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This post was originally published in [2025] and has been fully updated for 2026 with new data and tools. The YouTube landscape has shifted dramatically in the last year, and the creators who are winning aren't necessarily working harder—they are working smarter. With AI-driven editing and advanced analytics now being the industry standard, using the right tools for YouTube creators is no longer optional; it’s a requirement for survival. Whether you are struggling with a "200-view plateau" or trying to streamline a bloated workflow, these 10 vetted resources will help you reclaim your time. If you’re trying to grow a YouTube channel without the right tools, you’re working 10x harder than you need to. Here are 10 tools that make creating, optimizing, and growing easier. ChatGPT Canva Autoresponders Paid Ads Tool! Editing Reposting Microphone and Video Remove Background YouTube SEO Screen Recording Keep reading, and I'll share the best ways to use these tools and 1 tip to maximize your earnings from YouTube faster than your phone dies at 1%. (Even though it was on 30% five minutes ago.) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IePiWXxSf_I How to use ChatGPT for YouTube: Scripts, hooks, and SEO descriptions I'm going to go with ChatGPT, but the trick is how to use it. The challenge with ChatGPT, and I've seen people create entire blog posts with it, and it's very dry and boring. If your content sucks, then people drop, and that's not good. The trick is to humanize your content and give it life, not robotic perfection or death! ChatGPT is great for... Brainstorming Coming up with stories Hashtags Comedy writing Coming up with hooks Getting Titles more clickable Talking to the YouTube machine (SEO) All the boring SEO crap you can use the AI. This is what I type into the AI to get ideas... Give me a 150-300 YouTube description, including the keywords "" with ideal tags and hashtags. Include the keywords in the first 2 lines. Also, give me 5 click-worthy titles that include my keywords. Give me 5 different good hooks at the beginning of my video. Create for me 3 different thumbnails that make someone want to click on it. Of course, you have to pick and choose what you like, tailor it to your video, but it can give you great ideas. The AI can also help you with script writing. However, I use my blogs for scripts. I recommend turning your videos into a blog and getting traffic from both places. Blogs actually have TONS of benefits, and here is a post that shares 20 benefits of starting one. YouTube Revenue Estimator Based on 2026 Niche CPM Averages Daily Estimated Views: Channel Niche: Gaming / Entertainment ($4 CPM) Lifestyle / Vlog ($8 CPM) Tech / Gadgets ($15 CPM) Finance / Business ($25 CPM) SaaS / High-Ticket ($35 CPM) Calculate Monthly Income Estimated Monthly Adsense $0.00 How to make viral YouTube thumbnails for free with Canva I'm in love with Canva. Even if the website constantly tries to get you to upgrade, you can do "everything" with the free version. Canva has more uses than a shopping cart carrying 5 cargo boxes for the homeless. How do you make Thumbnails without Canva? I'm sure there is a way, but it's easy with Canva. In fact, recently I've been fascinated with creating Canva templates and selling them on Etsy. Here is a post on how to make thumbnails step by step using the website. Best email autoresponders for YouTube: How to monetize your subscribers Autoresponders and content creation go together like Tacos & Tuesdays—a love story written in salsa. If you're not sure what an autoresponder is, it automatically sends out emails. You may be thinking what is so great about that! Well, it's powerful. It's the single most powerful thing for an online business, and I was told this 15 years ago, and it still holds true. Lucky for you, autoresponders have gone down in price and can be free or almost free. If you don't have a website, I recommend this autoresponder HERE. The reason why, is it comes with a landing page, plus you can send out TONS of emails before spending a penny. Still, I recommend OWNING a website. The reason is that it's less risky. Take from a guy who has lost 3 Quora accounts, 1 YouTube channel, maybe 2 Medium accounts, 3 Twitter accounts, and more. Dropped The GIFfrom Dropped GIFs Owning a website is like building a home on a solid foundation. To get the best bang for your money with an autoresponder, this is a great tool HERE, and the one I use. You might be thinking .. Great, how do I collect emails? How do I send emails? What to write in the email? How to earn money from them? How do I get people to open the email? Lucky for you, I have training on how to do ALL this, and it's free. You can check out this free guide by clicking on the link HERE. How to use YouTube paid ads to get more subscribers fast Paid ads can complement your YouTube channel and have TONS of benefits such as.... Faster Channel Growth Highly Targeted Reach Increased Subscribers Promotes High-Converting Funnels Improves Organic Performance (Subscribers, Click Through Rates, good for videos) Build Retargeting Audiences Control Over Your Growth Testing Power However, there are so many questions with paid ads, such as... How do you start with paid ads? How do you know when to change things? Should you use 1 platform or others? How do you create a paid ad? There really are a million questions. Because money is on the line, they are just not easy to start. Lucky for you, I have a tool that makes starting with paid ads easier than accidentally liking a 2012 photo while stalking a girl or boy online. (Am I the only person who has done that)? Even better, it has TONS of training, free ad credits, does the split testing for you, and MUCH more. You can view this tool that helps with ads HERE. Just make sure you have a landing page set u,p and you start "slow." DaVinci Resolve for Beginners: The best free video editing software I'm not a big fan of editing videos. I took a