YouTube has revealed how much money it makes for the first time and the number puts it ahead of even Netflix. Parent company Alphabet disclosed that the platform generated more than $60 billion in total revenue during 2025, combining advertising and subscriptions.
Alphabet’s latest earnings report marks the first time YouTube’s full revenue has been broken out publicly, rather than just its advertising business.
That figure places YouTube above Netflix, which reported $45.18 billion in revenue for 2025. Among entertainment companies, only Disney reported higher revenue last year, with $95.7 billion.
Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai said the company now has more than 325 million paid subscriptions across its consumer services. That total includes YouTube Premium, YouTube TV, and Google One, highlighting how YouTube’s business has expanded far beyond ads alone.
Advertising still makes up a major portion of YouTube’s revenue. During the final quarter of 2025, the platform generated $11.38 billion in global ad revenue, up 8.7% year over year, though the figure came in below analyst expectations. Pichai said lower political ad spending compared to Q4 2024 impacted brand advertising results.
The CEO also pointed to engagement growth across the platform, revealing that viewers watched more than 700 million hours of podcasts on YouTube via TVs in October 2025 alone. He added that the NFL reached its highest paid subscriber total yet for the Sunday Ticket package offered through YouTube, without sharing exact numbers.
Elsewhere, Alphabet reported Q4 revenue of $113.8 billion and net income of $34.5 billion, both exceeding expectations. As for AI, Pichai said they plan to spend between $175 billion and $185 billion on capital expenses for AI investments in 2026.
In his 2026 letter to the community, YouTube CEO Neal Mohan said more than 1 million channels were using YouTube’s AI tools daily in December 2025. He also said YouTube Shorts now averages 200 billion daily views, with new features and lower-cost YouTube TV plans set to roll out this year.
