VidIQ is one of the most popular YouTube channel management tools out there. Some of the most successful channels on YouTube such as Chad Wild Clay (12M+ subscribers), Donut Media (4M+ subscribers), and Charisma on Command (4M+ subscribers) take advantage of VidIQ’s many channel optimization features. There are, however, several alternatives to VidIQ that offer features that might tailor more to your needs.
One of VidIQ’s biggest competitors is TubeBuddy, which claims to be the number one YouTube management and optimization toolkit. If your focus is more on social media, SocialBlade, which gives you some powerful social media analytics features, might be what you’re looking for. For channel communication management and scheduling tools, Hootsuite will be a great option. Let’s take a look at these tools in more detail to help you decide which one to go with.
VidIQ Alternatives & Competitors Comparison Chart
| Name | VidIQ | TubeBuddy | SocialBlade | Hootsuite |
 |  |  |  | |
| Price | Check Price at VidIQ.com | Check Price at TubeBuddy.com | Check Price at SocialBlade.com | Check Price at Hootsuite.com |
| Browser Extension | Chrome | Chrome, Firefox, Opera, Microsoft Edge | Chrome, Firefox | Chrome, Firefox |
| Mobile App | iOS, Android | iOS, Android | iOS, Android | iOS, Android |
| Compatibility | YouTube | YouTube | YouTube, Twitch, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Daily Motion, Mixer, StoryFire, DLive, TikTok | YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest |
| Focus | Channel optimization | Channel optimization | Data tracking | Post management |
| Founded | 2011 | 2014 | 2008 | 2008 |
TubeBuddy
TubeBuddy is VidIQ’s top rival as an all-in-one channel optimization toolkit.
When searching for VidIQ alternatives and competitors, the name that’s going to pop up the most is TubeBuddy. TubeBuddy, like VidIQ, is a browser extension and mobile app that offers channel management features and optimization tools to its users. Even with VidIQ’s three-year head start in the market, TubeBuddy has managed to surpass them in popularity. This is thanks to TubeBuddy’s robust keyword research tool and its more comprehensive bulk processing functionality.
TubeBuddy’s strength is in what it calls its Keyword Explorer. With this tool, you can find long-tail search terms to accurately target what people are looking for. It also helps you find trending tags that are relevant to your videos by searching through top trending videos. VidIQ does offer similar tools but TubeBuddy’s brings up more accurate scores and rankings for your searches. TubeBuddy also has the upper hand in one of the most sought-after functionalities, bulk processing. VidIQ only allows you to bulk process your interactive cards and end screens. With TubeBuddy’s Star plan, you can bulk process not only cards and end screens, but also video descriptions and thumbnails across all videos on your channel.
VidIQ, however, has the edge when it comes to channel monitoring and ease-of-use. You can watch your stats in real-time with VidIQ’s Real-Time Stats Bar. This feature is perfect if you want to keep close monitoring of your channel’s performance. VidIQ’s user interface is also more organized and user-friendly. This makes it easier for you to fully make use of all the features and functions VidIQ offers.
Plans
TubeBuddy offers a free version of its browser extension and mobile app. These will be perfect if you want to test the waters first and see whether or not TubeBuddy is right for you. When you want to tap into TubeBuddy’s advanced features, you will need to get one of their premium plans.
Their Pro plan starts at $9/month. This plan gives you full access to Keyword Explorer and tag tools, unlocks most of their productivity tools, and lets you in on member perks. The next plan is the most popular one, the Star plan. This plan starts at $19/month and gives members all the Pro benefits plus access to all bulk processing tools and promotion tools. The highest tier is the Legend plan. This plan starts at $49/month and gives you full access to everything TubeBuddly has to offer.
SocialBlade
SocialBlade is dedicated to tracking social media statistics and analytics.
SocialBlade was founded in 2008 and was originally created to track statistics on Digg. In 2010, they switched from Digg to YouTube and added more social media platforms to their list in the years that followed. Today, SocialBlade supports YouTube, Twitch, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Daily Motion, Mixer, StoryFire, DLive, and even TikTok.
