How do I exclude YouTube channels I already have from API search results?

Upload your existing channel IDs or URLs via the Imports endpoint — up to 200,000 per list. Then pass the import ID as an exclusion filter in any search request to automatically remove those channels from your results. This means you're never charged for channels you already know, and you can maintain multiple exclusion lists to avoid duplicate outreach across campaigns.

How many YouTube channels can I search with the ChannelCrawler API?

ChannelCrawler's searchable database includes 22M+ YouTube channels, filtered for quality and activity. The full database contains 160M+ channels. If you need access to the complete dataset, contact us to discuss extended access options.

ChannelCrawler API

The most powerful YouTube channel data API

Q: Is there an API to search YouTube channels by category?

Yes. ChannelCrawler lets you search 160M+ YouTube channels using 400+ pre-built categories powered by AI — far more specific than YouTube's native 20 categories. You can target categories like 'Minecraft', 'Dropshipping', or 'Vegan Cooking' directly. Combine category filters with country, language, subscriber count, engagement rate, and growth metrics to find exactly the channels you need.

Q: How can I improve YouTube ad conversions with better placement targeting?

Target specific video content, not just channels. For example, a fishing app advertising on an outdoor adventure channel might get decent results — but pull that channel's video data and run ads only on episodes that mention fishing, and conversions jump because the viewer is already primed. The same applies to gaming: a channel covers dozens of games, but you only want players of one specific title. ChannelCrawler lets you find exactly those videos for much better return on ad spend.

Q: What data can you get from a YouTube channel API?

ChannelCrawler's API returns data across several endpoints. Channel Search returns subscribers, views, engagement rates, growth trends, upload frequency, average video views, AI category, contact emails, and social handles across 10 platforms. Channel Videos returns recent video titles, views, likes, comments, duration, and monetization status. Timestamps returns daily historical snapshots of subscribers, views, and video counts going back up to 365 days. Priority Resolve returns live channel data in ~6 seconds. See docs.channelcrawler.com for the full list of fields per endpoint.

Use our simple REST API to search 22M+ YouTube channels by category, location, size, and engagement. Get Channel URLs, video data, timestamped data, verified emails, channel metrics, growth stats, and social handles.

Create an Account View documentation

channels/search

curl -X POST https://api.channelcrawler.com/v1/channels/search \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "ai_category": ["Gaming"],
    "country": ["US"],
    "total_subscribers_min": 10000,
    "has_email": true,
    "include_email": true,
    "limit": 25
  }'

6 REST API Endpoints

From discovery to enrichment, every endpoint you need to build with our YouTube data API

POST FREE

Search Preview


          /v1/channels/search:preview

Free preview of search results. Know the number of matching channels and costs before spending any credits.

Always free

POST

Channel Discovery


          /v1/channels/search

Full channel search with 70+ filters. Get channel data, URLs, emails, engagement metrics, social handles and more.

0.1 credits/channel (1.0 with email)

POST

Priority Resolve


          /v1/priority/channel

Real-time single channel lookup in ~6 seconds. Perfect for sign-up flows and customer-facing tools.

0.5 - 5.0 credits

GET

Channel Videos


          /v1/channels/:id/videos

Get recent videos for any channel including keyword metadata, views, likes, comments, duration, and more.

0.02 credits/video

GET

Channel Timestamps


          /v1/channels/:id/timestamps

Historical subscriber, view, and video count snapshots up to 365 days with optional interpolation.

0.5 - 2.0 credits

POST FREE

Bulk Imports


          /v1/imports

Upload up to 200,000 channel IDs for use as inclusion or exclusion lists in searches.

Free to import

Explore full API documentation

Transparent, pay-per-result pricing

Only pay for the data you use. No monthly minimums on credits.

Endpoint Operation Credit Cost

Search Preview Estimate results & costs Free

Channel Search Channel data (no email) 0.1 credits/channel

Channel Search Channel data + email 1.0 credit/channel

Priority Resolve Real-time lookup (data only) 0.5 credits

Priority Resolve Real-time lookup + email 5.0 credits

Videos Per video returned 0.02 credits/video

Timestamps Up to 90 days history 0.5 credits

Imports Upload channel IDs Free

Email lookups are only charged when an email is found. No email = no charge.

