We’ve started our YouTube series with the funniest YouTube channels and the best YouTube history channels, but what are the biggest YouTube channels in the world and the most subscribed across all categories?
Well, there might be some surprises in there. Just in the top ten most popular YouTube channels, we have three Indian channels revolving around music, four children’s channels, and one professional wrestling channel. Five out of the first top ten most-subscribed YouTube channels are companies and not just creators like in the good old days of YouTube.
Nevertheless, it’s fascinating to see what billions of people are actually watching and what are the most-viewed YouTube channels of all time. So if I’ve piqued your curiosity, read on to find out more about the top ten biggest YouTube channels, and come back for more, as we’ll keep on adding to this list!
Top 15 Biggest YouTube Channels
15. BangtanTV
Subscribers: 73 million
Total Channel Views: 19 billion
Country: South Korea
Primary Language: Korean
Category: Music
BangtanTV is the official YouTube channel of BTS, an extremely popular South Korean boy band formed in 2010, also known as the Bangtan Boys. The 7-member boy band has created quite an uproar in the entire world, with an impressive and intense fanbase that many would call fanatic. During 2018-2020, BTS charted four US number-one albums, becoming one of the few groups to accomplish that within two years ever since the Beatles succeeded it during 1966-1968. Their song “Dynamite” was Grammy-nominated and reached number one on Billboard Hot 100 and Billboard Global 200 as the first South Korean group to do that. As of 2022, BTS have sold over 30 million albums, becoming the best-selling South Korean artists. Their YouTube channel doesn’t only consist of BTS music videos but also behind-the-scenes, choreographies and videos of the band members doing things together. Their most popular video is episode 1 of “BTS: Burn the Stage”, a musical documentary featuring the behind-the-scenes of their 2017 The Wings Tour. One of their most popular YouTube series is “Run BTS!”, a variety web series where the band members play games and participate in different activities like mukbangs, competing in challenges, and carrying out secret missions. The show currently comprises 157 weekly episodes. If you’re a fan of BTS, I highly suggest checking out their YouTube channel, you’ll most likely fall in love with them even more.
14. Sony SAB
Subscribers: 75.9 million
Total Channel Views: 90.4 billion
Country: India
Primary Language: Hindi
Category: Entertainment
Sony SAB was launched as SAB TV in 1999 as a comedy channel in Hindi. In 2005, Sony Pictures Networks took over SAB TV and rebranded it as Sony SAB. Initially, it targeted a general audience, then younger people, and then again a general audience. Currently, you can watch Sony SAB shows on their YouTube channel, whether you’re looking for Hindi comedy, drama, science fiction, or romance. Their most popular videos are from an Indian fantasy TV show called “Baal Veer”, which aired between October 2012 and November 2016 on SAB TV. The most popular video is episode 840 of “Baal Veer”, at 141 million views.
13. 5-Minute Crafts
Subscribers: 78.4 million
Total Channel Views: 24.9 billion
Country: Cyprus
Primary Language: English
Category: DIY, Lifestyle Tips & Tricks
5-Minute Crafts has been launched in 2016 and, as the name suggests, is a channel based on crafts, DIYs, and life hacks. These are some examples of hacks they present: how to hide your belongings at the beach, how to take out a stain fast, how to fix a broken heel, how to cut fruit and veggies the smart way, how to look beautiful, how to build a phone case, as well as many other life hacks and DIYs. They have become so popular on YouTube and Facebook that many YouTubers have started creating videos where they try the hacks presented by 5-Minute Crafts and other similar lifehack channels and make fun of them because, let’s face it, most of them are weird at best and stupid or dangerous at worst. Their videos are designed to pique your interest and make you click on them in hopes you will get a few good tricks up your sleeve, but you’ll soon come to realize that, while there are some decent tricks hidden in there, most of them are a waste of your time.
12. Goldmines
Subscribers: 80.6 million
Total Channel Views: 21 billion
Country: India
Primary Language: Hindi
Category: Film
Goldmines Telefilms is an entertainment company formed in 2000 which became successful in the late 2000s. After making a strong debut in the field of dubbing, they created their YouTube channel, where you can find premieres of South Hindi Dubbed movies, as well as full-length blockbuster Hindi movies, comedy scenes, and songs. Their most popular video is a full-length movie, K.G.F, and it has 684 million views.
11. BLACKPINK
Subscribers: 83.7 million
Total Channel Views: 28.5 billion
Country: South Korea
Primary Language: Korean
Category: Music
This is the official YouTube channel of the South Korean girl group Blackpink, who has created a sensation ever since their launch in 2016, not only in the world of K-pop but the entire world. Their second studio album, “Born Pink”, launched in 2022, has become the best-selling album by a Korean female group, with over two million copies sold, and peaked at number one on the Billboard 200. They are best known for hits like “Whistle”, “Boombayah”, “Kill This Love”, and “How You Like That”. In fact, “Kill This Love” and “How You Like That”, launched in 2019 and 2020, respectively, have set records for the most-viewed music video within 24 hours after release, with “How You Like That” setting two new Guinness World Records. Their most popular music video, “Ddu-Du Ddu-Du”, launched in 2018, sits currently at 2 billion views and is the most viewed video by a Korean group.
