.png)
Over the last several years, VidIQ has cemented itself as a go-to tool for many YouTubers. YouTubers have come to rely on it for SEO audits, research, and strategy, among other things. But does it live up to the hype? In my VidIQ review, I attempt to give you an honest view of whether or not you should investing it, looking into its features, pros and cons and what I personally like and don't like.
Table of Contents
What is VidIQ?
VidIQ is an SEO tool designed specifically for YouTube. It offers a variety of features that help users optimize their videos, research relevant keywords, and track their performance. It's available as a web app and a Chrome extension, allowing users to access it directly on YouTube.
Being able to access the Chrome extension while being inside YouTube is incredible and makes adding it to my processes super simple.
VidIQ Web App Features
I typically just use the Chrome extension for anything I need from VidIQ but the web app is great, especially when digging into analytics. Here is a breakdown of their main tabs and features as of 2024.
The Today Tab
The Today tab on the VidIQ web app serves as the main dashboard, providing a comprehensive overview of your YouTube channel’s daily activities and growth strategies. This tab is designed to help you stay organized and focused on your goals with features like video ideas, lessons on the basics of YouTube, daily tasks, and a subscriber overview.
Optimize Your Latest Video
The Optimize Your Latest Video section gives you immediate feedback on your most recent upload, offering insights on crucial elements like title, thumbnail, and overall optimization. With specific scores for each aspect, you can quickly identify areas that need improvement and take actionable steps to enhance your YouTube video’s appeal and performance.
Daily Video Ideas
In the Daily Video Ideas section, VidIQ suggests a variety of content ideas tailored to your channel's niche and audience. Each idea comes with a view prediction indicator, helping you gauge the potential success of each topic. For even more ideas, upgrading your plan unlocks additional suggestions to keep your content fresh and engaging.
Daily Tasks
The Daily Tasks section keeps you on track with actionable steps to maintain your channel’s growth. This can include tasks like publishing videos, optimizing thumbnails, or other channel management activities. Completing these tasks regularly ensures consistent progress and helps build a strong foundation for your channel.
Today’s Growth Plan
Today’s Growth Plan is a series of structured lessons designed to help you master the essentials of YouTube success. These short, informative videos cover fundamental topics like defining your channel’s purpose, understanding YouTube’s algorithm, and strategies for attracting and retaining viewers. Each lesson is aimed at leveling up your YouTube expertise step by step.
Channel Stats
The Channel Stats section provides a snapshot of your channel’s performance metrics, such as views, subscribers, watch time, and retention rates. This real-time data allows you to monitor the growth of your YouTube channel and make informed decisions based on the latest trends. It also includes goal progress indicators to help you stay focused on achieving your targets.
Monetization Tracker
The Monetization Tracker helps you keep an eye on your progress toward meeting YouTube’s monetization requirements. It shows how many subscribers and watch hours you have accumulated, guiding you on what’s needed to start earning revenue from your content.
Subscribers Overview
In the Subscribers Overview section, you can unlock detailed insights into your subscribers' behavior and preferences. This includes data on the best times to publish content and the top videos and channels your subscribers watch. These insights are crucial for tailoring your content strategy to better engage and grow your audience.
Competitors
The Competitors section allows you to track and compare your performance against other channels in your niche. You can see key statistics for competitor channels, understand their growth patterns, and identify opportunities to differentiate your content. Adding more competitors can provide a broader view of the competitive landscape, which is available with an upgraded plan.
Growth Plan Progress
The Growth Plan Progress section outlines your advancement through various levels of channel development, from foundational strategies to advanced viewer engagement techniques. Each level includes specific lessons and tasks to help you systematically improve your channel’s performance and achieve your growth goals.
The Today Tab is your go-to place for generating fresh content ideas, tracking your progress, and learning new strategies to enhance your channel's performance.
The Generate Tab
The Generate Tab on VidIQ's web app is a tool designed to streamline the video creation process using AI. Personally, I rarely find much value outside of title and hook ideas but I know several people who live and breathe through this tool.
By entering a topic, the AI generates a variety of essential elements for your video:
Video titles
Thumbnail ideas
Hook ideas
CTA ideas
And more
This feature is particularly useful for YouTube Creators looking to optimize their videos for better reach and engagement without spending extensive time on brainstorming and research.
The Create Tab
The Create Tab on VidIQ’s web app uses AI to provide video ideas and inspiration by analyzing popular content that can be recreated or adapted to fit your channel, among other things. I find this tab to be incredibly useful to receive a continuous stream of relevant, data-backed video ideas to keep my audience engaged.
