How is this different from the official YouTube Data API?

The official Data API meters everything in daily quota units (a search costs 100 units against a 10,000-unit default), requires a Google Cloud project and can involve OAuth for anything personal. The Advanced YouTube API is a flat scraper: pass any public video or channel URL with your API Codex key and get JSON back. No quota units, no project setup, no OAuth.

Do I need a YouTube or Google account?

No. The API only scrapes publicly visible pages and never asks for Google credentials, cookies or proxies. You authenticate to the API itself with your API Codex key. Private, unlisted or members-only content is not accessible.

How fresh is the data?

Every request triggers a live scrape of the page at that moment, so views, likes and subscriber counts reflect the current state rather than a cached database. That is also why responses take 5-45 seconds instead of milliseconds: you are trading a little latency for data that is never stale.

What does an HTTP 202 response mean and how do I handle it?

If a scrape exceeds the synchronous window, the API returns 202 with a snapshot_id instead of making you wait on an open connection. Poll GET /v1/result?snapshot_id=... until it returns 200 with status "ready" and your data. This mostly happens on /v1/comments, where results are typically ready within 1-2 minutes.

Can I look up a channel by handle instead of a URL?

Yes. On /v1/channel, passing username=@mkbhd (with or without the leading @) is equivalent to url=https://www.youtube.com/@mkbhd and saves you the URL encoding. Video and comment endpoints always take the full video URL since a handle cannot identify a specific video.

Scrape any public video, channel or comment thread as clean JSON

Advanced YouTube API

Name: Advanced YouTube API
Brand: API Codex
SKU: advanced-youtube-api

The Advanced YouTube API turns any public YouTube video or channel into structured JSON with a single GET request. Video views, likes, description and publish date, channel subscribers and video counts, plus full comment threads, scraped live with no login, quota units or proxies on your side.

Unlike the official YouTube Data API, there are no daily quota units to budget, no OAuth consent screens and no project setup. Pass a video or channel URL (or a @handle) with your key and get JSON back. Most requests complete synchronously in 5-45 seconds.

Get a free API key Read the docs

Free tier included, no credit card required. One key works across every API.

Free calls / month: 40
Endpoints: 4
Response Time: 5-45s
Data Freshness: Live

Get your free API key

40 free calls on the free plan

Key features

Any public video or channel, no quota units or OAuth
Live scraping on every request, no stale cached databases
Video data: views, likes, description, publish date, duration
Channel data by URL or @handle: subscribers, total videos, description
Comment threads with limit control (1-50 per call)
fields= selection to trim responses to just what you need
No YouTube account, cookies or proxies required

Built for

Creator discovery and vetting tools
Competitor channel monitoring dashboards
Comment analysis and social listening
Video performance analytics for agencies
Trend research and content ideation pipelines

MCP · for your agent

Hand the Advanced YouTube API to your agent

Connect Claude, Cursor or any MCP client once, then ask in plain words. Your agent finds this API, reads its docs and makes the call: 25 credits per call, the same as REST, from your team's balance.

Connect your agent

Benchmark a competitor's launch video

“How is Globex's launch video doing compared with ours? Views, likes, comments and days since it went live.”

list_apis · get_api_docsfree

api_request GET /youtube/v1/video?url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBcD3fGh1jK 25 cr

Views, likes, comment counts and publish dates for both videos, side by side.

Turn comments into an FAQ

“Go through the comments on our 'Getting started' tutorial and list the questions people keep asking.”

list_apis · get_api_docsfree

api_request GET /youtube/v1/comments?url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zx9Kq2Lm4Np&limit=50 25 cr

Recent comments with likes, clustered into recurring questions for the next video or FAQ.

Vet a creator on every platform

“We're considering @fabrikamfit for a sponsorship. Compare their audience on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok.”

list_apis · get_api_docsfree

api_request GET /youtube/v1/channel?username=fabrikamfit 25 cr

+ Advanced Instagram API25 cr

+ Advanced TikTok API25 cr

Subscribers and videos on YouTube next to followers and engagement on Instagram and TikTok.

$ claude mcp add --transport http apicodex https://mcp.apicodex.io

Illustrative asks; the calls and prices are real. Claude, Cursor, VS Code and Windsurf setup: mcp.apicodex.io

Try it

Build the request for your data

Edit the parameters below and see the exact request and curl command you'd send. No key required to preview.