10. Zee Music Company
Subscribers: 91.2 million
Total Channel Views: 53 billion
Country: India
Primary Language: Hindi
Category: Music
Zee Music Company is an Indian music company that has captured a large chunk of the Bollywood music market shares and has become one of India’s largest TV and entertainment companies. Their movie library features over 3,800 titles of the most known Hindi movies, and their YouTube channel features music clips from these movies. Even if it’s a smaller channel than T-Series, some of Zee Music Company’s recent videos have millions of views, and many have hundreds of thousands.
9. Vlad and Niki
Subscribers: 92.2 million
Total Channel Views: 72.1 billion
Country: Russia
Primary Language: English
Category: Kids Entertainment and Education
Vlad and Niki is a Russian-American YouTube channel featuring brothers Vladislav and Nikita Vashketov, as well as their parents Sergey and Victoria. Originally from Moscow, Russia, they now live in Miami, Florida, just like the families of Kids Diana Show and Like Nastya, who also moved to Miami. “Vlad and Niki” features similar content to these other two channels, with sketches and vlogs focused on fun content for children. The channel is dubbed in other languages, and the parents run a total of 21 YouTube channels in 18 languages.
8. WWE
Subscribers: 92.6 million
Total Channel Views: 73.3 billion
Country: United States
Primary Language: English
Category: Sports
WWE, also known as World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., is an American professional wrestling company that regularly performs professional wrestling shows that are entertainment-based and feature scripted stories and choreographies. The channel features mostly wrestling matches and celebrity interviews.
7. Like Nastya
Subscribers: 103 million
Total Channel Views: 86.7 billion
Country: Russia
Primary Language: English
Category: Kids’ Entertainment and Education
Like Nastya was created in 2016 by Anna Radzinskaya and Yuri Radzinskij, parents of Anastasia Radzinskaya, who is now almost 9 years old. The channel features Nastya as the main character in children-oriented stories and sketches that are meant to be both fun and educational. Nastya, her parents, and her friends explore and share their life experiences through songs and educational roleplays on bullying, how to eat healthily, how to be a good friend and more. According to Forbes, it became one of the fastest-growing channels due to videos in seven languages, and the third highest-paid, with an estimated $18 in 2019.
6. Kids Diana Show
Subscribers: 106 million
Total Channel Views: 86.2 billion
Country: Ukraine
Primary Language: English
Category: Kids’ Entertainment and Education
Kids Diana Show is another children’s channel with very similar content to Like Nastya, which it has surpassed in recent months. Kids Diana Show was created in 2015, and similarly to Like Nastya, it is dubbed in several different languages, including Russian, Japanese, Spanish, Hindi, German, Portuguese, Arabic, and Indonesian. The channel was created by Volodymyr and Olena Kidisyuk, and it features Diana and her brother Roma (8 and 10 years old) in videos focused on kids’ play, songs, vlogging, unboxings, and educational content. Roma also has a channel called Kids Roma Show, which features similar content, and is currently at 22.9 million subscribers.
5. PewDiePie
Subscribers: 111 million
Total Channel Views: 28.8 billion
Country: Sweden
Primary Language: English
Category: Gaming and Entertainment
For the longest time, from August 2013 to March 2019, PewDiePie was the most-subscribed YouTube channel in the world, which is amazing given that there’s just one creator behind it, the Swede Felix Kjellberg. In fact, that’s probably why Felix fought so hard to remain no. 1 in the fierce subscriber competition between him and T-Series in 2018 and 2019. There used to be a time when YouTube was led by creators like him and Jennas Marbles before the age of huge companies and celebrities taking over YouTube. Well maybe I’m exaggerating, nobody took over YouTube, but the three biggest YouTube channels right now belong to large conglomerates, and I, like many people I’m sure, think that’s sad. YouTube was made for creators, and while creators are still at the forefront of YouTube, especially in terms of subscriber loyalty, I believe it’s a bit disheartening to think that the three biggest YouTube channels are basically TV channels. If you’d like to know more about PewDiePie, I wrote more about him and his channel here in our article about the funniest YouTube channels.
