YouTube Category Checker
Check the official YouTube video category and category ID for any public video or channel. Analyze categories in bulk, compare estimated RPM and CPM benchmarks, and see how category affects revenue and recommendations — free, no account required.
How to check a YouTube video category
Use this tool
Paste a video URL or channel handle above and click Check. You'll get the official categoryId, category name, and RPM/CPM benchmarks instantly — no sign-up needed.
Check in YouTube Studio
For your own videos: open Studio → Content → select the video → Details → Show more, and the Category dropdown shows what's currently assigned.
Query the YouTube Data API
Call videos.list with part=snippet and your video ID, then read snippet.categoryId from the response. Requires a YouTube Data API key.
What is a YouTube video category?
Every video uploaded to YouTube is assigned a category — a single classification pulled from a fixed, numbered list that YouTube has used since the platform launched. Internally it's stored as snippet.categoryId, and it's set by the uploader — either manually or left on whatever default YouTube Studio last used.
YouTube created categories mainly to help two systems make sense of a video quickly: the recommendation engine, which uses category as one signal (among many) for grouping similar content, and the ad system, which uses it to match videos with advertisers who want to appear against specific content types.
Category IDs are numeric — Music is 10, Gaming is 20, Education is 27, and so on. The full reference table is below.
Category vs. tags vs. hashtags — these are three different things:
- Category — one fixed value per video, chosen from YouTube's list, not visible on the video page itself.
- Tags — free-text keywords the uploader adds in Studio, unlimited in number, invisible to viewers, mainly used for search matching.
- Hashtags — words with a # prefix typed into the title or description, up to 15 counted, and shown as clickable links above the video title.
Creators set the category during upload, in YouTube Studio's "More options" panel — or change it later from the video's Details page. When you query a video through the YouTube Data API, the same value comes back as snippet.categoryId in the videos.list response — which is exactly what this tool fetches for you.
All YouTube categories & revenue benchmarks
The RPM and CPM figures below are typical creator-reported ranges and advertising benchmarks, not guarantees. Actual RPM varies with audience location, advertiser demand, seasonality, watch time, niche, and which ad formats are enabled on a video.
| Category | ID | Description | Example | Avg RPM | Avg CPM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🎬Film & Animation | 1 | Animated shorts, films, and behind-the-scenes video production content. | Pixar behind-the-scenes | $2-$6 | $4-$12 |
| 🚗Autos & Vehicles | 2 | Car, motorcycle, and vehicle reviews, repairs, and road content. | Car review channels | $4-$12 | $8-$24 |
| 🎵Music | 10 | Official music videos, lyric videos, and artist channels. | Taylor Swift — Official Video | $1-$4 | $2-$8 |
| 🐾Pets & Animals | 15 | Pet care, animal rescue, and wildlife content. | Dog training channels | $2-$5 | $4-$10 |
| 🏋Sports | 17 | Match highlights, sports commentary, and athlete vlogs. | ESPN highlights | $2-$6 | $4-$12 |
| 🌍Travel & Events | 19 | Travel vlogs, destination guides, and event coverage. | Travel vloggers | $4-$12 | $8-$24 |
| 🎮Gaming | 20 | Gameplay, walkthroughs, esports, and gaming commentary. | Minecraft let's-plays | $2-$8 | $4-$16 |
| 👥People & Blogs | 22 | Personal vlogs and general lifestyle content that doesn't fit a narrower category. | Daily vlog channels | $2-$5 | $4-$10 |
| 😄Comedy | 23 | Sketches, stand-up, and comedic commentary. | Sketch comedy channels | $2-$5 | $4-$10 |
| 🎭Entertainment | 24 | General entertainment, reactions, and pop-culture commentary. | Reaction channels | $2-$6 | $4-$12 |
| 📰News & Politics | 25 | News coverage, political commentary, and current-events analysis. | News network clips | $3-$8 | $6-$16 |
| 🏠Howto & Style | 26 | Tutorials, DIY, beauty, and lifestyle how-tos. | Makeup tutorials | $4-$12 | $8-$24 |
| 🎓Education | 27 | Tutorials, lectures, and explainer content built to teach a skill or concept. | Khan Academy | $5-$15 | $10-$30 |
| 💻Science & Technology | 28 | Tech reviews, science explainers, and product deep-dives. | Tech review channels | $8-$18 | $16-$36 |
| 🤝Nonprofits & Activism | 29 | Advocacy, activism, and nonprofit awareness content. | Nonprofit campaign videos | $1-$3 | $2-$6 |
Does YouTube category affect SEO?
Yes — but only slightly. Category is one of many signals YouTube's systems use to classify content, and it plays a role in which advertiser categories are eligible to run ads on your video and how it gets grouped with similar content. It is not, however, a major ranking factor for search or discovery.
Far more influential are your title and thumbnail (which drive click-through rate), watch time and audience retention (how long people actually stay), and audience satisfaction signals like likes, shares, and survey responses. YouTube optimizes recommendations around what keeps people watching — category alone won't move a video up the rankings.
Practical takeaway: pick the category that most accurately reflects your content rather than trying to game a "higher RPM" category. A mismatched category can actually hurt performance by putting your video in front of the wrong recommendation pool.
Why analyze an entire channel?
Checking a single video only tells you about that video. Bulk Channel mode analyses your last 5, 10, or 20 uploads together, which surfaces patterns a one-off check can't:
Primary category detection
See which category YouTube actually associates with your channel overall, not just one upload.
Category percentage breakdown
A visual split of how your recent uploads are distributed across categories.
Mixed-content detection
Spot when a channel drifts across multiple categories, which can dilute recommendation signals.
Per-category revenue insight
RPM/CPM benchmarks mapped to your dominant category, so you know what to expect.
Consistency check
Useful before pitching sponsors, applying for niche-specific programs, or diagnosing inconsistent view counts.
How to change your YouTube video's category
- Open YouTube Studio and go to Content.
- Click the video you want to update.
- In the Details tab, click Show more.
- Open the Category dropdown and choose the new category.
- Click Save.
Only the channel owner can change a video's category, and only for videos on that channel. Changing the category updates the signal going forward — it doesn't retroactively rewrite recommendation history built while the old category was assigned.
YouTube category best practices
Picking the right category isn't just a formality — it shapes which advertisers can bid on your video and how YouTube's systems bucket it against similar content. A few habits make a real difference over time.
Choose the category that matches your main topic
Not the highest-RPM category, not the trendiest one — the one that actually describes the content. A mismatch confuses the recommendation signal instead of strengthening it.
Don't switch categories frequently
Every switch resets some of the signal YouTube has built up about your content. Frequent changes make it harder for the algorithm to settle on who to recommend you to.
Keep your channel focused around one or two related categories
Channels that drift across many categories dilute their own signal. A tight focus helps YouTube — and viewers — know exactly what to expect from you.
Make titles and thumbnails match the category
If your category says Education but your thumbnail screams Entertainment, you'll attract the wrong audience and hurt retention, which matters far more than category itself.
Categories don't replace good SEO
Category is one minor signal among many. Keyword research, strong titles, accurate descriptions, and tags still do the heavy lifting for discovery.
Revisit your category only when your content genuinely shifts
If your channel's focus permanently changes — not just one experimental video — updating the category can help realign recommendations going forward.
Frequently asked questions
More YouTube tools
Other tools creators use alongside category checking to understand and optimize their videos.
Know your category, grow your revenue
Check a video or analyse your whole channel in seconds — free, no account required.