YouTube Channel API. Send a handle or channel link.
Subscribers, exact view counts and social links. We handle the proxies, blocks and platform changes.
YouTube Channel API at a glance
Returns a public YouTube channel from its handle, link or ID, with its subscriber count, exact video and view counts, and its About panel links. It also has the channel ID, handle, name, description, keywords, avatar, banner, verification badge, country and join date. Accepts a handle with or without the @, any channel link with any tab (@handle, /channel/UC…, the legacy /c/, /user/ and root vanity links), or a bare channel ID.
GET /v1/youtube/profile
- 1 credit per request, $0.75–$1.97 per 1,000 requests
- 19 typed fields null when unknown
handleis all it needs, e.g.@NASA- 100 credits free when you sign up, no card, so you can build before you spend
Send one request. Get 19 fields back.
Copy the request in your language, or hand it to your agent. Sign up for an API key and your first 100 credits are free.
$ npm install socialtaphandle = @NASAconst params = new URLSearchParams({
handle: "@NASA",
});
const res = await fetch(`https://socialtap.dev/v1/youtube/profile?${params}`, {
headers: { "x-api-key": process.env.SOCIALTAP_API_KEY ?? "" },
});
const body = await res.json();
if (!res.ok) throw new Error(`${body.error.code}: ${body.error.message}`);
const { data, meta } = body;
console.log(data, meta.credits_charged);import os
import requests
res = requests.get(
"https://socialtap.dev/v1/youtube/profile",
params={"handle": "@NASA"},
headers={"x-api-key": os.environ["SOCIALTAP_API_KEY"]},
)
body = res.json()
if not res.ok:
raise RuntimeError(f"{body['error']['code']}: {body['error']['message']}")
data, meta = body["data"], body["meta"]
print(data, meta["credits_charged"])require "json"
require "net/http"
uri = URI("https://socialtap.dev/v1/youtube/profile")
uri.query = URI.encode_www_form('handle' => '@NASA')
req = Net::HTTP::Get.new(uri)
req["x-api-key"] = ENV.fetch("SOCIALTAP_API_KEY")
res = Net::HTTP.start(uri.host, uri.port, use_ssl: uri.scheme == "https") { |http| http.request(req) }
body = JSON.parse(res.body)
raise "#{body["error"]["code"]}: #{body["error"]["message"]}" unless res.is_a?(Net::HTTPSuccess)
pp body["data"]
puts body["meta"]["credits_charged"]<?php
$query = http_build_query([
'handle' => '@NASA',
]);
$ch = curl_init('https://socialtap.dev/v1/youtube/profile?' . $query);
curl_setopt_array($ch, [
CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER => true,
CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER => ['x-api-key: ' . getenv('SOCIALTAP_API_KEY')],
]);
$body = json_decode(curl_exec($ch), true);
if (curl_getinfo($ch, CURLINFO_RESPONSE_CODE) >= 400) {
throw new RuntimeException($body['error']['code'] . ': ' . $body['error']['message']);
}
print_r($body['data']);
echo $body['meta']['credits_charged'], PHP_EOL;package main
import (
"encoding/json"
"fmt"
"log"
"net/http"
"net/url"
"os"
)
func main() {
q := url.Values{}
q.Set("handle", "@NASA")
req, err := http.NewRequest("GET", "https://socialtap.dev/v1/youtube/profile?"+q.Encode(), nil)
if err != nil {
log.Fatal(err)
}
req.Header.Set("x-api-key", os.Getenv("SOCIALTAP_API_KEY"))
res, err := http.DefaultClient.Do(req)
if err != nil {
log.Fatal(err)
}
defer res.Body.Close()
var body struct {
Data json.RawMessage `json:"data"`
Meta map[string]any `json:"meta"`
Error *struct {
Code string `json:"code"`
Message string `json:"message"`
} `json:"error"`
}
if err := json.NewDecoder(res.Body).Decode(&body); err != nil {
log.Fatal(err)
}
if body.Error != nil {
log.Fatalf("%s: %s", body.Error.Code, body.Error.Message)
}
fmt.Println(string(body.Data), body.Meta["credits_charged"])
}curl -G 'https://socialtap.dev/v1/youtube/profile' \
--data-urlencode 'handle=@NASA' \
-H "x-api-key: $SOCIALTAP_API_KEY"{
"data": {
"approximate_fields": [
"created_at",
"metrics.follower_count"
],
"avatar_url": "https://yt3.googleusercontent.com/eIf5fNPcIcj9ig-wZBeq4stFy1lgjWTW1nLT5dYlFkHZprZ03QBiMcbpwNMB6XSBjrSFGtAGQg=s900-c-k-c0x00ffffff-no-rj",
