VIDIQ vs TubeBuddy – Which one is better & Why? (Detailed Comparison 2021)
VIDIQ and TubeBuddy are two of the most popular tools for YouTube SEO, productivity & growth. Both offer similar features & benefits with some differences, making it hard to decide which one to use.
So I tested both of them (TubeBuddy Legend & VIDIQ Boost) for a few months to really understand each tool. And in this post, we will break it down and see which one is better and why? And we’ll also see which plan is best suited for you or perhaps you should avoid them?
Let’s find out…
Getting started: Free Browser extensions for your YouTube Channel
Before we get into this VIDIQ vs TubeBuddy comparison, I recommend downloading the FREE Extensions. These offer limited functionality but are still useful and you will also get a better understanding of this review. The best thing about them, is that they can work together and often compliment each other.
Compatibility: TubeBuddy works on Chrome, Mozilla, Microsoft Edge, and Opera. Whereas, VIDIQ only works on Chrome & Firefox. You are also able to download their mobile apps (Andriod/iOS).
Anyways, Let’s dive into these categories one by one.
Important Note: Before we begin, I’d like to say – that for this comparison we are going to be first comparing the top tier plans of VIDIQ (Boost) & TubeBuddy (Legend). The reason for this is because it includes all the features and it would be a fair comparsion and easier to understand.
Then after the comparison, I can give my final recommendations of which paid plans I recommend, which free version is better, and which one is for you.
Introduction – What is VIDIQ & TubeBuddy?
VIDIQ & TubeBuddy are free browser extensions which you can install – it adds features to help YouTube creators to be more productive, manage, and also grow their channels.
Apart from the Free plans, they also have paid plans which unlock more features and benefits. Millions of creators use their products and we’ll be comparing the two in this review to see which one is best for you.
Keyword Research Tools
Before creating a video, it’s crucial to see whether or not a keyword is worth targeting or not. Especially for smaller channels, because if you create a video titled “Chocolate Cake Recipes” – you are probably going to have a hard time ranking on the top of YouTube search since it’s super competitive.
Luckily, VIDIQ and TubeBuddy have tools to help us determine whether or not a keyword is worth targeting.
VIDIQ
VIDIQ has 3 places where you see the competitiveness of a search term.
#1st location– You will see it immediately after you do a simple search on YouTube. On the right-hand side.
#2nd Location – On the left sidebar you can select “Keyword Insppector. This is probably the best view since you get to see a list of related search terms and their monthly search volumes with trending videos too.
#3rd Location – You can access it in the App area at https://beta.vidiq.com/. They recently revamped the UI towards the end of 2020, so now it looks very modern and clean.
TubeBuddy
Tubebuddy’s keyword research tool is called Keyword Explorer. You can find it by clicking on the TubeBuddy icon on the top right (next to the upload video button).
Tubebuddy has an “unweighted” and “weighted” version. This is great since you can see if the video would do well specific for your channel. And if you click on it – it provides a more detailed analysis.
It will also show the estimated number of search volume and related search terms.
The only problem I found, is that to find the search volume and difficulty of other terms – you need to click on them individually.
It also doesn’t show the trending videos for the search terms. But it does show the trending videos for each country. Personally, for me that isn’t as useful – It would be better if it showed the trending videos based on the search terms (like VIDIQ).
Which tool is more accurate?
After performing dozens of searches using search terms relevant to my own channel and niche. I found that TubeBuddy to be slightly more “accurate” in terms of difficulty scores. I’m interested to see how others found it, so drop a comment below if you’ve tried both of them – which do you prefer?
Important note: Both tools do a pretty good job at the keyword research analysis but the calculations are based on their own algorithms and not by YouTube itself since YouTube doesn’t release this data.
Verdict?
Tie.
Reason?
VIDIQ provides a better view of search volumes and difficulty scores with trending videos based on the search terms. VIDIQ’s trending videos (on the right of the related terms) are more relevant than TubeBuddy’s.
But TubeBuddy provides slightly more accurate difficulty scores based on my own research/niche. However, I’m not sure about the usefulness of trending videos based on country (at least for me).
So I think it’s really personal preference, in my opinion.
Availability: The keyword research is limited on the free versions on both tools, to get full access you would need to sign up for their entry-level paid plans ($9 – $10/month).
Competitive Analysis
After a tie in keyword research, let’s take a look at the Competitive analysis capabilities of VIDIQ & TubeBuddy.
