# YouTubeAPI.io

> Real-Time YouTube Transcript, Video Metadata, Comments, Search & Channel Data JSON API for AI Agents, RAG Pipelines & Developers (No 10,000-Unit Google Quota Cap, No Cloud IP Blocks). Unified Credit System ($1 = 10,000 Credits): $1.00 per 1,000 transcripts or lookups, $0.10 per 1,000 search videos, $0.10 per 1,000 comments.
> Full Machine-Readable Reference for LLMs: https://youtubeapi.io/llms-full.txt
> OpenAPI 3.1 Spec: https://youtubeapi.io/openapi.json (and https://api.youtubeapi.io/openapi.json)

## Pricing & Credit System

- Unified Credit Rate: $1 = 10,000 Credits (1 Credit = $0.0001), minimum 10 Credits ($0.001) per non-empty call (0 Credits on empty search or failed calls)
- Timed video transcript, video metadata, channel profile, regional trending: 10 Credits / request ($1.00 per 1,000 requests)
- Video & Shorts search, channel uploaded videos, channel Shorts: 1 Credit / video (min 10 Credits, $0.10 per 1,000 videos, up to 50 videos per call)
- Video comments feed: 1 Credit / comment (min 10 Credits, $0.10 per 1,000 comments, up to 100 comments per call)
- Free Trial: 2,000 Credits free on sign-up (no credit card required, 30 RPM)
- Starter: $19/mo or $25 PAYG -> 250,000 Credits (+25% bonus, 120 RPM)
- Pro: $69/mo or $89 PAYG -> 1,200,000 Credits (+40% bonus, 300 RPM)
- Business: $199/mo or $249 PAYG -> 5,000,000 Credits (+65% bonus, 600 RPM)
- Refunds: payments from the last 30 days, up to the unused balance

## AI Agent & No-Code Integration

- Complete Single-File LLM Reference: [llms-full.txt](https://youtubeapi.io/llms-full.txt)
- OpenAPI 3.1 JSON Specification: [openapi.json](https://youtubeapi.io/openapi.json)
- Free Online YouTube Transcript Extractor & JSON Debugger: [YouTube Developer Tools](https://youtubeapi.io/tools)
- MCP Server for Claude Desktop, Cursor & Windsurf: `npx -y @youtubeapi/mcp-server` ([MCP Guide](https://youtubeapi.io/mcp))
- No-Code Scraper on Apify: [Run on Apify](https://apify.com/kaitoeasyapi)

## Engineering Guides (/guides)

- [All Engineering Guides](https://youtubeapi.io/guides)
- [YouTube Transcript API for RAG Pipelines & AI Agents: Complete 2026 Engineering Guide](https://youtubeapi.io/guides/youtube-transcript-api-for-rag-and-llms): Extract timed YouTube transcripts, plain-text RAG corpora, and multi-language subtitle tracks without datacenter IP blocks or OAuth restrictions.
- [Bypassing the YouTube Data API v3 10,000-Unit Daily Quota Limit in Production](https://youtubeapi.io/guides/youtube-data-api-v3-quota-alternative): Why YouTube Data API v3's 100-unit search.list cost caps developers at 100 searches/day — and how to scale to 600 RPM with YouTubeAPI.io.
- [Extracting YouTube Video Comments & Audience Sentiment for AI Analysis](https://youtubeapi.io/guides/youtube-comments-scraper-api): Extract top or newest YouTube video comments with like counts, author handles, and continuation cursors at $0.10 per 1,000 comments.

## Competitor Comparisons (/compare)

- [All Provider Comparisons](https://youtubeapi.io/compare)
- [YouTubeAPI.io vs Official YouTube Data API v3](https://youtubeapi.io/compare/youtube-data-api-v3): Compare YouTubeAPI.io against Google's YouTube Data API v3: extract third-party video transcripts, run unlimited searches without 100-unit quota penalties, and scale to 600 RPM.
- [YouTubeAPI.io vs youtube-transcript-api & yt-dlp](https://youtubeapi.io/compare/youtube-transcript-api-python): Why production AI teams replace self-hosted youtube-transcript-api and yt-dlp with YouTubeAPI.io: no AWS/GCP/Vercel IP blocks, no PO token errors, and instant JSON.
- [YouTubeAPI.io vs Apify YouTube Scrapers](https://youtubeapi.io/compare/apify-youtube-scrapers): Compare YouTubeAPI.io ($1.00/1K transcripts, $0.10/1K search/comments, <280ms synchronous REST) against Apify YouTube Actor runs (30–60s cold starts).

## Core Pages

- [Documentation](https://youtubeapi.io/docs): quickstart, authentication, credit billing, rate limits, pagination
- [Pricing](https://youtubeapi.io/pricing): 4-tier plans, per-endpoint rate card, interactive calculator
- [MCP Server](https://youtubeapi.io/mcp): Model Context Protocol setup for Claude & Cursor
- [Terms of Service](https://youtubeapi.io/terms)
- [Privacy Policy](https://youtubeapi.io/privacy)
- [Refund Policy](https://youtubeapi.io/refunds)

## Endpoints

### Transcripts & Captions

- [Extract Timestamped YouTube Video Transcript & Full RAG Text](https://youtubeapi.io/docs/youtube-transcript): `GET /v1/youtube/transcript` (10 Credits)

### Videos & Shorts

- [Get Full YouTube Video or Shorts Metadata & Engagement Stats](https://youtubeapi.io/docs/youtube-video): `GET /v1/youtube/video` (10 Credits)

