Start with the free dashboards each platform gives you, because YouTube Studio, Instagram Insights and TikTok Studio read your account from the inside, including figures no outside tool can get. Add a cross-platform tool only when you need one view of several accounts, longer history or client-ready reports. Connected tools such as Metricool read your data through each platform's official API after you log in, so they see a subset and some figures only from the day you connect. Public trackers such as Social Blade need no login, see only public numbers, and label their earnings figures as estimates. Match the tool to the question you are trying to answer.
This guide compares the main options using vendor and platform documentation checked on 2 October 2026. Definitions of individual metrics live in our guides to TikTok Studio metrics and Instagram Insights, and OnlyFans KPIs are covered in our OnlyFans analytics tracking guide, so here the focus is choosing tools.
Three kinds of analytics tool
- Native dashboards. Built into each platform and tied to your login, they show private data such as watch time, audience demographics and, on YouTube, revenue for Partner Program channels.
- Connected tools. You authorise them through the platform's API, and they pull what that API allows into one dashboard, sometimes with scheduling and reports bundled in.
- Public trackers. They read public profile numbers, such as follower and view counts, for any account, including competitors, without anyone's login.
Analytics tool matrix
Prices are as each page displayed them on 2 October 2026. Metricool showed US dollars; Social Blade showed dollar prices without naming a currency.
| Analytics tool | Where the data comes from | History you can see | Export and reports | Price on 2 Oct 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| YouTube Studio analytics | Your channel's own reports, including a Revenue tab for Partner Program members | Channel and video reports in Studio; YouTube notes an updated Studio rolling out from July 2026 | Advanced Mode lets you compare performance and export data | Included with every YouTube channel |
| Instagram Insights | Account and content insights inside the Instagram app | Any period within the past 90 days, with preset or custom ranges | The help page describes no export, so record figures monthly | Included with the app for eligible accounts |
| TikTok Studio analytics | Overview, Content, Viewers and Followers tabs, plus per-video analytics | Check the date ranges offered in your account; TikTok's help page does not state a limit | Read in the app; copy key figures into your own sheet | Included with TikTok accounts |
| Metricool (connected dashboard) | Each network's API after you connect your accounts | The previous 30 days on first connection; follower and Stories history only from the connection date | PDF and PPT reports from Starter; a Data Studio connector on Advanced | Free for one brand; Starter from US$20 a month billed annually for up to five brands |
| Social Blade | Public statistics for YouTube, TikTok, Twitch, Facebook and Instagram profiles | Daily statistics it has tracked; table data depth rises with paid tiers | Charts and lists on the site; paid tiers add report cards and API credits | Free browsing; Bronze $59.99 a year, Silver $149.99 a year |
Sources: YouTube's analytics overview, Instagram's help on viewing insights, TikTok's analytics FAQ, Metricool's pricing page and historical data article, and Social Blade's homepage and personal subscription plans.
Instagram's own pages disagree on who gets insights. The current insights article says you need a public personal or professional account, while an older troubleshooting article describes insights as something you get after converting to a business or creator account. If insights are missing on a personal account, switching to a professional account is the route both pages support.
What connected tools can and cannot see
A connected tool can only show what the platform's API hands over, and the developer documentation is explicit about the gaps. Meta's Instagram Platform insights documentation says the API returns data only for professional accounts, that some account metrics are unavailable below 100 followers, and that account-level metrics are stored for up to 90 days. Its media insights reference adds that metric data can be delayed by up to 48 hours and that Story metrics are available for only 24 hours, so a tool connected after a Story expires cannot recover it.
TikTok's Display API overview describes endpoints for a creator's profile information and public videos, and its scopes reference lists profile statistics such as likes, followers, following and video counts. Google's YouTube Analytics and Reporting APIs are built for channel owners and content owners who authorise access. The pattern across all three: the richer the metric, the more likely it stays in the native dashboard.
Connect early, and do not switch connection types
History is the limit to check first with any connected tool. Metricool's historical data article says a newly connected account shows the previous 30 days, that some metrics are only recorded from the day you connect and only while the account stays linked, and that paid plans can request a longer sync, generally back to 1 January of the previous year if the network's API provides it. It lists YouTube as an exception that syncs only the last 30 days and takes about a week to gather all metrics.
