, YouTube sponsorship rates (updated 13 September 2026): integration CPM of $40 to $80 for B2B SaaS and developer tools, $28 to $55 for AI tools and productivity, and $25 to $45 for tech reviews; dedicated videos at 1.3 to 1.5 times the integration CPM. Source: Read source
2. kingy.ai, AI niche and YouTube sponsorship rates (published 16 April 2026, refreshed August 2026): AI and technology sponsorship CPM of $30 to $60, with general AI news and commentary lower at $12 to $25. The page notes that no official AI rate card exists and that these are estimates built on adjacent categories. Source: Read source
3. Influencer Marketing Hub, YouTube influencer rates (updated 31 August 2026): YouTube sponsorship CPMs frequently fall between $15 and $30, depending on niche, audience geography and creator demand. Source: Read source
4. YouTube sponsorship calculator analysis (10 April 2026): channels above one million subscribers had on average 40 percent lower cost per view, and placement (pre-roll, mid-roll, post-roll) changes the rate. Source: Read source
Typical CPMs on channels under 30,000 median views sit above the published ranges. On larger channels the typical integration CPM sits inside them, while the typical dedicated-video CPM runs higher. Published ranges use views a campaign is expected to deliver, while many creators set rates from audience quality, subscriber count and past results.
Talk to us
GreenPulse Talent places brands with AI and tech YouTube channels, podcasts, newsletters and live shows. Brands that want a price for a specific audience, and creators who want their rates placed in front of brands, can reach us at alyssa-c@greenpulse-talent.com