ComparisonVerified September 2026
Social Blade vs Viewstats 2026: Free Stats or Pro Analytics?
Social Blade and Viewstats both show YouTube channel stats, but they answer different questions. Social Blade is a free record of public numbers across platforms; Viewstats, owned by MrBeast, is an analytics suite for finding what works in a niche. Here is which one wins each job.
We make Kavinto, a YouTube niche research tool that is not part of this comparison. Both tools are described only from their own public pages, checked on September 29, 2026. How we compared
On this page
The short answer
- Free channel pages: Both
- Outliers and thumbnails: Viewstats
- Tracking competitors: Viewstats
- TikTok, Twitch, Instagram: Social Blade
- Cheapest paid plan: Social Blade
- Report cards for brands: Social Blade
Who wins each job
Social Blade and Viewstats overlap, but they are built for different jobs. Here is the better pick for each one:
| The job | Better pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Look up any channel's numbers free | Both | Free channel pages on both; Social Blade adds live counts |
| Estimate what a channel earns | Both | Earnings ranges on both free channel pages |
| Find outlier videos in a niche | Viewstats | Outliers on Pro; Social Blade lists no outlier search |
| Find thumbnails that get clicks | Viewstats | Thumbnail Search on Pro |
| Track competitors and trends | Viewstats | Competitors and Alerts on Pro |
| Stats beyond YouTube | Social Blade | TikTok, Twitch, Facebook and Instagram too |
| Send monthly reports to brands | Social Blade | Downloadable report cards from Bronze up |
| Pay the least for a paid plan | Social Blade | Bronze is $5.99/mo, or $59.99/yr; Pro is $49.99/mo |
| Business data and API | Both | Business API credits on Social Blade; Business API on Viewstats Business |
Features side by side
| Feature | Social Blade | Viewstats |
|---|---|---|
| Outlier videos | Not listed | Yes (Pro) |
| Similar channels | Paid plans | On channel pages |
| Revenue / RPM estimates | Earnings ranges on every channel page | 28-day revenue range on free channel pages |
| Channel reports | Report cards on paid plans | Channel and video analytics |
| Browser extension | Not listed | Chrome extension |
| API | Business API credits on Silver and up | Business API on Business |
| Free plan or trial | Free | Free account |
| Platforms | YouTube, TikTok, Twitch, Facebook, Instagram | YouTube |
| Outlier videos | Not listed | Pro |
| Thumbnail search | Not listed | Pro |
| Competitor tracking | Favorites: 5 free, up to 500 paid | Competitors and Alerts on Pro |
| Future projections | Every tier, including free | Projections tab on channel pages |
| Top lists | 100 free, up to 5,000 paid | On the free site |
| History | Tables: 30 days free, more on paid plans | Charts from 7 days to all time |
| Yearly billing | Yes, 17% to 20% off | Not listed |
| Community | Discord | Discord, 17,000+ creators |
Pricing side by side
| Plan | Billed monthly | Billed yearly | Includes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Social Blade Free | Free | Free | With ads; a free account adds 5 favorites per platform and top 100 lists |
| Social Blade Bronze | $5.99/mo | $59.99/yr$5.00/month; saves $11.89/yr (17%) | No ads, 15 favorites, top 250 lists, similar channels, 30 days of table data, 1 report card a month |
| Social Blade Silver | $14.99/mo | $149.99/yr$12.50/month; saves $29.89/yr (17%) | 25 favorites, top 500 lists, 60 days of table data, daily charts, 10 report cards, 5 API credits a month |
| Social Blade Gold | $59.99/mo | $599.99/yr$50.00/month; saves $119.89/yr (17%) | 100 favorites, top 1,000 lists, 180 days of table data, 50 report cards, 20 API credits a month |
| Social Blade Platinum | $149.99/mo | $1,439.99/yr$120.00/month; saves $359.89/yr (20%) | 500 favorites, top 5,000 lists, up to 365 days of table data, 100 report cards, 50 API credits a month |
| Viewstats Free | Free | Free | Free account and free site with top lists |
| Viewstats Pro | $49.99/mo | Not offered | Competitors, Outliers, Analytics, Alerts, Collections, Thumbnail Search, Pro Discord |
| Viewstats Business | from $249/mo | Not offered | Unlimited credits, creator discovery, Business API, volume licensing |
The core differences
- A record, or a research tool. Social Blade records public numbers: subscribers, views, projections, live counts and top lists, on every tier including free. Viewstats Pro is about what to make next: outlier videos, thumbnail search, competitor tracking, alerts and collections for planning.
