YouTube data API · Channels

YouTube Channel API. Pay per record.

Turn a YouTube @handle, channel id or channel URL into clean JSON: name, description, country, subscribers, total videos, total views and the date the channel joined. Up to ten channels per call, priced per channel.

Price: $0.00045 / channel
Billed: Per record
Free to start: $0.10
Endpoint: POST /v1/youtube

Updated 21 October 2026

What people build with the YouTube Channel API

Vet creators

Check subscribers, total views and video count before you sponsor a channel.

Enrich a channel list

Paste in a list of handles and get back the size and country of each channel.

Track competitors

Measure a rival channel's subscribers and views over time, each row dated.

Quote it, then run it

1. free quote: the exact price, nothing charged

curl -X POST https://apiforagents.dev/v1/youtube \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $AFA_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"op":"channels","subjects":["@mkbhd"],"estimateOnly":true}'

2. the same call, run

curl -X POST https://apiforagents.dev/v1/youtube \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $AFA_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"op":"channels","subjects":["@mkbhd"]}'

Inputs

Everything you can send in one channels call. Required inputs first.

Input	Type	What it does
subjects *	text list	@handles, UC… ids or channel URLs. 1-10 items
include.videos.limit	integer	Recent videos to fetch per channel, newest first; 1-50.
include.videos.since	string	Only videos published on or after this day (YYYY-MM-DD).

What comes back

The fields of every row, always present. Nothing is guessed: a value that could not be measured is null, and the answer's coverage says why.

Show all 16 rows

Field	Type
handle	string
channelId	string
name	string
description	string
avatarUrl	string
bannerUrl	string
country	string
isVerified	boolean
joinedOn	string
links	list of string
subscribers	integer
totalVideos	integer
totalViews	integer
channelUrl	string
canonicalHandle	string
details	object

details is always the last field: everything else the source sent for that row, under our own field names. Its keys depend on the source that answered, so read them defensively; it is {} when there is nothing more.

A sample answer

Made-up names and values in the real field names, so you can see the shape before you spend anything.

handle	name	description	country	isVerified	joinedOn
@mirapilates	Mira Pilates	Short pilates classes you can do at home.	IN	true	2019-03-11
@northfoldhq	Northfold	Finance, made calmer.	GB	false	2020-07-02
@cookwithkai	Cook with Kai	Weeknight recipes in under 30 minutes.	SG	true	2016-11-20

Pricing

Pay as you go, in US dollars, per record. No subscription, nothing expires, $5 first top-up, and every new agent starts with $0.10 free.

Request	Records	At the list price
One channel	1	$0.00045
10 channels	10	$0.0045

These are per-record list prices. Some calls also carry a minimum, such as a page of search results, so a small request can cost more than the table shows. The quote ("estimateOnly": true) is free, gives the most your exact request can cost, and the charge then settles to what came back. Records that do not come back are refunded.

Try it without writing code

Open the YouTube Channel API in the playgroundThe playground runs any endpoint by hand: pick a platform and what you want from it, fill a short form named in plain words (or press Use sample input), see the free quote on the Run button, run it, then read the answer as a table or JSON and download it as CSV or JSON. The same call is written out as cURL, Python and Node while you type.

Why this one, and not a scraper you run yourself

No login, no YouTube account, no cookies, no proxies, no browser to babysit.
When the site changes its pages, your request stays the same: keeping the reads working is our job, not yours.
A fetch that fails costs nothing: it is named in the answer with a reason, and the quote says the most a call can cost before it runs.

Use it from your tools

Questions people ask.

What does the YouTube Channel API return?

One row per channel: handle, name, description, country, whether it is verified, the date it joined, subscribers, total videos, total views, channel id, avatar URL and banner URL.

What do I pass in?

Up to ten @handles, channel ids (starting with UC) or channel URLs in subjects. Add include.videos to get each channel's recent videos (up to 50, with an optional since date) in the same call.

How much does a YouTube channel lookup cost?

$0.00045 per channel at the list price. A small call can carry a minimum, so quote first with "estimateOnly": true, which is free and is the most the call can cost. You pay for what comes back.

Can an AI agent use it without me creating an account?

Yes. An agent registers itself with one POST request, gets $0.10 free and can run calls straight away. The recipe is at https://apiforagents.dev/auth.md.

Try it in a minute. $0.10 free.

The playground runs any endpoint by hand: pick a platform and what you want from it, fill a short form named in plain words (or press Use sample input), see the free quote on the Run button, run it, then read the answer as a table or JSON and download it as CSV or JSON. The same call is written out as cURL, Python and Node while you type.

Try this endpoint in the playground

Quickstart · Every price · All platforms

Why people pick API for Agents

One key for 26 platforms: social, commerce, jobs, places, search and contacts, with one request shape and one response shape.
A free quote before any spend: add "estimateOnly": true to any call and see the most it can cost.
Pay per record in US dollars. No subscription, nothing expires, top-ups from $5.
$0.10 free to try, no card. An AI agent can sign itself up in one request; a person claims it later.
Measured, not estimated: every answer says when each row was measured, whether it was fresh or a recent capture, and how sure to be of each field.
Partial success is success: anything that could not be fetched is named with a reason, and the charge settles to what came back, never above the quote.
Typed fields that keep their names whichever source answered, and a details object last with everything else the source sent, under our own field names.
Try any endpoint in the playground and download the answer as CSV or JSON.

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