Metricool's Instagram connection help adds a trap: Meta offers two connection methods, and switching between them counts as a new connection, so the history stored under the old one stops showing. Connect a tool well before you need its reports, pick one connection method and stay with it, and avoid long disconnections.
Estimated earnings are estimates
Public trackers cannot see revenue. Social Blade's explanation of estimated earnings says it multiplies a channel's daily views by a fixed low and high revenue-per-thousand figure it describes as worldwide averages, that this assumes every view is monetised, which is usually not the case, and that logged-in users can change the figures in their settings. It also says the figure is only meant to give a general feel for what a monetised channel might earn.
Use public estimates for rough context on other channels, never for your own forecasts or media kit. Your real figures are in YouTube Studio's Revenue tab, and our guide to YouTube RPM versus CPM explains how to read them. When a brand asks for proof of performance, send screenshots from the native dashboard instead.
Public data cuts both ways: anyone can look up your profile, including people who copy accounts or repost your content. If impersonation or stolen content is the problem you are tracking, our comparison of Rulta and Ceartas removal plans covers services built for that.
One-page cross-platform KPI sheet
Fill this in once a month from the native dashboards, using the same calendar month on every platform. Because Instagram only shows the last 90 days, a monthly habit also builds the long-term history the app will not keep for you.
| KPI row | Dashboard to read it from | How to keep it comparable |
|---|---|---|
| Net followers or subscribers gained this month | Each native dashboard's follower or audience view | Record gains and losses, not just the end total |
| Posts published per platform | Your content calendar or each app's content list | Count formats separately: Shorts, Reels, long videos, Stories |
| Typical views or reach per post | Content tabs in each dashboard | Use the median post, so one viral post does not distort the month |
| Engagement rate on the month's posts | Likes, comments, shares and saves from each post's insights | Use one formula everywhere and note which one you used |
| Watch time or average view duration | YouTube Studio and TikTok Studio video analytics | Compare videos of similar length only |
| Profile visits and link-in-bio clicks | Instagram and TikTok profile metrics, plus your link tool | Match the date range in the link tool to the platform month |
| Revenue by platform and source | YouTube Revenue tab and each platform's monetisation screen | Log estimated and finalised figures in separate columns |
| Best post of the month and why you think it worked | The top item on each content list | Write one sentence of context while you still remember it |
For the engagement row, our engagement rate calculator sets out the common formulas so you can pick one and stick with it.
Which tool answers which question
- “Which videos kept people watching?” Retention and watch time live in YouTube Studio and TikTok Studio, so start there.
- “How are all my accounts trending together?” A connected tool such as Metricool, once it has been connected long enough to build history.
- “How quickly is a competitor growing?” A public tracker like Social Blade, or Metricool's competitor analysis, which allows five competitor profiles on its free plan. Metricool says competitor data syncs from the first day of the previous month, apart from follower and like counts, which start on the day you add the account.
- “What did I actually earn?” Only each platform's own monetisation screens can answer that.
- “Which post sent people to my link?” Profile and link-click metrics in the native apps, matched against the click data in your link-in-bio tool.
When a paid tool is worth it
A paid tool earns its place when it saves you a monthly copy-and-paste session across several accounts, keeps history you would otherwise lose, or produces reports a manager or brand will read. If you run one or two accounts and fill in the KPI sheet above each month, the native dashboards may cover everything. If you manage many brands or report to clients, compare Metricool's brand allowances and report formats against your workload, and check that every platform you need is supported on the plan you choose, since its free plan excludes LinkedIn and X.
Limitations of this analytics tool comparison
Prices, plan limits and API rules were read from vendor and developer pages on 2 October 2026 and change often, sometimes because a platform changes its API rather than the tool. We have not tested data accuracy for any tool, so nothing here says one reports more precisely than another; when a third-party number differs from a native dashboard, treat the native figure as the record.
Connecting any tool gives a third party access to your account data. Read its privacy policy, connect only the accounts you need, and remove access from the platform's settings when you stop using it.