The YouTube Data API v3 lets you search across YouTube's 800M videos, retrieve channel and video statistics, fetch video captions and transcripts, read and post comments, manage playlists, and work with live broadcasts. Essential for any content discovery or analytics tool.
https://www.googleapis.com/youtube/v3
Auth type
API Key Header
Auth header
?key=AIzaSy...
Rate limit
10,000 units/day (free)
Pricing
Pay per use
Free quota
10,000 units/day
Documentation
https://developers.google.com/youtube/v3
Endpoint status
Server online — HTTP 404 — server is online but path returned an error (may require auth)793ms
(checked Mar 29, 2026)
Builder score
B
65%
builder-friendly
Use an API key for public data access. Use OAuth 2.0 for user-specific actions like uploading or posting comments.
?key=AIzaSy...
Search costs 100 units. Video list: 1 unit. Comments list: 1 unit. Upload: 1,600 units. Additional quota: $0 (apply for increase via Google).
| Method | Path | Description |
|---|---|---|
| GET | /search |
Search videos, channels, and playlists |
| GET | /videos |
Get video details and statistics |
| GET | /channels |
Get channel details and subscriber count |
| GET | /commentThreads |
List top-level comment threads |
| GET | /captions |
List or download video captions |
| GET | /playlistItems |
List items in a playlist |
curl "https://www.googleapis.com/youtube/v3/search?part=snippet&q=machine+learning+tutorial&type=video&maxResults=3&key=$YOUTUBE_API_KEY"
{
"kind": "youtube#searchListResponse",
"pageInfo": {"totalResults": 1000000},
"items": [{
"id": {"kind": "youtube#video", "videoId": "aircAruvnKk"},
"snippet": {
"title": "Neural Networks - 3Blue1Brown",
"channelTitle": "3Blue1Brown",
"description": "But what is a neural network?",
"publishedAt": "2017-10-05T19:46:01Z"
}
}]
}
Data sourced from API Map. Always verify pricing and rate limits against the official Google documentation.