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Free YouTube Engagement Rate Calculator

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@MrBeast
Followers: 338.0M
320.00%
(YouTube average median 0.56%)
Engagement rate
Last data update: Jun 29, 2026
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27018.6% higher than median
Engagement rate vs. median
(YouTube average median 0.56%)
10.8M
Average likes

Median engagement rate on YouTube

Per follower band · queried band highlighted

Why engagement rate matters

Subscribers tell you reach. Engagement tells you influence.

A large YouTube audience looks impressive, but it doesn't show whether anyone acts on a creator's videos. Engagement rate normalizes likes and comments against audience size, so you can compare a 20K creator and a 2M creator on the same scale — before you pay either one.

Subscribers ≠ influence

A big YouTube account with flat engagement often means a passive or padded audience. Engagement rate exposes it in a single number.

Compare on the same scale

Engagement rate lets you line up a nano-creator next to a mega-creator, so budget goes to the accounts that actually move an audience.

Spot inflated accounts early

A spike in subscribers with no matching engagement is a classic red flag. Calculate first, shortlist second.

How it works

  1. Paste a YouTube channel

    Drop in any public YouTube channel — no account or extension required.

  2. We pull recent videos

    The calculator gathers the latest public videos and their interactions.

  3. Get the engagement rate

    See the engagement rate plus a likes-and-comments breakdown.

  4. Benchmark and act

    Compare against the norm, then send strong accounts to vetting.

Manual vs ClickAnalytic

YouTube engagement calculator vs a spreadsheet

CriterionSpreadsheetYouTube Engagement Calculator
InputsCopy likes & comments video by videoPaste a handle — recent videos pulled automatically
MathHand-built formulas, easy to get wrongThe standard engagement formula, applied consistently
BenchmarkNo reference for what 'good' meansSee the number in context for the audience size
SpeedMinutes per profileA full breakdown in seconds
When to use what

Engagement vs authenticity vs size

I want to measure how well a YouTube account engages.

Stay here

I suspect the audience is padded with bots.

YouTube Fake Subscriber Checker

Open

I just need the live subscriber total.

YouTube Subscriber Count Checker

Open

I'm ready to vet and shortlist creators.

Influencer Vetting Tool

Open
What's included

Engagement analysis, in context

Included

Instant engagement rate

Paste any public YouTube channel and get the engagement rate without a login.

Included

Per-video breakdown

See how individual videos perform, not just a single blended average.

Included

Likes & comments split

Understand whether interaction comes from passive likes or active comments.

Included

Audience-size normalization

Compare creators of very different sizes on a fair, like-for-like basis.

Included

Context for the number

Read the engagement rate against what's typical, instead of guessing.

Included

Multi-platform

Run the same check across Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube creators.

Included

Shareable result

Send the breakdown to a teammate or client to back up a shortlist decision.

Included

Path to full vetting

Move promising accounts straight into deeper audience and authenticity checks.

Subscribers: 254M

1.87%(Youtube average median 0.56%)

Median Engagement Rate on Youtube

How to check an influencer’s YouTube engagement rate?

= *likes + comments divided by number of followers (average on the last 30 posts)

You can check an influencer’s engagement rate by dividing the total number of interactions (likes + comments) their content receives by their total number of followers and multiplying by 100%. This gives you the engagement rate for that specific post.

So, what if you want to see the average engagement rate over the last 30 posts? In that case, find the engagement rate for each post. Add them up, divide the total by the number of posts, and multiply by 100%. This will give you a good indication of the influencer’s account-wide engagement rate. Pair this with our YouTube subscriber count checker to see growth trends alongside engagement data.

Click Analytic can analyse YouTube engagement rates but also much MORE

With Click Analytic, you can analyse any YouTube influencer. You can find YouTube engagement rates, compare channel quality, and pair the result with our YouTube subscriber count checker to review scale alongside engagement. Once you identify strong engagement rates, you can move into our influencer database or use the influencer search tool to shortlist campaign-ready creators, our guide helps you find YouTube influencers who match your brand.

