The YouTube Collab feature, which YouTube calls Collaborations, lets the channel uploading a video invite other creators from the video's Details page in YouTube Studio, under Show more and then Collaboration. Once a collaborator accepts, their name and a Subscribe button appear on the video, YouTube aims to recommend it to the audiences of everyone involved, and all earned revenue goes to the uploading channel, according to YouTube's help page on inviting collaborators to your video.
That makes Collaborations a discovery tool, not a joint venture. The video still has one owner, one set of earnings and one Analytics record, so the real work is agreeing those points before anyone presses publish. This guide covers the YouTube feature only; partnerships on subscription platforms are covered in our OnlyFans creator partnership guide.
What the feature does, and a limit stated two ways
YouTube's help page says you can invite collaborators to long-form videos and Shorts, and to an archived live stream, but not to a stream that is still live. Viewers see the credits on desktop, mobile and TV. Each collaborator's name and Subscribe button only appear after that person accepts the invitation, so a pending invite changes nothing on the watch page.
The number of collaborators allowed has been published two ways. The current English version of the help page says up to 10 creators can be added to a video. YouTube's September 2025 launch post said up to five, and the Creator Insider launch explainer gave the same figure. The help page is the more recent statement, so plan around it, but older guides and screenshots still repeat the launch number. If what you read and what you see disagree, the invite screen in your own YouTube Studio is the one that counts.
How to invite a collaborator
On a computer, the help page gives this path for a new upload:
- Sign in to YouTube Studio.
- Click Create, then Upload videos, and select the file.
- In the Details section, under Audience, click Show more.
- Under Collaboration, click Invite a collaborator and choose the channel.
- Finish the upload as usual. The credit stays pending until the collaborator accepts.
In the YouTube Studio app, the Android version of the same help page puts the option under Create, then your file, then Collaborations, Comments & more in the Add details section.
Some third-party guides describe extra controls, such as adding collaborators to videos that are already public or a switch for sharing analytics with them. YouTube's help page does not describe those controls, so treat them as possible rather than promised, and check what your own Studio shows before agreeing to anything that depends on them.
Where the video appears and who gets paid
YouTube presents Collaborations as a tool for audience growth and discovery. Its stated goal is to recommend the video to the audiences of the collaborators and of the posting channel, and the help page adds that you may not notice changes in search or recommendations at first. Nothing there promises a set amount of exposure, so judge the feature on what your traffic reports show in the weeks after publishing.
Money is simpler. The channel where the collaboration video was posted receives the earned revenue, and YouTube says revenue is not split between collaborators; the launch post said the same, attributing revenue to the channel that posts the video. If a guest channel should share in ad or fan-funding income, that has to be a private agreement paid outside YouTube. Ask a qualified accountant how a split is taxed where each of you lives.
Brand deals run alongside the feature rather than through it. The help page says that when a video contains branded content, you select paid promotion and choose your brand partner's channel, which connects the video to the brand's Google Ads account so it can review performance. If the brand then runs your video as an ad, the ad shows both names and both Subscribe buttons. A brand partner link and a creator collaborator are separate credits, so a sponsored collab may need both.
Who sees the analytics
YouTube's help page for Collaborations does not say whether invited collaborators can see the video's analytics. The closest official reference is the guest feature for live streams. On the Go Live Together page, YouTube says the host can view the stream's analytics in YouTube Studio but the guest cannot, ad revenue is attributed to the host channel, and the host is responsible for keeping guests within YouTube's policies.
Until YouTube documents more, plan as if the uploader holds both the data and the responsibility. Agree which reports the uploader will share, such as views, watch time, audience retention and subscribers gained, and how often. YouTube's guide to YouTube Analytics says Advanced mode lets you export data, which is cleaner than screenshots for a partner who wants to compare the collab against their own uploads.
Don't use channel permissions as a shortcut. The channel permissions page describes roles that open the whole channel rather than one video: a Viewer can see all channel details and revenue data, and the Viewer (Limited) role blocks revenue data but otherwise carries the same access. Those roles are for managers and team members you would trust with everything, and a guest on a single upload doesn't need them.
