What stands out, before you read a chart
The dashboard opens on your headline numbers — views, watch time, net subscribers and engagement — each set against the equal window before it.
Beside them, a short list says what the panels below do not say on their own: where this window's views came from, whether watch time is outpacing views, and whether reach or packaging is what limits you right now.
Every video, judged against your own median
Lifetime views rank a video by its age: something from two years ago beats yesterday's upload by construction. So here, a video under 28 days old is still counting and is compared with nothing.
The centre is the median of your settled videos in the same format — Shorts and long-form apart — quoted once there are eight of them. A breakout is three times that median.
The window, day by day
Six panels share one time axis — upload markers, views, average view duration, engagement, impressions and click-through rate — so you can run a finger down from an upload to what it did that day. A day YouTube reported nothing is a gap, not a zero.
Your path to monetisation
Net subscribers month by month, with the month in progress marked as unfinished rather than drawn as a collapse. Your subscriber total is measured against YouTube's threshold, and so are the watch hours that count for it: public long-form videos and live replays over the last 365 days, without Shorts, unlisted or private videos, or ads.
Until the bar doubles on 1 February 2027: the days left, the pace that gets you there first, which videos your hours come from, and what leaves the window before then.
Who watches, and how they found you
Over YouTube's 90-day reports: traffic sources, the search terms that brought viewers in, subscribed versus not, countries, devices, and the videos YouTube shows yours beside. For any single video, the retention curve opens right under its row.
How it works
Connect your channel
Sign in with Google and grant read-only access. VidTraffic never posts, edits or deletes anything on your channel.
Pick your window
28 or 90 days, each set against the equal window before it.
Read what stands out, then the detail
Start from the short list of what matters this window, then open the day-by-day panels, the videos table or a single video's retention curve.
What you get
- Views, watch time, subscribers and engagement against the previous window
- Every video judged against your median — Shorts and long-form apart
- Breakouts at three times your median, once a video has had 28 days
- Impressions and click-through rate from YouTube's reach report
- Traffic sources, search terms, audience split, countries and devices
- Monetisation progress: subscribers and the watch hours YouTube counts
- Read-only and revocable; YouTube data deleted after 30 days
Who it is for
- Creators who open YouTube Studio, see a wall of numbers and close it again.
- Small channels deciding what to make more of.
- Anyone working toward monetisation who wants to know how far is left.
Frequently asked questions
Is VidTraffic's YouTube channel analytics free?
Yes, on the free plan. Sign in with Google and connect your channel — no card.
How is this different from YouTube Studio?
YouTube Studio shows every number; this shows what they mean. Each video is judged against your own median instead of by lifetime views, the page lists what stands out, and the day-by-day panels share one axis so you can see what an upload did.
Can VidTraffic change anything on my channel?
No. Access is read-only: it never posts, edits or deletes anything, and you can disconnect in one click.
How long is my YouTube data kept?
At most 30 days — it is deleted automatically after that, and removed at once if you disconnect YouTube or delete your account.
Why is a new video not compared with the others?
Because a video under 28 days old is still collecting views. Comparing it with settled videos would rank its age rather than its performance, so it is marked as still counting until then.
What counts as a breakout video?
A video with at least three times the median views of your settled videos in the same format. Shorts and long-form are measured against separate medians.
Why are impressions and click-through rate missing?
They come from YouTube's daily reach report rather than the live API. VidTraffic requests it when you connect, and YouTube takes about two days to produce the first one.
Does it show progress toward the YouTube Partner Program?
Yes. It shows your subscriber total against YouTube's threshold and the watch hours that count for it — public long-form videos and live replays over the last 365 days, without Shorts, unlisted or private videos, or ads — with the videos they come from. Until 1 February 2027 it also shows the new bar, the days left and the pace needed.