There's really no other place to start. MrBeast is the most-subscribed individual creator on YouTube by a considerable margin — and his growth shows absolutely no signs of slowing.

Jimmy Donaldson was the first YouTuber to cross 200 million subscribers. He's now well over double that — approximately 462 million and counting. To put that in perspective, that's more people than the entire combined population of the United States and Canada watching his channel every time he posts.

It's not just the scale that makes MrBeast remarkable — it's the consistency. His videos feature insane challenges, elaborate setups, massive cash giveaways, and genuinely heartwarming philanthropic stunts. He's given away islands, rebuilt entire neighbourhoods, paid for surgeries for thousands of people who couldn't afford them, and set production standards that rival mainstream television. His team doesn't operate like a YouTube channel — they operate like a Hollywood studio.

What often gets overlooked when discussing MrBeast is how smart his business model is. MrBeast has built an entire ecosystem around his videos — Feastables chocolate bars, the Beast Philanthropy channel, international versions of his main channel, and a growing portfolio of businesses that extend far beyond YouTube. He's not just creating content. He's running a media company.

If you're not paying attention to what MrBeast is doing in 2026, you're missing where digital content is heading. Period.

If the name doesn't immediately ring a bell, you probably don't have young kids. But hundreds of millions of parents worldwide know exactly who Vlad and Niki are.

Vladislav and Nikita Vashketov, two Russian-American brothers, have built one of the most successful kids' entertainment channels in YouTube history. Their formula is deceptively simple: toy unboxing, colourful visuals, imaginative play scenarios, and the kind of warm sibling energy that makes kids want to watch the same video over and over again.

What's particularly impressive about Vlad and Niki's operation is how genuinely international they've made it. They don't just publish in English — their content is available in multiple languages, making it accessible to families in dozens of countries. That kind of reach with an audience as valuable as children aged 2–8 is exceedingly rare.

Diana is another name instantly familiar to families with young children — and by 2026, her brand has evolved far beyond just a "YouTube channel."

The Ukrainian-born creator has secured licensing deals, merchandise partnerships, and brand collaborations spanning multiple continents. Diana's videos follow a similar pattern to other successful kids' creators — fun scenarios, bright visuals, simple storylines. But there's something about her on-camera warmth and storytelling that has resonated with families in a way that's remarkably difficult to replicate.

What makes Diana's trajectory so compelling from a business perspective is how her team has managed to scale without losing the authenticity that made her appealing in the first place. She still comes across as a genuine kid having fun on camera — not a polished corporate product. That balance — authentic charm at massive scale — is extremely difficult to maintain and incredibly valuable when achieved.

With 136 million subscribers and still growing, Diana's Show is one of the best case studies in how the modern creator economy works when it's firing on all cylinders.

In many ways, Nastya is the original blueprint for what a massively successful kids' YouTube channel can look like — and even in a crowded 2026 landscape, she remains one of the biggest names in the space.

Anastasia Radzinskaya and her family have built what's widely acknowledged as one of the most successful YouTube empires in history. Their channel features a mix of adorable vlogs, educational play videos, and creative scenarios that kids worldwide have genuinely connected with. It's also the largest Russian-language channel on the platform — demonstrating how effectively they've built an audience that transcends language and geography.

The Like Nastya operation is a masterclass in content localisation. They publish in multiple languages, their thumbnails are culturally tailored, and they partner with some of the biggest children's brands globally. Behind the cute, kid-friendly content is a sophisticated media business that most traditional entertainment companies would envy.

The Stokes Twins are one of the most interesting YouTube success stories of the past few years — having built a massive following by creating content that genuinely resonates with Gen Z.

Alan and Alex Stokes built their channel on a mix of pranks, challenges, lifestyle videos, and the kind of friend-group energy that makes viewers feel like they're hanging out rather than watching from the outside. Their humour is funny and inclusive, their production quality has improved substantially over the years, and they've remained relevant by consistently staying on top of trends.

With approximately 130 million subscribers, the Stokes Twins are a genuine phenomenon. They also represent what YouTube success looks like for younger creators in the 2020s — they grew up on the platform, understand its culture instinctively, and have managed to scale without losing the raw, unpolished energy that made people subscribe in the first place.

KIMPRO might be the most underrated name on this list for Western audiences — but in terms of raw subscriber growth, he's one of the most remarkable YouTube stories in years.

Rooted in Korean comedy and entertainment culture, KIMPRO has built an audience that extends far beyond his home market. His videos are funny, highly watchable, and often use physical comedy and visual gags that transcend language barriers — which is how he's racked up 118 million subscribers at a pace that shocked most industry observers.

His rise is a reminder that the biggest growth markets for YouTube in the mid-2020s aren't in the US or UK. They're in Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe. Creators who know how to connect with those audiences are building some of the largest followings in the world.

Felix Kjellberg has been making YouTube videos since 2010. Let that sink in for a moment. In an industry where careers can end overnight and yesterday's biggest star is tomorrow's forgotten page, PewDiePie has maintained a 115-million-subscriber audience across fifteen-plus years of content creation.

That's genuinely extraordinary.

Felix started with Let's Play gaming videos, then evolved into vlogs, meme reviews, and comedy content. He's weathered viral moments, controversies, extended breaks from the platform, and intense public scrutiny. And yet, through all of it, his audience has stuck with him — a testament to the authentic connection he's built with his viewers.

If you want to see just how much the global landscape of YouTube has changed, look no further than Vlad A4.

Based in Belarus, Vlad A4 has built a channel focused on high-energy comedy, colourful entertainment, and big-personality content that keeps viewers coming back. His growth has been staggering — approximately 44 million subscribers in 2023, now over 92 million. That's more than doubling in just two years.

Vlad A4's success is particularly interesting because it's happening largely under the radar of Western media and marketing. He doesn't get the same press attention as MrBeast or PewDiePie — but his numbers tell a story that's hard to argue with.

His rise demonstrates how powerful Eastern European and Russian-speaking audiences on YouTube are becoming. These are massive, highly engaged markets that remain underserved by most Western brands and agencies. If you want to reach those audiences authentically, Vlad A4 is a name you need to know.

If you study MrBeast's formula closely and then execute it with genuine creativity and dedication, you end up with Topper Guild.

His channel is built on big-budget challenges, elaborate pranks, and the kind of high-stakes content that requires serious production infrastructure to pull off. He's built secret rooms, taken luxury experiences to extremes, and consistently pushed the format into new territory. Sound familiar? It should — but Topper Guild isn't just a copycat. He's added his own personality and creative flair to a format that clearly works, as evidenced by his 90.9 million subscribers.

What makes Topper Guild interesting in 2026 is that he's part of a growing cohort of creators demonstrating that there's a massive appetite for high-quality challenge content that one channel alone can't satisfy. MrBeast created a format. Topper Guild and creators like him are turning it into an entire genre.

For brands connected to entertainment, humour, or youth culture, Topper Guild's engaged and growing audience is worth serious attention.

Our final entry on this list is also the most globally significant from a market perspective.

Shfa creates kids' content primarily in Arabic, broadcasting from the UAE. With over 55 million subscribers, she's built one of the premier kids' channels in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Her content follows the same pattern as other successful kids' creators — bright visuals, imaginative play, and simple, relatable stories. But she's delivering it to a massive, rapidly growing, and chronically underrepresented audience in the global creator landscape.

Arabic-speaking audiences on YouTube are substantial, highly engaged, and actively looking for quality content. Shfa's success demonstrates just how much potential exists in that market. She's following the playbook of global kids' content stars like Nastya and Diana — but she's bringing something authentic and culturally specific to her audience, and that's what's made her so successful.