"banner_url": "https://yt3.googleusercontent.com/y8Srh-oCcilLvBO8jAPI546m1bn0puA5DIvQiBZ1cSxc_rZfKxKSFlTCtoCQCtB6viUf1NGsaQ=w2560-fcrop64=1,00005a57ffffa5a8-k-c0xffffffff-no-nd-rj",
"bio": "NASA's mission is to pioneer the future in space exploration, scientific discovery, and aeronautics research.\n\nTo do that, we have worked around the world—and off it—for more than 60 years, searching for answers to fundamental questions about our place in the universe. We're expl…",
"category": null,
"country_code": null,
"created_at": "2008-06-03T07:00:00Z",
"display_name": "NASA",
"external_links": [
{
"title": "nasa.gov",
"url": "https://www.nasa.gov"
},
{
"title": "X",
"url": "https://x.com/nasa"
},
{
"title": "Facebook",
"url": "https://www.facebook.com/NASA"
}
],
"id": "UCLA_DiR1FfKNvjuUpBHmylQ",
"is_private": false,
"is_verified": true,
"location": null,
"metrics": {
"follower_count": 15100000,
"following_count": null,
"post_count": 6194,
"total_like_count": null,
"total_view_count": 1132473139
},
"platform": "youtube",
"platform_specific": {
"youtube": {
"is_business_email_listed": null,
"is_official_artist_channel": false,
"is_subscriber_count_hidden": false,
"keywords": [
"nasa",
"space",
"iss"
]
}
},
"type": "unknown",
"unknown_fields": [],
"url": "https://www.youtube.com/@NASA",
"username": "NASA"
},
"meta": {
"request_id": "req_3f9c2a7d1e8b4c6a9f0e2d4b6a8c0e1f",
"platform": "youtube",
"source": "api",
"is_cached": false,
"credits_charged": 1,
"latency_ms": 456,
"fetched_at": "2026-10-25T12:00:00Z",
"input": {
"kind": "profile",
"id": "UCLA_DiR1FfKNvjuUpBHmylQ",
"url": "https://www.youtube.com/@NASA"
},
"credits_remaining": 9999,
"client_request_id": null,
"warnings": []
}
}import { SocialTap } from "socialtap";
const client = new SocialTap(); // apiKey defaults to process.env.SOCIALTAP_API_KEY
const res = await client.youtube.profile.get({ handle: "@NASA" });
console.log(res.data);
console.log(res.credits.charged, res.meta.request_id);import java.net.URI;
import java.net.URLEncoder;
import java.net.http.HttpClient;
import java.net.http.HttpRequest;
import java.net.http.HttpResponse;
import java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets;
public class Main {
public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
String query = "handle=" + encode("@NASA");
HttpRequest request = HttpRequest.newBuilder()
.uri(URI.create("https://socialtap.dev/v1/youtube/profile?" + query))
.header("x-api-key", System.getenv("SOCIALTAP_API_KEY"))
.GET()
.build();
HttpResponse<String> response = HttpClient.newHttpClient()
.send(request, HttpResponse.BodyHandlers.ofString());
// An error is {"error": {"code", "message", ...}}; success is {data, meta}, meta.credits_charged its price.
if (response.statusCode() >= 400) throw new RuntimeException(response.body());
System.out.println(response.body());
}
static String encode(String value) {
return URLEncoder.encode(value, StandardCharsets.UTF_8);
}
}using System.Text.Json;
using var http = new HttpClient();
http.DefaultRequestHeaders.Add("x-api-key", Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("SOCIALTAP_API_KEY"));
var query = string.Join("&",
"handle=" + Uri.EscapeDataString("@NASA"));
var res = await http.GetAsync("https://socialtap.dev/v1/youtube/profile?" + query);
using var body = JsonDocument.Parse(await res.Content.ReadAsStringAsync());
if (!res.IsSuccessStatusCode)
{
var error = body.RootElement.GetProperty("error");
throw new Exception($"{error.GetProperty("code")}: {error.GetProperty("message")}");
}
Console.WriteLine(body.RootElement.GetProperty("data"));
Console.WriteLine(body.RootElement.GetProperty("meta").GetProperty("credits_charged"));// Cargo.toml: reqwest = { version = "0.12", features = ["blocking", "json"] }, serde_json = "1"
use std::env;
fn main() -> Result<(), Box<dyn std::error::Error>> {
let res = reqwest::blocking::Client::new()
.get("https://socialtap.dev/v1/youtube/profile")
.query(&[("handle", "@NASA")])
.header("x-api-key", env::var("SOCIALTAP_API_KEY")?)