Saved Ideas
Here, you can find a collection of saved video ideas that VidIQ has suggested based on trends and keywords. Examples include "Does ChatGPT Change the Future of Content Creation?" and "Content Quantity Over Quality?" These suggestions are tailored to current trends and your channel and can help spark new content ideas.
Start From Your Idea
This feature allows you to enter your own video topic or title idea, and the AI will provide title and thumbnail recommendations to enhance your video’s appeal, similar to the Generate Tab.
Jump on Emerging Trends
VidIQ highlights trending topics and videos that you can capitalize on to attract more viewers. For instance, trends like "Cracking the YouTube Algorithm" or "Maximizing YouTube Shorts Features" can provide timely content that resonates with your audience.
Answer Your Audience
This section helps you leverage insights from your comments section to generate content directly addressing your viewers' questions and interests. I love this section. By responding to my audience's needs, I can create highly engaging content.
Reinvent Viral Videos
Get inspired by popular videos in your niche and see how you can put your unique spin on them. VidIQ shows metrics like views and engagement, highlighting successful videos. In my case, this looks like "How To Create A Community Post On YouTube Mobile" or "YouTube is Key to Becoming a Full-Time Content Creator."
Create Evergreen Content
For long-lasting value, VidIQ suggests ideas that perform well over time within your niche. This feature is essential for building a content library that continues to attract views and engagement well into the future.
Try Out Top Search Terms
Discover top search terms and create content around high-demand topics. VidIQ identifies popular keywords like "Denzel Washington Motivational Speech" to help you tap into what viewers are actively searching for.
Fill Content Gaps
Take advantage of high-demand topics in your niche where content is currently lacking. By addressing these content gaps, you can attract viewers who are looking for specific information or insights that are not readily available.
Double Down on Your Top Videos
Identify your top-performing videos and create sequels or follow-up content. For instance, if you have a video titled "Just start your channel already! You got this," which performed exceptionally well, VidIQ might suggest making a sequel to capitalize on its success.
The Optimize Tab
The Optimize Tab in VidIQ's web app highlights optimization opportunities within your existing content library. This tab helps ensure that your videos reach their maximum potential in terms of visibility and engagement.
By analyzing your videos, VidIQ provides actionable insights on how you can improve various elements such as titles, descriptions, tags, and thumbnails. These recommendations are designed to enhance your video's discoverability on YouTube and improve viewer retention.
The Keyword Tab
The Keyword Tab in VidIQ's web app provides insights into keyword opportunities that can help you optimize your YouTube content for better visibility and search rankings.
For each keyword, you can analyze data including estimated monthly search volume and keyword difficulty scores. The search volume indicates how many times a keyword is searched for on YouTube each month, giving you an idea of its popularity. The keyword difficulty score, on the other hand, shows how competitive it is to rank for that keyword, helping you gauge the effort required to achieve a good ranking.
Using this information, you can optimize your content for search engines with keywords to target in your video titles, video descriptions, video tags, hashtags and channel keywords.
Pro tip: Choose to focus on keywords with high search volumes but relatively low competition to maximize your chances of ranking well and attracting more viewers. Especially small, unestablished channels will benefit from targeting low-volume, low-difficulty keywords and creating solid content around those terms. As your channel scales and gains authority in your niche, you can start targeting high-volume keywords with a greater chance at success.
The Advanced Tabs for Premium Plans
In addition to the standard features, VidIQ offers several advanced tabs and functionalities for users with premium plans. These tools are designed to further enhance your YouTube strategy by providing more in-depth insights and capabilities.
AI or Personal Coach
With the premium plans, you gain access to an AI coach that offers personalized guidance and recommendations. Depending on the plan you choose, your AI coach or personal coach helps you optimize your channel's performance by providing tailored advice on various aspects such as content strategy, audience engagement, and video optimization.
Need a YouTube Coach? Learn more about my YouTube consulting services here.
Bulk SEO Processing
For creators managing a large library of videos, bulk SEO processing is a game-changer. This feature allows you to apply SEO improvements across multiple videos simultaneously, saving you significant time and effort. You can update video tags, descriptions, and other metadata in bulk, ensuring that all your content is optimized for search and discoverability.
This is particularly useful for maintaining consistency and maximizing the impact of your SEO efforts across your entire channel.