VIDIQ Video Sidebar
Personally, I don’t look too much into much of the data shown (in the video scorecard) when analyzing competition besides looking at the views per hour.
I personally think this is one of the best features of VIDIQ, and it is also available in the Free version (without limitations).
By clicking the “stats” icon you get the historical views data too. Now you can see how the video is doing overtime. But, this is only available from the pro plan $10/month and above.
From this information you can see how well a video is doing overtime, is it an evergreen video? Can you create something similar? It provides a good idea of how your video might perform if you create a similar but better video.
YouTube provided this information years ago, not sure if you guys remember – But I found it very useful. Thank you VIDIQ for having this amazing feature!
TubeBuddy Video Sidebar
For TubeBuddy, most of the information is actually displayed by YouTube by default and the other information isn’t as important in terms of competitive analysis.
So here, I feel VIDIQ is the clear winner. In addition – the display looks nicer, with colors and it also displays the channel’s daily views and subscribers.
Other than that, they both offer similar features such as the ability to copy the tags and see where the video ranks in the YouTube search results.
The Channel Alerts & VPH Stats
With VIDIQ you can also create alerts for channels, keywords that are doing well, and track competitors. This is useful if you are a channel that leverages trends.
It can also notify you if a video is going viral by setting trend alerts with views per hour.
Note: there is a small downside to this feature, it’s not very accurate if you just put the keywords. Because sometimes YouTuber’s will put irrelevant tags for their videos and VIDIQ will actually pick that up. So what I recommend is selecting competitors for a more accurate trend alert.
Most Viewed
Here you can filter the most viewed videos and you have a range of filtering options. Great for channels that leverage off certain trends.
Trending Videos on Competition’s Channel (Amazing!)
Another awesome feature of VIDIQ is that you can navigate to your competitor’s channel and see which videos are performing the best for them.
With this information, you can create similar videos to them and not waste time creating content that is not popular.
Note: For the free version, It is limited to 6 results. From Pro plan ($10/month) and above you get to see all the videos.
Verdict?
Unfortunately, TubeBuddy doesn’t offer too much in this category which is why VIDIQ clearly wins here.
The views per hour feature is a must-have (so make sure to download the free version of VIDIQ), if you want to see the historical views get the VIDIQ Pro plan ($10/month).
Productivity & Upload Optimization Tools
Both offer tools to help you optimize your workflow and save time. But which one is best at it? Let’s take a look.
Comments – Smart Filtering & Canned Reponses
TubeBuddy
Tubebuddy has this covered. You have advanced features for filtering comments. You can find this in your comments section within your YouTube dashboard area.
Canned Responses
This is extremely helpful and can save a ton of time especially with the canned responses. You can use it to re-direct people to different videos, websites, or even an affiliate link to purchase, etc. For example: if people always ask you what tools and equipment you use, you can set a canned response.
VIDIQ
VIDIQ also has a similar feature, where you can filter comments on the actual video page rather than the “comments tab” in your YouTube dashboard area. I prefer Tubebuddy because it’s more conveniently located since I barely go back to the specific video page.
VIDIQ also has “comment templates” which is similar to TubeBuddy’s. The benefit of VIDIQ is that you actually get unlimited comment templates on their FREE plan! Whereas, TubeBuddy – you only get 1 canned response on their free plan. So if you wanted to upgrade to the TubeBuddy Pro Plan, just for that – try our VIDIQ first!
Uploading Tools
VIDIQ & TubeBuddy have very similar features when uploading – which includes a thumbnail generator, tag suggestions, and best practices checklists. But we need to take a closer look because the features in each level of the plans are different.
Video Tags Suggestions
Tags are the keywords you can input when uploading a video to give YouTube a better idea of what your video is about. However, the importance of this can be debated since YouTube can auto caption videos which would mean they probably know already. And I’ve also seen videos rank without tags.
Nevertheless, it probably does help more than it doesn’t. But most of all it does save a ton of time and takes out the tediousness of uploading a new video.
TubeBuddy
On the lower level paid plan (Pro $10/month), you get the insta-tag suggest feature. After adding in your first few tags, it will suggest the most popular tags for your video.
TIP: Click on “Tell us” to add the keyword you are targeting to get more specific tags.
VIDIQ
VIDIQ also has a similar tag suggestion feature but it’s only available for the top tier plan of $49/month – which is a bit expensive in my opinion for a core feature. However, from my experience it’s slightly more accurate that TubeBuddy’s. But is it worth the extra monthly cost? Maybe not since tags aren’t as important as they used to be.
