There’s a certain uniqueness to our YouTube section. For most of our website’s other categories, we typically review whatever the biggest, newest thing entertainment has to offer is: a movie coming out this weekend, a TV show that hit Netflix’s Top Ten, an artist’s latest album.
But YouTubers tend to have the opposite treatment. Most YouTubers don’t explode into relevancy overnight. Even if they’ve had a video go viral, chances are they’ve had their YouTube channel for at least a few years. In other words, a TV show might not get renewed for another season and become irrelevant by this time next year, whereas a YouTuber’s fame can stick around for over a decade.
Of course, that means our year-end picks for YouTube might cause some channels to get the short end of the stick. Most of the channels we reviewed (and picked) this year were also popular enough to warrant a review last year. We simply didn’t have the time or manpower to do so. Thus, there are instances in which a channel would have made our list had it been reviewed in a different year.
Such is the case for a few channels, which is why, despite not officially making our top five, we’ll quickly shout out a few honorable mentions at the bottom of this list.
But first, we’ll share our official winners. As in previous years, channels that focus on Christian teaching will not be considered. Not because we don’t like them, but simply because we’d be biased to make them our top five each time if we did.

Stuff Made Here
(Educational)
Let’s first talk about the man who built his YouTube channel from the ground up more literally than most. Shane Wighton is an engineer who tasks himself with designing interesting solutions to unusual problems. For instance, most people who want to score a basket in basketball would practice until their aim got better. When Wighton does it, he designs a hoop that automatically moves to receive a shot that otherwise would have missed. And while some of his verbiage may go over a viewer’s head, the end result may also encourage them to think up unique answers to their own questions.

Primitive Technology
(Educational, How-To)
If all of Wighton’s talk about electronics and coding is too fancy for you, maybe you’d rather take a step or seven into the past. That’s where you’ll meet John Plant, who spends his time creating a homestead from scratch. Over the years, he’s built a home, a brick kiln and an iron smelter under one simple rule: He’s only allowed to use tools he’s personally created before. Plant never speaks in his videos, leaving viewers to simply enjoy watching his crafting process. And while other “primitive technology” channels have sprung up over the years—hoping to capitalize on Plant’s success through misleading videos that hide whole construction crews and equipment just offscreen—Primitive Technology is the real deal.

The Urban Rescue Ranch
(Christian, Educational, How-To)
One thing Primitive Technology hasn’t had the chance to do yet is build a pen for animals. If you’re looking for that, you might enjoy The Urban Rescue Ranch. Ben Christie owns and operates a “prospective wildlife rehab,” restoring sick or injured animals back to health. And while that does mean that viewers may occasionally see an animal who doesn’t survive, they also get to see Christie’s process of caring for the creatures, too—a choice made more impactful when the viewer learns that Christie, a Christian, began his wildlife facility after he left his position working for a tech company in order to follow God’s call for his life. So, even though working with animals may not be the cleanest job, it’s one that viewers of The Urban Rescue Ranch will likely appreciate seeing on Christie’s channel.

League of Pigs
(Culture/Commentary, Sports)
Imagine if The Urban Rescue Ranch was really into Kunekune pigs—and recognized their affinity for racing. That’s more or less what’s going on over at League of Pigs. The channel’s unnamed narrator builds racetracks on which his pet pigs fervently race to get to their food trough. And when they race, he provides entertaining commentary, much like an announcer for a real competition. The five pigs are all fierce contenders for first place, and those looking for a simpler watch and some cute animals may find their new favorite sport on this channel.

Sam Reid
(Challenge/Prank, Educational, Traveler/Influencer)
But if looking at pigs just makes you want bacon, then maybe Sam Reid is more your speed. That’s because the channel focuses primarily on food. And whether the videos feature a food experiment, tiered list of food options or eating challenge, they come with quite a bit more information than you might expect—facts that help boost Reid’s credibility. Reid seeks for his channel to be a “feel-good variety show about food, travel, and the questions you didn’t know you had,” and we’d say he’s succeeded in that goal.
Honorable Mentions
NileRed/NileBlue – This two-for-one channel features interesting chemistry experiments that’ll make you wish you studied harder in school. Despite a couple of minor hiccups, it remains relatively clean. Had we not also reviewed a slightly cleaner channel that focuses on engineering, NileRed/NileBlue likely would have made this list.
Stampylonghead – This is perhaps the only channel that became ineligible for our list simply because the channel became inactive. This Minecraft content creator’s series is intentionally made for children, and content issues are sparse.
Marques Brownlee – Were our picks based solely on which channels have the fewest content concerns, Marques Brownlee would probably have made the list. But we also like to feature channels that have unique content we believe the whole family may enjoy. And as interesting and useful as Brownlee’s product reviews may be for adults, we’re not sure younger kids would be as interested in his videos.
So there you have it! Those are Plugged In‘s choices for best YouTube channels of 2024.
5 Responses
Thank you for giving YouTubers the respect they deserve. Some YouTubers make content as good as or better than content available on paid streaming services, broadcast TV, or even movies in theaters captured on 35mm film.
If you are a Sports or American Pickers fan, I highly recommended a YouTube show called Chasing Cardboard (http://www.youtube.com/chasingcardboard). Amazing quality, great content, and a Christian spin on most of the episodes.
You allude to Christian channels but don’t name them? It would have been nice to include them as honorable mentions, too. I’d like to know what they are.
Hi Maggie, you can check out all of our reviews for channels with the “Christian” tag by following this link. Thanks!
Something to be considered in future YouTube picks could be Crosse Cutz. These entrepreneurs have a lawn care business and they are such kind people. While I’m biased because I have met the family, I’m very strict on what I let my kids watch. These boys sweetly surprise their mom in one video. In another, they clean up a vacant city lot.