Super Thanks is YouTube’s version of Twitter’s Tip Jar feature

Unlike the subscription features, Super Thanks will show up under videos like comments, but in a different colour, and creators will be able to reply to these like any other comments too. “Super Thanks is currently in beta and with today’s expansion, is now available to thousands of monetizing creators. The feature is available to creators and viewers in 68 countries on desktop and mobile devices (Android and iOS),” the company said in a blog post. It will also be expanding the feature to others in the YouTube Partner Program later this year.

YouTube also allows creators to offer premium content, by charging subscription fees for their channels. This shows up on the platform as a second ‘Join’ button that’s placed next to the ‘subscribe’ button under a video. It allows creators to make specific subscription-only content for their most valued customers. Two other features, called Super Chat and Super Sticker, launched in 2017 and 2019 respectively, also allow creators to earn revenues off their content.

The addition of Super Thanks to YouTube shows how platforms, under pressure from regulators for killing small businesses, are ramping up ways to allow creators to monetize. Note that YouTube hasn’t revealed what it’s cut from the revenues earned off Super Thanks will be.

Twitter had also announced a Super Follow feature earlier this year, which is akin to YouTube’s subscription tier. The micro-blogging giant is also allowing creators to sell tickets for its new Spaces platform, which allows audio-only content like viral platform Clubhouse.