8 Best TubeBuddy Alternatives for YouTube Optimization
Virlo Team
Jan 16, 2025
You’re ready to create and share your next YouTube video. You even have a concept in mind. But instead of jumping into production, you decide to peek at what’s trending on the platform first. After all, you want to give your content the best chance of success—and tracking social media trends can help you do just that.
But as you start your research, you realize YouTube's search and discovery features aren't surfacing the information you need. Instead, you want something that can help you identify viral trends on social media to make your next video go viral. So, how to find social media trends?
This is where a TubeBuddy alternative can help. This guide will explain why you should consider looking for a TubeBuddy alternative and introduce you to the social media trend tracker Virlo. With Virlo, you can analyze YouTube trends to get your next video on track to attract a larger audience and go viral.
Table of Contents
What is TubeBuddy?

TubeBuddy is a certified YouTube SEO tool and Chrome extension that connects directly to your YouTube dashboard. Once you install it on your browser (which is very easy!) and log in, your YouTube dashboard becomes entirely upgraded! (with tons of new features!).
It’s YouTube-certified, so you know it’s 100% safe and easy to install, too. Combining all these tools with the hard work required to build a channel can dramatically increase your views and subscribers (and earnings!). I did it, and so can you. With TubeBuddy, the hard work becomes slightly less, making a huge difference.
Related Reading
• How to Keep Up with TikTok Trends
• How to Find Trending Topics on YouTube
• How to Find Trending Topics on Instagram
• How to Find Trending Topics on TikTok
• How to Use Google Trends for YouTube
TubeBuddy Price Plans

TubeBuddy has four pricing plans: Free, Pro, Legend, and Enterprise. Each plan has free and premium features for productivity, bulk processing, SEO, promotion, marketing, data, and research.
The Free Plan
The Free plan allows new YouTubers to try essential tools. However, these users typically have under 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 hours, making them ineligible for YouTube’s Partner Program and monetization.
The Free plan gives you access to the following key features
Channelytics offers stats and analysis on every YouTube channel and is excellent for comparing your channel with competitors.
Video lyrics provide advanced analytics and insights for any YouTube video, including performance stats and trending content. Unfortunately, the free plan only offers limited features.
Search Insights lets you review information about videos and channels in the search results, including tags, channel subscriber counts, and likes/dislikes.
Tag Rankings lets you see where your videos rank in search results for each of its tags. Then, you can adjust video tags to increase your ranking and position in results.
With Tag Sorter, reorder your video tags in any order to position my best-performing tags at the beginning and rank higher.
View and Copy Video Tags lets you view and copy tags from any video, including yours and competitors’.
Comment Formatting is an excellent feature for formatting your comments and replies in bold, italic, and strikethrough.
TubeBuddy Pro
The Pro plan is for creators who want growth tools to scale their channels, especially regarding search insights and SEO.
The Pro plan has the following key features.
Keyword Explorer provides long-tail search terms to target what people are looking for on YouTube. Also, discover trending tags to keep your videos relevant long after publication.
Search Explorer provides search terms to target based on search volume, competition, and overall score.
Search Positions highlights where your videos rank on YouTube for their tags. Then, you can remove tags that don’t improve your rankings.
SEO Studio lets you optimize your video metadata for specific keywords in my titles, descriptions, and tags.
Health Report helps you understand what’s working and what’s not on your channel. It provides quick access to channel analytics and insights, including user demographics, search traffic, related videos, and watch time.
Best Practice Audit performs automated checks to ensure you follow YouTube’s recommendations regarding video enhancements (cards, end screens, etc.), metadata, and links.
Get full access to Videolytics.
TubeBuddy Pro pricing starts at $7.50 monthly or $3.75 on annual billing.
TubeBuddy Legend
The Legend plan allows creators to maximize views, impressions, CTRs, and revenue. It’s also for YouTubers seeking robust data-driven insights and competitive advantages.
The Legend plan offers the following key features.
Access to all 60+ TubeBuddy features.
Search Rank Tracking monitors your overall channel performance in YouTube and Google search results for targeted keywords. It’s also suitable for tracking my SEO activities and competitors.
One of TubeBuddy’s unique capabilities is the A/B Testing & Title Generator, which lets you run metadata and thumbnail tests to optimize your discoverability and search rankings.
Channel Access grants other users access to your TubeBuddy account. This fantastic feature enables teamwork and collaboration.
The Competitor Scorecard shows how you compare against others regarding views, subscribers, uploads, and engagement.
Competitor Upload Alerts notify you of new videos from your competitors to inspire more content ideas.
Click Magnet offers advanced analytics for video, thumbnail, and title performance and clicks. Also, you’ll discover what elements are producing the highest CTRs.
Retention Analyzer shows how your videos perform at various intervals by identifying what intros or opening sequences are causing viewers to leave.
Brand Alerts tracks YouTube for new videos, playlists, and uploads about you or your brand to help you gauge content and sentiment.
Auto Translator and Tag Translator translate metadata into other languages to expand your global content footprint among the billions of users who visit YouTube daily.
TubeBuddy Legend pricing starts at $32.99 monthly or $16.50 on annual billing.
TubeBuddy Enterprise
The Enterprise plan is for brands, companies, agencies, and creators who want to manage multiple channels in one place. Users get unlimited access to TubeBuddy’s full suite and expedited customer service. Lastly, 501(c)(3) non-profits qualify for a special discount.
The Enterprise plan has the following key features and benefits
Manage multiple brands and channels under one account.
Increase your team’s productivity.
Streamline work with bulk processing tools.
Identify trends, get tag suggestions, and create content that will resonate with your audience.
Channel Reviews offer performance scores and actionable insights to propel growth.
And much more.
You must inquire about TubeBuddy Enterprise pricing.
8 Best TubeBuddy Alternatives for YouTube Optimization
1. Virlo: The AI-Powered Tool to Help You Go Viral

