A subscriber to a channel on the American video-sharing platform YouTube is a user with an account who chooses to follow a channel's content by clicking on that channel's "Subscribe" button, and each user's subscription feed consists of videos published by channels to which the user is subscribed. The ability for users to subscribe was introduced in October 2005. YouTube began publishing a list of its most-subscribed channels in April 2006. An early archive of the list dates to May 17, 2006. As of 2026, YouTube does not publish lists of most-subscribed channels.
Since May 2006, when Smosh occupied the top position with just 2,986 subscribers, at least 11 other YouTube channels have held the top spot; these include the channel for the American fictional web series lonelygirl15, American comedian Brooke "Brookers" Brodack, American fictional character Fred Figglehorn, Swedish gamer Felix "PewDiePie" Kjellberg, American comedian Ryan Higa, American media personality Ray William Johnson, American public speaker Judson Laipply, English pensioner Peter Oakley, and the official channels for Indian music record label T-Series, as well as YouTube itself.
the most-subscribed YouTuber is MrBeast, having 500 million subscribers and gaining an average of 133,000 subscribers per day.
100 most-subscribed channels
The following table lists the top followed 100 YouTube channels, as well as the primary language, country, date they joined YouTube, and content category of each channel. The channels are ordered by number of subscribers. Those whose displayed subscriber counts are identical, are listed so that the channel whose current growth rate indicates that its displayed subscriber count will exceed that of the other channel is listed first. Automatically generated channels that lack their own videos, such as Music and News, and channels that have been made effectively obsolete as a result of the transferral of their content, such as JustinBieberVEVO and TaylorSwiftVEVO are excluded.
, 36 of top 100 channels listed primarily produce content in English, 28 primarily in Hindi, and 11 primarily in Spanish. All 100 channels have surpassed 50 million subscribers. All Top 50 channels have surpassed 68 million subscribers. Seventeen of the channels have surpassed 100 million subscribers, of which three have surpassed 200 million (Cocomelon), two have surpassed 300 million (T-Series) and one has surpassed both 400 and 500 million (MrBeast).
NameLinkSubscribers(millions)PrimarylanguageCategoryJoined YouTubeCountry MrBeast 519 English Entertainment February 19, 2012 T-Series 315 Hindi Music March 13, 2006 Cocomelon - Nursery Rhymes 203 English Education September 1, 2006 SET India 190 Hindi Entertainment September 20, 2006 Vlad and Niki 151 English Entertainment April 23, 2018 Stokes Twins 147 English People April 11, 2008 Kids Diana Show 138 English Entertainment May 12, 2015 김프로KIMPRO 135 Korean People November 11, 2017 Like Nastya 133 English Entertainment December 6, 2016 Zee Music Company 123 Hindi Music March 12, 2014 Alejo Igoa 122 Spanish Entertainment January 17, 2014 WWE 114 English Sports May 10, 2007 Goldmines 110 Hindi Film January 21, 2012 PewDiePie 109 English Entertainment/Lifestyle Vlogs April 29, 2010 Sony SAB 106 Hindi Entertainment August 4, 2007 Alan's Universe 102 English Entertainment February 3, 2020 Blackpink 101 Korean Music June 28, 2016 Zee TV 99.1 Hindi Entertainment December 11, 2005 ChuChu TV Nursery Rhymes & Kids Songs 98.2 Hindi Entertainment February 9, 2013 Topper Guild 95.0 English Entertainment July 8, 2014 A4 92.8 Russian Entertainment November 29, 2014 KL BRO Biju Rithvik 89.4 Malayalam Lifestyle Vlogs July 21, 2020 BANGTANTV 86.1 Korean Music December 16, 2012 Baby Shark - Pinkfong Kids’ Songs & Stories 85.2 English Entertainment December 13, 2011 ZAMZAM BROTHERS OFFICIAL 84.8 Urdu Entertainment December 19, 2020 Mark Rober 83.6 English Education/Entertainment October 20, 2011 UR · Cristiano 83.4 Portuguese, English Entertainment/Sports July 8, 2024 T-Series Bhakti Sagar 83.1 Hindi Music February 13, 2011 Toys and Colors 83.1 English Entertainment March 17, 2016 Hybe Labels 82.9 Korean Music June 4, 2008 Colors TV 82.6 Hindi Entertainment June 13, 2008 Tips Official 82.5 Hindi Entertainment May 22, 2007 Zhong 80.6 English Entertainment January 19, 2015 5-Minute Crafts 80.5 English How-to November 15, 2016 Justin Bieber 79.4 English Music January 