Search Demand
Understand whether people are actually looking for the topic.
Search demand100K to 1MHigh
YouTube research, without the guesswork
Find YouTube topics worth making.
See what people are searching for, how demand is moving, how competitive the results are, and whether your channel has room to win.
Answers one question: what should I make next?
HitSonar Score
Strong opportunity
- Demand
- 74 / 100 · High
- Competition
- 34 / 100 · Low
- Trend
- Rising ↑
- Search demand
- 100K to 1M searches a month
- Small-channel opportunity
- Strong
- Confidence
- Medium
Example data
Know before you create.
HitSonar combines multiple YouTube search signals so you can evaluate an idea before spending hours making the video.
Competition
See how difficult the current search results are to compete against.
Competition34 / 100Low
Momentum
See whether interest is rising, steady, or falling.
12-month trend↑ Rising
Ranking Opportunity
See who currently ranks and whether smaller channels are breaking through.
First page9 of 20 ranking videosfrom smaller channels
Example data Shown for “gospel blues”. Every number is computed by the HitSonar scoring engine from example inputs.
One score. No competing numbers.
Every topic gets a single HitSonar Score from 0 to 100. It weighs how many people are searching against how hard the results are to break into, so a big topic owned by huge channels does not outrank a smaller one you can actually win.
- 0–24Weak
- 25–39Limited
- 40–54Fair
- 55–69Good
- 70–84Strong
- 85–100Excellent
Strong opportunity
- Demand
- 74
- Competition
- 34
- Trend
- Rising
Try a topic.
Pick an example to see a full HitSonar analysis.
HitSonar Score
Strong opportunity
- Demand
- 74 / 100 · High
- Competition
- 34 / 100 · Low
- Trend
- Rising ↑
- Search demand
- 100K to 1M searches a month
- Small-channel opportunity
- Strong
- Confidence
- Medium
Example data
Related opportunities for “gospel blues”
| Keyword | Demand | Competition | Trend | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| gospel blues guitarBest opening | High | Low | ↑ Rising | 80 |
| gospel blues | High | Low | ↑ Rising | 77 |
| southern gospel blues | High | Low | ↑ Rising | 77 |
| gospel blues piano | Medium | Low | → Steady | 64 |
| gospel blues backing track | Medium | Low | → Steady | 58 |
Prepared examples, scored by the same engine the product uses. Not live lookups.
One idea can lead to a better opportunity.
The first phrase you think of is rarely the best one. HitSonar scores the variations next to it, so you can see when a narrower angle has nearly the demand and far less competition.
Here, “gospel blues guitar” scores 80 against 77 for the original idea.
| Keyword | Demand | Competition | Trend | HitSonar Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| gospel blues | High | Low | ↑ Rising | 77 |
| gospel blues guitarBest opening | High | Low | ↑ Rising | 80 |
| southern gospel blues | High | Low | ↑ Rising | 77 |
| gospel blues backing track | Medium | Low | → Steady | 58 |
Example data
Top ranking channels
- Grace & Strings12K subscribers
- Delta Hymnal24K subscribers
- Riverside Sessions118K subscribers
- Porchlight Music8K subscribers
- Southern Sound Archive610K subscribers
Small-channel presence45%Share of first-page videos from channels under 100K subscribers.
Example dataSee whether smaller channels are winning.
Big search volume means little if every result belongs to a million-subscriber channel. HitSonar analyzes who is actually ranking.
When small channels hold real estate on the first page, the topic is still open. When they do not, HitSonar says so before you spend a weekend on the video.
See what already works.
HitSonar reads the first page the way a strategist would: who ranks, how big they are, how old the video is and how fast it still pulls views. The score comes from that landscape, not from a keyword in isolation.
| Video | Channel | Subscribers | Views | Age | Views / month |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
How to Start a Podcast in 2026 (Step by Step) | Creator Desk | 640K | 1.4M | 9 mo | 156K |
How to Start a Podcast for Beginners | The Audio Room | 410K | 920K | 16 mo | 58K |
I Started a Podcast With $100. Here's the SetupBreakout result | Mic Check Mia | 18K | 760K | 4 mo | 190K |
How to Start a Podcast on Your PhoneSmall channel ranking | Pocket Studio | 31K | 210K | 7 mo | 30K |
Podcasting 101: Everything You Need | Launch School | 1.2M | 3.1M | 26 mo | 119K |
Example data Shown for “how to start a podcast”. Channels and videos are illustrative.
Learn how ranking videos frame the topic.
The titles already on the first page show how viewers expect the topic to be pitched. HitSonar pulls out the shapes and the words that keep recurring, so your title starts from what is working.
Winning title patterns
- “How to _____”
- “_____ for Beginners”
- “_____ in 2026”
- “_____ Step by Step”
Frequently used terms
- Beginner
- Step by Step
- 2026
- Setup
- Easy
Don’t stop at the first keyword.
Every analysis opens onto the searches around it, each with its own demand, competition, trend and HitSonar Score. Keep going until you find the one worth a video.
| Keyword | Demand | Competition | Trend | HitSonar Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| how to start a podcast on your phone | Medium | Low | ↑ Rising | 60 |
| podcast equipment for beginners | Medium | Moderate | → Steady | 54 |
| how to start a podcast with no audience | Medium | Low | ↑ Rising | 59 |
| podcast intro ideas | Low | Low | → Steady | 49 |
| ai music for beginners | High | Low | ↑ Rising | 70 |
| how to release ai music | Medium | Low | ↑ Rising | 64 |
Example data
How HitSonar works.
- 1
Search
Enter the video topic you’re considering.
- 2
Analyze
HitSonar evaluates search demand, trends and the current YouTube results.
- 3
Decide
Compare opportunities and choose the topic with the strongest combination of demand and rankability.
Useful signals. No fake precision.
YouTube does not publish exact keyword search counts. HitSonar combines public search and ranking signals to estimate demand and clearly shows the confidence behind the result.
YouTube Autocomplete
The phrases people actually type, and whether YouTube completes yours at all.
Google Trends / YouTube Search
Twelve months of YouTube search interest, and which way it is heading.
YouTube Ranking Results
Who holds the first page, how big they are, and how fast their videos still pull views.
Search-volume provider when available
When a paid volume source is connected, its figure replaces the modeled one, and the result says so.
SourceModeled
- Ranges, not invented counts. Search demand is a band, like 100K–1M a month, because that is what the evidence supports.
- Confidence on every score. High, medium or low, with the reason.
- Missing data is labeled. If a signal did not answer, the analysis says so instead of quietly guessing.
- A score you can trace. Every score carries the inputs that produced it, and the scoring model is versioned.
Research without the clutter.
You shouldn’t need a dashboard full of tools just to decide whether a video idea is worth pursuing.
- 1gospel blues
Search topic
- 2100K to 1M
Understand demand
- 3
Measure competition
- 4↑ Rising
Check momentum
- 5
Inspect who ranks
- 65 scored
Find related opportunities
- 780
Choose the video
One search, one page, one decision. That is the whole product.
Pricing
HitSonar is in early access. Plans and pricing will be published here before general release.
Try the DemoBuilding with HitSonar?
Bring HitSonar’s YouTube research signals into your own application.
API Documentation →POST /v1/analyze GET /v1/suggest
Know what to make before you make it.
Research your next YouTube idea with HitSonar.