~ / endpoints / Playlist API

YouTube Playlist Scraper API

Our YouTube playlist scraper turns any playlist ID or URL into structured JSON: the playlist title, owner channel, total video count, and the ordered list of videos with positions, IDs, titles, views, and thumbnails, from a single REST call.

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1,000

free requests / mo

2.6s

median response

pay-per-success

failed fetches are free

JSON

structured output

the problem

Why YouTube Playlist data is hard to get

A YouTube playlist page does not hand you a clean video list: it loads the first batch in the HTML, the rest through JavaScript, and serves a consent wall to datacenter IPs first. The official playlistItems.list method works but needs a Google Cloud project, an authorized request, and 50-item pageToken paging before you see a single title.

quickstart

The YouTube Playlist Scraper API in one request

cURL

curl "https://api.youtubescraperapi.com/api/v1/youtube/playlist?playlist_id=PLjVLYmrlmjGfSYkgH-_jgC8KMxyRzq7US&api_key=$API_KEY"

Python

import requests

resp = requests.get(
    "https://api.youtubescraperapi.com/api/v1/youtube/playlist",
    params={
        "playlist_id": "PLjVLYmrlmjGfSYkgH-_jgC8KMxyRzq7US",
        "api_key": "YOUR_API_KEY",
    },
    timeout=60,
)
playlist = resp.json()

print(playlist["title"], "-", playlist["video_count"], "videos")
print("Channel:", playlist["channel"])

for video in playlist["videos"]:
    print(video["position"], video["id"], video["title"])

parameters

Parameters

Parameter	Required	Default	Notes
`playlist_id`	required	-	The YouTube playlist ID, the string after list= in a playlist URL (for example PLjVLYmrlmjGfSYkgH-_jgC8KMxyRzq7US).
`url`	optional	-	A full playlist URL instead of a bare ID. The ID is parsed out of it, so pass either playlist_id or url.
`api_key`	required	-	Your API key. Free tier includes 1,000 requests per month.

response

What the YouTube Playlist Scraper API returns

200 OK

{
  "playlist_id": "PLjVLYmrlmjGfSYkgH-_jgC8KMxyRzq7US",
  "title": "Web Scraping Full Free Course by WsCube Tech",
  "channel": "WsCube Tech",
  "video_count": 7,
  "views": 196099,
  "videos": [
    {
      "position": 1,
      "id": "FagmjKdOIDs",
      "title": "Web Scraping Course For Beginners 2024",
      "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FagmjKdOIDs",
      "thumbnail": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/FagmjKdOIDs/hq720.jpg",
      "channel": "WsCube Tech",
      "views": "203K views",
      "published": "2 years ago"
    }
  ],
  "videos_returned": 7
}

Field	Type	Description
`playlist_id`	string	The playlist ID that was scraped.
`title`	string	The playlist title as shown on the playlist page.
`channel`	string	The name of the channel that owns the playlist.
`video_count`	integer	The total number of videos the playlist reports.
`views`	integer	The total view count for the playlist.
`videos`	array	The ordered video list. Each entry is { position, id, title, url, thumbnail, channel, views, published }.
`videos_returned`	integer	How many video entries came back in the videos array.

use cases

What you can build using the API

Export a playlist to CSV

Pull the ordered video list with titles, URLs, and positions, and write them straight to a CSV or spreadsheet for archiving or review.

Audit and back up your own playlists

Fetch the full video list for each playlist on a schedule so you have a record of every video, even after some get deleted or set to private.

Build a video dataset

Walk a set of public playlists, collect every video ID and title, and feed the list into a downstream pipeline that pulls per-video metadata or transcripts.

Track playlist changes over time

Re-fetch a playlist on a cadence and diff the returned video list to see what was added or removed between runs.

Seed competitor and topic research

Collect the videos a channel groups into a themed playlist, then pivot each video into deeper extraction for content and topic analysis.

