Channelcrawler vs vidIQ (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, we pick vidIQ: it is first in our ranking of YouTube SEO tools, and it grades higher too, 2.8 against 2.0.
Checked Oct 23, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 23, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
vidIQ grades higher on value for money, features and ease of use. They get the same grade on the free plan and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Channelcrawler
YouTube channel database for finding creators to sponsor
vidIQ
YouTube keyword research, video ideas and AI coaching for creators
Which one is for you
Pick Channelcrawler if
- Fits if you're a brand or agency hunting for YouTube creators to sponsor
- Works for outreach teams that want contact emails in bulk
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want to rank your own videos, as it's a creator database
- Pricey if you only need a few lookups, with Starter at $59 a month
- Tight if credits run out, since searches and email lookups pause until the next billing date
- Not for you if you work as a team, because Starter and Power are single-user and shared workspaces need Enterprise
- Watch out: Starter has no sponsorship data, and brand alerts are marked as coming soon
Pick vidIQ if
- Fits if you want keyword scores and upload suggestions for one channel at under $20 a month
- Works for creators who turn the same ideas into YouTube videos and Instagram Reels
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you lean on the AI tools, since Free has 150 credits a month and every thumbnail, clip and MCP call spends them
- Watch out: bigger credit allowances on Boost and MAX, and the Chat Coaching plan, are offered with no price shown
- Skip it if you run more than 3 channels or share it with a team, as that means the custom-priced Enterprise plan
- Pricey if you want a coach: VIP Coaching is $3,830 a year, paid upfront, non-refundable and for one English-speaking channel
How we grade them
| 2.0GPAChannelcrawlerFair | 2.8GPAvidIQGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | DStarter is $59 a month billed yearly for one user, and sponsorship data needs Power at $117. YouTube SEO tools start at $15 for the cheaper quarter and $83 for the dearest tenth. | CBoost is $16.58 a month on yearly billing ($19 monthly) for one channel, just above the $15 that marks this category's cheaper quarter, so it sits in the ordinary middle. MAX is $39 a month yearly ($49 monthly). |
| Free plan and trial | CA free trial on every plan, but the page doesn't say whether a card is needed, and there's no free plan. | CFree for good, with niche trends, content ideas, AI Coach tips and MCP. But the main tools are only partly open, and 150 AI credits a month won't go far once thumbnails, clips and MCP calls start spending them. |
| Features | CSearch, email credits, lookalike channels and a REST API. Brand alerts are marked as coming soon. | BKeyword research with volume and competition scores, daily ideas and outliers, title, tag and description suggestions inside the upload page, AI thumbnails, Shorts clipping, an AI Coach and Instagram tools. Nothing in the listing shows a gap in the core job. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating on record. Credits, saved searches and filters take learning. | A4.8 from about 20,000 App Store ratings for its phone app. The extension puts its scores straight onto YouTube's own pages. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb app with a REST API, but no desktop or phone apps. | BWeb, a browser extension, iPhone and Android, with MCP for Claude, ChatGPT and Cursor, plus Slack and Perplexity. There's no desktop app, which keeps it off an A. |
| Best for | finding YouTube creators for a sponsorship | YouTube keyword research and video ideas |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Channelcrawler and vidIQ. How we grade
Price against what you get
Channelcrawler starts at $59 a month and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. vidIQ starts at $16.58 a month and scores 3.3.
vidIQ scores higher and starts $42.42 a month lower. Of the other YouTube SEO tools on the chart, 2 score higher than Channelcrawler for less, and none scores higher than vidIQ for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Channelcrawler also covers databases and reports.
- vidIQ also covers keyword research, image generation and youTube SEO.
At a glance
| Channelcrawler | vidIQ | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free plan |
| Starts at | $59 per month, billed annually ($99 billed monthly) | $16.58 per month for 1 channel, billed annually ($19 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | None | 150 AI credits a month, niche trends, data-backed content ideas, growth tips from the AI Coach and vidIQ MCP, with limited access to the main tools. |
| Free trial | Free trial on every plan; the page says it gives access to channel search, filters and results. | None listed |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | ChannelCrawler | vidIQ |
| Price read from | channelcrawler.com | vidiq.com |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Oct 23, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Channelcrawler
- It is a creator-discovery database, not a tool for optimizing your own videos or rankings.
- Searches and email lookups pause when monthly credits run out until the next billing date.
- Starter has no sponsorship data, and the brand alerts listed on Power and Enterprise are marked as coming soon.
- Starter and Power are single-user; shared workspaces need Enterprise.
vidIQ
- Prices are for one channel; more than 3 channels or several team members need the custom-priced Enterprise plan.