MORE Video Ideas
In case you STILL don’t know what your next video should be about, upgrading to a premium plan unlocks an even broader range of video ideas tailored to your niche. If you get VidIQ for anything, get it for the video ideas!
YouTube Learning Resources
Premium plans also offer access to a wealth of learning resources designed to help you master YouTube. These resources include advanced tutorials, in-depth guides, and exclusive content from VidIQ experts.
VidIQ Chrome Extension Features
VidIQ's Chrome extension offers features similar to the web app that enhance your YouTube experience. From the search results page to individual video and channel pages, the extension provides insights that can be leveraged to improve your video SEO.
Enhanced Search Engine Results Page (SERP) Insights
The VidIQ Chrome extension revolutionizes keyword research with its enhanced Search Engine Results Page (SERP) insights. Creators can quickly assess the competition level and search volume score for specific keywords through a visual graph, aiding in strategic keyword selection.
Moreover, the extension provides a detailed view of related searches and top channels targeting the keyword, offering valuable insights for content strategy and optimization.
Detailed Video Page Analysis
With the VidIQ Chrome extension, creators gain access to a detailed analysis of their videos right on the video page. They can quickly assess the general overview and thumbnail relevance, ensuring that their videos stand out in search results. Additionally, the extension provides social performance metrics, including likes, comments, and shares, giving creators insights into audience engagement beyond YouTube.
SEO Score and Optimization Checklist
The extension's SEO Score and Optimization Checklist provide creators with actionable insights to improve their video performance. The SEO Score, generated by VidIQ's algorithms, helps creators understand the effectiveness of their SEO efforts.
The Optimization Checklist highlights areas for improvement, such as tag length, use of end screens, and engagement strategies, empowering creators to optimize their videos for maximum visibility.
Content is king, so getting good SEO scores won’t necessarily launch your video into virality. But it is nice to see how you stand with some general SEO best practices, especially if you are new to SEO or YouTube.
How Much Does VidIQ Cost? Comparing VidIQ's Plans
From a free plan with basic features to more comprehensive paid options, VidIQ helps creators at every stage of their journey. Below is a breakdown of these plans as well as a side-by-side comparison.
Free Plan
The free plan provides essential tools and limited features to help creators get started on YouTube. While it offers a taste of VidIQ's capabilities, such as basic keyword insights and limited video ideas, the free plan is ideal for those looking to explore the platform's potential without committing to a paid subscription.
Boost Plan
Boost Plan Price
Monthly Price: $16.58/month
Annual Price: $199/year
Boost Plan Features
The Boost plan is designed for creators seeking advanced tools and features to elevate their channels. This plan includes:
Unlimited Inspiration & Ideation: Access to a wide range of video ideas and inspiration to keep your content engaging.
Optimize Your Videos for Peak Visibility: Advanced SEO tools to optimize videos for maximum reach.
Masterclasses from Top Creators: Exclusive masterclasses from successful YouTube creators.
Instant Channel Audit & AI Coaching: Immediate insights into your channel's performance and personalized coaching from VidIQ's AI.
The Boost plan offers a 7-day free trial.
Coaching Plan
Coaching Plan Price
Monthly Price: $99/month
Annual Price: $1,188/year
Coaching Plan Features
The Coaching plan is tailored for creators seeking personalized guidance and support. This plan includes:
Weekday Access to Your 1-on-1 Coach: Direct access to a personal coach for tailored advice and support.
Personal Channel Audit from Your Coach: An in-depth audit of your channel highlighting areas for improvement.
Step-by-step Growth Plan: A customized growth plan designed to help you achieve your channel goals efficiently.
Feedback on Thumbnails, Titles, Videos: Expert feedback on your content elements to enhance their appeal and effectiveness.
The Coaching plan is ideal for creators who prefer a more hands-on, personalized approach to growing their YouTube channel.
General Terms for All Plans
Automatic Renewal: Plans auto-renew monthly, providing continuous access without interruption.
Cancellation Policy: Users can cancel at any time, ensuring they are not locked into long-term commitments if unsatisfied.
