YouTube Creator Comments Study

Key takeaways

1. 31% of regular videos and 14% of Shorts from the most-subscribed channels open with the creator's own comment, the spot where a pinned comment shows. See details
2. Channels differ: 32 of 55 never opened with their own comment in the uploads we read, while 3 did on every one; the median channel did on 0%. See details
3. Creators rarely reply where viewers can see it: 8% of uploads showed a creator reply among the replies the top threads display, and 45 channels showed none. See details
4. YouTube suggests pinning your own comment to ask a question, clarify something or thank viewers, and lets a channel pin one comment per video. See details

How often does the creator's own comment come first?

We read the top 100 comment threads, in YouTube's default top-comments order, on up to five of the latest regular videos and five of the latest Shorts of each of 66 of the most-subscribed YouTube channels, 447 uploads in all from October 2026. 31% of regular videos and 14% of Shorts had the creator's own comment as the first thread. That is where a pinned comment shows (YouTube Help); a creator's comment can also rank first without a pin, so read these as upper bounds for pinned creator comments. 22% of uploads had at least one creator comment anywhere among the top 100 threads.

Is it a channel habit?

Of the 55 channels with at least five uploads read, 32 never opened with their own comment and 3 did on every upload; 9 did on under half and 11 on half or more. The median channel opened with its own comment on 0% of its uploads.

Do creators reply to comments?

Rarely where a viewer would see it. Under the top 100 threads the API returns up to five replies each (YouTube Data API); among those, 8% of uploads showed at least one reply from the creator (8% of regular videos, 7% of Shorts), and 45 of 55 channels showed none. Hearts and replies further down a thread are not counted, so creators engage more than this shows, but most of it is out of sight.

What YouTube says about pinned comments

A channel can pin one comment per video, its own or a viewer's, and the pinned comment shows first with a "Pinned by" label and the channel name (YouTube Help). YouTube's creator tips suggest pinning your own comment to clarify something from the video, ask the audience a question, tease a moment or thank viewers (YouTube Help). This study counts only the creator's own comment in first place; a pinned viewer comment is not counted.

What this means for creators

• Make it a step, not a whim. add it to the publishing checklist with the title and thumbnail.
• Use the slot for something the video can't do. A link, a correction, a question for viewers or the next video's name.
• Visible replies are rare. A few replies near the top stand out because most of the biggest channels show none.

Mark Studios edits YouTube videos and Shorts for creators and brands. Our YouTube engagement rate study measures likes and comments on the same channels' uploads.

How we ran the study

Channels and uploads. The channels and October 2026 uploads of our engagement rate study (the most-subscribed channels). For each channel we took its latest five regular videos and five Shorts (fewer where it posted fewer) that allowed comments, were not made for kids and had at least 1,000 views.

Comments. For each upload, one CommentThreads: list call with order=relevance (YouTube's top-comments order) and 100 results, read November 1, 2026. A comment is the creator's when its author channel ID equals the video's channel ID (Comments resource). "Own comment first" means the first thread returned is the creator's.

Shares. Per upload across all 447 uploads; per channel for the 55 channels with at least five uploads read.

Limitations

• Pinned is inferred, not read. The API does not report whether a comment is pinned. A creator comment that ranks first without a pin counts too, and a pinned viewer comment does not. In a browser check of 10 regular videos, the first comment's "Pinned by" label matched our reading on 9 of the 9 whose comments loaded.
• Top 100 threads, five replies each. Replies beyond those the API displays, and hearts, are not counted.
• The biggest channels only. Small channels may comment and reply far more.
• One read. Comments ranked first can change as a video ages; we read each once.

How to cite this study

Link to the section you use, for example https://www.markstudios.com/research/youtube-creator-comments-study#comment-first. To cite the study as a whole:

Mark Studios. "YouTube Creator Comments Study." Published November 1, 2026. https://www.markstudios.com/research/youtube-creator-comments-study

@misc{markstudios_youtube_creator_comments_study_2026,
  author = {{Mark Studios}},
  title = {{YouTube Creator Comments Study}},
  year = {2026},
  month = nov,
  url = {https://www.markstudios.com/research/youtube-creator-comments-study},
  note = {Last verified 2026-11-01}
}

Our measurements and the CSV are free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 with a link to this page.

Sources

Download the per-video data (CSV)

Widely quoted video statistics on other topics are traced to their origin, with a verdict on each, in our research fact-check.

1. YouTube Help, Post & interact with comments. Accessed 2026-11-01.
2. YouTube Help, Tips to build community with comments. Accessed 2026-11-01.
3. Google for Developers, YouTube Data API: CommentThreads: list. Accessed 2026-11-01.
4. Google for Developers, YouTube Data API: Comments resource. Accessed 2026-11-01.

Update policy and change log

We plan to rerun the read on later uploads. Corrections go to contact@markstudios.com.

• November 1, 2026: First published.