- AI tools and MCP calls spend credits: 150 a month on Free. Larger credit allowances can be chosen on Boost and MAX, but the page shows no price for them.
- Coaching covers one English-speaking channel, and annual coaching plans are paid upfront and non-refundable.
- The Chat Coaching plan's price is not shown in the coaching page's text; only VIP Coaching's is.
Key features
Channelcrawler
- Channel search
- Search a database of 35M+ YouTube channels with 40+ filters such as niche, size, performance and engagement.
- Email credits
- Unlock creator email addresses in the app or export them as a CSV; credits renew monthly and extra search credits can be bought.
- Sponsorship intelligence
- Track which brands appear in YouTube videos, see their repeat partnerships and compare share of voice. Power and Enterprise only.
- Lookalike channels
- Give it a channel you already like and it looks for similar ones. Uses search credits and needs Power or Enterprise.
- List import and enrichment
- Upload channel IDs or URLs, add emails and social handles, and export a cleaned list.
- REST API
- A separate API searches channels and returns channel metrics, emails and social handles.
vidIQ
- Keyword research
- Look up YouTube keywords with search volume and competition scores, alongside AI-suggested keywords for a channel.
- Video ideas and outliers
- Daily ideas tuned to a channel and niche, trend alerts, and outlier videos that are doing far better than their channel's usual.
- Upload optimization
- Suggested titles, descriptions and tags, a video score, and a best time to post, shown inside the YouTube upload flow by the extension.
- Thumbnails and clipping
- An AI thumbnail maker, and a clipping tool that cuts long videos into Shorts and TikToks. Both draw on the plan's AI credits.
- AI Coach and vidIQ MCP
- An AI Coach reads a channel and suggests a growth plan; vidIQ MCP brings vidIQ data into Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor on every plan, Free included.
- Instagram tools
- The same subscription covers Reel ideas, hook and hashtag analysis on any public Reel, and clips cut for Reels.
Plans
Channelcrawler
Starter$59
per month for 1 user, billed annually ($99 billed monthly)
2,000 search credits and 50 email credits a month, 10 saved searches and 200 saved channels. No sponsorship intelligence.
Power$117
per month for 1 user, billed annually ($195 billed monthly)
10,000 search credits and 250 email credits a month, plus sponsorship intelligence: 5 tracked brands, 25 brand profiles and share-of-voice for 15 brands a month, lookalikes.
Enterprise$6,000
per year, for 2 or more users
Sold through sales; shown as $500 a month paid yearly. 40,000+ search credits and 1,000+ email credits a month, shared workspace and 1-1 support.
vidIQ
Free$0
150 AI credits a month, niche trends, content ideas, AI Coach tips and vidIQ MCP for Claude or ChatGPT.
Boost$16.58
per month for 1 channel, billed annually ($19 billed monthly)
2,000 AI credits a month (2,500 or 3,000 can be chosen), AI thumbnails, unlimited trends research and subscriber insights, and masterclasses.
MAX$39
per month for 1 channel, billed annually ($49 billed monthly)
Everything in Boost with 6,000 AI credits a month (up to 10,000), up to 3x the AI Coach conversations and up to 11 hours of clipping.
VIP Coaching$319
per month, billed annually ($3,830 a year)
A dedicated 1-on-1 coach with recurring live calls and unlimited messaging, plus vidIQ Max and 6,000 AI credits a month, for one channel.
EnterpriseCustom
For brands, agencies and networks: every channel, roles and permissions, cross-channel reporting and priority onboarding. Sold after a demo.
Ways to pay less
Channelcrawler
- Annual discount
Annual billing saves 40%
The pricing page shows -40% when billed yearly: $708 a year for Starter and $1,404 a year for Power.
vidIQ
- Annual discount
Save up to 20% with yearly billing
vidIQ lists Boost at $199 a year instead of $19 a month ($228), and MAX at $468 a year instead of $49 a month ($588).
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Channelcrawler or vidIQ?
As of Nov 12, 2026, vidIQ is cheaper to start with: $16.58 a month, against $59 a month for Channelcrawler. Channelcrawler starts at $59 per month, billed annually ($99 billed monthly), and vidIQ starts at $16.58 per month for 1 channel, billed annually ($19 billed monthly).
Which has a free plan, Channelcrawler or vidIQ?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only vidIQ has a free plan. Channelcrawler does not, though it has a free trial.
Which platforms do Channelcrawler and vidIQ run on?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only vidIQ lists iOS and Android apps and a browser extension. Both list a web app. A platform missing from a listing is one its maker's pages did not mention.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.