The YouTube Data API v3 gives every Google Cloud project 10,000 quota units a day. Most read calls cost 1 unit, but a search costs 100, so the default quota covers only about 100 searches a day. You can't buy more: the only way up is Google's audit and quota extension form.
Below: how the quota works, what each call costs, how to make it last, and how to read public YouTube data without a quota at all.
How the YouTube API quota works
- Per project, not per key. Every API key in a Google Cloud project draws from the same 10,000 units.
- Daily reset. The quota resets at midnight Pacific Time.
- Every request counts. Even an invalid request costs at least 1 unit.
- Over the limit, calls answer
403with the reasonquotaExceededuntil the next reset.
What each call costs
| Method | What it does | Units |
|---|---|---|
search.list | Search videos, channels or playlists | 100 |
videos.list | Video details and statistics | 1 |
channels.list | Channel details and statistics | 1 |
playlistItems.list | The videos in a playlist | 1 |
commentThreads.list | A video's comments | 1 |
captions.download | A caption track (owner's videos only) | 200 |
The cost is per call, not per result: a videos.list call for 50 video ids costs the same 1 unit as a call for one.
How fast you run out
- Keyword monitoring. Ten keywords searched every hour is 240 searches, or 24,000 units a day: more than twice the quota.
- A trend dashboard. One search per category and region, refreshed a few times a day, uses up the quota before lunch.
- Channel tracking is cheap if you avoid search: 1 unit for the channel, 1 for its uploads playlist, and 1 for every 50 videos' statistics.
Search is almost always what runs a project out of quota.
How to make the quota last
- Avoid
search.listfor a channel's videos. Read the channel's uploads playlist withplaylistItems.listinstead: 1 unit instead of 100. - Batch ids. Ask
videos.listandchannels.listfor up to 50 ids per call. - Cache everything. Statistics that are an hour old are fine for most dashboards.
- Split work across projects carefully. Google's terms don't allow creating projects just to multiply quota, and doing so can get them suspended.
How to get more quota
Fill in the YouTube API Services audit and quota extension form in the Google Cloud console. Google reviews your app against the YouTube API Services terms, and may ask for a screencast and details of how you use and store the data. There's no paid tier and no guaranteed timeline.
A quota-free alternative
Social Parse reads public YouTube pages, as a logged-out visitor sees them, and answers in JSON. There's no daily quota: every successful call costs one credit, a search the same as a video lookup, and errors cost nothing.
| Endpoint | What you get |
|---|---|
| Channel | Subscribers, total views, video count, links, country |
| Channel videos | A channel's videos, latest, most popular or oldest first |
| Channel shorts | The same for its Shorts |
| Video | Likes, comment count, tags, chapters, captions, related |
| Search | Videos or Shorts, by length, upload date, region |
| Hashtag videos | A hashtag's videos |
Set your key and base URL:
export API_KEY="your-api-key"
export API_URL="https://api.socialparse.dev"Search for this week's most viewed Shorts about a topic, as ranked in the UK:
curl -H "x-api-key: $API_KEY" \
"$API_URL/v1/youtube/search?q=home+espresso&type=short&time=week&sort=popular®ion=GB"And a channel's statistics, by handle:
curl -H "x-api-key: $API_KEY" "$API_URL/v1/youtube/channel?handle=veritasium"New accounts get 100 free credits. See pricing for packs.
When to stay on the official API
The Data API is the right tool when you act for a signed-in user: uploading videos, managing playlists or comments, or reading a channel owner's own analytics. Those need OAuth, and Social Parse never signs in. For reading public channels, videos and search results at volume, a per-call API avoids the quota entirely.
FAQ
Is the YouTube Data API free?
Yes, up to 10,000 units a day per project. There's no way to pay for more; you apply for an extension.
How many searches can I make a day?
About 100 with the default quota, since each search.list call costs 100 units, and only if nothing else uses the
quota.
Does a failed request use quota?
Yes. Every request, even an invalid one, costs at least 1 unit.
How do I get YouTube data without an API key from Google?
Use a service that reads public pages, such as Social Parse: one key, one credit per call, no daily cap. The quickstart takes a couple of minutes. For TikTok, see the TikTok scraper API guide.