Extract YouTube Video Metadata Without the Official API
Get title, description, thumbnails, view count, duration, and more — no OAuth, no quota limits.
3:33Rick Astley - Never Gonna Give You Up
The official video for “Never Gonna Give You Up” by Rick Astley. The iconic music video that became the internet's greatest meme.
Why Use Our YouTube Metadata API?
Skip the complexity of the official YouTube API. Get structured video metadata with a single GET request.
No OAuth Required
No YouTube API key, no Google Cloud project, no OAuth consent screen. Just your OpenGraph.io app_id and a YouTube URL.
Instant Data Extraction
Extract metadata from any public YouTube video in seconds. Cached responses return in milliseconds.
Works Without OG Tags
Most YouTube pages have incomplete Open Graph tags. Our API infers and enriches metadata even when tags are missing.
No Quota Limits
Unlike the YouTube Data API, there are no daily quota units or complex rate calculations. Scale on your own terms.
What You Can Extract
A single API call returns rich, structured metadata for any public YouTube video.
Built for Real-World Use Cases
Whether you're building a chat app, a content platform, or an analytics dashboard — our YouTube metadata API fits right in.
- Link unfurling: Show rich YouTube previews in chat apps, messaging platforms, and social feeds.
- Video feed aggregation: Build curated video feeds by pulling metadata from multiple YouTube URLs.
- Social analytics: Track video engagement metrics like view counts and likes for competitive analysis.
- Content curation: Power recommendation engines and editorial tools with video metadata.
- SEO previews: Validate and preview how YouTube links render before publishing.
Link Unfurling
Video Feed Aggregator
How It Works
Send a GET request with a YouTube URL. We return structured metadata in seconds. No browser automation. No scraping logic to maintain.
- 1Send your request: Pass any YouTube video URL to our site API endpoint with your app_id.
- 2We extract the data: Our infrastructure fetches and parses the YouTube page, extracting both Open Graph tags and inferred metadata.
- 3Get structured JSON: Receive a clean JSON response with title, thumbnail, description, embed URL, and more.
https://opengraph.io/api/1.1/site/
:youtubeUrl?app_id=xxxxxx// Returns title, thumbnail, embed URL...// Works for videos, shorts, live streamsWhy Not Use the YouTube Data API?
The official API adds complexity you don't need for metadata extraction.
YouTube Data API
- Requires a Google Cloud project and API key
- OAuth consent screen needed for many endpoints
- Daily quota of 10,000 units — a single video lookup costs 1–5 units
- Complex pricing tiers if you exceed quotas
- No thumbnail, embed URL, or OG data in one call
- Must manage API versioning and deprecations
- Only works with YouTube — need separate APIs for other platforms
OpenGraph.io
- Just an app_id — no Google Cloud project needed
- No OAuth, no consent screens, no scopes
- Simple, predictable request-based pricing
- Start free — upgrade only when you need to
- Title, thumbnail, embed URL, OG data — all in one response
- Works even when YouTube OG tags are missing or incomplete
- Not just YouTube — works with any URL across any platform
Integrate in Minutes
Use the language you love
import fetch from 'node:fetch';
// Site Unfurling API
const unfurlLink = async () => {
// Replace xxxxxx with your app_id or access_key
const url = "https://opengraph.io/api/1.1/site/https://example.com?app_id=xxxxxx";
try {
const response = await fetch(url);
const data = await response.json();
console.log('Link preview:', data);
} catch (error) {
console.error('Error unfurling link:', error);
}
};
unfurlLink();Trusted by Thousands
Over 1B Site Previews!