### Comments & Sentiment

- [Fetch Paginated YouTube Video Comments (Top or Newest)](https://youtubeapi.io/docs/youtube-comments): `GET /v1/youtube/comments` (10 Credits)

### Search & Discovery

- [Search YouTube Videos & Shorts by Keyword & Filters](https://youtubeapi.io/docs/youtube-search): `GET /v1/youtube/search` (10 Credits)
- [Get Trending YouTube Videos by Country & Category](https://youtubeapi.io/docs/youtube-trending): `GET /v1/youtube/trending` (10 Credits)

### Channels & Creators

- [Get YouTube Channel Profile, Subscriber Count & Social Links](https://youtubeapi.io/docs/youtube-channel): `GET /v1/youtube/channel` (10 Credits)
- [List a YouTube Channel's Uploaded Videos Feed](https://youtubeapi.io/docs/youtube-channel-videos): `GET /v1/youtube/channel/videos` (10 Credits)
- [List a YouTube Channel's Shorts Feed](https://youtubeapi.io/docs/youtube-channel-shorts): `GET /v1/youtube/channel/shorts` (10 Credits)

## FAQ

### How does the Unified Credit System work?

$1 equals 10,000 Credits (1 Credit = $0.0001). Single entity & transcript lookups (/v1/youtube/transcript, /v1/youtube/video, /v1/youtube/channel, /v1/youtube/trending) cost 10 Credits ($1.00 / 1,000 requests). List endpoints (/v1/youtube/search, /v1/youtube/comments, /v1/youtube/channel/videos, /v1/youtube/channel/shorts) deduct 1 Credit per returned item ($0.10 / 1,000 items) with a minimum floor of 10 Credits ($0.001) per non-empty response.

### Do I need a Google Cloud Project, OAuth 2.0 consent screen, or 10,000-unit quota audit?

No. Unlike the Official YouTube Data API v3—which caps every project at 10,000 units/day (only 100 search.list calls per day!), blocks public caption track downloads via captions.download unless you own the channel, and requires weeks of Google compliance audits—YouTubeAPI.io works immediately with a single x-api-key: yt_live_... header.

### How does /v1/youtube/transcript return timed captions and RAG-ready plain text?

GET /v1/youtube/transcript?video_id=dQw4w9WgXcQ&lang=en returns both a millisecond-accurate segments[] array ({ text, offset_ms, duration_ms, start_seconds }) AND a pre-concatenated full_transcript_text string ready for LLM prompts, LangChain, LlamaIndex, or vector embeddings, plus available_languages[] for multi-language discovery.

### Am I charged when a request fails, returns 404, or a video has captions disabled?

Never. We strictly enforce Charge-Before-Return & Zero-Charge on Error/Empty: only HTTP 200 responses with non-empty data deduct credits. Upstream errors, deleted/private videos (HTTP 404), videos with disabled transcripts, rate-limited requests (HTTP 429), and empty search results cost 0 Credits.

### Should I choose a Monthly Plan or Pay-As-You-Go (One-Time Top-Up)?

Both credit your account with the exact same bonus credit packages (Starter 250,000 Credits, Pro 1,200,000 Credits, Business 5,000,000 Credits). Pay-As-You-Go top-ups have no recurring billing and your purchased credit balance never expires. Monthly subscriptions save up to 24% more for continuous AI video ingestion and channel monitoring workloads.

### What are the concurrency, pagination, and RPM rate limits?

Free Trial accounts include 2,000 Credits, 30 RPM, and full access to all 8 endpoints for evaluation. Paid accounts unlock unlimited deep continuation token pagination and scale from 120 RPM (Starter) and 600 RPM (Pro) up to 600 RPM (Business).

### What payment methods are accepted?

You can top up or subscribe instantly with 0%-fee Cryptocurrency via NOWPayments (USDT or USDC on Solana, Tron, Polygon, Arbitrum, BNB Smart Chain, and Ethereum, plus BTC, ETH, and SOL) with an automatic +5% bonus credit reward.

### Can I use YouTubeAPI.io inside Claude Desktop, Cursor, or LangChain?

Yes. Configure our MCP Server in Claude Desktop, Cursor, or Windsurf using your yt_live_... API key to give AI agents real-time YouTube video transcript extraction, semantic video search, channel feed analysis, and comment sentiment tools.

### How does YouTubeAPI.io compare to youtube-transcript-api (Python) and yt-dlp?

Running youtube-transcript-api or yt-dlp from AWS, GCP, Hetzner, or Vercel datacenter IPs triggers YouTube's 'Sign in to confirm you're not a bot' PO-token and HTTP 429 blocks. YouTubeAPI.io handles residential proxy rotation, multi-key pool failover, L1 Redis caching, and permanent PostgreSQL 16 storage behind a sub-250ms REST endpoint.

### Is YouTubeAPI.io affiliated with YouTube or Google LLC?

No. YouTubeAPI.io is an independent developer infrastructure provider for publicly available web data and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by YouTube or Google LLC.

### How much does it cost to extract 10,000 YouTube transcripts or 100,000 comments?

At 10 Credits per transcript ($1.00 / 1,000 transcripts) and 1 Credit per comment ($0.10 / 1,000 comments, up to 100 comments or 50 search videos per call), 10,000 full transcripts or 100,000 comments cost $10.00 base PAYG (or $5.75 effective on the Pro plan and $3.98 effective on the Business plan).

### What is your refund policy?

Payments made within the last 30 days can be refunded up to the unused purchased balance on your account. Promotional signup credits have no cash value.