Virlo helps short-form content creators crack the code of virality through AI-powered trend analysis. Our platform combines creator insights with advanced analytics to identify winning content patterns, optimal posting times, and successful audio/video combinations that help your content stand out in today's fast-moving social landscape.
Perfect for independent creators looking to build a sustainable side business, Virlo takes the guesswork out of content strategy. We analyze the latest viral trends and help you understand when to post and what combinations of elements drive engagement. Whether you're just starting or looking to optimize your existing content, Virlo enables you to navigate the ever-changing algorithms to increase your chances of going viral. Go viral with Virlo's virality analysis tool.
2. Morningfame: Get Up to Speed on YouTube SEO

Morningfame is an inexpensive tool designed for YouTube content creators to optimize their videos and improve search rankings, leading to increased viewership. It offers users comprehensive guidance on optimizing their videos through a systematic approach. Morningfame’s Keyword Explorer allows creators to find and track the best-performing keywords for their videos to ensure their titles, descriptions, and tags include the most relevant words. It also provides detailed insights into competitors’ channels, including each video’s number of views, likes, comments, and subscribers.
Morningfame’s Main Features Topic search
Morningfame’s topic search feature uses data to suggest video ideas based on users’ interests, categorizing them as more appropriate for larger or smaller YouTube channels. This helps users determine if a topic is worth the time investment for content creation.
Keyword research
The YouTube keyword research tool MorningFame offers is user-friendly and adaptable. The platform allows users to input a seed key phrase or a top-performing video URL to receive suggestions for upcoming videos. This resource is helpful for individuals who are new to the subject or looking to explore new topics. Seed phrases or competitor videos can inspire new industry keyword and topic ideas.
Video Optimization
The Morningfame optimization feature allows users to edit their video’s metadata, including the title, description, and tags. This helps ensure the video accurately represents the content and increases its visibility. It does not offer A/B testing or retention analysis tools. This means it may not be suitable for users looking for tools that carry out an in-depth optimization analysis, a range of advanced tools for SEO, and data-backed suggestions for creating future content.
3. Tubics: YouTube SEO for Business