What is a good engagement rate on YouTube?

Checking engagement rates isn’t helpful unless you have benchmarks against which to compare. Using data from our database’s 250M+ influencer profiles, we’ve compiled some typical YouTube engagement rate benchmarks.

YouTube Engagement Rate Benchmarks

1k-5k 5k-10k 10k-50k 50k-100k 100k-500k 500k-1 million Over 1 million

High AboveAverage Average BelowAverage Low

0,5 1 1,5 2 2,5 3 3,5 4 4,5 5 5,5 6 6,5 7 7,5 8 8,5

Here’s a bit more detail:

Most social media experts agree that a rate between 3% and 7% is a reasonable engagement rate on YouTube to aim for. However, a good engagement rate on YouTube can vary depending on several factors.

  • Industry: Funny cat videos tend to get more likes than business explainer videos (no surprise there!).
  • Account size: It’s harder for bigger accounts to keep engagement high. A small account with 5% engaged followers might be doing great, while a giant account with 2% might need to work harder.

Tracking the engagement rate over time and comparing it to previous rates is essential to see if your influencer marketing strategies are working.

How do I check a YouTuber’s engagement rate?

How to manually calculate the engagement rate on YouTube:

Manually calculating the YouTube engagement rate involves some effort, but it gives you a basic idea of how an audience engages with an influencer’s content.

Here’s how to manually calculate an influencer’s engagement rate on YouTube:

  1. Pick a post: Choose a few recent posts from the influencer’s YouTuber profile. It’s good to pick a mix to get a fair view of their engagement.
  2. Count the likes and comments: For each post you picked, add all the likes, shares and comments it received. This gives you the total engagement for those posts.
  3. Find the average: If you checked multiple posts, add up all their engagements and divide by the number of posts you looked at. This gives you the average engagement per post.
  4. Know the number of followers: Look at how many followers the influencer has. This number is crucial because you’ll compare it to the engagement to get the rate. If you want a quick read on channel size first, use our YouTube subscriber count checker.
  5. Calculate the rate: Here’s the fun math part! To find the YouTube engagement rate, use this formula:
    Engagement Rate = (Average Engagement per Post ÷ Number of Followers) × 100 This formula helps you see what percentage of the influencer’s followers engage with their content.

Here’s an example to make it clear:

  • Say an influencer has 5,000 followers.
  • You pick 5 posts, and they have a total of 500 likes and comments.
  • The average engagement per post is 500 ÷ 5 = 100 (likes+comments).
  • To find the rate: (100 ÷ 5,000) × 100 =2%.

This means, on average, 2% of the influencer’s followers interact with each post, which is a pretty good engagement rate!

Next, we’ll look at calculating the YouTube engagement rate on a post with software.

The software then calculates an average engagement rate based on these 25 posts.

Next, our software can show you how well an influencer engages with their audience compared to other influencers in their niche. It can even show you a timeline to see how historically an influencer engages with their audience.

Here’s what you must do:

Enter the influencer’s YouTube handle and hit the button.

Understanding how engagement rate varies by niche and platform

Engagement rates can vary greatly depending on your niche (or topic area) and social media platform.
Each niche has its audience behaviours, and different platforms cater to different types of content and interactions. Here’s how it breaks down:

Engagement by niche

Let’s start with a popular niche, fashion and beauty.

Fashion and beauty

These niches often see high engagement rates, especially on visual platforms like TikTok and Pinterest.

Users in these niches love to like, comment, and share outfit ideas, makeup tutorials, and product reviews.

For example, a fashion influencer might post a photo of their outfit and receive thousands of likes and comments from followers seeking style inspiration.

On platforms like TikTok, which is highly visual and well-suited for this niche, the average engagement rate can range from 1% to 3%.

Influencers with highly engaged audiences or smaller, more niche followings can see higher rates, sometimes up to 5% or more.

