[Tubefilter Charts is a periodic rankings column from Tubefilter with data provided by GospelStats. It’s exactly what it sounds like: a top number ranking of YouTube channels based on statistics collected within a given time frame. We use data directly from YouTube and in terms of subscribers, YouTube rounds that data to the first three significant figures. Check out all of our Tubefilter Charts with new installments every week right here.]
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MrBeast started 2025 with an absolutely titanic month, at least from the statistical perspective. The rich got richer as the most-subscribed creator on YouTube added 13 million new subscribers at the start of the year.
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The other success stories populating the Global Top 100 are not quite as prodigious as MrBeast, but they are scoring strong viewership, sometimes within niches that have not traditionally thrived on YouTube. In particular, holy men are starting to find their way to the top of the charts.
YouTube Shorts viewers are keeping the faith
Jesus Christ has shown up in our worldwide rankings in the past, but those videos had more in common with Gen Alpha memes than they did with common worship. For the latest religious stars of YouTube Shorts, however, the doctrine is the message, and the internet is the hot new megaphone.
The first of those YouTube-based leaders is Bispo Bruno Leonardo, who has become a star in his native Brazil thanks to the passionate sermons he delivers through his São Paulo-based World Revival Baptist Church. On YouTube Shorts, Leonardo has uploaded snippets of his speeches, delivering an internet-based version of televangelism.
That strategy led Leonardo to a fifth-place finish in the Global Top 100 for January 2025. He got 4.7 million new subscribers during the month, bringing his lifetime total up to 44.5 million on his primary channel. That’s a lot of congregation members who are hanging onto every word Leonardo uploads.
Then there’s Bapuji Dashrathbhai Patel, a spiritual leader from India who also cracked this month’s Global Top 100. Patel is broadcasting his message of peace across the world, and his 3.7 million subscribers are praising him and his beliefs. After getting only a few thousand subscribers per week throughout much of 2024, Patel exploded at the end of the year to reach his current high point (57th place in the Global Top 100).
Data via Gospel Stats
An odd channel called Camina con Jesus is also in the Top 100, so there’s still room for religious content that is tuned to the desires of the YouTube audience. The creators taking a more traditional approach are hoping to reach young, faithful people through social media — and so far, it’s working.
Channel Distribution
Here’s a breakdown of the Top 100 Most Subscribed channels this month in terms of their countries of origin:
- India: 20
- United States: 19
- Hong Kong: 8
- Mexico: 7
- Brazil: 5
- Indonesia, Spain, South Korea, and Vietnam: 4
- Argentina and Japan: 3
- China and Thailand: 2
- Bangladesh, Belarus, Belgium, Canada, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Italy, Kazakhstan, Lativa, Norway, Pakistan, Peru, Ukraine, and United Kingdom: 1
This month, 75 channels in the Top 100 are primarily active on YouTube Shorts.
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