Tubics is a tool that provides businesses with analysis and recommendations to optimize their YouTube video traffic and views. The platform offers a user-friendly dashboard and optimization workflows that simplify video marketing tasks and increase efficiency.
Tubics’ Main Features Topic research
Tubics’ topic research feature provides content creators various tools to develop video topics. Using keywords, Tubics suggests topics and ideas that are popular and relevant to the audience. Moreover, it offers essential metadata such as search volumes, projected monthly views, competition density, and the probability of a specific video ranking on Google.
Optimization
Tubics’ tag generator tool provides users easy access to a library of suggested tags, titles, and descriptions explicitly tailored for their videos based on keyword research and competitor analysis. By utilizing this feature, users can increase their chances of appearing in relevant search results and driving more organic views to their content.
Reporting
Unlike similar tools, Tubics differentiates itself from its competitors by providing users with unique video ideas and topic suggestions through integration with Google Search Console. Users who connect Tubics with their Google Search Console account can receive weekly insights and tips for enhancing their YouTube video’s visibility in search results.
4. Vudini: Video SEO for YouTube and Google

Vudini is a video SEO platform that helps brands and content creators acquire customers through YouTube and Google. Vudini uses advanced machine learning algorithms to analyze video metadata and accurately predict the success of videos on various platforms. Additionally, it provides suggestions for improvements. Using Vudini’s geo-target feature, content creators can create precise campaigns to enhance their reach, particularly in their local region.
Vudini’s Main Features Content optimization
Vudini’s publishing and optimization feature also includes automatic content optimization across channels for high performance. This means content creators don’t have to manually adjust their content for each platform, as Vudini handles it.
Geo-targeting
Vudini lets users target videos by location, making them easier for local viewers to discover. By including the location of a website or YouTube channel in a video’s metadata, content creators can increase its discoverability among users in that specific area.
AI title & description generator
Vudini’s RankAI tool uses advanced technology to analyze provided keywords and generate optimized content, titles, descriptions, and tags based on the data it obtains. The result is highly targeted content that ranks higher on both Google and YouTube results, leading to a higher click-through rate.
5. Tubular Labs: Video Research for Brands and Agencies

Tubular Labs provides powerful video marketing, analytics, and audience measurement solutions to large brands, enterprises, and agencies. It’s an ideal vidIQ alternative for those who need in-depth insights into their YouTube channel performance. With Tubular Labs’ platform, users can gain valuable insights into competitor videos and identify competitors, influencers, and content creators that align with their brand or campaign goals.
Tubular Labs’ Main Features Video Intelligence
Tubular allows users to create customized lists, reports, and dashboards to prioritize important metrics and monitor performance trends. The video ratings feature provides an unbiased performance analysis by measuring views and engagement within specific timeframes following video uploads.
Audience intelligence
The “Audience Also Watches” feature on Tubular enables creators to analyze their audience’s interests and discover potential content ideas while identifying patterns in viewing habits. Tubular also provides demographic information, such as age, gender, and location, to help content creators understand their audience better and customize their content to meet their requirements and preferences.
Creator comparison
The Tubular platform allows users to easily access and filter various creators and their content, including influencers, media companies, and brand channels. Users can search based on multiple attributes, such as upload date and performance, to find the most relevant creators for their needs.
6. Craide: Free YouTube Tag Tools

Craide offers free online tools that help YouTube creators improve their SEO with tags. Tag Generator – YouTube tags generator is a free tool that lets you quickly generate SEO-optimized YouTube tags/keywords for your video. The CRAIDE YouTube Tag Extractor tool is a handy way of extracting and revealing these meta tags associated with any public YouTube video.
7. SocialBlade: YouTube and Social Media Analytics

