Creator economy · Lucknow
Top 6 Richest YouTubers in Lucknow (2026)
From craft tutorials to MasterChef kitchens, Lucknow has produced creators with millions of subscribers. Here is who they are, how they began, what the media says about their earnings, and what is on the public record.
Please read first: YouTube earnings and net worth are estimates reported by media outlets and tracking tools. They are not verified by SkillCircle, are not audited, and often mix ad income with brand deals and other businesses. For most creators below we found no credible figure and say so. Subscriber counts are from each official channel, as of 17 Oct 2026.
How we picked the richest YouTubers in Lucknow
Lucknow is a big city for Hindi-language creators, but many “top YouTubers from Lucknow” lists are copied from directories that tag a city without checking it. We started from the usual richest-YouTuber and creator lists, then kept only people whose Lucknow link we could confirm in a reliable source such as Wikipedia, Forbes India, NDTV, a national news outlet, or the creator’s own words. Where a creator was born in Lucknow but built a career elsewhere, we say so.
That left six names, so this is a Top 6, not a Top 10. We would rather publish six we can stand behind than pad the list. The order is simple: Ranveer Brar comes first because he is the only one with a net-worth figure from a named outlet. The rest follow by YouTube subscriber count, which is a measure of reach, not wealth. For the national picture, see our list of the richest YouTubers in India, and for the neighbouring region, read about the richest YouTubers in Delhi NCR. Next in this series: the richest YouTubers in Mumbai.
Related reading on SkillCircle: Chandigarh YouTuber rankings, list of top YouTubers in Hubli and profiles of Patiala’s biggest YouTube creators.
Richest YouTubers from Lucknow at a glance
| # | Creator | Lucknow link | Niche | Subs* | Reported estimate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ranveer Brar | Born and raised in Lucknow | Food, travel | 9.05M | ₹41 crore / $5M projected (DNA India, Jul 2023) |
| 2 | Crafter Aditi | Lucknow-based | DIY, craft | 15M | No credible figure; undisclosed |
| 3 | Akash Banerjee (The Deshbhakt) | Grew up in Lucknow | Political satire | 6.91M | No credible figure |
| 4 | Gyan Therapy (Rakesh Kumar) | Lucknow (Forbes India) | Tech reviews | 4.24M | No credible figure |
| 5 | Pankaj Bhadouria | Lucknow-based | Home cooking | 2.55M | No credible figure; ₹1 crore MasterChef prize (2010) |
| 6 | Neelesh Misra | Born in Lucknow | Storytelling | 1.46M | No credible figure |
*Main channel, as of 17 Oct 2026 (YouTube). Net-worth figures are media-reported estimates, not verified by SkillCircle; they may include brand deals and other businesses.
One more reference point: Social Blade estimates ad income from public view counts and shows wide ranges. For 3–16 October 2026 (14 days) its daily estimates add up to roughly $15K–$240K for Crafter Aditi, $11K–$185K for The Deshbhakt, $6K–$98K for Gyan Therapy, $3.9K–$63K for Ranveer Brar, $1K–$17K for Pankaj Bhadouria and $0.3K–$4.8K for Neelesh Misra. Treat these as rough guesses of ad revenue on the main channel only. They exclude brand deals, TV, restaurants, books and other businesses. You can check any channel yourself on Social Blade.
1. Ranveer Brar — chef and YouTuber born in Lucknow
- Niche: Indian food, travel and recipes; TV chef and restaurateur
- Lucknow link: born and raised in Lucknow (Wikipedia); his career later took him to Mumbai and Dubai
- Main channel: Chef Ranveer Brar, 9.05M subscribers (as of 17 Oct 2026, YouTube)
- Reported net worth: about $5 million (₹41 crore) as a “projected” figure from DNA India (5 Jul 2023). It is the only net-worth number for this list that we found in a named news outlet, and it is not verified by us. Some websites quote lower dollar figures; we have not used them.
How they started
Ranveer was born on 8 February 1978 in Lucknow, grew up there and, as a teenager, began working with a kebab vendor known as Ustad Munir, per his Wikipedia profile. He then trained at the Institute of Hotel Management, Lucknow, and joined the Taj group. Later stints took him to Goa, Noida, Boston and Mumbai. He became a judge on MasterChef India from its fourth season in 2014, and he has written cookbooks and opened restaurants, including Kashkan in Dubai (2023).
Early days
The channel page shows it joined YouTube in October 2013. You can scroll through its earliest uploads (sorted oldest first) to see how the content looked before the TV fame. The photo above is a workplace portrait, not from his early days.
Critical information
No major public controversy reported in the sources we checked.
