Social Blade vs TubeBuddy (2026): which should you pick?
As of Oct 23, 2026, Social Blade grades higher than TubeBuddy: 2.8 against 2.0 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 23, 2026 · graded Oct 23, 2026 by ToolGPA
Social Blade grades higher on value for money, the free plan and ease of use. TubeBuddy grades higher on features and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Social Blade
Daily follower and view statistics for YouTube and four other networks
TubeBuddy
YouTube browser extension for keyword research, SEO and A/B tests
Which one is for you
Pick Social Blade if
- Fits if you check your own and rivals' daily subscriber and view counts
- Works for agencies shortlisting creators by country and category across five networks
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want keyword research or help with titles and tags, as it only reports numbers
- Watch out: a profile's history starts when Social Blade first added it, and YouTube history stops at three years
- Tight if you're staying free, with ads, 5 favorites per platform and only a short window of daily data
- Watch out: plans are listed billed yearly, and no monthly price was in the page text on record
- Pricey if you need the API, as credits are bought separately and the included ones don't roll over
Pick TubeBuddy if
- Fits if you want title and tag scores while you upload in YouTube Studio on Chrome or Edge
- Works for creators testing two thumbnails or titles against each other on the same live video
Look elsewhere if
- Watch out: no US price could be read, as the pricing page fills it in by script and showed regional prices
- Skip it if you use Firefox or Safari, as the extension no longer supports Firefox and never supported Safari
- Not for you if you have 50k+ subscribers, several channels or 3+ managers, which TubeBuddy steers to Enterprise
- Tight if you share the work, since Pro has one user and Legend two seats, on one channel each
- Tight if you're staying free, as Starter opens a limited set of tools and bulk editing waits on Legend
How we grade them
| 2.8GPASocial BladeGood | 2.0GPATubeBuddyFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | ABronze is $59.99 a year, $5 a month, well under the $7.20 that's 60% of this category's cheaper quarter. Daily charts need Silver at $149.99 a year ($12.50 a month), just above that quarter's $12. | CNo US price is on record. The pricing page fills its prices in by script, and the copy served to us showed regional prices, so it can't be placed against this category's $19 middle. A license covers one channel. |
| Free plan and trial | BFree with ads: profile stats, live counts, projections, top lists of 100 and 5 favorites per platform. You could live on that for checking channels, but daily table data only covers a short window. | CEvery channel added gets a free Starter license, but it opens a limited set of tools, and the rest wait on Pro or Legend. No trial is listed. |
| Features | CDaily stats for about 171 million creators on five networks, top lists, a favorites dashboard, PDF report cards and an API. It does tracking fully, but that's a smaller job than this category's, and report cards cover YouTube only. | BKeyword Explorer with search volume, SEO Studio scoring as you write, thumbnail and title A/B tests on live videos, channel analytics with competitor scorecards, bulk editing and next-video ideas. That covers the whole job, though bulk editing sits on Legend. |
| Ease of use | BNo rating on record. You type a channel name and the numbers are there, with nothing to connect or set up first. | F2.9 from 434 App Store ratings for its phone app, under the 3.0 line. Most of the work happens in the extension, which you install and link to your channel first. |
| Platforms and integrations | CWeb only, with no app or extension. The Business API is the one way to connect it to anything, and its credits are bought separately beyond the 5 to 50 a month on Silver and up. | BWeb, an extension for Chrome, Edge and Opera, iPhone and Android. It connects to YouTube and YouTube Studio only, with no desktop app or API on record. |
| Best for | checking any creator's daily numbers | SEO help inside YouTube Studio |
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: Social Blade and TubeBuddy. How we grade
Where they differ
- Social Blade also covers reports.
- TubeBuddy also covers keyword research, a/B testing and youTube SEO.
At a glance
| Social Blade | TubeBuddy | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $59.99 per year, billed annually ($5.00 a month) | Not published |
| Free plan | Free account: profile statistics with ads, live counts, future projections, 5 favorites per platform, top lists of 100 and a short window of daily table data. | Every channel added gets a free Starter license with a limited set of tools; paid Pro and Legend licenses unlock the rest. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | Social Blade, LLC | TubeBuddy (GameSquare) |
| Price read from | web.archive.org (not the vendor's own page) | Not confirmed |
| Checked | Oct 23, 2026 | Oct 23, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Social Blade
- Paid plans are shown billed yearly; the monthly-billing prices were not in the page text read.
