Aprilynne Alter built a channel teaching YouTube packaging: titles, thumbnails, the psychology of the click. We ran two of her own thumbnails through Thumbly Score to see how the teacher scores.
Cleo Abram sells optimistic tech journalism with her face next to the thing she found. We scored two live thumbs through Thumbly Score, applied the fixes, and re-scored. Ocean went 73 to 77. Diamonds jumped 68 to 77 once the lab stopped competing.
Colin & Samir are the thinking creator's creators: restrained, editorial, no MrBeast theatrics. We ran two of their thumbnails through Thumbly Score to see whether good taste actually wins, or just feels nice.
MKBHD's brand is clean product photography and almost no clickbait. We ran his Humane AI Pin thumbnail and a near-textless iPhone 17 shot through Thumbly Score to see where minimalism wins, and where it leaves emotion on the table.
MrBeast spends millions getting thumbnails right. We scored two of his biggest ones with Thumbly, applied the fixes it suggested, and re-scored. Here's what held up, what we'd change, and what you can steal.
Everyone copies MrBeast's face. Few copy the system. Five 2026 patterns still showing up in his thumbnails, what changed, and how to steal the playbook on a normal budget.
Ryan Trahan's rule is a subtle face, a clean background, and whatever is going on. We ran two of his thumbnails through Thumbly Score, applied the fixes, and re-scored.
Veritasium puts the impossible thing in the frame. We scored two live thumbnails from his channel, applied Thumbly's one-click fixes, and ran Score again.