VIDIQ’s Thumbnail Comparisons Feature (NEW)
This new feature allows you to see what your video and thumbnail look like in search results!
I think it’s an amazing tool, to give you an idea of how to design your thumbnail so it stands out against your competition.
Previously, when I was creating videos – I would actually screen the top 10 results and then create my thumbnail and compare it manually using photoshop. This saves a ton of time!
TubeBuddy does have something similar but it isn’t as user-friendly. The viewing window is too small – without the ability to change to home screen or different devices.
But to be fair they do have the A/B Testing Tool, which allows you to compare two different thumbnail/title combinations. I will talk about this later.
Bulk Editing
TubeBuddy has advanced features when it comes to bulk editing, such as:
- Find & Replace – this can be used to quickly replace links on all your videos. For example, if you want to change your affiliate tracking links or maybe update your social media profile links.
- Thumbnail Overlays – this can be used to overlay your logo on all your thumbnails in one go. Saving you time, if you need to change your logo in the future.
- Bulk Card and End Screen Editing – allows you to edit your cards and end screens easily. And you copy it from one video to another or create templates. Could be useful if you want to direct views to a new/important video.
- Upload Defaults – You are able to set in a default description, so every time you are uploading a new video you can add that template in. For example, you could have your social media links, affiliate disclaimers, and any other information added in seconds rather than typing it out everytime.
- You can learn more about them here.
Switching between videos
Sometimes editing multiple video descriptions can be a hassle since by default you need to click back all the time, but not with TubeBuddy.
VIDIQ
VIDIQ also has Bulk editing tools such as the ability to “Search & Replace”, Bulk Copy Cards/Endscreens, and bulk edit descriptions. Their editing/viewing area is abit small in my opinion, especially for the Mass edit videos.
Actually, I recommend using Youtube’s own “quick edit” feature which is built in – to the new YouTube creator studio.
You can also navigate to https://app.vidiq.com/ – login and you can also edit it from there in a better view to edit your titles, description, and tags. (Only on Boost Plan $49/Month)
Verdict
If we are comparing the top tier plans of TubeBuddy & VIDIQ, then TubeBuddy is the winner when it comes to productivity & upload optimization tools. And another reason is that with the lowest-paid plan of TubeBuddy – you get the insta tags to suggest feature included.
However, it’s very important to note that VIDIQ has the bulk edit for cards/endscreens on their FREE plan. Whereas, TubeBuddy has that feature only from their Star plan ($19/m) – so if you need that feature, test out the free version of VIDIQ first and see if it’s suffucient for your needs.
Analytics & Reporting
When it comes to Analytics & Reporting, personally I love the Youtube creator studio but each tool has some extra features to help see everything from a bird’s eye view.
TubeBuddy
Tubebuddy has a health report which shows some basic information and an overview of performance, traffic sources, engagement and audience.
You can also track your keyword rankings for your videos on YouTube & Google.
The limitation here is that this feature is only available on the Star plan ($19/month) tracking a max of 5 keywords, & no Google tracking. With the Legend plan, you can track up to 50 keywords.
VIDIQ
VIDIQ has a channel audit that gives a nice overview of which videos are doing well and that you can double down on. Or videos that could use some work.
On the Boost plan ($49/month) you also get a subscriber analysis tool – where you can see popular videos/channels your subscribers like to watch.
From this information, perhaps you can collab with a fellow YouTuber and it could work really well since audiences are similar.
Verdict?
I think VIDIQ wins this slightly, as the UI looks nicer, cleaner, and also shows a bit more information. But if you want to track keyword rankings, then I’d go with Tubebuddy.
Cool Features That You Should Know About
Subscriber + Like & Dislike Ratio (VIDIQ Free)
The like/dislike ratio adds to the viewing experience in my opinion as you can avoid bad videos.
With VIDIQ, you’ll also be able to see subscriber counts on comments. This is useful, cause normally you wouldn’t know they are a fellow YouTuber. If you knew, then perhaps you could reach out and perhaps build a relationship there for a collaboration down the line.
Best time to Publish (VIDIQ vs TubeBuddy)
From my personal experience, the publish time doesn’t affect how well a video does over time. Because normally if a video is good, YouTube will still push it to a wider audience later.
With that said, both tools do offer a guide that you can experiment with.
TubeBuddy
VIDIQ
A/B Test (TubeBuddy Legend) – Best Feature Yet?!
