Last updated: 18 October 2026 · Prices checked on vidIQ’s plans page the same day · By Alan Spicer, YouTube Certified Expert and former vidIQ Customer Success team member
Before you compare: vidIQ no longer sells a Pro plan. New customers choose between Free, Boost and Max, plus Boost with coaching and Enterprise for teams. So if you’re weighing up Pro vs Boost vs Max, the real decision today is Free vs Boost vs Max. This page shows what each one costs, what you get, where the limits are, and which one fits your channel.
What changed: Pro has gone from vidIQ’s plans page. vidIQ’s help centre still lists a credit allowance for Pro, which suggests existing Pro subscribers keep their plan, but you can’t buy it new. Any page still selling a separate Pro plan, or quoting Max at £79, is out of date.
THE 10-SECOND ANSWER
- Just starting or uploading rarely: Free, at £0.
- Uploading every week and serious about growth: Boost, at £19 a month or £199 a year. The plan I recommend most.
- Heavy AI or Shorts clipping, or two to three channels: Max, at £39 a month or £372 a year. Grow into it; don’t start on it.
Affiliate link. I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
Why trust this?
I’m Alan Spicer, a YouTube Certified Expert with six YouTube Silver Play Buttons. From 2020 to 2021 I worked on vidIQ’s Customer Success team, coaching more than 400 creators in-house, and plan choice came up in almost every session. Prices below come from vidIQ’s own plans page and limits from its help centre.
⚡ QUICK ANSWER: vidIQ Pro vs Boost vs Max, which do you need?
Pro is no longer sold, so the choice is Free, Boost or Max. Boost suits most creators who upload every week: 2,000 AI credits and the full research tools for £19 a month. Max triples the AI credits and adds Max Mode and more Shorts clipping for £39 a month. Only pick Max if you keep running out of Boost’s credits.
vidIQ plans at a glance (October 2026)
| Plan | AI credits a month | Monthly | Yearly | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | 150 | £0 | £0 | Learning the tool |
| Boost MOST POPULAR | 2,000 | £19 | £16.58 a month (£199 a year) | Weekly uploaders |
| Max | 6,000 | £39 | £31 a month (£372 a year) | Heavy AI users, several channels |
| Boost + Coaching | As Boost | Quoted when you choose a coach | Creators who want a guide | |
| Enterprise | Custom | Custom quote | Agencies, teams, 3+ channels | |
Source: vidIQ plans page, viewed from the UK on 18 October 2026, one-channel prices. vidIQ shows local currency, so other countries see different figures. Full breakdown in my vidIQ pricing guide.
What happened to vidIQ Pro?
If you remember vidIQ as Free, Pro, Boost and Max, you’re not wrong. That was the line-up. Pro has since disappeared from the plans page, leaving Boost as the main paid plan. vidIQ’s help centre still lists a 1,000-credit allowance for Pro, so existing Pro subscribers appear to keep it. If that’s you, check your billing page before changing, because you probably can’t switch back.
For everyone else, the choice is simpler than it used to be: learn on Free, move to Boost when you’re serious, and only step up to Max when your AI use demands it.
vidIQ Free: the starting point
Free is a real product, not a locked demo. You get 150 AI credits a month, niche trends, content ideas, AI Coach tips, the Chrome extension and vidIQ’s MCP connector for AI assistants. The research tools are capped: three keyword results and eight outlier results per search, up to three tracked competitors and three sections of the channel audit.
Who it’s for: anyone starting out, or still deciding whether YouTube is for them. You’ll know you’ve outgrown it when the three-result keyword cap slows down every video you plan. Every Free limit is listed in vidIQ free vs paid.
vidIQ Boost: the plan most creators need
Boost is vidIQ’s most popular plan and the one I recommend most. For £19 a month, or £199 a year, you get 2,000 AI credits a month and the caps lifted: unlimited keyword research, trends research, outliers and channel audits, AI thumbnails, optimisation tools, unlimited subscriber insights, Best Time to Post, the AI Coach with deeper thinking and creator masterclasses. vidIQ says Boost includes more than 30 tools.
Who Boost is for: creators uploading every week who want views from search and suggested videos. If YouTube is part of your business, it usually pays for itself in hours saved. Need more than one channel? Boost comes in one, two and three-channel versions, with more credits and a higher price for each extra channel.
Pair Boost’s research with strong thumbnails and an understanding of how the algorithm works, and you’ve turned a research tool into a growth system. Full detail: vidIQ Boost review.
