YouTube Comments API
Get comments on any YouTube video — text, author, likes, and truncated publishedTimeApprox from the relative label, with cursor pagination (nextCursor + hasMore). Flat 2 credits per call.
GET request to /v1/youtube/comments that responds with clean JSON and costs 2 credits. Pass cache=true for a free 24h cache hit; default is always fresh. Start with 100 free credits — no credit card.What is the YouTube Comments API?
The YouTube Comments API lets you pull comments with author, text, likes, and replies for YouTube comments with a single REST call. No OAuth, no infrastructure to maintain, and no platform SDKs — send the request, get clean structured JSON back. Pass cache=true to serve from the 24h cache (0 credits on hit); default is always fresh. Selected profile endpoints also accept cacheMaxAge=1d|3d|7d|14d|30d.
What you get
- Comment or review text, author name, and handle
- Like counts and timestamps when available
- Cursor pagination via nextCursor + hasMore
- Use the matching Comment Replies endpoint when you need nested replies
Try it
Fill in the parameters below and copy a ready-to-run request, or open the live Playground to run it against your account (no API key paste).
Parameters
curl "https://api.captapi.com/v1/youtube/comments?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DdQw4w9WgXcQ" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer capt_live_..."
# or: -H "x-api-key: capt_live_..."Edit the parameters and the code updates instantly. Switch languages and hit copy.
Example response
{
"success": true,
"data": {
"url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ",
"videoId": "dQw4w9WgXcQ",
"totalReturned": 2,
"totalComments": 2400000,
"nextCursor": "Eg0SC2RRdzR3OVdnWGNRGAYyJSIRIgtkUXc0dzlXZ1hjUTAAeAJCEGNvbW1lbnRzLXNlY3Rpb24%3D",
"hasMore": true,
"comments": [
{
"id": "Ugzge340dBgB75hWBm54AaABAg",
"author": "@YouTube",
"authorChannelId": "UCBR8-60-B28hp2BmDPdntcQ",
"authorAvatarUrl": "https://yt3.ggpht.com/3s6evpqAiDU9tQR4sC2siJippbH2RWVPnwHgyl4V0th2iuQz0VDQZbUhQBGmsxLYo-mjG6TqZQ=s88-c-k-c0x00ffffff-no-rj",
"authorIsVerified": true,
"authorIsChannelOwner": false,
"text": "can confirm: he never gave us up",
"likeCount": 290000,
"replyCount": 961,
"hasCreatorHeart": false,
"publishedTimeText": "1 year ago",
"publishedTimeApprox": "2025-08-03T00:00:00.000Z",
"publishedTimeIsApproximate": true
},
{
"id": "UgxTsG2dsspEiq6MAZJ4AaABAg",
"author": "@MariahRhona",
"authorChannelId": "UCe8dr6l5fgxVh6peaTtx8XA",
"authorAvatarUrl": "https://yt3.ggpht.com/sEIirS_KS8tpBOKKPUIrE887msAjyf3N4gggHploxxmmwt3B2MkNRBB_t90olc0hXeghSsLj3A=s88-c-k-c0x00ffffff-no-rj",
"authorIsVerified": false,
"authorIsChannelOwner": false,
"text": "who came here saying this video was taken down",
"likeCount": 27000,
"replyCount": 982,
"hasCreatorHeart": false,
"publishedTimeText": "3 days ago",
"publishedTimeApprox": "2026-07-31T00:00:00.000Z",
"publishedTimeIsApproximate": true
}
]
}
}Billing metadata is returned in response headers: X-Captapi-Credits (credits charged), X-Captapi-Cache (hit or miss), and X-Captapi-Source. Failed requests (4xx/5xx) are never charged. See the full list of error codes in the error reference.
Response structure
A successful call returns success and a data object with the following fields:
Top-level fields
urlCanonical URL of the item.videoIdPlatform video ID.totalReturnedNumber of items returned in this response.totalCommentsThe video's total number of comments, across all pages.nextCursorCursor to pass for the next page of results. May be null when the platform does not expose deep pagination (e.g. some Facebook Ad Library searches).hasMoreWhether more results are available beyond this page. When true, pass nextCursor to fetch the next page.
Comments
Each item in comments contains:
idId of this comments item.authorAuthor name or handle.authorChannelIdAuthor channel id. Example: "UCBR8-60-B28hp2BmDPdntcQ".authorAvatarUrlProfile picture URL of the person who wrote the comment.authorIsVerifiedWhether the author is verified.authorIsChannelOwnerWhether the author owns the channel.textText content.likeCountLike count as an integer. Compact UI labels ("727K") are expanded here; see likeCountText for the original string.replyCountHow many replies this comment has. Use Comment Replies with this comment's id to fetch them.hasCreatorHeartWhether the creator hearted the comment.publishedTimeTextOriginal relative publish label from the platform when an exact timestamp was not available (e.g. "1 year ago").publishedTimeApproxApproximate ISO-8601 derived from publishedTimeText, truncated to the label's precision (day/hour/minute). Not an observed instant — see publishedTimeIsApproximate.publishedTimeIsApproximatetrue when publishedTimeApprox was derived from a relative label rather than an absolute timestamp YouTube exposed.
Parameters
| Name | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| url | string | Yes | Public YouTube video URL, e.g. https://youtube.com/watch?v=ID. Not a TikTok/Instagram/Facebook URL. The URL platform must match this endpoint's platform. Do not pass cross-platform URLs, e.g. YouTube to TikTok, Instagram to Facebook, LinkedIn to X/Twitter, or Pinterest to Rumble. |
| limit | integer | No | Max items to return (default 50, max 500). Flat 2 credits per call. |
| cursor | string | No | Pagination cursor. Leave empty for the first page; then pass the nextCursor value returned in the previous response. |
| cache | boolean | No | Set true to serve from the 24h response cache (0 credits on hit). Default false — always fetch fresh. |
Authentication: send your key as Authorization: Bearer capt_live_.... A typical call costs 2 credits. Pass cache=true for a free 24h cache hit; default is always fresh.
How it works
- 1. Sign up — get 100 free credits, no card required.
- 2. Create a key from your dashboard.
- 3. Send one request to
/v1/youtube/commentsand parse the JSON response.
Use cases
Sentiment Analysis
Understand how audiences react to content.
Community Insights
Surface FAQs, requests, and recurring themes.
Moderation
Detect spam, abuse, or policy violations at scale.
Market Research
Mine genuine opinions and product feedback.
Frequently asked questions
What does the YouTube Comments API do?+
The YouTube Comments API lets you pull comments with author, text, likes, and replies from a public YouTube video using one GET request to /v1/youtube/comments. It returns clean JSON — no OAuth or infrastructure setup required.
How many credits does the YouTube Comments API cost?+
Each successful call costs 2 credits. Pass cache=true to serve from the 24h cache (0 credits on hit); default is always fresh. Selected profile endpoints also accept cacheMaxAge=1d|3d|7d|14d|30d. Failed or empty results are never charged.
Do I need a YouTube API key or OAuth?+
No. A single Captapi key works across every platform Captapi supports — YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter/X, Reddit, Threads, Bluesky, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Rumble, Spotify, Kwai, and more. We handle proxies, rate limits, retries, and authentication for you.
Is the YouTube Comments API suitable for production use?+
Yes. It is a stable REST endpoint with predictable JSON and automatic retries. Pass cache=true to serve from the 24h cache (0 credits on hit); default is always fresh. Selected profile endpoints also accept cacheMaxAge=1d|3d|7d|14d|30d. Use it for analytics, monitoring, and content automation.
More YouTube APIs
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