Guide
How long is GATE CSE preparation on YouTube? 20 free courses, measured
Updated 2026-10-21 · 6 min read
Watching one free in-depth GATE CSE course for every subject on YouTube takes 670 hours. We measured the fourteen courses on our GATE CSE list on 21 October 2026, counting every video to the last: GO Classes and Amit Khurana for the subjects they teach in depth, Gate Smashers for the rest. At 1.5× speed that is 447 hours, three hours a day for five months.
Gate Smashers alone covers every subject in 143 hours, 96 at 1.5×. With GATE in February and three months left, that is about an hour of lectures a day, where the in-depth set would need five. The gap is the choice every GATE aspirant makes, subject by subject, and the numbers below show where it is widest.
Every subject, two ways
The in-depth course on our list beside Gate Smashers' course for the same subject. Each number opens the playlist's live page.
| Subject | In depth | Gate Smashers | Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|
| Theory of computation | 140 h | 11 h | 13× |
| Discrete maths | 110 h | 3 h | 34× |
| DBMS | 101 h | 25 h | 4× |
| Digital logic | 70 h | 7 h | 10× |
| COA | 59 h | 10 h | 6× |
| Linear algebra | 22 h | 6 h | 4× |
| Aptitude | 52 h | ||
| C programming | 35 h | ||
| Operating systems | 20 h | ||
| Computer networks | 19 h | ||
| Algorithms | 13 h | ||
| Probability | 12 h | ||
| Data structures | 11 h | ||
| Compiler design | 6 h |
Totals are rounded to the hour. Our list is the eight in-depth courses and the six Gate Smashers courses below them: 670 hours over 1,062 videos. Gate Smashers' twelve courses come to 143 hours over 808 videos. None of the twenty has a private or deleted video. The theory of computation, aptitude and C courses are Amit Khurana's, in Hindi; the other in-depth courses are GO Classes', in English; Gate Smashers teaches in Hindi. The GATE CSE list says what each course covers.
Why the in-depth courses are long
They are recorded classes, not short lessons. GO Classes' computer organisation course is 29 videos averaging just over two hours each. In its discrete maths course, 24 of the 71 videos run past two hours, and those 24 hold 70 of its 110 hours; the longest, a group theory marathon, is 4 hours 28 minutes. Much of that time is the previous years' GATE questions worked through topic by topic, which is what the long courses are for. Amit Khurana's theory of computation is 157 videos of 53 minutes on average, with sets of GATE questions by year among them.
Gate Smashers is built the other way: 808 videos at 7 to 17 minutes on average, one idea each. That is why one teacher can cover the syllabus in 143 hours, and why a first pass through it is quick.
The widest gap is discrete maths, 110 hours against 3. Engineering mathematics, which takes in discrete maths, linear algebra, calculus and probability, is worth about 13 of the 100 marks. General aptitude is 15, and its course here is 52 hours. Those are worth planning by marks rather than by the course's length. Our list has no calculus course, so that topic needs one from elsewhere.
Hours a day until the exam
The lecture time a day each set needs at 1.5×, watching every day, by how long you have left:
| Time left | All 14 courses | Gate Smashers |
|---|---|---|
| 12 months | 1 h 13 m | 16 m |
| 9 months | 1 h 38 m | 21 m |
| 6 months | 2 h 27 m | 31 m |
| 4 months | 3 h 40 m | 47 m |
| 3 months | 4 h 55 m | 1 h 3 m |
A year out, the whole in-depth list is an hour and a quarter a day. From late October, with GATE in February, the in-depth list needs about five hours a day of lectures alone, and Gate Smashers about an hour. These are video hours; GATE is decided by the questions you can solve, so treat them as the floor and plan practice and mock tests on top. GO Classes' long sessions are mostly problem solving, which is harder to follow at 2× (what each speed costs →).
A route for the time you have
With six months or more, the in-depth courses fit, and the previous years' questions inside them are worth the hours. With less, take Gate Smashers for every subject first: 96 hours at 1.5×, or about seven weeks at two hours a day. Then go back to the in-depth course only for the subjects where you are losing marks, and to Amit Khurana's aptitude course for the aptitude topics you are weak in. Gate Smashers and the full aptitude course together are 196 hours.
Check the total covers every video
Some playlist length tools add up only the first 100 videos and stop without saying so. Three of these playlists are longer than that: the first 100 videos of Amit Khurana's theory of computation come to 95 hours of its 140, of Gate Smashers' DBMS to 18 of 25, and of Gate Smashers' networks to 18 of 19. If a total looks short for a playlist of more than 100 videos, here is how to check it.
Plan the whole syllabus
Open each course from the table above, set your speed and daily time in the planner, and it gives you a finish date and the videos for each day; you can put the sessions in your calendar. Tick each video as you finish it and the time left updates, and the course stays in your list on the home page to pick up where you stopped. The exam date guide works back from the exam day, and the DSA guide measures the data structures and algorithms courses that GATE and placements share.
Frequently asked
How many hours is GATE CSE preparation on YouTube?
One in-depth free course per subject, the fourteen on our list, is 670 hours over 1,062 videos, measured on 21 October 2026; 447 hours at 1.5×. Gate Smashers' twelve courses cover every subject in 143 hours. Practice and mock tests come on top.
How long is the Gate Smashers GATE CSE course?
The twelve subject playlists on Varun Singla's channel come to 143 hours 21 minutes over 808 videos, measured on 21 October 2026. At 1.5× that is 96 hours: an hour a day for three months, or two hours a day for seven weeks.
Is GO Classes or Gate Smashers better for GATE CSE?
They do different jobs. GO Classes' courses are long recorded classes that work through the previous years' questions, 22 to 110 hours a subject. Gate Smashers' are short lessons, 3 to 25 hours a subject. Many aspirants take Gate Smashers for a first pass and GO Classes for the subjects where they lose marks.
How long is GO Classes' discrete maths course?
109 hours 39 minutes over 71 videos, measured on 21 October 2026. Twenty-four of the videos are over two hours long. At 1.5× it is 73 hours.
Why might a total differ from the playlist today?
These totals were measured on 21 October 2026. Several of these courses are still being added to, and videos go private. Each course's page here, and the GATE CSE list, shows the total as it is now.