YouTube Channel API
Subscribers, total views, video count, country and description for up to ten channels per call.
Guides · YouTube
Is the YouTube API free? There is no price list, but there is a quota.
Mostly, in money terms. Google's documentation for the YouTube Data API describes a daily quota rather than a price list: by default 10,000 units a day for most calls, plus separate buckets of 100 searches and 100 uploads, as of October 2026. The real cost is the quota, and more quota needs a compliance audit.
- Default quota
- 10,000 units / day
- search.list
- 100 calls / day
- More quota
- After an audit
- Checked
- Oct 2026
Updated 21 October 2026
Official API or this one
YouTube's side is from Google's developer documentation, seen 21 October 2026.
| YouTube Data API | API for Agents | |
|---|---|---|
| Public channels, videos, comments | Yes, with an API key | Yes |
| Upload, manage playlists, reply as a channel | Yes, with the owner's OAuth consent | No |
| Daily limit | 10,000 units, plus 100 searches and 100 uploads | Priced per record; you top up as you go |
| Who can get access | Anyone with a Google account and a Cloud project | Anyone. An agent signs itself up in one call and starts on a $0.10 trial |
| Price model | No price list in the docs; a daily quota | Pay as you go, from $0.00045 per record |
| Setup | Cloud project, enable the API, create a key | One API key. No YouTube account or app review |
How the quota works
Every project that enables the YouTube Data API gets a default allocation. Google's quota page says it is 100 search.list calls, 100 videos.insert calls and 10,000 units a day for all other endpoints combined. Reading a list of channels, videos or comment threads costs 1 unit a call. The quota resets at midnight Pacific Time.
Since 1 June 2026, search.list and videos.insert have their own buckets at 1 unit per call. Before that a search cost 100 units from the shared pool, so older guides that say a project can only run about 100 searches a day from its 10,000 units are describing the old rule.
To go past the default you fill in the YouTube API Services Audit and Quota Extension Form. Google says you must first complete an audit of your use against its terms.
When the official API is the right tool
If you upload videos, manage a channel's playlists, reply to comments as a channel or build an app that people sign in to with their Google account, use the YouTube Data API. It acts with the owner's permission, which no data API can do.
It is also a good fit for small, steady reads of public data that stay inside the quota. Where it gets hard is volume: many channels, deep comment threads or many searches a day, each of which spends quota you then have to apply for.
What you can get here
YouTube Videos API
A channel's recent videos with views, likes, comments, duration and publish date.
YouTube Comments API
Top comments on videos and Shorts by URL or id, with author, text, likes and replies.
Operation pages
Questions people ask.
Does the YouTube Data API cost money?
Google's YouTube Data API documentation describes quota, not prices, as of October 2026. Check the current terms before you rely on that for a commercial product.
How many searches can I run per day?
By default 100 search.list calls a day, in their own bucket, since a change on 1 June 2026. Other reads come out of a separate pool of 10,000 units a day.
How do I get more YouTube API quota?
Through the YouTube API Services Audit and Quota Extension Form. Google says an audit of your use comes first.
Does the YouTube API need OAuth?
Not for public data: an API key is enough. OAuth is for private user data and for acting on a channel, such as uploads.
What does a YouTube lookup cost here?
Priced per record, from $0.00045 per record. Quote any call first with estimateOnly, which is free.
Sources (4)
- YouTube Data API: Quota calculator, seen 21 October 2026
- YouTube Data API: Revision history (1 June 2026), seen 21 October 2026
- YouTube API Services: Quota and compliance audits, seen 21 October 2026
- YouTube Data API: Getting started, seen 21 October 2026
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