YouTubeAPI.io vs Supadata (supadata.ai) · Official YouTube API · yt-dlp
$1.00 / 1K vs $5.00–$10.00 / 1K
transcripts ($0.001 each) with never-expiring PAYG credits.
Supadata locks developers into high recurring monthly subscription tiers where unused credits expire every 30 days and imposes strict concurrency limits on lower tiers. YouTubeAPI.io provides transparent pay-as-you-go credit pricing ($1 = 10,000 Credits, 10 Credits per transcript), sub-280ms P95 latency, 1-click Claude & ChatGPT OAuth 2.1 MCP connector (https://mcp.youtubeapi.io/v1/mcp), and $1.20 free signup credits with zero credit card required.
Instant $1.20 free credits on sign-up (no card required) · Supports Stripe (Visa/MC), Apple Pay, Google Pay & 0%-fee Crypto
Cost per 1,000 scraped YouTube posts or comments
Pro & Business packages add +40% to +65% bonus credits, bringing effective YouTube post and comment cost down to $0.04–$0.06 per 1,000 items.
Side-by-side comparison.
| Capability | YouTubeAPI.io | supadata.ai | Official YouTube API v3 | Self-Hosted yt-dlp |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Third-Party Public Video Transcripts | Included (GET /v1/youtube/transcript, $1.00/1K) | Included ($5.00–$10.00 / 1K) | Blocked (403 Forbidden on non-owned videos) | Blocked on Cloud IPs (HTTP 429 / bot gate) |
| Base Cost per 1,000 Transcripts | $1.00 ($0.40–$0.76 with plan bonus) | $5.00 – $10.00 / 1K (monthly sub tiers) | 200 quota units / call (caps at 50/day) | $6.00–$15.00 / GB residential proxy fees |
| Unused Credit Rollover Policy | Never expire (PAYG packs last forever) | Expires every 30 days (use-it-or-lose-it) | Daily quota reset (10,000 units/day) | Monthly proxy bandwidth expiration |
| 1-Click OAuth 2.1 Remote MCP for Claude & ChatGPT | Supported (https://mcp.youtubeapi.io/v1/mcp) | Not supported (API key only) | None | Requires local Python server |
| Free Sign-Up Allowance (No Credit Card) | 12,000 Credits ($1.20 = 1,200 transcripts) + $2 streak | 100 free requests (limited trial) | 10,000 quota units / day (no transcripts) | $0 (self-managed infra) |
| Timed Millisecond Segments + Concatenated RAG Text | Both in one JSON payload (segments[] + full_transcript_text) | Basic segments only | Raw XML / SRT owner download | Raw VTT / JSON3 files |
| Charge on Video Without Captions or Error | 0 Credits (Zero charge on 404 or missing subs) | Deducts quota on failed requests | Burns daily quota units | Burns proxy bandwidth |
| Payment Rail Support | Stripe (Credit/Debit, Apple Pay, Google Pay) + 0%-fee Crypto | Stripe Credit Card only | Google Cloud Billing | Multiple proxy vendors |
Competitor pricing verified from public pricing pages as of November 2026 (EnsembleData units table, Apify YouTube Scraper store page, TikAPI pricing page, ScrapeCreators pricing page, RapidAPI YouTube hubs). Actual costs may vary based on plan tier, concurrency add-ons, and overage rates. All third-party trademarks are the property of their respective owners. YouTubeAPI.io base rates: $0.10 / 1K videos, $0.10 / 1K comments, $0.10 / 1K followers.
Why engineering teams switch from Supadata (supadata.ai).
Save up to 80% on high-volume transcript workloads
Supadata's pricing tiers force developers into expensive recurring subscriptions ($29–$99+/mo) where credits vanish if not consumed within 30 days. YouTubeAPI.io anchors at $1 = 10,000 Credits, pricing video transcripts at exactly $0.001 (10 Credits) with permanent PAYG credit rollover.
Native 1-Click Claude & ChatGPT MCP Connector
Connect your AI agents directly to YouTube without writing wrapper code. Point Claude Web or ChatGPT Connectors to https://mcp.youtubeapi.io/v1/mcp for instant RFC 9728 OAuth 2.1 authentication and automated video intelligence.
Zero charge on missing subtitles and sub-280ms P95 latency
If an upstream video has disabled captions or has been deleted, YouTubeAPI.io returns HTTP 404 with 0 credits deducted. Our multi-layer caching with L1 Redis and PostgreSQL 16 mirror returns repeat queries in ~15ms.
Migrate from Supadata to YouTubeAPI.io in 2 Minutes
Replace your Supadata endpoint with YouTubeAPI.io's GET /v1/youtube/transcript. Accepts video ID or full YouTube URL.
import requests
# Supadata requires monthly subscription & charges on failures
res = requests.get(
"https://api.supadata.ai/v1/youtube/transcript",
params={"videoId": "dQw4w9WgXcQ"},
headers={"x-api-key": "supadata_api_key"},
timeout=15,
)
data = res.json()# 1. cURL instant test
curl -s -X GET "https://api.youtubeapi.io/v1/youtube/transcript?video_id=dQw4w9WgXcQ&lang=en" \
-H "x-api-key: yt_live_your_api_key"
# 2. Python (requests)
import requests
# Synchronous REST call with segments[] + full_transcript_text
res = requests.get(
"https://api.youtubeapi.io/v1/youtube/transcript",
params={"video_id": "dQw4w9WgXcQ", "lang": "en"},
headers={"x-api-key": "yt_live_your_api_key"},
timeout=15,
)
data = res.json()["data"]
print(f"Title: {data['title']}")
print(f"Segments: {len(data['segments'])}, RAG text length: {len(data['full_transcript_text'])}")Interactive Engineering Workbench · Benchmark vs Supadata (supadata.ai)
Verify real-time latency, pagination math & JSON schema
1-Click Claude & ChatGPT OAuth 2.1 Connector
Connect your AI agents directly to real-time YouTube transcript, search, comments, and channel intelligence without custom scraping code:
12,000 Free Credits On Sign-Up
Test video transcript extraction, metadata lookups, comments, and search in production before spending a dollar. Instant access, zero card required.
Frequently asked questions
- Why is YouTubeAPI.io significantly cheaper than Supadata?
- Supadata packages API usage into rigid monthly subscription bundles with high overage rates. YouTubeAPI.io runs direct bare-metal proxy rotation clusters with L1 Redis and PostgreSQL 16 caching, allowing us to offer $1.00 / 1K transcripts ($0.001 per video) on pure Pay-As-You-Go with zero monthly expiration.
- Can I test the transcript extractor without signing up or creating an API key?
- Yes! You can use our free browser-based tool at /tools/youtube-transcript-extractor to paste any YouTube URL, preview timed segments, and download full text or SRT files with zero login required.
- How do I connect YouTubeAPI.io to Claude Desktop or Claude Web?
- For Claude Web and ChatGPT Connectors, connect directly to our Remote MCP server URL at https://mcp.youtubeapi.io/v1/mcp using 1-click OAuth 2.1. For Claude Desktop, configure @youtubeapi/mcp-server with your yt_live_ key in claude_desktop_config.json.
- What happens if a video only has auto-generated subtitles instead of manual English captions?
- The API automatically fetches the best available caption track (manual human subtitles preferred, automatically falling back to high-quality auto-generated captions) and returns the full timed segments along with available_languages[].
Test it against Supadata (supadata.ai) for free.
Every new account receives 12,000 free Credits immediately — no card required.