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YouTube competitor analysis

YouTube competitor analysis: compare channels' views, rhythm and topics

Price
Free plan: 100 credits, no card. One analysis uses about 59 credits.
What you get
One comparison table: subscribers, upload rhythm, median views, views per 1,000 subscribers and engagement rate per channel; each channel's best recent videos; topics covered by only one channel; where a new channel could compete.
Coverage
Any 2–5 public YouTube channels, in any language or country. Figures use the channel page's public numbers; YouTube Studio data such as watch time, impressions or revenue is not available.
Time to report
Usually 6–8 minutes.
Account
Sign-in with Google required to run it. You can read the example and fill in the form without an account.

Enter two to five YouTube channels. Nolyn's YouTube Competitor Analysis reads each channel's profile and 30 most recent videos, then puts upload rhythm, median views, views per 1,000 subscribers and engagement in one table and shows which topics and formats each channel covers that the others do not, with the numbers behind each finding.

Example: MKBHD, Linus Tech Tips and Unbox Therapy
Compare channels

Put your own channel first if you want it compared with the others. Channel links work too.

Start from an example:

Sign in to run it. New accounts get 100 free credits; research uses credits for AI and data lookups.

How do you do a YouTube competitor analysis?

Read each channel's recent videos and compare upload rhythm, median views, views per 1,000 subscribers and engagement, then the topics each one covers. In Nolyn's October 18, 2026 sample, Unbox Therapy had the most subscribers (25.6M) but the lowest median views per 1,000 subscribers: 45, against 262 for MKBHD.

What the competitor analysis shows

One table for all channels

Subscribers, videos per month, median views, views per 1,000 subscribers and (likes + comments) ÷ views, each with the number of videos behind it.

What works on each channel

Each channel's best recent videos with their topics, so you can see whether a channel's reach comes from one format or many.

Gaps between the channels

Topics and formats that only one channel covers, how they perform, and the upload rhythm a new channel would need to compete.

Example: MKBHD, Linus Tech Tips and Unbox Therapy

A real run on October 18, 2026 comparing three of the largest tech channels on YouTube: Marques Brownlee (@mkbhd), Linus Tech Tips (@LinusTechTips) and Unbox Therapy (@unboxtherapy). Nolyn read each channel's profile and 30 latest videos, and the details of 14 of those videos for likes and comments.

Most views per subscriber

262

MKBHD: median 5.6M views per 21.4M subscribers, per 1,000

Fewest views per subscriber

45

Unbox Therapy, the largest channel at 25.6M

Fastest rhythm

30 in ~1 month

Linus Tech Tips, incl. members' Extras without view counts

Highest engagement

1.52%

LTT, (likes + comments) ÷ views, 4 videos

ChannelSubscribers30 latest videosMedian viewsViews per 1,000 subscribersEngagementBest recent video
Marques Brownlee (@mkbhd)21.4MAbout 5 months5.6M (28 videos)2621.20%iPhone 18 Pro/Duo Impressions: Mogged (28M)
Linus Tech Tips (@LinusTechTips)16.9MAbout 1 month2.1M (19 videos)1241.52%Steam Frame Review - This Changes Everything (5.2M)
Unbox Therapy (@unboxtherapy)25.6MAbout 7 months1.15M (30 videos)450.60%This New Phone Has a Subwoofer... (2.7M)

Views are YouTube's rounded channel-page values for the 30 latest videos; videos without a count are left out of the medians. Engagement = (likes + comments) ÷ views, median of 4 detailed videos per channel.

Subscribers do not predict views

Unbox Therapy has the most subscribers, 25.6M, but the lowest median: 1.15M views, or 45 per 1,000 subscribers. MKBHD's 21.4M subscribers bring a median of 5.6M views, 262 per 1,000, almost six times as many per subscriber.

Three different rhythms

Linus Tech Tips published its 30 latest videos in about a month, including 11 without a view count such as members' Extras. MKBHD's 30 span about five months and Unbox Therapy's about seven. LTT's median is 2.1M views across the 19 videos with a count.

The same phones, very different reach

All three cover the iPhone 18 launch. MKBHD's 8 Apple and iPhone videos have a median of 9.0M views; Unbox Therapy's 5 have 1.3M and LTT's 2 have 1.15M. MKBHD's biggest, “iPhone 18 Pro/Duo Impressions: Mogged”, reached 28M.

Where a new channel could compete

PC builds and gaming setups appear only on LTT (14 of 30 videos, median 2.1M). Cameras, drones and audio are mostly Unbox Therapy's (8 videos, median 1.35M), and car videos only MKBHD's. Engagement in the detail samples: LTT 1.52%, MKBHD 1.20%, Unbox Therapy 0.60%.

Every figure was recomputed from the saved YouTube responses of this run (3 channel profiles, 3 video lists and 14 video details). The report described the channels' top videos with the wrong titles; the table uses the titles from the data. Upload rhythm comes from YouTube's relative dates (“3 weeks ago”), so it is approximate.

Run it for your own product or account

How the YouTube competitor analysis works

  1. Read each channel

    Subscribers, number of videos and description for every channel you enter.

  2. Read the recent videos

    The 30 most recent long-form videos of each channel with publish date and views, plus video details for likes and comments.

  3. Compare

    Upload rhythm, median views, views per 1,000 subscribers and engagement in one table, with the number of videos behind each figure.

  4. Find the gaps

    Each channel's best videos, topics covered by only one channel, and where a new channel could compete.

Who uses YouTube competitor analysis

Creators choosing a niche or format

See which competitors earn the most views per subscriber, how often they upload and which topics no one in your niche covers yet.

Brands picking channels to sponsor

Compare candidate channels on median views and engagement rather than subscriber counts, which can be years old.

Agencies benchmarking a client

Put a client's channel next to two to four competitors in one table, with the numbers a client can check on YouTube.

Limits

Only public channels and public numbers; no YouTube Studio data such as watch time, impressions or revenue. Channel pages round views and hide counts on some videos, such as collaborations and members-only posts; those are left out of medians. Engagement uses a few detailed videos per channel, and upload rhythm is estimated from relative dates. Shorts are not compared.

Questions

How do you do a YouTube competitor analysis?

Pick two to five channels in your niche, read their recent videos and compare upload rhythm, median views, views per 1,000 subscribers and engagement; then look at which topics each channel covers and how they perform. Nolyn's YouTube Competitor Analysis does these steps and puts them in one table.

Why compare views per 1,000 subscribers?

Because subscriber counts build up over years and include inactive viewers. Median views per 1,000 subscribers shows how much of an audience a channel reaches today. In the example, it ranged from 45 to 262 among channels with 17–26M subscribers.

Can I include my own channel?

Yes. Put your channel first and add up to four competitors; the comparison works the same way for any public channel.

Does it include Shorts?

No. The comparison uses long-form videos, because Shorts views are counted differently. To look at one channel's Shorts as well, use the YouTube channel analyzer.

How accurate are the numbers?

Views and subscribers come from YouTube's public pages at the time of the run. Channel pages round views, and some videos show no count, so medians are based on the videos listed with a count; the report says how many.

Is there a free YouTube competitor analysis tool?

You can start free: new accounts get 100 one-time credits, no card required. One analysis like this uses about 59 credits, so the free credits cover about 1 runs. Paid plans add monthly credits.

Do I need to sign up?

To run it, yes: sign in with Google. It is free and asks for no card. You can read the example and fill in the form before signing in.

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