Gaming

Gaming content, especially on platforms like Twitch and YouTube, can have very engaged audiences who spend hours watching live streams, gameplay videos, and tutorials.

Gamers often form tight-knit communities, frequently engaging through comments, live chat, and social media shares.

For platforms popular with gamers, like Twitch and YouTube, engagement can be more about view time and subscriber interactions than likes or comments.

On Instagram or X (formerly Twitter), gamers can see engagement rates from 0.5% to 3%, depending on their content type and audience engagement.

Food and cooking

Platforms like Instagram and YouTube are great for food enthusiasts. These niches can have high engagement rates with audiences looking for recipes, cooking tips, and food photography.

A beautifully plated dish posted on Instagram can garner many likes and comments, while detailed cooking tutorials on YouTube can accumulate thousands of views and an active comment section.

Food and cooking content on Instagram can expect an average engagement rate of around 1.1% to 3.5%. This niche benefits from high visual appeal, which can increase engagement, especially with well-photographed dishes and recipes.

Fitness and health

This niche can see varied engagement rates across platforms.

On TikTok, fitness influencers often share workout videos, fitness tips, and motivational posts, which receive many likes and comments.

On YouTube, longer workout videos or health-related content might have fewer comments but a lot of views and high watch time.

This niche tends to have a wide range of engagement rates, from 1% to 3% on TikTok.

Content that includes workout videos, fitness tips, and health advice can engage audiences well, especially if it promotes interaction through challenges or Q&A sessions.

Remember, these are broad estimates, and actual engagement rates can vary.
How much followers interact with content through likes, comments, shares, and other platform-specific actions influences engagement rates.

Rates above the average can indicate highly engaging content or a very dedicated audience, while lower rates suggest a need for strategy adjustments or content diversification.

Engagement by platform

Engagement on each social media platform comes in different formats. Here’s what you need to know.

  • Instagram: Known for its visual content, Instagram generally has higher engagement rates for niches like fashion, beauty, and travel. Users engage through likes, comments, shares, and stories.
  • X (formerly Twitter)
FAQ

Frequently asked questions about YouTube engagement rates

How is YouTube engagement rate calculated?

On YouTube, engagement is usually measured as (likes + comments) against either views or subscribers, multiplied by 100. View-based engagement shows how a specific video resonated with the people who watched it, while subscriber-based engagement gauges how active your subscriber base is. Because a channel’s views and subscriber count can differ wildly, it helps to state which denominator you used whenever you report the figure.

What is a good engagement rate on YouTube?

YouTube engagement rates tend to look lower than Instagram or TikTok because viewers watch passively far more often than they like or comment. A view-based rate of 3-7% is generally healthy, though the number that matters most to YouTube itself is watch time, not likes. Strong comment activity is a good sign of a committed community, since commenting takes more effort than a quick tap.

Why don’t subscribers equal reach on YouTube?

Subscriber count is a vanity figure on its own. Many subscribers never see a given upload, and conversely YouTube’s recommendations and search can deliver a large share of a video’s views from non-subscribers. That is why a channel with 100,000 subscribers might average 20,000 views, or 300,000. Judge a creator on actual view performance and watch time per video rather than their subscriber badge alone.

Why does watch time matter more than likes on YouTube?

YouTube’s recommendation system optimizes heavily for how long people stay watching, so average view duration and retention drive a video’s reach more than likes or comments do. A video with modest likes but high retention often outperforms a flashier one that loses viewers early. When you evaluate a creator, weigh whether their audience sticks around, not just whether they tap the like button.

Can YouTube engagement be inflated, and how do I check?

Yes. Purchased views, sub4sub schemes, and bot comments can dress up a channel that has little real influence. Telltale signs include views with almost no comments, a subscriber count that dwarfs typical view counts, and generic repeated comments. Click Analytic’s AQS evaluates audience authenticity across YouTube channels, so you can confirm a creator’s engaged community is real before committing budget to a sponsorship.

Search 400M+ creators. Vet with AQS. Run campaigns end-to-end.

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