Subscriber count is YouTube's version of audience size, and Metrika returns it for any public channel from its handle. The request looks like every other Metrika request, which is the point: a channel's reach lands in the same schema as an Instagram or TikTok audience, ready for the same code.
Subscribers arrive as followers
Platforms name audience size differently, so Metrika
normalises the concept: YouTube subscribers come back in the
followers field, and the channel's video count in posts,
next to its verified status. Each datapoint also carries a
semantic field with YouTube's own word, subscribers or
videos, so your UI can keep the platform's language while
your code stays uniform.
{
"data": [
{
"platform": "youtube",
"type": "account",
"identifier": "mkbhd",
"status": "available",
"metrics": {
"followers": { "value": 18500000, "status": "available", "semantic": "subscribers" },
"posts": { "value": 1600, "status": "available", "semantic": "videos" }
},
"attributes": {
"verified": { "value": true, "status": "available", "semantic": "verified" }
}
}
]
}The identifier is the channel handle without the @:
mkbhd for youtube.com/@mkbhd.
The number YouTube shows
YouTube rounds subscriber counts once a channel passes a
certain size, so the public figure, and therefore the one
any API can give you, is the abbreviated one: 18.5 million,
not 18,512,344. Small channels stay exact; big channels move
in visible steps. Worth knowing before you chart it, because
a large channel's count will hold still for days and then
jump. Video counts, returned as
post counts, stay exact at any size.
Individual videos can be tracked too: send type: "post"
with the video id as the identifier and you get back that
video's view and like counts.
When the Data API is the better fit
The official YouTube Data API is genuinely good, and if you need video listings, playlists, comments, or analytics for a channel you own, it is the right tool. Metrika earns its keep when YouTube is one column among several networks, a case we walk through in the YouTube comparison.
Getting started
Create an account, generate an API key from your dashboard, and start with 500 requests per month free, no credit card required. The docs list the datapoints available per platform.
Get started with Metrika
Create a free account and start pulling social media datapoints in minutes. The free tier includes 500 requests per month, no credit card required.