That's not true. YouTube is the best alternative for now, and it works very well. I do have high hopes for Dtube (I think it should be named something else though), but it's a long way to go.

The functionality of YouTube is great, and the stats are superior (of course, it's owned by one of the biggest companies in the world).

You really can't complain about 10$ a month for 5000 views, that's close to nothing. Think about it; 5000 views a month for a tv-channel would be a total disaster, even 500 000 a day would be a total disaster. I don't know what you mean by absurdly successful, but yes, you have to put work into it. People tend to think that it's just to register and post some short videos, and your YouTube channel will skyrocket, that's not how it works.

The problem is that people think they just can earn money on ads, but there are so many other ways to monetize YouTube videos (promote your own products, private sponsors, Amazon affiliate etc.).

Yes, YouTube are dealing with some censorship "issues", but that's because of their advertisers that don't want to have ads on controversial content (which I fully understand). You got to understand that ads are their revenue model. If you want to create controversial content don't whine about getting demonetized. YouTube owe you nothing, and you have to play by their rules if you want to be there.

Don't get me wrong, I really do hope Dtube is the beginning of a big change. However, if Dtube grows really big it will not be a walk in the park to earn money there either. There is no such thing as a free lunch.

Still, YouTube works very well for many creators.