YouTube API without a Google API key

How to call a YouTube Data API for search, comments and channels without creating a Google Cloud project or spending official YouTube Data API v3 quota.

Why people look for a YouTube API with no key

The official YouTube Data API v3 needs a Google API key, a Cloud project, and quota units. Search and comments burn that quota quickly. If you only need public metadata, a RapidAPI YouTube Data API can sit in front of the same public pages without that key.

	Official YouTube Data API v3	This YouTube Data API
Google API key	Required	Not required
Quota	10,000 units / day	RapidAPI plan (100 free / month)
Search / comments / channel	Yes	Yes
Streaming / download	No	No

What you can call without a Google key

• YouTube search API and autocomplete
• YouTube comments API with reply cursors
• YouTube channel API (profile, uploads, Shorts, playlists)
• YouTube playlist API and trending

This is not a YouTube downloader. There are no streaming URLs.

Example: search without a Google API key

curl --request GET \
  --url 'https://youtube-public-data-api.p.rapidapi.com/search?q=python+tutorial' \
  --header 'X-RapidAPI-Host: youtube-public-data-api.p.rapidapi.com' \
  --header 'X-RapidAPI-Key: YOUR_RAPIDAPI_KEY'

You still need a RapidAPI key. You do not need a Google API key.

Open the YouTube Data API on RapidAPI · Full endpoint list