- Data begins only when a profile was first added to Social Blade, and YouTube history stops at three years.
- Report cards cover YouTube channels only.
- Business API credits are bought separately; Silver and above include 5 to 50 a month, which are used first and do not roll over.
TubeBuddy
- Prices are filled in by a script that could not be read for US visitors, and the page shown in India lists regional prices, so none are given here.
- Pro and Legend are for individual creators; channels with 50k+ subscribers, several channels, 3+ managers or 50+ staff are steered to Enterprise.
- A license covers one YouTube channel. Pro has one user and Legend two seats; more needs Enterprise.
- The extension supports Chrome, Edge and Opera; the help center says it no longer supports Firefox and never supported Safari.
Key features
Social Blade
- Daily statistics on five networks
- Tracks daily growth for about 171 million creators across YouTube, TikTok, Twitch, Facebook and Instagram, with live counts and future projections.
- Top lists
- Ranks the most followed or subscribed profiles globally, by country or by category, or by Social Blade's own SB Rank. Paid plans show longer lists.
- Favorites dashboard
- Favorited profiles appear in a sidebar and on a personal dashboard that compares their past month: 5 per platform free, up to 500 on Platinum.
- Historical data and charts
- Free users get a short window of daily figures plus weekly and monthly charts; memberships add longer daily tables, up to a year or more, and daily-level charts.
- YouTube report cards
- Downloadable PDF summaries of a YouTube channel's performance, for sharing with brands or clients. From 1 to 100 a month depending on plan.
- Custom reports and Business API
- Filtered lists of creators that export to Excel, open to anyone, and a paid API for pulling Social Blade data into other systems.
TubeBuddy
- Keyword Explorer
- Researches YouTube search terms with search volume data and suggests related keywords to target in a title and tags.
- SEO Studio
- Scores a video's title, tags and description as you write them and lists what to change, with a tag generator and Insta-Suggest.
- Thumbnail and title A/B tests
- Rotates thumbnail or title variants on a live video, measures click-through rate and picks the winner.
- Channel analytics
- Channelytics, a channel health report, competitor scorecards and upload alerts, and a niche leaderboard.
- Bulk editing
- Bulk processing tools for end screens, cards, descriptions and thumbnail overlays, listed as part of the Legend license.
- Next Video Ideas
- Suggests topics for the next upload; Pro has limited access, Legend more, and Enterprise unlimited.
Plans
Social Blade
Free (Logged In)$0
Profile statistics with ads, 5 favorites per platform and top lists of 100.
Bronze$59.99
per year, billed annually ($5.00 a month)
No ads, 15 favorites per platform, top 250 lists, 1 YouTube report card a month and up to 30 days of table data.
Silver$149.99
per year, billed annually ($12.50 a month)
25 favorites, top 500 lists, 10 report cards a month, 60 days of table data, weekly and daily charts, and 5 Business API credits a month.
Gold$599.99
per year, billed annually ($50.00 a month)
100 favorites, top 1,000 lists, 50 report cards a month, 180 days of table data and 20 Business API credits a month.
Platinum$1,439.99
per year, billed annually ($120.00 a month)
500 favorites, top 5,000 lists, 100 report cards a month, 365 days of table data and 50 Business API credits a month.
TubeBuddy
Pricing could not be confirmed. See tubebuddy.com.
Ways to pay less
Social Blade
- Annual discount
Save up to 20% with yearly billing
Social Blade's plan page lists a 17% saving on Bronze, Silver and Gold and 20% on Platinum when billed yearly instead of monthly.
TubeBuddy
- Annual discount
Save 20% with yearly billing
TubeBuddy's pricing page offers a per-year option on Pro and Legend marked as saving 20% against monthly billing.
- Nonprofit
Special discount for US nonprofits
The pricing page says 501(c)(3) nonprofits qualify for a special discount; the amount is not stated.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Social Blade or TubeBuddy?
As of Oct 23, 2026, Social Blade starts at $59.99 per year, billed annually ($5.00 a month), and TubeBuddy has no price we could confirm.
Which has a free plan, Social Blade or TubeBuddy?
As of Oct 23, 2026, both Social Blade and TubeBuddy have a free plan.
Which platforms do Social Blade and TubeBuddy run on?
As of Oct 23, 2026, only TubeBuddy 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.