YouTube Channel Authority Calculator

The calculator needs two figures for one period: views and subscribers gained. Each optional field adds one ratio.

1. Open YouTube Studio, select Analytics, and pick one period such as the last 28 days.
2. Copy views and subscribers gained. Add subscribers lost when your report lists it. With only a net figure, enter it as gained and leave lost blank.
3. Add your current subscriber count, watch time in hours and the number of videos you published.
4. Add views for the previous period of the same length to see the direction of travel.

Channel authority is an informal term for how established a channel is with its audience. YouTube has no metric, score or ranking with that name. Any "authority score" out of 100 comes from weights that a third party made up.

This page replaces the score with ratios you can check by hand. They describe three things:

• Conversion: how many views turn into subscribers.
• Reach: how many views the channel earns for each subscriber it has.
• Depth and pace: how long each view lasts, and how often the channel publishes.

YouTube does publish a few fixed lines that people link with standing. Each was read on YouTube Help on October 3, 2026:

None of these lines is a quality score. They are thresholds and definitions.

1. The tool divides subscribers gained by views and multiplies by 1,000.
2. It subtracts subscribers lost from subscribers gained for the net change.
3. It subtracts the net change from your current count to find the starting count, then divides.
4. It divides views by subscribers for views per subscriber.
5. It multiplies watch hours by 60 and divides by views for minutes per view.
6. It divides videos published by the period in days and multiplies by 7.
7. It compares views with the previous period.

The tool shows each ratio on its own line. It does not add or weight them.

Example values only. A channel has 25,000 subscribers. In the last 28 days it had 120,000 views, 900 subscribers gained, 150 lost, 6,000 watch hours and 8 uploads. The previous 28 days had 100,000 views.

• Subscribers gained per 1,000 views = 900 / 120,000 x 1,000 = 7.5.
• Net change = 900 - 150 = +750.
• Starting count = 25,000 - 750 = 24,250, so growth = 750 / 24,250 x 100 = +3.09%.
• Views per subscriber = 120,000 / 25,000 = 4.80.
• Average time per view = 6,000 x 60 / 120,000 = 3.00 minutes.
• Upload pace = 8 / 28 x 7 = 2.00 per week.
• Period views per upload = 120,000 / 8 = 15,000.
• Views vs previous period = (120,000 - 100,000) / 100,000 x 100 = +20.0%.

The channel gains 1 subscriber for about every 133 views. For every 6 subscribers gained, 1 was lost, which is 16.7% of the gain.

Traffic Source

A subscribed viewer cannot subscribe again. Views from existing subscribers add to views and nothing to subscribers gained, so a loyal channel can show a low rate. The same 900 subscribers on 240,000 views is 3.75 per 1,000.

Format Mix

Shorts add many views with short watch time. A channel that adds Shorts usually sees minutes per view fall.

Subscriber Count Clean-Ups

YouTube Help states that subscriptions are checked for legitimacy and counts can be adjusted. A removal lowers your count.

The Back Catalogue

Period views include views of older videos. A large library raises period views per upload even when new uploads are quiet.

Period Length

Growth rate over 90 days is roughly 3 times the 28 day figure. Compare equal periods.

An authority score gives one number with hidden weights, and transparent ratios give several numbers you can verify. The table compares the two approaches.

Interaction ratios, such as likes and comments per 1,000 views, sit on a separate page: the community loyalty calculator.

Monthly Channel Review

Run the last 28 days against the 28 days before. Watch the direction of each ratio, not its size.

Checking Partner Program Progress

Subscribers and watch hours both count towards the published thresholds. Track the hours side with the watch time hours calculator.

Testing a Change in Upload Pace

Compare a month at 1 upload per week with a month at 2. The views per upload and net subscriber lines show what the extra videos added.

Looking at Who Comes Back

Subscriber counts include people who stopped watching. The returning viewer calculator measures the audience that returned in the period.

Preparing Metadata Work

Titles and descriptions are the part of reach you control directly. The video SEO checklist covers the documented basics.

1. Treating a Third-Party Score as Official

YouTube publishes no authority score. A score from a website reflects that website's weights.

2. Reading a Verification Badge as a Ranking Boost

YouTube Help says verified channels do not get extra features. The badge confirms identity.

3. Using Subscriber Count as Audience Size

YouTube Help calls monthly audience the more accurate estimate. In the example, 120,000 views from a 60,000 monthly audience is 2.0 views per viewer.

4. Ignoring Subscribers Lost

900 gained with 150 lost is a net 750. Reporting only the gain overstates growth by 20%.

5. Comparing Ratios Across Channels

A tutorial channel and a news channel earn subscribers at different rates. Your own history is the fair comparison.

6. Mixing Periods

Subscribers gained over 90 days against views over 28 days triples the ratio.

Each ratio is exact for the figures you enter. The ratios describe what happened, and they do not explain why.

YouTube Studio is the source of record. Subscriber counts can change after the period as YouTube validates them.

No. YouTube Studio shows metrics such as views, watch time, subscribers and audience segments. It does not publish an authority score, and any score from another website uses that website's own weights.

Use ratios from your own data. Subscribers gained per 1,000 views, net subscriber growth, views per subscriber and minutes per view each describe one part of a channel's standing.

YouTube publishes no good or average figure. The rate depends on topic, format and traffic source, so compare it with your own previous period.

No. YouTube Help says verified channels get no extra features, and the badge is not an award, a milestone or an endorsement. A channel needs 100,000 subscribers to apply.

Divide net new subscribers by the count at the start of the period, then multiply by 100. A net 750 on a starting 24,250 is 3.09%.

They show how much viewing a channel earns relative to its size. A falling figure means subscribers are growing faster than views.

Open Analytics in YouTube Studio. The Audience tab shows subscribers, and Advanced Mode lets you add more metrics to a report. With only a net figure, enter it as gained and leave lost blank.

YouTube publishes no ranking benefit for age. YouTube Help mentions channel age only as one factor it may check when verifying that a channel is authentic.

The YouTube Partner Program threshold is 1,000 subscribers, with 4,000 qualified watch hours in 12 months or 10 million qualified Shorts views in 90 days.

No. The maths runs in your browser and nothing is sent to us. Save keeps a result only in this browser.

• Verification badges on channels (YouTube Help, read 2026-10-03; 100,000 subscribers to apply; verified channels get no extra features; not an award or endorsement; channel age as an authenticity check).
• YouTube Partner Program overview and eligibility (YouTube Help, read 2026-10-03; 1,000 subscribers with 4,000 qualified watch hours or 10 million qualified Shorts views).
• Understand new, casual and regular viewers (YouTube Help, read 2026-10-03; monthly audience as a more accurate estimate of active audience than subscriber count).
• How engagement metrics are counted (YouTube Help, read 2026-10-03; views, likes and subscriptions are validated and counts can be adjusted).
• Advanced mode for analytics reports (YouTube Help, read 2026-10-03; Advanced Mode for adding and comparing metrics).