# TubeBuddy review (2026): is it worth it? > YouTube browser extension for keyword research, SEO and A/B tests Checked Oct 23, 2026 ยท graded Oct 23, 2026 by ToolGPA. TubeBuddy is a YouTube growth toolkit that works mostly through a browser extension inside YouTube and YouTube Studio, with a web dashboard and mobile apps. It covers keyword research, scoring of titles, tags and descriptions, thumbnail and title A/B tests, channel analytics and bulk editing of videos. TubeBuddy was bought by the media company GameSquare in February 2026. - **Category:** YouTube SEO Tools - **Made by:** TubeBuddy (GameSquare) - **Website:** https://www.tubebuddy.com - **Runs on:** Web, Browser extension, iOS, Android - **Who should skip it:** Watch out: no US price could be read, as the pricing page fills it in by script and showed regional prices. - **Facts last checked:** Oct 23, 2026 ## Pricing TubeBuddy's current pricing could not be confirmed from its own site. ## Ways to pay less - **Save 20% with yearly billing** (Annual discount): TubeBuddy's pricing page offers a per-year option on Pro and Legend marked as saving 20% against monthly billing. Source: https://www.tubebuddy.com/pricing - **Special discount for US nonprofits** (Nonprofit): The pricing page says 501(c)(3) nonprofits qualify for a special discount; the amount is not stated. Source: https://www.tubebuddy.com/pricing ## Key features - **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. ## Good for - Creators who want SEO help inside YouTube Studio as they upload - Channels testing thumbnails and titles against each other - Creators managing a large back catalog with bulk edits ## Worth knowing - 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. ## ToolGPA grades **GPA: 2.0 out of 4**, graded Oct 23, 2026. TubeBuddy works inside YouTube and YouTube Studio as a browser extension, scoring titles and tags as you write them and running thumbnail and title A/B tests. We couldn't put a US price on it: the pricing page fills prices in by script and showed regional ones when we read it. Its phone app is rated 2.9, Firefox and Safari aren't supported, and bigger channels are pushed to Enterprise. - **Value for money: C.** No 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: C.** Every 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: B.** Keyword 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: F.** 2.9 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: B.** Web, 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. These are ToolGPA's own grades. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from TubeBuddy's own pages on 23 October 2026, and its App Store rating. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews. ## Where it stands among YouTube SEO tools - TubeBuddy's GPA of 2.0 is higher than 6 of the 28 other YouTube SEO tools we grade, and level with 4. - It stands best on features (B, above 26 of 28) and worst on ease of use (F, above 0). The category's chart of price against score: https://toolgpa.com/charts/youtube-seo ## Keep it, or make your own? **Keep it.** To replace TubeBuddy you would be making search volumes for millions of keywords, gathered and kept up to date. That is not a weekend's work, with an AI app builder or without one. That makes this kind of software worth paying for, not this one in particular: 18 of the 28 other YouTube SEO tools grade higher. - You could not: Search volumes for millions of keywords, gathered and kept up to date. - You could not: Search data for YouTube topics and channels. - You could not: Splitting visitors between versions and telling you which won. - You could not: A real app for iOS and Android. Something home-made would be a web page. - You could not: AI features, unless you pay a model provider for each request yourself. - You could not: The depth: we grade its features B, which means it covers the whole job. A judgement by ToolGPA from this listing, by rules that are the same for every tool. Nothing was built to test it. ## Works with YouTube, YouTube Studio **Tags:** YouTube SEO, Keyword research, A/B testing, AI features ## Alternatives - [vidIQ](https://toolgpa.com/tools/vidiq): YouTube keyword research, video ideas and AI coaching for creators. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/tubebuddy-vs-vidiq) - [Morningfame](https://toolgpa.com/tools/morningfame): Invite-only YouTube analytics and keyword research for small channels. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/morningfame-vs-tubebuddy) - [Social Blade](https://toolgpa.com/tools/social-blade): Daily follower and view statistics for YouTube and four other networks. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/social-blade-vs-tubebuddy) - [1of10](https://toolgpa.com/tools/1of10): YouTube outlier finder with AI thumbnails, titles and video ideas. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/1of10-vs-tubebuddy) - [Rapidtags](https://toolgpa.com/tools/rapidtags): YouTube tag generator with keyword research and video rank checks. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/rapidtags-vs-tubebuddy) ## Sources The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Oct 23, 2026: - https://www.tubebuddy.com/pricing - https://www.tubebuddy.com/ - https://www.tubebuddy.com/mobile - https://www.tubebuddy.com/website-acquisition-announcement/ - https://tubebuddyhelp.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/53959031641363-What-browsers-does-the-TubeBuddy-extension-support - https://tubebuddyhelp.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/53959031099155-How-to-Cancel-Your-TubeBuddy-License - https://tubebuddyhelp.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/53959029128979-Signing-Up-and-Registering-Your-Channel - https://tubebuddyhelp.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/53959050725011-Suggested-Shorts-FAQs Page: https://toolgpa.com/tools/tubebuddy Listed by ToolGPA (toolgpa.com).