Before we get to the free tools, let me get something off of my chest.

I hear it far too often… excuses.

• I’m not growing on YouTube because I cannot afford ‘X’.
• I need to hire a graphic designer to get better thumbnails.
• I’m not a video editor or I cannot afford Premiere Pro/Vegas/Final Cut, so I cannot create YouTube videos. Etc.

Simple excuses that don’t make any sense at all. The most popular YouTubers didn’t get to where they are by using the most expensive software or by hiring experts to do the work for them. They learned with what they had & grew their audience with their personality, unique idea, or simply the sheer will and determination to make it.

So, no more excuses.

Spoiler alert: You can do it for free, or you can spend a little on lighting & a cheap mic.

Now that I’ve gotten that off of my chest, there are plenty of free tools for YouTubers to accomplish pretty much whatever they’re looking for.

I’d even recommend these free tools for established YouTubers & people with a higher budget, they’re that good. 

Enough talk though, let’s jump straight into the free tools.

The Best Free Tools for YouTubers in 2020

I’ve outlined 7 of my favorite free tools & we’re going to take a look at each of them below & just some of the many ways that you can use them to expand your reach, create better content & grow your YouTube channels in 2020.

TubeBuddy

TubeBuddy is the first on this list because it’s the tool I recommend the most.

This free Chrome, Firefox & Safari browser extension can do so much, you’re handicapping yourself simply by not installing it. It’s also certified by YouTube, so you won’t get into any hot water.

What makes TubeBuddy so great is the SEO functionality.

When uploading your videos, you’ll be given a variety of options to see what you still need to do to upload an optimized YouTube video. You’ll see live character limits, an SEO checklist & even receive suggested tags from TubeBuddy to help your videos rank higher & get more views.

When you’re scrolling through YouTube, you’ll also be able to spy on the competition.

You can see exactly what tags are being used on videos, where the video ranks for the tags, stats for said video & channel plus, if you think the tags will fit your video well, simply press the copy button & paste them into your tag section. 

Find out more about TubeBuddy & download the free extension here.

 Canva

Thumbnails can make or break your videos.

Your thumbnails are after all the first thing that a potential viewer sees. If they’re bad, hardly anyone is going to click through to watch your video.

This is where Canva comes in though, the easiest way to create thumbnails & YouTube customization that standout & pop.

Canva is a web-based graphic design software that allows you to create captivating images for free. Not only can you create YouTube thumbnails, but you can also design custom YouTube channel art & even an end screen to show at the end of your videos.

Below is a video that will guide you through the process of creating YouTube banner art that grab attention, and once you’re done there, head over to this blog to leave your thoughtful comments and suggestions for future content.

YouTube Creator Studio (& App)

When it comes to free tools for YouTubers you really don’t have to look very far for some of the best. YouTube itself provides a variety of useful tools & resources to help you become a success on the platform.

From the YouTube Creator Academy to the very detailed analytics you can find in your YouTube Creator Studio, you’ll be able to learn a lot about what to do to grow & how your audience reacts by paying attention to what YouTube provides you with.

For example, if your analytics is showing people usually leave your video after 5 minutes, maybe you need to make your videos shorter or throw in some cards just before that drop off point so that they can watch another one of your videos.

This is a very basic example of the vast amount of details you could gather. In order to access more information, switch from YouTube Studio to the Creator Studio Classic. You can do this in the bottom left corner of your screen from the YouTube Studio.

Another useful tool is the YT Studio app on Android or iOS devices. This mobile app allows you to edit titles, descriptions, tags, etc. without having to log in via your computer. You will also be able to harness some analytics & check your stats whilst on the go or when you wake up.

Warning: checking your real-time views can become addictive. 

The best feature of the YT Studio app is the ability to reply to comments easily. You no longer need to head into a video to reply to a comment, you can do it right there on your phone.

Whether the comment was on a video you posted a day ago or a year ago, new comments appear in chronological order so you know exactly what’s happening on your channel and you can engage with your community with ease.

VidIQ

Similar to TubeBuddy, VidIQ allows you to gather statistics and information about your competition and rank higher through the use of SEO.

VidIQ is also a free extension & offers a few useful features you won’t find on TubeBuddy (for free at least).

Namely, the ability to see the subscriber count of people that comment on videos without having to visit their channel. This can be very useful if you’re looking to connect and collaborate with people in your niche.

You’ll also be able to see like ratios for videos in your feed & on the videos in search results, which can be a useful tool if you’ll looking for ideas on videos to create.

YouTube Audio Library

I already mentioned how YouTube provides some great free tools to their users, another one of these is the YouTube Audio Library.

It’s pretty self-explanatory… it’s a library of free music which you can use in your videos. 

Just remember to pay attention to the attribution as some tracks require you to include a link in your description.

You will also find a variety of different sound effects, which can add some spark to your videos.

You can access the YouTube Audio Library from your Creator Studio.

Another great source for free music is the NoCopyrightSounds Channel, you’ll find links to the tracks in their video descriptions and all you need to do to use a track is give them attribution in your video description.

P.s. This post may contain affiliate links, which means I may earn a commission, at no cost to you, if you make a purchase through a link.

Summary – The best free tools for YouTubers in 2020

1. TubeBuddy
2. Streamlabs OBS
3. Lightworks (HitFilm Express)
4. Canva
5. YouTube Creator Studio (& App)
6. VidIQ
7. YouTube Audio Library

Now that’s 7 of the best free tools for YouTubers, and they’re much more powerful than you would expect. The question now is, what are you waiting for? There’s no better time to start growing your channel than right now.

If you have any questions, I’d love to hear from you in the comments below.