Try Boost for $1
My partner link gets you your first month of Boost for $1 (or your local equivalent). Enough time to see whether you’d ever need Max.
Affiliate link. I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
vidIQ Max: for heavy AI users
Max costs £39 a month, or £372 a year, which saves £96. You get everything in Boost plus 6,000 AI credits a month, up to three times as many AI Coach conversations, Max Mode AI for deeper strategy, up to 11 hours of Shorts clipping and generation, unlimited AI thumbnails and the option to buy extra credits.
When Max makes sense: you lean on the AI Coach every day, clip a lot of Shorts, or run two or three channels on one account. If you regularly hit Boost’s 2,000-credit ceiling, Max fixes that. If you don’t, the extra credits go unused, which is why I tell people to grow into Max rather than start on it.
Boost vs Max side by side
| Feature | Boost | Max |
|---|---|---|
| Price (UK, one channel) | £19 a month or £199 a year | £39 a month or £372 a year |
| AI credits a month | 2,000 to 3,000 (by channels) | 6,000 to 10,000 (by channels) |
| Keyword research, outliers, channel audits | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| AI title ideas | 250 a day | 500 a day |
| AI thumbnails | 20 a day | Unlimited |
| AI Coach deep-thinking chat | Capped | Unlimited |
| Max Mode AI | No | Yes |
| Shorts clipping and generation | 150 credits a month | 600 credits a month |
| Trend alerts | Up to 15 | Up to 15 |
| Best Time to Post and subscriber analysis | Yes | Yes |
| Buy extra credits | No | Yes, where available |
Sources: vidIQ plans page and Help Centre (features by plan, plan limits and AI credits), October 2026. vidIQ says limits may change.
The pattern is clear: Boost and Max share the same research tools. Max buys you AI volume. If your work is mostly keyword research, competitor tracking and checking titles, Boost does everything you need.
How far the credits go
vidIQ’s help centre lists what common actions cost: an AI Coach message is 10 credits in standard mode, 25 with deep thinking and 35 in Max Mode; a title idea is 3 credits; a thumbnail generation is 22.
| Monthly use | Credits | Fits in |
|---|---|---|
| 4 videos: 10 deep-thinking AI Coach chats, 30 title ideas and 8 thumbnails each | 4 × (250 + 90 + 176) = 2,064 | Just over Boost |
| 4 videos: 5 standard AI Coach chats, 20 title ideas and 4 thumbnails each | 4 × (50 + 60 + 88) = 792 | Comfortably Boost |
| 8 videos plus daily Max Mode strategy chats | Several thousand | Max |
Worked examples from vidIQ’s published credit costs. Daily caps also apply, and credits are shared across every connected channel.
My advice: start on Boost and watch your balance for a month. vidIQ shows it when you hover over the sparkle icon. If you run out before the month ends more than once, move to Max. If you don’t, stay where you are.
Which vidIQ plan are you?
| If you are | Your plan |
|---|---|
| New, under about 100 subscribers, or unsure YouTube is for you | Free |
| Uploading weekly and treating YouTube seriously | Boost |
| Running two or three channels with light AI use | Boost, two or three channels |
| Full-time, using the AI Coach daily, clipping lots of Shorts | Max |
| Want a coach checking your titles, hooks and strategy | Boost + Coaching |
| An agency or MCN, or more than three channels with a team | Enterprise |
VIDEO
My straight answer on whether paying for tools like vidIQ is worth it.
The maths: is a paid plan worth it?
A paid plan is worth it when it brings in more than it costs. The quick test is to divide the monthly price by your RPM and multiply by 1,000. That’s how many extra views a month you need to cover it from ad revenue alone. At a £4 RPM, Boost’s £19 needs about 4,750 extra views a month, and Max’s £39 needs about 9,750.
The bigger risk is buying too much. Plenty of creators pay for Max and only ever use Boost features. Don’t buy credits you won’t spend. Tie the tool to a real growth strategy and it becomes an investment, not a subscription you forget to cancel. The full maths and a one-month test plan are in is vidIQ worth it?
How to pay less
- Yearly billing: saves £29 a year on Boost and £96 on Max.
- Boost for $1: your first month through my partner link.
- UNLOCK2026: 25% off a new Boost monthly plan, from vidIQ’s offer page, which brings it to about £14.25 a month.
Offers can’t be combined. Details in the vidIQ coupon guide.
The right plan is a start. The right strategy wins.