- Platforms. Social Blade covers YouTube, TikTok, Twitch, Facebook and Instagram. Viewstats is built around YouTube.
- Price. Social Blade has four paid plans with monthly and yearly billing, from Bronze at $5.99/mo, or $59.99/yr to Platinum at $149.99/mo, or $1,439.99/yr. Viewstats has one self-serve plan, Pro at $49.99/mo, with no yearly discount listed, and Business from $249 a month.
- What free gets you. Social Blade is free with ads, and a free account adds 5 favorites per platform and top lists of 100. Viewstats has a free account and a free site with top lists and channel pages that show growth charts, a 28-day revenue range, projections and similar channels; its research tools are on Pro.
- Who is behind it. Social Blade has run since 2008. Viewstats was built by the team behind MrBeast's analytics, and its FAQ confirms MrBeast owns it.
Which one to choose
Choose Social Blade if
- You want live subscriber counts
- You track TikTok or Twitch too
- You send report cards to brands
- You want the cheapest paid plan
Choose Viewstats if
- You want outlier video ideas
- You search thumbnails that work
- You track competitors with alerts
- You plan packaging before upload
When to use both
Social Blade is free, so it costs nothing to keep it for quick lookups next to Viewstats. One way to use both: check a channel's public growth on Social Blade, then use Viewstats Pro to study why its videos work and track it with alerts.
Frequently asked questions
Is Viewstats better than Social Blade?
For deciding what to make, yes: Viewstats Pro adds outliers, thumbnail search, competitor tracking and alerts. For free public stats across several platforms, Social Blade is the better tool, and it costs nothing.
Which is cheaper, Social Blade or Viewstats?
Social Blade. As checked on September 29, 2026 from the US, Bronze is $5.99/mo, or $59.99/yr and Platinum $149.99/mo, or $1,439.99/yr. Viewstats Pro is $49.99/mo with no yearly discount listed, and Business starts at $249 a month.
Are Social Blade and Viewstats free?
Both have free options. Social Blade's public stats are free with ads, and a free account adds favorites. Viewstats has a free account and free channel pages with growth charts and a revenue range; its research tools need Pro.
Does Viewstats cover TikTok or Instagram?
Viewstats is built around YouTube. Social Blade covers YouTube, TikTok, Twitch, Facebook and Instagram.
Who owns Viewstats?
MrBeast. Viewstats' FAQ says so directly, and it was built by the team behind MrBeast's analytics.
Can either one help me pick a niche?
Only partly. Both estimate what a single channel earns, and Viewstats shows what works inside a niche you already chose, but neither lists channels by earnings across niches. For that, use a niche research tool such as Kavinto or TubeLab.
How we compared
Social Blade and Viewstats are described only from their own public pricing and feature pages. Everything was checked on September 29, 2026. We did not use paid accounts for this page, nobody paid to be covered and none of the links are affiliate links.
Prices were read from each pricing page as seen from the US, in both billing periods where the page offers both. A feature marked "Not listed" is one we could not find on the tool's own pages, which is not the same as the tool not having it. Read our editorial standards for how we check and correct these pages.
Related reading
Judge a niche before you copy it
Start free with limited channel previews and 3 channel reports per day. No credit card required.