Collaborations compared with YouTube's other collab tools
Several YouTube features carry the word collab, and they behave differently:
| Tool | What it does | Credit, earnings or data | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Collaborations | Credits up to 10 other channels on one video, Short or archived stream | Each accepted collaborator gets a name and Subscribe button on the video; the posting channel keeps all earned revenue | Invite collaborators to your video |
| Shorts Remix, Collab option | Builds your own Short around a segment of someone else's Short or video, from Remix and then Collab in the YouTube app | The source video is credited in the Shorts player with a link; creators can opt their own Shorts out of video remixing | Create Shorts with remixed content |
| Go Live Together | Brings one guest at a time into a live stream started from a phone | Ads are attributed to the host channel, and the guest can't see the stream's analytics | Go Live Together |
| Collaborative playlists | Lets invited people add videos to a playlist, with optional ranked voting on the running order | A collaborator can leave the playlist, and the videos they added stay on it | Collaborate on playlists |
Only the first row puts another creator's Subscribe button on your upload. The others are useful companions: a Remix reply to your partner's Short or a joint live stream can trail the main collab video without changing who owns it.
Plan the collab before anyone uploads
YouTube's collaboration tips start with your side of the deal: know what you bring, whether that is an audience, a skill, production equipment, or access to a location or people. They advise looking past subscriber count to aligned audiences and shared values, asking whether someone who watched their video would plausibly watch yours next, reaching out through the contact method listed on their channel, and writing a personal note instead of a pasted one.
To find candidates, open the Audience tab. Its report on the channels your audience watches covers the past 28 days, and the Audience tab page names collaboration opportunities as one of its uses. A partner your viewers already watch is an easier pitch, and a better fit, than a bigger channel with an unrelated audience.
The same tips describe a cross-promotion structure that predates the feature: each creator uploads a different video to their own channel, and cards, mentions and a spoken call to action send viewers between them. That route gives each channel its own earnings and its own analytics, and you can still credit each other on both uploads with Collaborations. For pitch materials, our influencer media kit template and cross-promotion outreach template cover what to send, and our guide on how to grow a YouTube channel shows where collabs fit in a quarterly plan.
Collab agreement checklist
Settle these points in writing, even in a short message thread, before filming starts:
- Uploading channel. Whose channel posts the video, given that the uploader receives the revenue and holds the analytics.
- Credits and invites. Which channels get invited, who accepts by when, and whether anyone else on screen gets a mention in the description instead.
- Revenue and any off-platform split. Whether ad, fan-funding or sponsor income is shared, as a percentage or a flat fee, when it is paid and who keeps the records.
- Analytics sharing. Which reports the uploader shares, in what format and on what schedule, without granting channel permissions.
- Paid promotion. Whether the video contains branded content, who ticks the paid promotion box and which brand partner channel gets linked.
- Music and copyright. Who cleared each song, clip and image, since any claim is placed on the uploaded video and lands on the uploader's channel.
- Approvals and edit rights. Who signs off on the final cut, title, thumbnail and description, and whether the uploader may change them after release.
- Removal or un-crediting. What happens if a collaborator wants their credit removed or the video taken down, and how much notice each side gives.
- Timeline. Filming dates, the publish date and time, and when each side posts its own promotion.
- Policy checks. Who reviews the finished video against YouTube's Community Guidelines before it goes public.
Limitations of this guide
Collaborations is a young feature and YouTube's documentation of it is brief. The help page doesn't cover analytics access, how to remove a credit after publishing or who is eligible to use the feature, and its stated collaborator limit has already changed once since launch. Rollouts can differ between channels, so treat every step here as provisional until you see it in your own YouTube Studio.
Nothing on the help page measures how much extra reach a credit brings, and YouTube itself says changes may not show at first. A private revenue split is a contract between you and the other creator, so for anything beyond a simple arrangement, take advice from a qualified lawyer or accountant. If an invitation won't send or a credit won't display, note the video ID, take screenshots and use the routes in our guide on how to contact YouTube Creator Support.