vidIQ Alternatives 2026: 5 Options, 4 Free
vidIQ alternatives: TubeBuddy, Social Blade, Keyword Tool, Keywords Everywhere and 1 more. Prices and licenses checked October 22, 2026.
•2 min read•Social Media & Ads
Verdict:Leave vidIQ if the free plan's 150 AI credits a month run out and you are not ready to pay $19 for Boost. The vidIQ pricing page shows Free at $0, Boost at $19 a month or $199 a year, and MAX at $49 monthly or $468 yearly; MAX may show $39 a month on the plan card. TubeBuddy is the direct comparison because it also has a free plan and a browser extension; check its paid prices first. Social Blade is a better fit when you mainly want to see how channels are growing, and it is free. For keyword research alone, Keyword Tool's free plan gives suggestions drawn from YouTube search, and Keywords Everywhere starts at $7 a month on annual billing with a credit per lookup. Viewstats has a free account, so check its limits. The trade-off is coverage. Each alternative covers one slice, either stats, keywords or optimisation, where vidIQ bundles scoring, ideas and coaching in one dashboard. If you only ever use the keyword search, a cheaper single-purpose tool will do. If you rely on the AI suggestions, stay on vidIQ or try TubeBuddy's free plan first.
Quick comparison
| Tool | Price | Platforms | Best for | Tested |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TubeBuddy | Free (Forever plan, no card required; the page does not list its features. Free Tools include a Revenue Calculator, Thumbnail Preview, mobile app and Chrome extension) | Web, Browser extension, Mobile | Closest free-tier rival for channel tools | Docs only |
| Social Blade | Free | Web | Tracking channel growth for free | Docs only |
| Keyword Tool | Free (Free plan shows keyword suggestions and some data with no account needed) | Web | Free keyword ideas from YouTube search | Docs only |
| Keywords Everywhere | Paid from $7 per month, billed annually (Bronze, $84 a year, 100,000 credits a year) | Browser extension | Cheap volume lookups | Docs only |
| Viewstats | Free | Web | Channel analytics trial | Docs only |
Independent comparison. Paid placements are labelled separately; editorial links earn no affiliate commissions. Learn more.
Good fit if
- You want another free plan with channel tools (TubeBuddy is the pick)
- You want to watch channel growth for free (Social Blade is the pick)
- You only need YouTube keyword ideas (Keyword Tool is the pick)
- You want paid keyword volume at a low monthly cost (Keywords Everywhere is the pick)
- You want to test channel analytics with a free account (Viewstats is the pick)
Not ideal if
- You rely on vidIQ features or integrations that these tools do not replicate
vidIQ today: Free (Free plan: 150 AI credits a month, niche trends, content ideas, AI Coach growth tips, MCP access); paid from $19 per month (Boost; $199 a year). Max is $49 monthly or $468 a year (vidIQ pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Why people look for vidIQ alternatives
vidIQ's Free plan includes 150 AI credits a month and limited access to its popular tools. Boost is $19 a month ($199 a year) with 2,000 credits by default, and MAX is $49 a month ($468 a year) with 6,000. Prices cover one channel, and Enterprise is for managing more than 3 channels or giving several team members access. Unlimited trends research, unlimited subscriber insights and thumbnails are Boost features.
TubeBuddy
Compared with vidIQ: Has a forever free plan with no card, plus a Chrome extension and mobile app. Check its pricing page and compare against vidIQ's Boost at $19 before paying.
Price: Free (Forever plan, no card required; the page does not list its features. Free Tools include a Revenue Calculator, Thumbnail Preview, mobile app and Chrome extension) (TubeBuddy pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web, Browser extension, Mobile. Proprietary.
Best for: Closest free-tier rival for channel tools.
Social Blade
Compared with vidIQ: Free public channel statistics. It is a stats tracker rather than vidIQ's AI coach and keyword scores, so you lose optimisation prompts but keep channel and competitor numbers for free.
Price: Free (Social Blade pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web. Proprietary.
Best for: Tracking channel growth for free.
Keyword Tool
Compared with vidIQ: Free plan shows YouTube autocomplete-based keyword suggestions without an account. Search volume and CPC need the paid Pro plan, so it only replaces vidIQ's keyword ideas, not its scoring.
Price: Free (Free plan shows keyword suggestions and some data with no account needed) (Keyword Tool pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web. Proprietary.
Best for: Free keyword ideas from YouTube search.
Keywords Everywhere
Compared with vidIQ: No free credit plan, but Bronze is $7 a month on annual billing and YouTube is a supported site. A volume lookup costs one credit, a pay-for-what-you-look-up model versus vidIQ's flat tiers.
Price: Paid from $7 per month, billed annually (Bronze, $84 a year, 100,000 credits a year) (Keywords Everywhere pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Browser extension. Proprietary.
Best for: Cheap volume lookups.
Worth knowing: No free credit plan, only a separate Free Tools section. YouTube is a supported site; one keyword volume lookup uses one credit. Silver $14, Gold $40, Platinum $120 a month on annual billing.
Viewstats
Compared with vidIQ: Offers a free account (check the pricing page for its limits); Business starts at $249 a month. Worth a look for channel analytics, but check what the free account includes before relying on it.
Price: Free (Viewstats pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web. Proprietary.
Best for: Channel analytics trial.
Which one to pick
- You want another free plan with channel tools: TubeBuddy
- You want to watch channel growth for free: Social Blade
- You only need YouTube keyword ideas: Keyword Tool
- You want paid keyword volume at a low monthly cost: Keywords Everywhere
- You want to test channel analytics with a free account: Viewstats
Limits of this review
Docs-only for TubeBuddy, Social Blade, Keyword Tool, Keywords Everywhere, Viewstats: we did not install or run them, so feature claims come from vendor pages and we did not test import from vidIQ. Vendor prices and free limits change; confirm on the linked pricing page before you buy or migrate.
Related guides
Sources
Kevin Fan
Kevin Fan is a SaaS founder. He runs Free Instead Of, which tracks free and open-source alternatives to paid software and checks each price and free-plan limit against the vendor's own pages.
Methodology
Based on official pricing and product pages checked 2026-10-22: vidIQ, TubeBuddy, Social Blade, Keyword Tool, Keywords Everywhere, Viewstats. Prices, free limits and licenses are the figures shown on those pages on those dates. No tool on this page was installed or run. No accounts were created.