How should online creators be paid: ads, sponsorships, paywalls or direct audience support?
Since 2009 the brothers have preferred selling things they make to ads, refusing paid product placement and, from 2013, paywalls. Both back voluntary direct support such as Patreon, and Hank says Crash Course stays free because people who can pay, pay so those who cannot don't have to. In 2026 Hank adds that creators should be paid more.
Axis: direct audience support, no paywall, little sponsorship ... ads and brand deals are fine
Positions by date: 38 records in 38 videos. The position was refined (2013, 2014), never reversed, in these records.
John
| date | how | position | video |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009-07-14 | first on record | John says selling their books and Hank's CD isn't selling out and they take ads and sell t-shirts, but they do no paid product placement and would never imply Nerdfighters must buy things. | Sell Outs! 00:02:07 |
| 2010-10-22 | restate | The description says the brothers accept no paid product placement precisely so viewers never have to wonder whether a product appears because it paid. | Making Adorable Music video description |
| 2012-02-14 | restate | John favours direct connections between makers and fans (Kickstarter, Gumroad) over middlemen such as venture capitalists, record companies, PayPal, Amazon or iTunes. | Things I Can Do 00:02:26 |
| 2012-05-22 | restate | John says the brothers have never been totally comfortable with ads, but they have felt like the best way to make what they like with people they like. | You ARE The Product 00:02:27 |
| 2012-06-01 | restate | John (apparently) says they don't do product placement so viewers can know no corporation (here Table Topics) is behind a video. | Adorable Squirrel and Table Topics 00:00:00 |
| 2013-03-20 | refine | John rejects paywalls, finds Kickstarter and all-volunteer models ill-suited to ongoing channels, likes merchandise, and holds up the public radio model of asking rather than requiring support. | Ads Work...but for Whom? 00:03:09 |
| 2014-07-08 | refine | John says vlogbrothers has never run pre-rolls because they are annoying, but given the money at stake the brothers are weighing whether and how to use them, and for what causes. | The Future of Nerdfighteria 00:01:59 |
| 2015-10-27 | restate | John says the best way to financially support creators remains directly, via Patreon or merch, far better than YouTube Red or ads. | Understanding YouTube Red: Paid Subscriptions and the Future of Online Video 00:01:43 |
| 2015-12-08 | restate | John holds up voluntary Patreon subscriptions instead of advertising as working great: Crash Course and SciShow are now fully sustainable. | The Bank of Nerdfighteria's Semiannual Report 00:00:55 |
| 2016-09-13 | restate | John says he is not paid to say this: Vlogbrothers has never accepted and never will accept corporate sponsorship, though they worked closely with YouTube on the tab. | YouTube's New Thing (and a New Thing of Our Own) 00:02:54 |
| 2019-05-14 | restate | Third lesson: on money opportunities Hank always asks John two questions: is this in line with our goals for our community, and are we adding more value than we're capturing? | An Open Letter to Professional YouTubers 00:01:27 |
| 2021-08-17 | restate | John says the brothers' share also seems high, because the money belongs to Nerdfighteria, not to them; that is why half goes to grants for educational creators and half to charity. | Who Owns Nerdfighteria? 00:02:26 |
| 2022-02-08 | restate | Because their books sell better thanks to Vlogbrothers, John says it is wrong to say they keep none of its value; they only keep none of the ad revenue. | How Much Money Vlogbrothers Makes from YouTube (...and where it goes) 00:01:27 |
| 2023-05-30 | restate | John says the coins are vital: the Patreon and coin campaigns are the single largest slice of Crash Course's annual budget, not a tiny slice of a corporate pie. | How Does He Do It? 00:03:30 |
| 2024-08-27 | restate | John says the culture shift on selling out has let many more people make a living, which he considers good news. | How The Internet Is Rigged 00:03:40 |
Hank
| date | how | position | video |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009-07-17 | first on record | Hank says ads and selling stuff both pay for more time on the videos, but the brothers far prefer selling stuff, since ads feel a little dirty, and nobody should feel obliged to buy. | Selling Out, Chewbacca and Taking Leave 00:00:41 |
| 2009-11-24 | restate | Hank says selling the things he has made through his creative work is not selling out; unlike pharmaceuticals or soda, he sells stuff he is proud of. | 50 THINGS!! That I'm Thankful For 00:01:44 |