2. Crafter Aditi (Aditi Agrawal) — Lucknow
- Niche: DIY, craft and hacks in Hindi
- Lucknow link: works from a craft studio in her Lucknow apartment; originally from Prayagraj
- Main channel: Crafter Aditi, 15M subscribers (as of 17 Oct 2026, YouTube); about 1.5M Instagram followers per exchange4media
- Reported net worth: we did not find a figure from a credible outlet, so we are not printing one. She told exchange4media she does not disclose exact earnings but has bought two houses from her work. An Aaj Tak profile (7 Apr 2023) describes her income as six figures without a firm number.
Photo: we could not find a freely licensed picture of this creator, so we have not used one. Their official channel is linked below.
How they started
Herzindagi (10 Oct 2025) says Aditi grew up in a one-room rented flat in Prayagraj, where her mother tutored students at home. She cracked the NIFT entrance exam without formal coaching but could not join for lack of funds, so she sold handmade crafts through a Facebook page and opened her YouTube channel about two years later. TikTok brought her close to a million followers before the app was banned in India in 2020, after which she focused on YouTube; the family later bought a home in Lucknow. Her recreation of a ₹35 lakh Louis Vuitton auto-rickshaw bag for about ₹2,000 went viral, as exchange4media reports.
Early days
The channel page shows it joined YouTube on 29 March 2014. Browse the earliest uploads (sorted oldest first) to see the early handmade-card and stationery videos. We could not find a freely licensed photo.
Critical information
No major public controversy reported in the sources we checked.
3. Akash Banerjee (The Deshbhakt) — grew up in Lucknow
- Niche: political and social satire in Hindi
- Lucknow link: grew up in Lucknow and studied at La Martinière, in his own words to The Tryst
- Main channel: The Deshbhakt, 6.91M subscribers (as of 17 Oct 2026, YouTube)
- Reported net worth: no credible figure found, so none is printed. Banerjee told The Tryst that the show is crowdfunded through memberships and that his team is “not minting money on YouTube”.
Photo: we could not find a freely licensed picture of this creator, so we have not used one. Their official channel is linked below.
How they started
Akash was born on 31 March 1980 (Wikipedia). He says he grew up in Lucknow and studied at La Martinière before moving to Delhi University (Hindu College, then St. Stephen’s). He began as a Radio Mirchi jockey in 2002, then worked in television news, including the founding team of Times Now, and wrote the 2013 book Tales from Shining India and Sinking India. In 2018 he moved to satire and started The Deshbhakt. Wikipedia notes that The Washington Post has called it “one of the biggest YouTube channels in India”.
Early days
Browse the earliest uploads (sorted oldest first) to see the early shows. We could not find a freely licensed photo that is properly reviewed, so none is used.
Critical information
No legal case or regulatory finding against the channel is reported in the sources we checked. As a political satire show it draws strong reactions, and Banerjee has spoken to The Tryst about the online abuse he receives.
4. Gyan Therapy (Rakesh Kumar) — Lucknow
- Niche: smartphone and gadget reviews in Hindi
- Lucknow link: listed with city Lucknow in the Forbes India Digital Stars 2024 profile (rank 20). He is not originally from Lucknow; see below.
- Main channel: Gyan Therapy, 4.24M subscribers (as of 17 Oct 2026, YouTube)
- Reported net worth: no credible figure found, so none is printed.
Photo: we could not find a freely licensed picture of this creator, so we have not used one. Their official channel is linked below.
How they started
MetaStory (10 Sep 2023) says Rakesh grew up mostly in Haryana, did a B.Tech at Kurukshetra University and worked as a physics teacher while preparing for government exams in Prayagraj. A thyroid diagnosis in 2018 made him rethink his plans, and he started Gyan Therapy in August 2018 with a basic phone and laptop. A candid Samsung Galaxy M21 review went viral about seven months in, and the channel crossed 1 million subscribers on 21 April 2021. Forbes India listed him among its Top 100 Digital Stars in 2024.
Early days
Browse the earliest uploads (sorted oldest first) to see the first reviews. We could not find a freely licensed photo.
Critical information
No major public controversy reported in the sources we checked.
5. Pankaj Bhadouria — MasterChef India winner, Lucknow
- Niche: home cooking and recipes in Hindi; TV chef and author
- Lucknow link: Lucknow-based, described as “Lucknow’s Pankaj Bhadouria” by NDTV; runs a culinary academy there
- Main channel: MasterChef Pankaj Bhadouria, 2.55M subscribers (as of 17 Oct 2026, YouTube)
- Reported net worth: no credible figure found, so none is printed. The documented money fact is the ₹1 crore prize for winning MasterChef India in 2010 (NDTV, 26 Dec 2010).