Buy credits

Access

100

credits

$24

$0.24/credit

Starter

Growth

5000

credits

$900

$0.18/credit

Best Value

Scale

50,000

credits

$5000

$0.10/credit

Need bulk credits?

Processing high volumes? Get custom rates and dedicated support for enterprise-scale API usage.

Start using our Youtube REST API

RESTful endpoints with JSON responses. Get from zero to your first API call in under 5 minutes.

Get from sign-up to first API call in under 5 minutes

Free Search Preview endpoint — test queries before spending credits

Pay as you go pricing

Create an account

curl -X POST https://api.channelcrawler.com/v1/channels/search \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $CC_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "ai_category": ["Gaming"],
    "country": ["US"],
    "total_subscribers_min": 10000,
    "has_email": true,
    "include_email": true,
    "engagement_last_videos": 10,
    "engagement_rate_min": 3.0,
    "limit": 25
  }'

import requests, os

resp = requests.post(
    "https://api.channelcrawler.com/v1/channels/search",
    headers={
        "Authorization": f"Bearer {os.environ['CC_API_KEY']}",
        "Content-Type": "application/json",
    },
    json={
        "ai_category": ["Gaming"],
        "country": ["US"],
        "total_subscribers_min": 10000,
        "has_email": True,
        "include_email": True,
        "limit": 25,
    },
)
channels = resp.json()["results"]

const resp = await fetch(
  "https://api.channelcrawler.com/v1/channels/search",
  {
    method: "POST",
    headers: {
      "Authorization": `Bearer ${process.env.CC_API_KEY}`,
      "Content-Type": "application/json",
    },
    body: JSON.stringify({
      ai_category: ["Gaming"],
      country: ["US"],
      total_subscribers_min: 10000,
      has_email: true,
      include_email: true,
      limit: 25,
    }),
  }
);
const { results } = await resp.json();

Why ChannelCrawler API?

Purpose-built for YouTube channel intelligence at scale

160M+ YouTube Channels

The largest YouTube-specific channel database available via API. Search by category, location, size, engagement, and more.

70+ Search Filters

Filter by AI categories, engagement rates, growth metrics, video keywords, social handles, and location.

Verified Emails

Get outreach-ready contact data with transparent, pay-per-result billing. Only pay when an email is returned.

Priority Enrichment

Priority endpoint returns full channel data in ~6 seconds. Perfect for sign-up flows and customer-facing tools.

Built for your use case

From ad placements to influencer outreach, one API powers it all

YouTube Channel Discovery

The YouTube Data API returns data for channels you already know, with strict quotas and limited discovery.

ChannelCrawler lets you discover channels across a database of 22M+, searchable by engagement, growth, AI-powered categories, and location.

Get the channel URL, contact emails, social handles and historical performance snapshots going back 365 days.

Creator Outreach at Scale

Manually hunting for YouTube creator contact details doesn't scale. Whether that's your team doing outreach or your users requesting emails inside your own platform.

ChannelCrawler returns contact emails alongside channel data, filtered by country, category, and performance. Only charged when an email is found.

Integrate directly into your product to allow your customers to request emails. Or export thousands of contacts in minutes.

YouTube Ads Placement Targeting

You target a specific demographic in Google Ads, but your ads still run on kids' channels and you pay for it.

Build channel whitelists by category, geography, and audience size to control where your ads appear. Then pull video data to target channels whose recent videos mention specific keywords.

Your ads can then run on videos where the viewer is already primed to convert. Not just the right channel, but the right content.

Bulk Enrichment & Deduplication

Already have a list of YouTube channels? Upload up to 200,000 channel IDs per import and get enriched data back. Performance metrics, contact emails, and social handles.

Running discovery searches? Use your imported lists as exclusion filters so you never pay for channels you already know. Deduplicate across campaigns automatically.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is there an API to search YouTube channels by category?

Yes. ChannelCrawler lets you search 22M+ YouTube channels using 400+ pre-built categories powered by AI — far more specific than YouTube's native 20 categories. You can target categories like 'Minecraft', 'Dropshipping', or 'Vegan Cooking' directly.

Combine category filters with country, language, subscriber count, engagement rate, and growth metrics to find exactly the channels you need.

Channels with over 500 subscribers are searchable via the main API. Those with less are stored in another database and are accessible upon request.

