MrBeast vs PewDiePie: Who's the bigger YouTuber in 2022?

For many years Felix "PewDiePie" Kjellberg has dominated the list of most subscribed-to YouTubers with staggering numbers, but Jimmy "MrBeast" is slowly catching up to the Swede after crossing the 100 million mark in July.

The YouTube battle between the two giants in content creation is getting pretty heated as Felix's subscriber count has seen little growth in the last year or so, hanging around 110 million. He currently sits at a whopping 111 million subscribers, but Jimmy is closing the gap pretty quickly, having gained an impressive five million subs in the last month alone.

With the difference in sub-count thinning as we speak, a closer look at this year's statistics comparing the two giants of content creation would give a good idea of whether PewDiePie is set to lose his crown to the king of viral content MrBeast in the last few months of 2022.

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MrBeast vs PewDiePie: The biggest YouTuber of 2022 by numbers

PewDiePie has been arguably the most famous content creator on the red-platform in the last decade and has remained at the top of the list of most-subscribed-to channels owned by an individual since 2013. However, his channel growth took a hit after he stopped regular uploads towards the end of 2020.

The content he has been putting out since then has been drastically different from the previous Let's Play series and meme reviews he was famous for. In fact, by the time 2022 rolled around, his regular video upload schedule was long gone as he preferred to upload vlog-style videos in the recent past, which often chronicled his move to Japan.

Weekly viewership gain comparison (Image via Social Blade)

In a recent YouTube video titled Why I didn't quit, the YouTuber explained that he had thought about leaving content creation behind in 2020 but ultimately decided against it.

Since then, he has apparently stopped uploading with the aim of growing his channel; rather, he's focusing on having fun. His lack of regular content, however, has affected channel growth in the past year.

In a clip from an QnA from August, PewDiePie answered a fan's questions about the slow channel growth, stating:

"Yeah, I'm not uploading as much. I was thinking even if I should make a new channel or something. Cus people come to my channel and they're like, 'Why doesn't he not have more?' But again, it's not that important."

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MrBeast, on the other hand, has been churning out viral content after content. Jimmy Donaldson, his given name, has firmly cemented his place in the YouTube Hall of Fame after becoming the second non-brand channel to break the 100 million barrier.

Much like PewDiePie, Donaldson too started his content creation in the video game sphere with his first video featuring him playing Minecraft back in 2012.

However, MrBeast found success in a different type of content and burst onto the scene with an almost 24-hour-long video where he counted to 100K. Since then, the Kansas native has become a pillar of the Google-owned platform and a global sensation.

Stark difference in subscriber growth between the YouTubers (Image via Social Blade)

As a businessman and philanthropist, MrBeast has been incredibly successful in creating viral content that uses extravagant video ideas to pull in millions of views for his videos.

Eye-catching and over-the-top titles are his forte, but what sets him apart from clickbaiters is that he backs up his claims with truly amazing video production. His most popular content piece is the real-life Squid Game video that has garnered over 292 million views in the 10 months since its release.

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Conclusion

Content Creator	Total subscribers gained in last month	Total views in the last month	Total subscribers	Total number of views	Number of videos released in September
PewDiePie	<<1M	32.1 M	111 M	28,548,583,467	6
MrBeast	~2M	276 M	105 M	17,567,736,390	2

Numbers aren't the only way to determine who among these YouTube giants was a bigger content creator in 2022.

However, it is clear from the table above that while PewDiePie remains at the top of the YouTube foodchain, MrBeast is rapidly gaining on him. If current trends persist, it's only a matter of time before the American supplants the Swede at the top.

Interestingly, PewDiePie has talked about this very possibility in a video from last month and he appeared quite happy to give up his title to MrBeast as a mark of mutual respect towards him.