Pricing Side-by-Side Comparison
Feature/Plan | Free Plan | Boost Plan | Coaching Plan |
Price (Monthly) | Free | $16.58 | $99 |
Price (Annual) | Free | $199 | $1,188 |
Inspiration & Ideation | Limited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
SEO Tools | Basic | Advanced | Advanced |
Masterclasses from Top Creators | Not Included | Included | Included |
Channel Audit & AI Coaching | Not Included | Instant | Instant + Personal Coach |
1-on-1 Coaching | Not Included | Not Included | Weekday Access |
Personal Channel Audit | Not Included | Not Included | Included |
Growth Plan | Not Included | Not Included | Included |
Feedback on Thumbnails, Titles, Videos | Not Included | Not Included | Included |
The Pros & Cons of VidIQ
Benefits of VidIQ
VidIQ offers many benefits for YouTubers and video creators (some of which I have talked about already). Below I wrap up my favorite benefits of the platform.
YouTube Certified: VidIQ’s certification by YouTube itself stands a testament to its credibility and alignment with YouTube's best practices, giving users confidence in the tool's effectiveness and reliability.
Free Plan Availability: Offering a free plan, VidIQ allows creators to explore its features thoroughly before committing financially, ensuring they can evaluate its value for their specific needs.
Great Support: Known for its excellent customer service, VidIQ provides support to its users, addressing questions and resolving issues, which is crucial for maintaining uninterrupted channel growth.
In-depth Channel Audits: The platform's comprehensive audits offer deep insights into channel performance, highlighting areas of strength and opportunities for improvement, thereby enabling informed decision-making.
Educational Resources: With an academy dedicated to YouTube training, VidIQ not only helps to optimize current content but also educates users on best practices, helping them stay ahead in the ever-evolving YouTube landscape.
User-Friendly Interface and Real-time Analytics: The intuitive design ensures ease of use, while the real-time analytics feature provides immediate feedback on video performance, aiding in swift content adjustments and strategy refinement.
Keyword Research and Competitor Analysis: These features allow creators to uncover high-potential keywords and gauge competitive landscapes, crafting strategies that can lead to better content visibility and audience engagement.
Cons of VidIQ
Since this is an honest review, below are some potential drawbacks of VidIQ.
Necessity of Boost Plan for Advanced Features: Essential features like in-depth keyword research are locked behind the Boost Plan, which could deter creators not ready to make a financial commitment from fully leveraging the tool’s capabilities.
Limited Free Plan Features: While VidIQ offers a free plan, its limited features may only suffice for absolute beginners, compelling users to upgrade to paid plans as their channel grows and their needs expand.
Cost Concerns for Smaller Channels: The pricing structure, particularly for the higher-tier plans, may be prohibitive for small channels or creators operating on a tight budget, especially if they seek to access advanced coaching features and analytics.
VidIQ vs YouTube Studio: What VidIQ Brings to the Table
When we look at VidIQ compared to the native features available in YouTube Studio, it's clear that VidIQ offers tools that enhance the YouTube content creation and optimization process.
Don’t get me wrong, YouTube Studio is great. But VidIQ absolutely adds another layer of data and details for YouTubers who are looking to improve their channel. Here's a detailed comparison of the features provided by VidIQ versus those available directly in YouTube Studio.
Feature | VidIQ | YouTube Studio |
Keyword Research | Provides in-depth keyword research with search volume, competition score, and related keywords | Limited to basic keyword suggestions during video upload |
Video SEO Score | Offers a comprehensive SEO score for videos based on various factors | No dedicated SEO score feature |
Tag Suggestions | Provides advanced tag suggestions based on search volume and competition | Basic tag suggestions based on common keywords |
Competitor Analysis | Allows tracking of competitor channels and provides detailed competitor metrics | No direct competitor analysis tools |
Best Time to Post | Suggests the best times to post based on audience activity | Limited to audience activity insights in YouTube Analytics |
Thumbnail Comparisons | Provides insights on how thumbnails compare to competitors | Basic thumbnail upload and A/B testing with YouTube Studio |
Social Media Metrics | Tracks video performance on social media platforms | Limited social media integration, mainly shares and views on YouTube |
Bulk SEO Updates | Allows bulk updating of video tags and metadata | Manual updates required for each video |
Video Performance Insights | Offers detailed insights on video performance, including views, engagement, and SEO metrics | Provides basic performance metrics like views, likes, comments, and watch time in YouTube Studio |
Channel-Wide Tags Analysis | Analyzes tags used across all videos and suggests improvements | No comprehensive tag analysis tool |
CSV Export | Allows exporting of video data for analysis | Limited data export options |
End Screen and Card Suggestions | Provides insights on the use of end screens and cards to optimize viewer retention | Basic end screen and card setup tools in YouTube Studio |
Subscriber Analysis | Offers detailed analysis of subscriber behavior and preferences | Provides basic subscriber count and activity metrics |
SEO Audit | Conducts a comprehensive SEO audit of the channel | No dedicated SEO audit tool |
In-Depth Analytics | Provides extensive analytics on video and channel performance | Provides detailed analytics but less focused on SEO-specific metrics |
Real-Time Updates | Offers real-time data updates and insights | Limited to real-time view count and basic metrics in YouTube Analytics |
Educational Resources | Extensive library of educational videos | Extensive library of educational videos |
So, Is VidIQ Worth It?
