These are the 19 most popular YouTube stars in the world - and some are making millions

Since 2005, YouTube has become the de facto launchpad for the next generation of celebrities.

Stars like PewDiePie, Jenna Marbles, and Yuya have racked up millions of subscribers over the years through a direct relationship with their fans.

From comedians to gamers to vloggers of all kinds, YouTubers have generally built their followings outside of the control of media giants, even if they are now signing big deals with those companies. And there is power and independence in having that huge fan base.

To get a closer look into which stars rule YouTube, we looked at the SocialBlade rankings to see who had the most subscribers. We focused on independent YouTube stars, disregarding YouTube channels like mainstream music artists.

Here's how the new generation of YouTube stars stacks up in 2018:

Nina Godlewski, Harrison Jacobs, Maya Kosoff, and Nathan McAlone contributed to earlier versions of this post.