What is a good CTR on YouTube?

Most channels sit between 2% and 10%, and YouTube itself reports that half of all videos fall under 6%. What counts as normal depends heavily on where impressions come from: home-feed impressions convert far worse than impressions on a channel page or among existing subscribers.

Why does CTR drop when a video takes off?

Because a video entering wider distribution is shown to viewers further from its core audience. Those newer viewers are less likely to click, so CTR falls even as absolute clicks rise. A falling CTR paired with rising views signals broadening distribution, not worsening performance.

Can I use this for ads and email as well?

Yes — the CTR formula is identical everywhere: clicks over impressions or sends, times a hundred. For email, substitute impressions with emails delivered or emails opened, depending on which definition your provider uses.

Calculators & Stats

CTR Calculator

Enter clicks and impressions to get your CTR, or set a target CTR to see how many clicks it needs.

Impressions Clicks Target CTR (%)

CTR —

Clicks for target —

Gap —

CTR = (CLICKS ÷ IMPRESSIONS) × 100 — COMPUTED IN YOUR BROWSER

What this is

Click-through rate is the percentage of people who clicked after seeing something — a thumbnail, an ad, a search result, an email link. The formula is one division: clicks over impressions, times a hundred. It matters because it measures pull rather than reach: two videos with identical impressions can end up with very different audiences on a few points of CTR alone. This calculator runs both directions — clicks to CTR, and a target CTR back to the clicks it requires.

The formula

CTR = (clicks ÷ impressions) × 100

clicks — the number of clicks received.
impressions — how many times it was shown, not how many people.
clicks needed = (target CTR × impressions) ÷ 100.

How it works

An impression is how many times something was shown, not how many people saw it. One person seeing your thumbnail three times on their home feed produces three impressions. That is why CTR runs lower than intuition suggests, and why comparing CTR across platforms rarely means much — each defines an impression differently.

A high CTR is not automatically good if viewers leave immediately. A title and thumbnail that promise more than the video delivers can raise CTR while cutting watch time, and that combination usually earns worse distribution rather than better. Read CTR alongside average view duration, never on its own.

How to use it

Enter impressions Type how many times your thumbnail, ad or link was shown.
Enter the clicks The CTR appears instantly, to two decimal places.
Try a target CTR Enter the CTR you want to see how many clicks it would take at the same impression count.

Common questions

What is a good CTR on YouTube?: Most channels sit between 2% and 10%, and YouTube itself reports that half of all videos fall under 6%. What counts as normal depends heavily on where impressions come from: home-feed impressions convert far worse than impressions on a channel page or among existing subscribers.
Why does CTR drop when a video takes off?: Because a video entering wider distribution is shown to viewers further from its core audience. Those newer viewers are less likely to click, so CTR falls even as absolute clicks rise. A falling CTR paired with rising views signals broadening distribution, not worsening performance.
Can I use this for ads and email as well?: Yes — the CTR formula is identical everywhere: clicks over impressions or sends, times a hundred. For email, substitute impressions with emails delivered or emails opened, depending on which definition your provider uses.

Notes

The calculation runs in your browser. No figure is sent to a server.