Before you design a thumbnail, look at what you are competing with. When someone searches your topic, your video appears in a grid of other thumbnails — and the viewer picks one in about a second. This tool shows you that grid: around 45 of YouTube’s top results for the keyword, with views, age and length for each.
Results change a lot between countries, so choose the country and language of your audience. A cooking keyword in Korea and in the United States can show completely different styles: different colours, faces, text sizes and even video lengths.
The outlier badge compares each result with the median views of the whole result set, so you can spot small channels whose thumbnails punch above their weight. Turn Shorts off to focus on long videos, or on to see what works in the Shorts shelf.
Look for a gap: if every thumbnail is red with a shocked face, a calm blue one may stand out. Save the best examples to your Reference Board and test your own thumbnail among them before you publish. Thumbnails belong to their creators; use them for research and inspiration only.
Frequently asked questions
Are these exactly the results I see on YouTube?
They are YouTube’s results for a signed-out viewer in the country and language you choose. Your own YouTube is personalised, so it can differ.
How many results do I get?
Usually 40 to 50, including Shorts. That is what YouTube shows on the first page of results.
How fresh are the numbers?
Results are cached for up to six hours, so view counts can be slightly behind YouTube.
Can I download all thumbnails at once?
Yes. Use Download all (ZIP), or select a few and download only those.