GET /youtube/v1/video

Open in Playground

Parameters

url

Request · HTTP

GET /youtube/v1/video?url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ HTTP/1.1
Host: api.apicodex.io
X-Api-Key: YOUR_API_KEY

Response · JSON 200 OK

{
  "type": "video",
  "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ",
  "data": {
    "title": "Rick Astley - Never Gonna Give You Up (Official Video)",
    "channel": "Rick Astley",
    "channel_url": "https://www.youtube.com/@RickAstleyYT",
    "views": 1647832910,
    "likes": 18324551,
    "comments_count": 2384419,
    "duration": "3:33",
    "published_at": "2009-10-25",
    "description": "The official video for Never Gonna Give You Up"
  }
}

Run it with your key

Documentation

Advanced YouTube API Documentation

Pass a YouTube video or channel URL (or a @handle as username) and get a complete, structured JSON record back in a single request. All endpoints are GET. On /v1/comments, limit accepts 1-50 (default 10), and fields= lets you keep only the top-level fields you need. If a scrape exceeds the sync window you get HTTP 202 with a snapshot_id to resolve via /v1/result.

Base URL

url

https://api.apicodex.io/youtube

Authentication

Create a key at apicodex.io/register and send it as an X-Api-Key header (or an ?apikey= query parameter) on every request. No YouTube account, Google Cloud project or OAuth flow is ever involved.

headers

GET /youtube/v1/video?url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ
X-Api-Key: YOUR_API_KEY

Request and response

Illustrative values. Confirm current endpoint behavior, quotas, and data freshness in the API documentation before production use.

request · http

GET /youtube/v1/video?url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ HTTP/1.1
Host: api.apicodex.io
X-Api-Key: YOUR_API_KEY

response · json

{
  "type": "video",
  "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ",
  "data": {
    "title": "Rick Astley - Never Gonna Give You Up (Official Video)",
    "channel": "Rick Astley",
    "channel_url": "https://www.youtube.com/@RickAstleyYT",
    "views": 1647832910,
    "likes": 18324551,
    "comments_count": 2384419,
    "duration": "3:33",
    "published_at": "2009-10-25",
    "description": "The official video for Never Gonna Give You Up"
  }
}

Code examples

cURL

curl --request GET \
  --url 'https://api.apicodex.io/youtube/v1/video?url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ' \
  --header 'X-Api-Key: YOUR_API_KEY'

JavaScript/Node.js

const url = new URL('https://api.apicodex.io/youtube/v1/video');
url.searchParams.set('url', 'https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ');

const res = await fetch(url, {
  headers: {
    'X-Api-Key': 'YOUR_API_KEY'
  },
});
console.log(await res.json());

Python

import requests

url = "https://api.apicodex.io/youtube/v1/video"
querystring = {"url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ"}
headers = {
    "X-Api-Key": "YOUR_API_KEY"
}
print(requests.get(url, headers=headers, params=querystring).json())

Available Endpoints

GET /v1/video

Scrape a video by URL: title, views, likes, comments count, duration, description.

/v1/video?url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ

GET /v1/channel

Scrape a channel by url or username (@handle): subscribers, total videos, description.

/v1/channel?username=@mkbhd

GET /v1/comments

List the comments of a video as an array (author, text, likes, replies).

/v1/comments?url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ&limit=25

GET /v1/result

Fetch a pending result using the snapshot_id from a 202 response.

/v1/result?snapshot_id=s_abc123

Request Parameters

Required parameters

url YouTube URL to scrape. Required on /v1/video and /v1/comments; on /v1/channel you can pass username instead.

Optional parameters

username Channel @handle instead of a URL on /v1/channel (with or without the leading @).
fields Comma-separated top-level fields to keep, e.g. fields=title,views,likes. Applies to every item on list endpoints.
limit Max items on /v1/comments (1-50, default 10).
snapshot_id /v1/result only: the id returned by a 202 response.

Pricing

Advanced YouTube API Pricing

This API costs 25 credits per request. Credits are shared across every API on your plan.

Estimate your monthly cost

Drag the slider to match your expected request volume. We'll recommend the cheapest plan that covers it.

Requests per month 10,000

Recommended plan

Starter

$29.99 /month

Credits used

Credits included

Cost per 1K requests

Choose Starter

Free

1,000 credits · ~40 requests/mo · 2 rps

All APIs included
No credit card required
Full documentation and examples
MCP server for your AI agents
Up to 5 active API keys

Start for free

Starter

Popular

$29.99 /month

50,000 credits · ~2,000 requests/mo · 10 rps

All APIs included
Email support
Usage dashboard and analytics
MCP server for your AI agents
Up to 5 active API keys

Start with Starter

Pro

$99.99 /month

250,000 credits · ~10,000 requests/mo · 25 rps

All APIs included
Priority support
MCP server for your AI agents
Up to 5 active API keys

Start with Pro

FAQ

Advanced YouTube API

Key features

Built for

Hand the Advanced YouTube API to your agent

Benchmark a competitor's launch video

Turn comments into an FAQ

Vet a creator on every platform

Build the request for your data

Advanced YouTube API Documentation

Base URL

Authentication

Request and response

Code examples

Available Endpoints

GET /v1/video

GET /v1/channel

GET /v1/comments

GET /v1/result

Request Parameters

Required parameters

Optional parameters

Advanced YouTube API Pricing

Free

Starter

Pro

Need a different plan?

Frequently asked questions

Related APIs