4. MrBeast
Subscribers: 126 million
Total Channel Views: 21 billion
Country: United States
Primary Language: English
Category: Entertainment
MrBeast is a 24-year-old YouTuber who’s been on YouTube since February 2012, when he was 13. Just in the last 6 months, he’s gained 26.8 million new subscribers and 5 billion more views, and he’s surpassed PewDiePie on the list of most subscribed YouTube channels. In 2022, Forbes named him the highest-earning YouTube creator, with an estimated $54 million earned in 2021. He started posting “Let’s Play” videos mainly focused on Minecraft and Call of Duty, videos estimating the wealth of other YouTubers, reactions to YouTube drama, and tips for other creators. His 2017 video where he counted to 100,000 went viral, and he has become known for his expensive stunt videos, which are centered around challenging people to go through difficult and even dangerous situations in order to gain a certain amount of money ranging from thousands of dollars to millions. This has labeled him as being one of the most generous YouTubers, with accomplishments like raising $20 million to plant 20 million trees, giving millions to charity, donating over 100 cars, and giving away a private island. Some other fun challenges include watching paint dry, reading the dictionary, and running the marathon in the world’s largest shoes. If any of these sound interesting to you, I suggest checking out his channel, it’s quite entertaining.
3. SET India
Subscribers: 149 million
Total Channel Views: 136.9 billion
Country: India
Primary Language: Hindi
Category: Entertainment
SET India is close behind Cocomelon, at number 3 on the list of biggest YouTube channels in the world, with 149 million subscribers as opposed to Cocomelon’s 151. SET is short for Sony Entertainment Television, which is a Hindi general entertainment TV channel launched in 1995. The YouTube channel was created in September 2006 and offers a mix of TV shows like soap operas, comedy shows, game shows, dance shows, and movies. They post over 50 clips a day, and similarly to T-Series, their most recent clips have thousands and tens of thousands of views, with older clips getting tens of millions and tens of thousands of millions. However, their content is different from T-Series, as SET India offers much more than just music clips, and given that they post so many videos a day, it’s not that surprising that not all of them are watched by millions of subscribers.
2. CoComelon – Nursery Rhymes
Subscribers: 151 million
Total Channel Views: 147.8 billion
Country: United States
Primary Language: English
Category: Education and Kids’ Entertainment
CoComelon – Nursery Rhymes is second on our list of most popular YouTube channels, and it’s no surprise. If you have a small kid, you’ve likely heard of them, as they post 3D-animated videos of original children’s songs, as well as traditional nursery rhymes. Cocomelon was acquired by the British company Moonbug Entertainment, but it is still managed by an American company called Treasure Studio. It is the second most-viewed YouTube channel in the world, behind the Indian channel T-Series, but the most viewed in the US, as of July 2021. Since it’s the second most-subscribed channel in the world behind T-Series, which is not a children’s channel, Cocomelon – Nursery Rhymes is also the most-subscribed children’s channel in the world, with 147.8 billion views. Unlike T-Series, they also have millions of views on each video, most of them in the tens of millions, and some of the most popular ones in the hundreds of millions. Cocomelon also has a few other channels in addition to Nursery Rhymes: Furry Friends, It’s Cody Time, and the main version of Cocomelon in 22 other languages. All of their videos include lyrics at the bottom of the screen in the same karaoke style. If you haven’t checked it out yet and you have a small kid, I suggest giving it a try. It’s a good way to keep your kid entertained while busy with house chores.
1. T-Series
Subscribers: 233 million
Total Channel Views: 211.6 billion
Country: India
Primary Language: Hindi
Category: Music
T-Series, an Indian music record label and film production company, is currently both the most-subscribed YouTube channel and the most-viewed YouTube channel, with 233 million subscribers and 211.6 billion views as of January 2023. The second channel on the list of most-subscribed YouTube channels, Cocomelon, is “only” at 151 million subscribers, so T-Series leads with a detached 82 million. However, the number of views per video doesn’t quite match the number of subscribers, with most videos having tens of thousands of views and at most hundreds of thousands of views. Almost all their videos that have reached views in the hundreds of millions are at least a few years old, with very few of their recent videos reaching millions, and even fewer hundreds of millions or even tens of millions. This has led many people in the comments to speculate that their subscriber number is fake and that many of their subscribers are bots. This, of course, is just a speculation, and given that their content is quite diluted, with several daily videos popping into people’s subscription feeds, there is a chance that many subscribers end up ignoring the content, especially since it’s quite repetitive, meaning the same type of videos all the time – music videos and movie clips. Most of their content is in Hindi, but they also post videos in other languages like Bhojpuri, Punjabi, and English.
In conclusion, YouTube continues to be a platform dominated by diverse creators, from gamers and musicians to educators and vloggers, each with unique strategies that draw millions of subscribers. As the landscape evolves, so do the tools available for managing and analyzing growth on social media. For those aiming to navigate YouTube’s complexities or expand their presence across platforms, checking out the best social media management tools can provide the necessary support to streamline content creation, scheduling, and audience engagement.
See also: Which F1 driver has the most social media followers?