Power a no-key playlist tool

Back a playlist-to-list or playlist-export feature without standing up OAuth, a Google Cloud project, or your own headless browser fleet.

why youtubescraperapi.com

Why teams choose our YouTube Playlist Scraper API

Our YouTube playlist scraper runs the fetch-render-parse loop on our infrastructure: rotating proxies, anti-bot handling, JS rendering, and retries behind one youtube/playlist call that returns the ordered video list as parsed JSON. A playlist ID goes in and the title, channel, video count, and every video row come out, with no Google Cloud setup, no OAuth, and no page-token loop to write. For structured per-video JSON, point your pipeline at our YouTube video scraper, or pull a creator's full uploads with the YouTube channel scraper.

Parsed video list, no HTML

We render the playlist page and read the video entries, then return them as a flat ordered array with positions and IDs, so you never parse markup yourself.

Proxy rotation built in

Requests route through rotating datacenter and residential pools, so YouTube sees browser-like traffic and you do not manage proxies.

Consent and JS handled

We clear YouTube's consent interstitial and execute the page's JavaScript before parsing, so the list comes back fully populated.

Pay for success

Failed fetches retry automatically across datacenter, residential, and premium tiers, and you are billed only for results that return.

Stable JSON schema

Every response uses the same field names and types, so the same parsing code keeps working when YouTube changes its markup.

comparison

YouTube Playlist Scraper API vs the official YouTube API

Factor	Our YouTube playlist API	DIY headless browser	YouTube Data API (playlistItems.list)
Setup	One api_key	Install and host Playwright or Puppeteer, manage browsers	Google Cloud project plus an authorized request
Returns the video list parsed	Yes, ordered JSON array	No, you parse the rendered DOM	Yes, structured items, 50 per page
Consent screen and JS	Handled for you	You script the consent click and scrolling	Not applicable, it is an API
Proxies and blocks	Rotating proxies and retries included	You source proxies and handle bans	No blocks, but quota and auth apply
Paging a long playlist	Returned in the video list for you	Scroll and wait in the browser yourself	Chain pageToken, 50 items per call
Quota or key from YouTube	None, no YouTube key needed	None, but you absorb the block risk	Daily quota (default 10,000 units), 1 unit per call

pricing

Start free, scale when ready

Plan	Price	Best for
Free	1,000 requests	Testing and small jobs
Pro	$0.60 / 1k	Production workloads
Pay-as-you-go	$0.90 / 1k	Spiky or one-off volume

Median response 2.6s. You only pay for successful requests.

FAQ

What is the YouTube playlist scraper API?

It is a single REST endpoint that takes a YouTube playlist ID or URL and returns the playlist title, owner channel, total video count, views, and the ordered list of videos (each with its position, id, title, url, thumbnail, channel, views, and published label) as structured JSON. Our API fetches and parses the playlist for you, so you do not run a Google Cloud project or maintain scraping infrastructure. For structured per-video JSON, use our YouTube video scraper, and for a creator's full upload list use the YouTube channel scraper.

What does the response return for a playlist?

Each response returns playlist_id, title, channel, video_count, views, a videos array, and videos_returned. Every entry in the videos array carries its position, id, title, url, thumbnail, channel, views, and published label. Every field uses the same name and type on each call.

Can I look up a playlist by its URL instead of the ID?

Yes. Pass the full playlist URL in the url parameter and we parse the playlist ID out of it. You can send either playlist_id or url, so a link copied straight from the browser works.

Do I need a YouTube API key or OAuth to use this?

No. This endpoint fetches the public playlist for you, so you do not need a Google Cloud project, an API key from YouTube, or OAuth credentials. You only need your API key. The official YouTube Data API path does require a properly authorized request and counts every call against a daily quota.

How much does it cost and is there a free tier?

The free tier includes 1,000 requests per month. Paid plans run to about $0.60 per 1,000 requests on Pro, with pay-as-you-go top-ups around $0.90 per 1,000. You are billed only for requests that succeed, with a median response around 2.6 seconds.

Get playlist api as JSON

Free plan, 1,000 requests. No credit card required.

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