Unlike VidIQ, which is an all-in-one channel management and optimization toolkit, SocialBlade’s primary function is to gather social media data and turn them into graphs and charts that you can use to track progress and growth. SocialBlade allows you to view the statistics of your competitors’ YouTube channels or social media profiles. You can even see estimated earnings as well as future projections.
With SocialBlade, you won’t get productivity features like a thumbnail generator or bulk processing functionality for your YouTube videos. But if you’re satisfied with what YouTube’s Creator Studio has to offer in terms of productivity features, and you only want to get more in-depth statistics on your social media platforms and those of your competitors’, SocialBlade will be the perfect tool for you.
Plans
SocialBlade is free to use for anyone. If, however, you want additional features such as report cards, favorite slots (save stats for specific YouTube channels or social media profiles), premium data charts, and fast browsing, you can subscribe to one of their premium membership plans.
SocialBlade’s plans start at $3.99/month with their Bronze plan offering an ad-free experience, up to 15 favorite slots per platform, and one YouTube report card every month. Their Silver plan starts at $9.99/month and gives you 10 more favorite slots per platform than the Bronze plan, 10 report cards per month, and premium data charts. The next two tiers, Gold and Platinum, start at $39.99/month and $99.99/month respectively. These plans offer hundreds of favorite slots, thousands of top lists, up to 365-day table data, premium data charts, up to 100 YouTube report cards per month, and more features that are perfect for larger businesses and enterprises.
Hootsuite
Hootsuite is the perfect app for scheduling posts across social media platforms and interacting with your audience.
Hootsuite allows you to manage your social media accounts in one dashboard. This is useful when you’re publishing a new YouTube video and you want to promote it across all your social media accounts. You simply upload the video through Hootsuite, select the accounts you want to publish to, and hit Post. Hootsuite even allows you to schedule your posts. You can upload your videos in bulk and use Hootsuite’s scheduling tool so you don’t have to manually publish each video across social media.
Not only does Hootsuite allow you to manage posts, but it also allows you to monitor YouTube activity and moderate and reply to comments right from the dashboard. This makes it an excellent app to boost your audience engagement.
Like VidIQ and the other apps we’ve just taken a look at, Hootsuite also has insight tools. You can track your channel growth, pinpoint traffic sources, and analyze audience engagement right from the Hootsuite dashboard. The insight tools aren’t as in-depth as the ones on the other apps because Hootsuite is more focused on managing your posts and helping you interact with your audience.
Plans
On a free account, Hootsuite only allows one user to manage three social media profiles. On their premium accounts, you will get to work with teams, manage dozens of social media profiles, and make unlimited scheduled posts. Hootsuite’s premium plans are as follows:
- Professional ($19/mo): 1 user, 10 social profiles, unlimited scheduling, 30-day free trial
- Team ($99/mo): 3 users, 20 social profiles, unlimited scheduling, 30-day free trial
- Business ($599/mo): 5+ users, 35 social profiles, unlimited scheduling, free demo
Hootsuite also has an Enterprise plan that can be customized to the needs of any business.
Verdict
TubeBuddy is the best VidIQ alternative while SocialBlade and Hootsuite are best for tracking social media statistics and managing posts respectively.
If you’re looking for an alternative to VidIQ that offers similar features, TubeBuddy will be your best option. It has most of the features you can find on VidIQ and does a better job with search scores and bulk processing.
SocialBlade and Hootsuite are not direct competitors to VidIQ but they offer powerful tools for tracking statistics and taking control of posts and audience engagement. These features will prove to be very important in your journey to YouTube success.
FAQs
TubeBuddy does offer a free option but to unlock some of the more useful features, you will need to get one of their paid plans.
Yes, VidIQ is YouTube certified. This means VidIQ has passed all YouTube’s standards for third-party tools.
Yes, Hootsuite can even schedule Instagram stories, a feature that is lacking in the Instagram app.
Yes, you can view the future projection charts of any YouTube channel for free. If you want to get premium graphs, however, you will need to become a Premium Member.