.send()?;
let ok = res.status().is_success();
let body: serde_json::Value = res.json()?;
if !ok {
return Err(format!("{}: {}", body["error"]["code"], body["error"]["message"]).into());
}
println!("{} {}", body["data"], body["meta"]["credits_charged"]);
Ok(())
}200 OK · GET https://socialtap.dev/v1/youtube/profileLong arrays and strings are shortened here. Real responses are complete.Docs One schema on 27 platforms.
The response reference lists every field, its type and when it is null. See the full schema.
Null means unknown
A field YouTube doesn't show is null, never zero or an empty string, so a real zero always means zero.
What it accepts
YouTube channel: a handle with or without the @ (NASA, @NASA), any channel link (youtube.com/@NASA, youtube.com/channel/UC…, the legacy youtube.com/c/<name>, youtube.com/user/<name> and youtube.com/<name> links, with any tab or view after them such as /videos, /playlists, /posts or /about, and m. or music. hosts), a bare UC… channel ID, or c/<name>, user/<name> or vanity/<name>.
Write one parser
YouTube, TikTok, Instagram and 24 more platforms answer in these fields, so the code that reads one reads them all.
platformstring- Platform ID (tiktok, youtube, …).
idstring- Platform-native account ID (string; YouTube UC…, Reddit t2_…).
usernamestring- Handle without the @; null when the account has none.
display_namestring- Display name, channel title or page name; null when empty or not exposed.
urlstring- Canonical profile URL.
typestring- Coarse account kind, as the platform labels it; unknown when it does not (TikTok labels organizations only). New values may be added; treat unknown values as unknown.
biostring- Profile bio, channel description or page about text; null when empty or not exposed.
avatar_urlstring- Profile picture URL (largest available). Platform CDN URLs can expire within hours.
Live data from 33 platforms.
What teams build with the YouTube Channel API.
Track subscriber growth over time
Enrich lead lists with creators' social links
Resolve a channel ID to a full profile
Screen creators by country and size
Good to know before you build.
- metrics.follower_count is the subscriber count YouTube shows, rounded for display (listed in approximate_fields), and null when the channel hides it. Video and view counts are exact, and both are null for a channel without public videos.
- created_at is the start of the US Pacific day YouTube shows as the join date, in UTC, so the channel was created within the following day (listed in approximate_fields).
- location is the country the owner set, as YouTube names it, and country_code its ISO code.
- is_verified is true for the check mark and for an Official Artist Channel's note badge. YouTube's built-in channels (Music, Sports, Gaming, News, Learning, Live, Fashion & Beauty, Shopping) have no badge or banner (null), and all but Music have no About panel, so they return what their header shows.
- A bare string is a handle, even one shaped like a video ID. Send a channel link or the UC… ID to be unambiguous. Links to youtube.com pages that are not channels return not_found or invalid_input.
- metrics.following_count and metrics.total_like_count are always null and type is unknown, because YouTube does not show them. Business email addresses are behind a sign-in and are not returned.
- Terminated and unknown channels return not_found.
1 credit per request. Failed requests are free.
Buy credits once and spend them on any endpoint, on any platform.
| Source | Price per successful request | Per 1,000 requests |
|---|---|---|
| Any source | 1 credit | $0.75–$1.97 |
- Cache hits are free.
- Credits from packs and top-ups never expire.
- A monthly plan's credits are spent first, and what is left of them ends at each renewal.
- Prices exclude tax: sales tax is added at checkout where it applies.
- Outside the US, plans and packs are sold to businesses: checkout asks for your VAT, GST or other business tax ID.
Questions about the YouTube Channel API.
More in the API reference.
How much does the YouTube Channel API cost?
Try it on an account you know.
Paste its handle or link in the playground, or copy the request into your code.
- No credit card
- Failed requests are free
- Works on all 218 endpoints