SocialBlade is an excellent alternative to vidIQ for small business owners who need analytics and statistics tools that work across all their social media accounts. It does not provide optimization tools for YouTube channels beyond these metrics and insights. For YouTube, SocialBlade allows users to compare subscribers and viewers with up to three competing YouTube channels.
It provides essential metrics such as estimated earnings, daily data points, and future projections displayed in raw data and graph formats. Social Blade covers the full range of social media platforms: YouTube TiKTok Trovo, Twitch, Twitter StoryFire, Instagram, and Facebook Dailymotion DLive Mixe.r Social Blade offers valuable global analytics for content creators, live streamers, and brand builders.
8. Mention.com: Social Media Monitoring

Mention.com is a real-time monitoring tool perfect for tracking specific keywords across various social media platforms, forums, blogs, and news websites. It keeps track of brand awareness, customer sentiment, and engagement to particular keywords and topics. Along with tracking, Mention.com helps you connect with your audience across social media and publish content to grow your social presence.
Best Features
Real-time data across a variety of metrics
Monitor and track sudden ups and downs of keyword mentions across the web and get insights on user engagement and social media presence.
Analysis of your competition: Understand the strategies employed by your rivals and get insights into their social media presence and engagement to stay ahead in the game with detailed competitive analysis
Social channel management: Organize, schedule, and analyze your social channels effortlessly using a multi-channel editorial calendar
Online brand monitoring: Use Mention’s brand management features to measure reputation metrics, pinpoint media collaborations, proactively monitor and tackle crises, and strengthen your brand strategy
Limitations
Some standard features are missing: Features such as capturing historical data after creating a boolean search cannot be found.
Search is limited: Due to inadequate search configurations, there’s a significant risk of missing out on crucial mentions.
Related Reading
• How to Find Trending Hashtags on Instagram
• What Hashtags Are Trending on YouTube
• TikTok Trend Discovery
• Instagram Reels Trends
• Social Media Trend Tracker
• Brandwatch Alternatives
• Google Trends Alternative
Pros and Cons of TubeBuddy

The Perks of Using TubeBuddy for YouTube Growth
There’s a lot to love about TubeBuddy. This extension helps YouTube creators optimize their channels and videos, boost their SEO, and grow their audiences. Here are some of the pros of using TubeBuddy.
Saves Time
TubeBuddy can help streamline workflows and save time on analytics and SEO optimization tasks.
Intuitive Interface
TubeBuddy's tools are integrated into YouTube, making them easy to use.
Analytics
TubeBuddy provides insights into a channel's performance, audience, and competitors.
Productivity Tools
TubeBuddy offers features like scheduled publishing, bulk processing, and default upload profiles.
Thumbnail Analyzer
TubeBuddy's thumbnail analyzer can help improve thumbnails to make them more engaging.
Channel Valuation Tool
TubeBuddy's valuation tool estimates a channel's financial value by analyzing subscriber count, average video views, and engagement rates.
The Drawbacks of Using TubeBuddy for YouTube Growth
Despite its many features, TubeBuddy isn’t for everyone. Here are some of the cons of using TubeBuddy.
Limited Free Version
The free version of TubeBuddy has limited functionality, and many features are only available with a paid subscription.
Learning Curve
TubeBuddy may have a learning curve for new users.
Limited Mobile Functionality
TubeBuddy is not available on Android.
Only Works on One Channel at a Time
TubeBuddy only works on one channel at a time, so a subscription is needed for multiple channels.
Go Viral with Virlo's Virality Analysis Tool
Virlo helps short-form content creators crack the code of virality through AI-powered trend analysis. Our platform combines creator insights with advanced analytics to identify winning content patterns, optimal posting times, and successful audio/video combinations that help your content stand out in today's fast-moving social landscape.
Perfect for independent creators looking to build a sustainable side business, Virlo takes the guesswork out of content strategy. We analyze the latest viral trends and help you understand when to post and what combinations of elements drive engagement. Whether you're just starting or looking to optimize your existing content, Virlo enables you to navigate the ever-changing algorithms to increase your chances of going viral. Go viral with Virlo's virality analysis tool.
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