15, 2007 Fede Vigevani 79.3 Spanish Entertainment June 16, 2009 Bispo Bruno Leonardo 76.9 Portuguese Nonprofit April 10, 2016 ISSEI / いっせい 75.8 Japanese Comedy July 23, 2014 Anaya Kandhal 75.7 Hindi Entertainment September 19, 2016 Aaj Tak 75.6 Hindi News August 27, 2009 Shemaroo Filmi Gaane 75.0 Hindi Music June 11, 2010 HAR PAL GEO 74.2 Urdu Entertainment January 2, 2008 Sony Music India 73.2 Hindi Music September 2, 2009 YRF 72.9 Hindi Music June 7, 2006 Infobells - Hindi 72.8 Hindi Entertainment June 6, 2014 El Reino Infantil 71.6 Spanish Music June 2, 2011 YOLO AVENTURAS 71.0 Spanish Entertainment December 13, 2018 Wave Music 70.9 Bhojpuri Music December 20, 2011 ARY Digital HD 68.6 Urdu Entertainment July 11, 2016 Canal KondZilla 68.2 Portuguese Music March 21, 2012 Celine Dept 67.6 English Sports May 3, 2023 Eminem Music 67.3 English Music February 8, 2007 Movieclips 66.7 English Film April 27, 2006 Dangal TV Channel 66.2 Hindi Entertainment August 2, 2017 Saregama Music 64.9 Hindi Music January 4, 2013 Taylor Swift 63.5 English Music September 20, 2006 Dude Perfect 62.8 English Comedy March 17, 2009 LooLoo Kids - Nursery Rhymes and Children's Songs 62.6 English Music August 5, 2014 PANDA BOI 62.4 English Gaming December 5, 2020 MrBeast 2 62.3 English Entertainment August 21, 2020 Shemaroo 62.3 Hindi Entertainment September 1, 2007 IShowSpeed 61.6 English Entertainment March 21, 2016 आचार्य प्रशान्त - Acharya Prashant 61.0 Hindi Education August 27, 2014 Маша и Медведь 60.6 Russian Education May 31, 2011 MrBeast Gaming 60.3 English Gaming April 7, 2020 Alfredo Larin 60.3 Spanish Entertainment April 9, 2017 SonyMusicIndiaVEVO 60.1 Hindi Music September 2, 2009 Ed Sheeran 59.3 English Music August 8, 2006 ToRung 59.1 Vietnamese Comedy October 18, 2017 Marshmello 58.7 English Music April 6, 2015 Mikecrack 58.7 Spanish Gaming July 13, 2015 Billie Eilish 58.6 English Music February 6, 2013 JioHotstar Kids 58.5 Hindi Entertainment November 23, 2016 Ariana Grande 58.2 English Music January 21, 2007 Billion Surprise Toys 57.7 English Education October 25, 2013 Get Movies 57.2 Russian Entertainment December 16, 2006 StarPlus 56.8 Hindi Entertainment May 19, 2006 JuegaGerman 56.8 Spanish Gaming May 18, 2013 shfa 56.7 Arabic People March 29, 2015 Juan de Dios Pantoja 56.4 Spanish People June 9, 2014 Masha and the Bear 55.6 English Film September 17, 2014 HUM TV 55.3 Urdu Entertainment May 25, 2011 ABS-CBN Entertainment 55.3 Filipino Entertainment July 15, 2008 Jess No Limit 54.6 Indonesian Gaming September 6, 2017 shfa2 - شفا 54.3 Arabic People November 6, 2017 Shakira 54.2 Spanish Music October 16, 2005 Sierra & Rhia FAM 54.1 English Entertainment February 5, 2020 Ishtar Music 54.0 Hindi Music September 22, 2005 T-Series Bollywood Classics 54.0 Hindi Film April 2, 2012 LUCCAS NETO 53.6 Portuguese Entertainment July 30, 2014 Bad Bunny 53.3 Spanish Music June 8, 2014 Techno Gamerz 53.3 Hindi Gaming August 13, 2017 MR. INDIAN HACKER 53.3 Hindi Entertainment Jun 21, 2012 Karla Bustillos 53.1 Spanish Entertainment July 25, 2019 Real fools shorts official 52.9 Hindi People June 14, 2021 BEN EAGLE 52.5 Vietnamese Entertainment August 9, 2021 BeatboxJCOP 52.0 Korean Entertainment March 12, 2011 BETER BÖCÜK 52.0 Turkish Gaming December 13, 2012 Ben Azelart 51.5 English Entertainment June 5, 2014 Natan por Aí 51.4 Portuguese Entertainment February 12, 2017 As of October 2026
Historical progression of most-subscribed channels The following table lists the 20 distinct runs as the most-subscribed YouTube channel recorded since May 2006. Only runs lasting at least 24 hours are included. Twelve different channels have held the position, with PewDiePie holding the title a record four times. He also holds the records for the longest time as the most-subscribed channel (1,920 days in his third run), the shortest time as the most-subscribed channel (four days in his second run), and the longest overall combined time as the most subscribed channel (2,017 days). In second place is Smosh, which held it three times, while third place is tied between nigahiga, T-Series, and YouTube's own channel, which have all held it twice each. YouTube's own official channel, then known as "YouTube Spotlight", briefly held the title in late 2013; one factor that contributed to the channel's rise to the top spot was the site's autosuggestion for new users to subscribe to the channel upon registration.