How do I get email addresses for YouTube creators?

ChannelCrawler's API returns contact emails for YouTube creators. Add include_email: true to any search request and you'll receive emails alongside channel data.

You can filter results to only include channels that have an email listed, and you're only charged when an email is actually found. Filter by country, category, and audience size to target the right creators.

What are the alternatives to the YouTube Data API for channel discovery?

The YouTube Data API is designed to return data for channels you already know, with strict quotas and limited discovery capabilities. ChannelCrawler is a YouTube channel discovery API — search 22M+ channels by engagement, growth, AI-powered categories, and location.

It also provides contact emails and social handles across 10 platforms, which the YouTube Data API does not offer.

How do I build targeted YouTube channel whitelists for YouTube Ads?

ChannelCrawler lets you build YouTube Ads whitelists at two levels. First, find channels using key filters like geography, language, category, and audience size — plus dozens more — to create a broad placement list.

Then go deeper by pulling video data and targeting specific videos of those channels, whose recent content mention specific keywords in their titles, descriptions, or tags.

For example, a mobile gaming app can target not just gaming channels, but channels with videos specifically about the game genre (roleplay, action, minecraft etc). Export matching channel & video IDs directly and build YouTube Ads placement lists.

How can I improve YouTube ad conversions with better placement targeting?

The most effective YouTube ad placements target specific video content, not just channels. For example, a mobile gaming fishing app might get decent results on an outdoor adventure channel — but much higher conversions on that channel's episodes specifically related to fishing, where the viewer is already primed.

ChannelCrawler lets you search video titles, descriptions, and tags to find exactly those moments. So while the CPM will be largely consistent, your ROI increases immensely.

What data can you get from a YouTube channel API?

Key data points include channel URL, handle, subscriber counts, total views, engagement rates, growth trends, upload frequency, average video views, and AI-powered category classification.

You can also get contact emails, social handles across 10 platforms, recent video data, and historical performance snapshots going back up to 365 days. See docs.channelcrawler.com for the full list of available fields.

How much does YouTube channel data cost via API?

ChannelCrawler uses pay-per-result pricing with no monthly minimums. Channel data costs 0.1 credits per channel, email enrichment costs 1.0 credit per channel (only charged when an email is found), and video data costs 0.02 credits per video.

The Search Preview endpoint is always free, so you can see exact result counts and costs before committing any credits. Enhanced pricing is available for longer-term agreements

Can I bulk enrich a list of YouTube channels with emails and stats?

Yes. Upload up to 200,000 YouTube channel IDs per import via the Imports endpoint. Then search within your imported list to enrich each channel with channel or video data, contact information & timestamped performance data.

For larger lists, run multiple imports.

Is there an API for real-time YouTube channel stats?

Yes. ChannelCrawler's Priority Resolve endpoint returns live YouTube channel data in approximately 6 seconds, including current subscribers, views, engagement, and contact email.

For historical trends, the Timestamps endpoint provides daily snapshots going back up to 365 days with optional interpolation for clean time-series data.

How do I get started with the ChannelCrawler API?

Sign up at platform.channelcrawler.com, generate an API key, and make your first request in minutes. Start with the free Search Preview endpoint to test queries before spending credits.

Full documentation with quickstart guides and code examples in cURL, Python, and JavaScript is at docs.channelcrawler.com. Prefer a visual interface? You can also search and export channels directly at app.channelcrawler.com.

How do I ensure channels already known to me aren't charged for when searching in the ChannelCrawler API?

If you want to ensure channels known to you don't appear in your search results. Import the list of Channel ID's or URLs, and you can use the import ID to filter these channels out of the results

Need help with something else? Check out our

Help Center

The most powerful YouTube channel data API

6 REST API Endpoints

Search Preview

Channel Discovery

Priority Resolve

Channel Videos

Channel Timestamps

Bulk Imports

Transparent, pay-per-result pricing

Buy credits

Start using our Youtube REST API

Why ChannelCrawler API?

160M+ YouTube Channels

70+ Search Filters

Verified Emails

Priority Enrichment

Built for your use case

YouTube Channel Discovery

Creator Outreach at Scale

YouTube Ads Placement Targeting

Bulk Enrichment & Deduplication

Start building with YouTube data today

Frequently Asked Questions