| 2011-03-25 (said on 2011-03-24, implied) | restate | Hank will keep ads on the videos, since otherwise he could not make them, believing the entertainment outweighs the ads' harm. | Hank is an Adorable, Drunk Princess 00:02:21 |
| 2011-04-22 | restate | Hank says the brothers do few sponsored videos because they have their own things to sell. | 500,000 Subscribers (Almost...and Thank You) 00:03:21 |
| 2011-11-28 | restate | DFTBA Records turns three; Hank recalls deciding with Alan to start it to make great products people love and let YouTube creators make a living without selling off pieces of their soul. | Stuffed with STUFF! 00:01:57 |
| 2013-03-15 | refine | Hank wants to change the business model of content because advertising cannot sustain dedicated mid-sized communities such as the Brain Scoop's 50,000. | Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes 00:02:48 |
| 2013-05-17 | restate | Hank favours people making money from their content via YouTube paid subscriptions but says he and John will never paywall their own content. | GIFs, JIFs, Whip Pans, Trivia, and BATMAN! 00:01:22 |
| 2013-05-24 | restate | Hank says Vlogbrothers has no pre-roll ads because the brothers feel deeply indebted to viewers, their only asset. | What's Up with Start Ups 00:02:31 |
| 2013-07-26 | refine | Hank: content should stay free for all, with viewers who can choosing to pay because they want to, not because they are forced to. | Introducing Subbable 00:02:13 |
| 2014-05-30 | restate | Hank presents Subbable's pay-what-you-want model (even $0) as letting shows exist for everyone, including people who can't pay. | Nerdfighteria Census 2014 Results! 00:02:16 |
| 2014-11-07 | restate | Hank: Crash Course should not charge viewers, sit on an exclusive platform or lock its content down; it is funded by viewers who choose to give. | New Crash Course and Pizzamas! 00:01:49 |
| 2016-02-05 | restate | Because such creators usually won't bubble up, Hank thinks it is very important to use tools like Patreon to support them. | Honest YouTube Talk Time 00:03:31 |
| 2016-09-23 | restate | Hank's thesis: different kinds of content need different kinds of financial support, and work better with different kinds of monetization. | How do YouTubers Make Money? 00:00:41 |
| 2017-04-21 | restate | Hank says if the value proposition breaks, creators will find (and already are finding) new support: subscriptions like Rooster Teeth's First, YouTube Red, Patreon, and creator-brand relationships communities like. | The Adpocalypse: What it Means 00:03:12 |
| 2020-05-29 | restate | Hank is more ambivalent when creators with deep audience relationships are paid to move everything to a new platform, not for a better audience experience: they are selling their audience, which needs real care. | Get Paid 00:02:11 |
| 2021-06-25 | restate | Hank thinks Crash Course could have succeeded on venture capital, but then a lot of it would be behind a paywall now. | The Surprising Origin of Crash Course 00:01:12 |
| 2022-09-02 | restate | Crowdfunding, unlike advertising or grants, comes with no strings, so it not only makes their work possible but better, because Complexly gets to make all the choices. | How A YouTube Company Actually Makes Money 00:01:46 |
| 2024-05-31 | restate | To people asking why Crash Course does not start charging now that the brand is built, Hank says they want it free for everyone forever, which works only if people who can pay, pay so those who cannot do not have to. | The People I Hate Most in the World 00:03:53 |
| 2024-06-07 | restate | Hank says Crash Course exists because people who can pay, pay, so that people who can't don't have to; buyers help it continue and get a coin. | Eating an 11,000 Year Old Fruit 00:04:01 |
| 2025-01-24 | restate | Hank says this work is harder than many viewers think, its makers should be able to focus on it, and SciShow definitely needs crowdfunding to be possible. | Am I OK? 00:05:26 |
| 2025-05-23 | restate | Hank's theory of change: he is not asking for unwise financial decisions; not everyone gives, but everyone considers whether they can, and that is doing the work. | I Can’t Believe How Few People it Takes. 00:03:05 |
| 2026-02-04 | restate | Hank says Complexly gets many views but earns far less than traditional television; high-quality educational content is expensive, so it has long relied on grants and audience support. | We Just Sold Our Company for $0 00:04:26 |
| 2026-09-18 | restate | Hank says creators should be paid more; it is insane that they have been paid similar amounts for a TikTok view and a YouTube view. | John was Wrong about YouTube Views 00:07:46 |
Dates are upload dates, which set the order. Where the speaker gives a different recording date in the video, it is added as "said on YYYY-MM-DD, implied" (derived from the date said in the video).