With this tool, you can compare different thumbnails to see which one was clicked on the most. Then you can change it to the one which had the best click thru rate (CTR).
This could let’s say Thumbnail A gets 1% CTR but your new one gets double that CTR at 2%.
This is going to result in more views and more ad revenue. Especially if you are a big channel, some minor thumbnail changes could mean an extra few thousands of dollars per month.
Mobile Apps (VIDIQ vs TubeBuddy)
Though I don’t use it much – since I just use the YouTube Creator Studio – but you can use your canned responses with the TubeBuddy App which can be useful – when you are on the go. So it’s worth checking it out.
Pick a Winner (TubeBuddy)
This is a hidden feature, where you can use it to run competitions.
Pricing & Plans
TubeBuddy Offers 3 Paid Plans
Free, Pro, Star & Legend
Free/$9/$19/$49
For their pro plans – they have a 50% discount for channels with less than 1000 Subscribers. And also 20% off yearly discounts.
VIDIQ Also Offers 3 Paid Plans
Pro at $10/month ($7.5/month on annual plan), Boost $49/month ($39/month on annual plan) & Boost+ $499/month ($415/month on annual plan)
So what is the main difference between VIDIQ & TubeBuddy?
- TubeBuddy has better tools for productivity, such as advanced bulk editing features that are easy to use. The comment filtering tool is more conveniently located and they also have upload templates.
- VIDIQ is better at competitor analysis with a great “Views per hour” display. This allows them to have other cool features such as historical views, finding trending videos, and alerts. Perfect for YouTubers who leverage trends.
VIDIQ vs TubeBuddy: Final Recommendations
I like both tools, they both offer something the other doesn’t. So I’ll give my recommendations based on a few scenarios.
Which Free extension is better? VIDIQ or TubeBuddy?
In my opinion, I would definitely recommend both Free Versions – since they can both work together and complement each other. If I had to pick only one free YouTube growth tool – it would be VIDIQ (Free) for 2 main reasons.
- I like the views per hour metric – this also gives the ability to see the top 3 performing videos on a competitor’s channel.
- I like the dislike/like ratio & subscriber count.
- You get the free comment templates/bulk editing of cards & endscreens.
Which should I get If I have $10/month to spend?
I would get TubeBuddy Pro ($9/month) and use VIDIQ Free. The reason is that I prefer TubeBuddy’s keyword research tool. And you also get the insta-tag suggestions feature included. (VIDIQ has their tag suggestions only in the highest tier plan).
I also don’t really use the trending video features, cause my channel is tutorials and doesn’t leverage off trending topics. But if you are a news channel, you might want to consider the VIDIQ Pro instead. Or if you really like the historical views feature.
Honestly, this can go both ways. If you get the paid plan on one of them, then use the free on the other one.
Which should I get If I have $20/month to spend? (Overall Recommendation)
If you have around $20/month to spend. I’d get TubeBuddy Pro ($9/month) and VIDIQ ($10/month). The reason, is that you get the best of both worlds.
TubeBuddy will give you a very good keyword research tool and insta tag’s suggestion tool. While VIDIQ will give you the views per hour metric, historical views and trending videos on a channel.
And if you have less than 1000 Subscribers you will get a discount with TubeBuddy, and if you select the annual plans of either tool – you get a discount too!
So this is my overall top recommendation, taking everything into consideration for most people.
What’s my Ideal setup, if budget is not an issue.
I think it would really depend on your needs. One thing to consider is what you value most?
Is it keeping a tab on trending videos from competitors? So that you can leverage off their videos.
If so, then maybe VIDIQ Boost since it gives you more features to help you keep up with them. This also gives you access to the thumbnail comparison feature which I use every time I want to upload a video.
If you prefer the A/B Testing tool, then get the TubeBuddy Legend plan. I’d only recommend this if you are getting thousands of views per day. Because if you are just starting out and just get a few views, then it wouldn’t make enough difference to justify the time for this. If you are a big channel that gets hundreds of thousands of views daily, then yes – this would be an awesome investment if you can improve your thumbnails for a better click-thru rate. Because that would mean more views and more ad revenue for you.
No Limits? Try both the highest tier plans, see which things you use most and find useful. And you can cancel or downgrade anytime. I am currently using both TubeBuddy Legend ($49/month) and VIDIQ Boost ($49/month).
Hopefully this review has helped you save time and make a better decision. Let me know in the comments section which one you prefer.