The answer to this question largely depends on your specific needs. I think it is worth it. But there are likely Creators who don't think the same way. The free plan, particularly the Chrome extension, covers all the basics of YouTube SEO and is more than enough for beginners. However, if you're looking for more advanced features and insights, the paid plans might be worth considering.
Ultimately, VidIQ offers a free trial and in my opinion, is worth a shot!
My Final Thoughts on VidIQ
Ok, this blog talks a lot about tons of different features and pros and cons. Here are my personal favorite features and things I don’t really use all that much.
Features I Like
1. Keyword Data
The keyword insights provided by VidIQ are incredibly useful for optimizing my content. Understanding which keywords have high search volumes and manageable competition helps me target the right audience and improve my video's discoverability.
2. SEO Assistance
VidIQ’s SEO tools are top-notch. They provide clear guidelines on how to optimize my video titles, write better descriptions, and improve tags to ensure they rank higher in search results. This feature is crucial for increasing visibility and driving organic traffic to my channel.
3. Competitor Analysis
Knowing what my competitors are doing gives me a strategic edge. VidIQ’s competitor analysis tools help me keep track of trending videos, popular content strategies, and keywords that my competitors are targeting, enabling me to refine my own approach.
4. Channel Audit
The instant channel audit feature provides comprehensive insights into my channel’s performance. It highlights areas for improvement, tracks my progress over time, and offers actionable recommendations to help me grow my audience and enhance engagement.
5. Search Results Insights
VidIQ’s insights into search results are invaluable. They allow me to see how my videos are performing in search, identify top-ranking content, and adjust my strategy to improve my positioning. This feature helps me stay competitive and relevant in my niche.
Features I Don't Care About (but you might!)
As I said, some features are less critical for my specific needs.
1. AI Video Ideas
Although it’s useful to have AI-generated video ideas, I prefer to rely on my own creativity and market research to develop content that resonates with my audience.
2. AI Coach
The personalized coaching from AI is a nice addition, but I find that my own experience and knowledge of YouTube are sufficient for guiding my channel’s growth.
3. Daily Tasks
VidIQ’s daily tasks feature is intended to help creators stay on track, but I prefer to manage my own schedule and prioritize tasks based on my unique workflow.
4. Today’s Growth Plan
While structured growth plans can be helpful, I find more value in tailoring my strategies to fit my channel’s specific needs rather than following a predefined plan.
5. Monetization Tracker
Tracking monetization progress is important, but I have other methods for monitoring my channel’s revenue streams that I find more effective.
6. The Generate Tab
This tab offers AI-generated suggestions for titles, tags, and descriptions. However, I prefer to craft these elements myself to ensure they align with my channel’s branding and voice.
Just because I don’t find a ton of value from these features doesn’t mean you won’t. Give the free plan a shot and see what works for you and your process and what doesn’t.
Download VIDIQ for Free
By leveraging VidIQ’s capabilities, you can stay ahead of the competition, fine-tune your content strategy, and ultimately achieve greater success on YouTube. Whether you’re a new creator or an experienced one looking to optimize your channel further, VidIQ has the resources to help you reach your goals.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you download the Chrome extension?
To download the VidIQ Chrome extension, follow these steps:
Open the Chrome Web Store in your browser.
Search for "VidIQ Vision for YouTube."
Click on the VidIQ extension from the search results.
Click the "Add to Chrome" button.
Confirm the installation by clicking "Add Extension" in the pop-up window.
Once installed, the VidIQ icon will appear in your browser’s toolbar. Click on it to sign in or create a VidIQ account.
How do you use VidIQ?
How much does VidIQ cost?
Which VidIQ plan should I choose?
Is VidIQ free?
Is it safe to connect YouTube to VidIQ?
Written by Rob Miller
Founder, Creator Essentials
Rob has been on YouTube since 2016 and has worked on dozens of channels and websites, including his own, amassing hundreds of millions of views and hundreds of thousands of subscribers.