Overall of the twelve channels who have held the record, seven featured individual males (including MrBeast); one (Brookers) featured an individual female; three have been operated by brands as opposed to individuals (T-Series, YouTube Spotlight, and MrBeast); one (Smosh) was a duo of males which later became a collective and production company; and one (lonelygirl15) was a web series. Nine of the channels were based in the United States, one (geriatric1927) was based in England, one (T-Series) was based in India, and one (PewDiePie) was based in Sweden, and later in England.
Channel name Date achievedDays held Smosh (1) ~34 Judson Laipply ~21 Brookers ~43 geriatric1927 August 15, 2006 28 lonelygirl15 September 12, 2006 226 Smosh (2) April 26, 2007 517 nigahiga (1) September 24, 2008 12 FЯED October 6, 2008 318 nigahiga (2) August 20, 2009 675 Ray William Johnson June 26, 2011 564 Smosh (3) January 12, 2013 215 PewDiePie (1) August 15, 2013 79 YouTube Spotlight (1) November 2, 2013 36 PewDiePie (2) December 8, 2013 4 YouTube Spotlight (2) December 12, 2013 11 PewDiePie (3) December 23, 2013 1,920 T-Series (1) March 27, 2019 5 PewDiePie (4) April 1, 2019 13 T-Series (2) April 14, 2019 1,876 MrBeast June 2, 2024 As of 2026 UTC
Timeline Timeline of the most-subscribed YouTube channels (May 2006 – present)
Milestones and reactions ChannelSubscriber milestoneDate achievedReference Brookers 10,000 July 7, 2006 geriatric1927 20,000 August 18, 2006 lonelygirl15 50,000 October 13, 2006 Smosh 100,000 May 15, 2007 FЯED 1 million April 7, 2009 nigahiga 2 million March 13, 2010 RayWilliamJohnson 5 million November 15, 2011 Smosh 10 million May 25, 2013 PewDiePie 20 million January 9, 2014 50 million December 8, 2016 T-Series 100 million May 29, 2019 200 million November 30, 2021 MrBeast 300 million July 10, 2024 400 million June 1, 2025 500 million June 12, 2026
Following the third time that Smosh became the most-subscribed YouTube channel, Ray William Johnson collaborated with the duo. A flurry of top YouTubers including Ryan Higa, Shane Dawson, Felix Kjellberg, Michael Buckley, Kassem Gharaibeh, the Fine Brothers, and Johnson himself, congratulated the duo shortly after they surpassed Johnson as the most-subscribed channel.
PewDiePie vs T-Series
In mid-2018, the subscriber count of the Indian music video channel T-Series rapidly approached that of Swedish web comedian and Let's Player PewDiePie, who was the most-subscribed user on YouTube at the time. As a result, fans of PewDiePie and T-Series, other YouTubers, and celebrities showed their support for both channels. During the competition, both channels gained a large number of subscribers at a rapid rate, and surpassed each other's subscriber count on multiple occasions in early 2019. T-Series eventually permanently surpassed PewDiePie, and on May 29, 2019, it became the first channel to reach 100 million subscribers.