whole course on editing videos and did some really cool, fun things such as.... Transitions. I zoomed in 1 element of the video. Figured out a way to add music. Cut parts of my video out. Joined 2 films together. I'm sure I learned more. At the end of the day, I'm more interested in speed. Editing takes time, even with keyboard shortcuts. So, I don't edit my videos. If you are going to edit videos, I recommend this tool HERE because you can do a lot with the FREE version. Just be warned that there is a learning curve to it. How to repurpose TikTok videos for YouTube Shorts (The 2026 Hack) Let's be honest, short videos completely kick ass better than finding fries at the bottom of the bag. Even better, you can repurpose them to an insane number of places. Short videos just do better (maybe because attention spans are getting shorter). Squirrel GIFfrom Squirrel GIFs Did you know that on Instagram, you can repost content from other accounts and get traffic from them? There are whole systems for doing it. However, the place I recommend starting is TikTok. TikTok videos can more easily be repurposed on other platforms than vice versa. Plus, I do this. Instead of making videos yourself, you could take videos that are already viral and then just tweak them a little bit. It's sort of like drafting in Nascar racing. You know, get right behind a car so the wind is hitting them and not you. This saves SO much time, it would be criminal of me NOT to share it with you. You can view this tool HERE. Then, when you have that video, you can simply use this tool HERE to download the video. Then upload it to TONS of places such as YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and MUCH more. Best budget YouTube microphone: How to get studio-quality audio I've heard that 80% of a video is the audio. This makes sense to me because I can easily listen to a podcast without video. Try watching a video when the sound is "not good"? It's VERY hard, if not impossible. You could just use the microphone on a webcam to make the sound. If you want something a little better, I use and recommend this microphone HERE. Does it sound as good as the top-of-the-line Boom Mic, no? However, it's better than the webcam mic and amplifies your voice. Plus, it can be used on your phone to amplify your phone. I have noticed the difference between a laptop and a phone. The chord is a little too long, but it still works nicely. Plus, it's dirt cheap. Lastly, on "sound settings," then "input" and "device properties," around 50% volume of the mic is the sweet spot I've noticed, but test it out. As for the video, I use and recommend something like this HERE. It's just an inexpensive webcam. How to remove image backgrounds for free for YouTube thumbnails Tools to remove the background are great, especially for thumbnails. The problem with Canva is that they want you to pay to remove the background. Nearly everything can be done in Canva Free if you're creative enough. Photo by RhondaK, Native Florida Folk Artist on Unsplash I really enjoy using this free tool HERE to remove the background of an image. Just recently, they decided to have a limit to the downloads every day (3 at the time of this post). Another tool you can use is this one HERE, but the image quality might not be as good. Oh, and if you're interested in how to make a "great" YouTube thumbnail for free step-by-step, you can view this post HERE VidIQ vs. TubeBuddy: Which is the best YouTube SEO tool for beginners? YouTube SEO is not as important as blogging because someone can find your video through many different avenues, instead of just search. You can use a tool like this for keywords. Video View Accelerator Generate 100 low-difficulty, high-traffic video keywords instantly. Find Easy Wins Viral Keyword Phrase Difficulty Understanding the Scoring System This tool evaluates keywords on a scale of 1 to 100: • Score 1–30 (Easy): Low competition. New channels can rank here quickly with basic SEO. These are "Low-Hanging Fruit." • Score 31–70 (Moderate): Requires better production quality and more engagement (likes/comments) to rank. • Score 71–100 (Difficult): Dominated by massive channels. Very hard to get views unless you have a large existing subscriber base. You could have ChatGPT come up with 50 different titles for your topic and run them through the app to see which one has the best score. Just remember the title should match what the video is about (regardless of what the app says). Lastly, I'm not sure how accurate the apps keyword tool is. Take the information with a grain of salt! Best free screen recorder for YouTube: How to record your face and screen Oh, and I can't forget the software that allows you to record your screen. What I like about this is you can also use it to record your face as your recording your computer screen. Maybe it's just me, but when I watch just a screencast without a human talking, I just lose interest more. Plus, I know that a human is there! This tool HERE is the one I use and recommend. I think it's free, at least I haven't paid anything for it. I'm sure there is some type of upsell, but I haven't found it yet. The great thing about screen recording is that it's a very inexpensive (free) way to add variety to your videos. Conclusion There really are TONS and TONS of great tools and gadgets for YouTube. For example, something like this HERE literally adds bells and whistles to your videos. Plus, it adds music and all kinds of nifty effects. The important thing is that you are getting paid, so I tried to strictly stick to the MOST important stuff for this post. Once you "actually" make money, then you can upgrade to bells, whistles, light sabers, and green screens. You know, there is a way to actually change the background of your video, so it looks like you're speaking from space or a jungle if you're in your room. You need a green screen to do it properly. To view the complete 10-step process on monetizing a YouTube channel on day 1, you can view this post HERE.