A tool tells you what’s happening. A strategy tells you what to do about it. On a free discovery call we’ll look at your channel and the quickest route to growth.
Worth booking if you’re uploading but not growing, or want a second opinion before paying for a higher plan.
People also ask
Is vidIQ Max worth it over Boost?
Only if you use a lot of AI. Both plans share the same research tools. Max adds three times the credits, Max Mode and more Shorts clipping for twice the price.
What is vidIQ Max Mode?
Max Mode is a more powerful AI setting for deeper growth strategy, available on Max and Coaching. Each Max Mode AI Coach message costs 35 credits.
Can I still buy vidIQ Pro?
No. Pro isn’t on vidIQ’s plans page any more. New customers choose Free, Boost or Max.
Do vidIQ AI credits roll over?
No. Plan credits reset each month and unused ones don’t carry over. Credits bought as top-ups stay in your balance until used.
FAQ
What happened to the vidIQ Pro plan?
Pro no longer appears on vidIQ’s plans page, so new customers choose between Free, Boost and Max, plus Boost with coaching and Enterprise. vidIQ’s help centre still lists a credit allowance for Pro, which suggests existing Pro subscribers keep it.
What’s the difference between vidIQ Boost and Max?
Both include the same uncapped research tools. Max adds three times the AI credits (6,000 against 2,000), unlimited deep-thinking AI Coach chats, Max Mode AI, more Shorts clipping, unlimited AI thumbnails and the option to buy extra credits. In the UK, Boost costs 19 pounds a month and Max costs 39.
Which vidIQ plan is best for beginners?
Start on Free. It includes 150 AI credits a month, niche trends, content ideas and AI Coach tips. Upgrade to Boost once you upload every week and keep hitting the free caps, such as three keyword results per search.
Is vidIQ Boost worth it?
For creators who upload every week, usually yes. It removes the Free caps and adds Best Time to Post, subscriber analysis and 2,000 AI credits. At a 4 pound RPM it needs about 4,750 extra views a month to cover itself from ad revenue, before counting time saved.
Does yearly billing save money on vidIQ?
Yes. In the UK, yearly billing saves 29 pounds a year on Boost (199 instead of 228) and 96 pounds on Max (372 instead of 468). Only choose yearly if you’re sure you’ll use it, because vidIQ doesn’t refund unused time.
How many channels can I use on one vidIQ plan?
Boost and Max each come in one, two and three-channel versions, chosen on the plan card, with more AI credits and a higher price for each extra channel. For more than three channels or a team, vidIQ recommends Enterprise.
Can I switch between Boost and Max?
Yes. Upgrading applies straight away and vidIQ credits unused time on your current plan towards the new one. Downgrading takes effect at the end of your billing cycle. App Store and Google Play subscriptions must be changed through Apple or Google.
My final recommendation
The bottom line: Pro has gone, so ignore it. Start on Free to learn the tool. Move to Boost once you’re uploading every week; it’s the plan I recommend to most creators. Only step up to Max when you keep running out of Boost’s credits. Choose yearly billing once you know you’ll stick with it, and let your actual credit use, not your ambition, decide when to upgrade.
Everything else about vidIQ is in the ultimate vidIQ guide. If you want a second opinion on whether a bigger plan or a better strategy is what your channel needs, book a free discovery call.
About the author
Alan Spicer is a YouTube Certified Expert with six YouTube Silver Play Buttons, a 100K+ combined audience and 20 years of self-employment. He worked on vidIQ’s Customer Success team from 2020 to 2021, and now hosts and runs YouTube strategy for BeInCrypto and BeInFinance alongside his own consultancy.
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p style=”font-size:13px;color:#666;font-style:italic;line-height:1.6;”>Sources and disclosure: prices and plan features from vidIQ’s plans page, viewed from the UK on 18 October 2026 (one-channel prices); limits and credit costs from the vidIQ Help Centre (features by plan, plan limits and AI credits, changing plans); offer terms from vidIQ’s Unlock Growth page. Prices change; check before buying. Links to vidiq.com/alanspicer are affiliate links: I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. I worked for vidIQ from 2020 to 2021.
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1 reply on “vidIQ Free vs Boost vs Max: Which Plan Do You Actually Need? (2026 Guide)”
[…] numbers and a plan-by-plan recommendation, see my dedicated vidIQ pricing 2026 breakdown and vidIQ Pro vs Boost vs Max guide, or check vidiq.com directly. Short version: most creators should start free and upgrade to […]