# YouTube Data API pricing in 2026: quota units, search limits, and costs

YouTube Data API pricing has no paid tier. Most calls share 10,000 units a day. Search gets 100 calls a day by default. Here is what each call costs.

Checked October 2026. Public pricing pages. No affiliate links.

Google does not sell the YouTube Data API. There is no paid tier and no price per call. Instead, every Google Cloud project gets a daily quota, and each call spends part of it.

When a quota runs out, those calls fail until midnight Pacific Time. To get more, you go through an audit.

## At a glance

| Criteria | YouTube Data API | Openhandle |
|---|---|---|
| Free tier | Free within the daily quota | 100 free requests, no card |
| Pricing | No paid tier. More quota needs an audit | $2.50 per 1k, down to $2 per 1k at volume. 30-day cache hits are free |
| Rate limits | 10,000 units a day, plus 100 searches a day in their own bucket | 10 per second per key. Higher on request |
| Time to first call | Create a Google Cloud project, turn on the API, and create a key | Seconds. No approval wait |

## What each call costs in units

| Call | Cost |
|---|---|
| Read videos, channels, or playlists | 1 unit |
| Read a page of playlist items | 1 unit |
| Read a page of comments | 1 unit |
| List a video’s caption tracks | 50 units |
| Download a caption track | 200 units, and only for videos you can edit |
| Search | 1 call of your 100 search calls a day |
| Any invalid request | At least 1 unit |

Since June 1, 2026, search and uploads have their own buckets. Search no longer spends the 10,000 units. Its default is 100 calls a day. Everything else shares the 10,000 units.

## What is free

- **The quota.** 10,000 units a day for most calls. That is 10,000 video or comment pages a day if you do nothing else.
- **Searches.** 100 a day per project. Google says the default can change.
- **More quota.** YouTube’s Audit and Quota Extension Form. Google names no fee, but YouTube checks that your project follows its API terms first.

## Limits beyond the quota

- **Transcripts.** Downloading captions needs OAuth and permission to edit the video. Without it, Google answers 403 forbidden.
- **Shorts.** No field says a video is a Short. The search duration filter "short" means under four minutes.
- **One reset a day.** The quota resets at midnight Pacific Time. A spike in the morning can block you for the rest of the day.

## What it adds up to

For stats on videos you already know, the Data API works well and costs nothing inside 10,000 units a day. Search is capped at 100 calls a day by default. Captions only download for videos you can edit.

| Job | YouTube Data API | Openhandle |
|---|---|---|
| Start today | Create a Google Cloud project and a key | Create a key and call |
| 100 searches a day for a month | Free, the whole default search quota | $7.50 |
| 1,000 searches a day for a month | Needs an audit first | $75.00 |
| 1,000 transcripts of videos you cannot edit | Not possible | $2.50 |
| 10,000 comment pages in a month | Free within the quota | $25.00 |

## Another option for public reads

Openhandle reads public YouTube channels, videos, Shorts, comments, transcripts, and search. $0.0025 per request, down to $0.002 at volume. 30-day cache hits are free. There is no daily quota. See the [YouTube Data API alternative](/compare/youtube-data-api-alternative) page for how to move your calls, and [is the YouTube Data API free?](/questions/is-the-youtube-data-api-free) for the short answer.

## Verdicts

- **The YouTube Data API fits.** if you manage your own channel, or read stats for known videos inside 10,000 units a day.
- **Openhandle fits.** if 100 searches a day is too few, or you need transcripts of public videos you cannot edit.

## How we checked

We read Google’s quota cost table, getting started guide, captions.download and search.list references, quota audit guide, and revision history on October 26, 2026. If a number is out of date, tell us and we fix it.