How they started
Pankaj was born in New Delhi in 1971, studied at Lucknow University and taught in a school for 16 years before quitting to join the first season of MasterChef India, which she won in December 2010 (Wikipedia). She went on to host cooking shows, write cookbooks and open the Pankaj Bhadouria Culinary Academy in Lucknow on 16 August 2012.
Early days
The channel page shows it joined YouTube on 4 May 2011, soon after the show. See the earliest uploads (sorted oldest first) for the early recipe videos. The photo above is from 2015, not her early days.
Critical information
No major public controversy reported in the sources we checked.
6. Neelesh Misra — storyteller born in Lucknow
- Niche: Hindi storytelling and interviews; also a lyricist, author and radio host
- Lucknow link: born in Lucknow and raised in Nainital (Wikipedia); his rural newspaper Gaon Connection is based in a village near Lucknow
- Main channel: Neelesh Misra, 1.46M subscribers (as of 17 Oct 2026, YouTube)
- Reported net worth: no credible figure found, so none is printed.
How they started
Per Wikipedia, Neelesh was born in Lucknow on 4 May 1973 and brought up in Nainital. He worked as a journalist, then wrote song lyrics for Hindi films (his first was in Jism, 2003) and co-wrote the screenplay of Ek Tha Tiger. He hosts the radio storytelling show Yaadon Ka Idiot Box, co-founded Gaon Connection in late 2012, and has hosted The Slow Interview on YouTube since November 2018. We include him because his Lucknow roots are documented, but he is better known as a storyteller than as a YouTube earner.
Early days
The channel page shows it joined YouTube in August 2012. See the earliest uploads (sorted oldest first) for older uploads. The photo above is from a 2013 poetry recording.
Critical information
No major public controversy reported in the sources we checked.
Who we left out of this Lucknow list
Several popular names are tagged “Lucknow” on listing sites, but we could not back that up. DNA India describes Ujjwal Chaurasia of Techno Gamerz as a Delhi YouTuber. Beauty creator Shruti Arjun Anand has said she grew up in Jhansi, per YourStory, and her channel began in the US in 2011, per BBC Hindi. The Times of India calls cricket creator Anurag Dwivedi a Saudi Arabia-based YouTuber whose hometown is Unnao. Fitness channel Juned Fitness (about 4.4M subscribers) and author-YouTuber Shwetabh Gangwar appear as Lucknow-linked only on directories and forums, with no reliable source for their city, so we did not include them. If you have a solid source for any of them, we will review it.
What new creators can learn from these channels
The six channels look different, but a pattern shows up. Each picked one clear subject (craft, food, satire, gadgets), published for years, and added income that does not depend on YouTube alone, such as TV, books, a newspaper, a cooking academy or brand work. Several started with very little: a basic phone, a rented flat, a Facebook page.
If you want to build or grow a channel, marketing skills help with titles, search, analytics and audience building. Our online digital marketing course covers SEO, social media and analytics, and learners in the city can look at the digital marketing course in Lucknow at our Hazratganj centre. If you like numbers, there are also the data analytics, data science and AI course pages for Lucknow, and you can see every location on our centres page. For career options beyond YouTube, see our list of the highest paid jobs in Delhi.
Frequently asked questions
Who is the richest YouTuber from Lucknow?
Going by published figures, chef Ranveer Brar is the only creator on this list with a net-worth number from a named news outlet: DNA India reported a projected $5 million (about ₹41 crore) in July 2023. That is a media estimate, not an audited figure. Crafter Aditi has the biggest YouTube audience here, but she does not disclose her earnings.
Which Lucknow YouTuber has the most subscribers?
Crafter Aditi (Aditi Agrawal) has the largest main channel on this list, with about 15 million subscribers as of 17 October 2026, followed by Ranveer Brar at 9.05 million and The Deshbhakt at 6.91 million.
Is Techno Gamerz from Lucknow?
Not according to the reports we found. DNA India describes Ujjwal Chaurasia, who runs Techno Gamerz, as a Delhi YouTuber. Some listing sites label him as Lucknow, but we could not back that up, so we left him out.
Why does this list have only six creators?
We only kept creators whose Lucknow link we could check in a reliable source, such as Wikipedia, Forbes India, NDTV or their own words in interviews. Several big channels are tagged “Lucknow” only on influencer-marketing directories, so we left them out instead of padding the list.
How can I start a YouTube or content career from Lucknow?
Pick one niche, publish regularly and learn the basics of SEO, analytics and audience building. SkillCircle’s Hazratganj centre in Lucknow teaches digital marketing, and you can also look at the online digital marketing course if you prefer to learn remotely.
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