YouTube Downloader API: Get an MP4 or MP3 Link in One Call (2026)

You want users to paste a YouTube link into your product and get the video or the audio back. You don't want to run yt-dlp, rent proxies, export cookies, or patch anything the next time YouTube changes.

That's what a YouTube downloader API is for: you send a URL, it sends back a link to the file.

Short version: send POST /download with a YouTube URL and a format (1080, 720, 480, 360, audio or audio-mp3). The response already contains the downloadUrl, so one call gets you the link. The link points at our CDN, so your users download from us, not from YouTube. You pay only for bandwidth, failed downloads are free, and you get a machine-readable error code when a video can't be downloaded.

What a YouTube downloader API does

Downloading one YouTube video on your laptop is easy. Doing it for thousands of users from a server is not:

• YouTube blocks server traffic. Datacenter IPs get "Sign in to confirm you're not a bot" and 403 errors. Getting past that takes residential proxies, cookies, proof-of-origin (PO) tokens and a JavaScript runtime, and they all need maintaining.
• YouTube changes often. A yt-dlp release that worked last month can stop working this week.
• Formats are messy. 1080p arrives as separate video and audio streams that have to be merged. Audio comes as Opus or AAC, not MP3.

A downloader API takes all of that on. You call one endpoint. It deals with YouTube, merges and converts the file, stores it, and gives you a link.

Authentication

Create an account and copy your API key from the dashboard. Send it on every request:

Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY

Quick start

One request. The response has the download link:

curl -X POST https://vidkraken.com/api/v2/download \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $VIDKRAKEN_API_KEY" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"url": "https://youtu.be/dQw4w9WgXcQ", "format": "audio-mp3"}'
# {"jobId": "69cfc45e...", "title": "...", "duration": 213,
#  "status": "IN_QUEUE", "downloadUrl": "https://..."}

import os, requests

r = requests.post(
  "https://vidkraken.com/api/v2/download",
  headers={"Authorization": f"Bearer {os.environ['VIDKRAKEN_API_KEY']}"},
  json={"url": "https://youtu.be/dQw4w9WgXcQ", "format": "audio-mp3"},
)
print(r.json()["downloadUrl"])

const r = await fetch("https://vidkraken.com/api/v2/download", {
method: "POST",
headers: {
  Authorization: "Bearer " + process.env.VIDKRAKEN_API_KEY,
  "Content-Type": "application/json",
},
body: JSON.stringify({ url: "https://youtu.be/dQw4w9WgXcQ", format: "audio-mp3" }),
});
console.log((await r.json()).downloadUrl);

The link is the file's permanent CDN address, so you can store it or hand it to your user straight away. It serves the file as soon as the file is ready, which takes seconds for a short video. If you need to know exactly when it's ready, or how big the file is, use the flow below.

For long videos and batches: submit, then poll or get a webhook

curl -X POST https://vidkraken.com/api/v2/download \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $VIDKRAKEN_API_KEY" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"url": "https://youtu.be/dQw4w9WgXcQ", "format": "1080"}'
# {"jobId": "69cfc45e...", "title": "...", "duration": 213, "status": "IN_QUEUE"}

curl https://vidkraken.com/api/v2/download/69cfc45e... \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $VIDKRAKEN_API_KEY"
# {"status": "COMPLETED", "downloadUrl": "https://...", "fileSize": 32240544, ...}

import os, time, requests

API = "https://vidkraken.com/api/v2"
HEADERS = {"Authorization": f"Bearer {os.environ['VIDKRAKEN_API_KEY']}"}

def download(url, fmt="1080"):
  job = requests.post(f"{API}/download", headers=HEADERS,
                      json={"url": url, "format": fmt}).json()
  while True:
      time.sleep(3)
      s = requests.get(f"{API}/download/{job['jobId']}", headers=HEADERS).json()
      if s["status"] == "COMPLETED":
          return s["downloadUrl"]
      if s["status"] == "FAILED":
          raise RuntimeError(s.get("errorCode") or "FAILED")

print(download("https://youtu.be/dQw4w9WgXcQ", "audio-mp3"))

const API = "https://vidkraken.com/api/v2";
const headers = {
Authorization: "Bearer " + process.env.VIDKRAKEN_API_KEY,
"Content-Type": "application/json",
};

async function download(url, format = "1080") {
const job = await fetch(API + "/download", {
  method: "POST",
  headers,
  body: JSON.stringify({ url, format }),
}).then((r) => r.json());

while (true) {
  await new Promise((r) => setTimeout(r, 3000));
  const s = await fetch(API + "/download/" + job.jobId, { headers }).then((r) => r.json());
  if (s.status === "COMPLETED") return s.downloadUrl;
  if (s.status === "FAILED") throw new Error(s.errorCode ?? "FAILED");
}
}

console.log(await download("https://youtu.be/dQw4w9WgXcQ", "audio-mp3"));

The first response already has the title and duration, so you can show them while the file is prepared. Rather not poll? Pass a webhookUrl and we POST the finished job to you. Up to 100 downloads can run at once per account.

Choosing quality and format

A few details that save support tickets:

• Lower-resolution videos still work. Ask for 1080 on a 720p video and you get 720p. actualFormat on the finished job tells you what was delivered.
• Shorts are handled. A vertical Short's 1080p is 1080x1920, and that's what 1080 gets you.
• Clips. Add startTime and endTime in seconds to get just that part.
• Languages. Add language (for example es) to get a dubbed audio track. See multi-language audio.
• 4K. Up to 4K is available on request. Email us.

When a video can't be downloaded

Some videos can't be downloaded by anyone: private, deleted, age-restricted, region-locked, members-only, still live. A failed job tells you which, with a stable errorCode such as AGE_RESTRICTED, GEO_RESTRICTED or VIDEO_NOT_FOUND, not a free-text message you have to parse. Failed downloads are never charged. The error codes guide lists every code with a message to show your users.

To check before you download, POST /info returns the title, duration and region restrictions without downloading anything. See the metadata API guide.

Pricing

You pay for bandwidth only, counted at the actual file size with a 20 MB minimum per download. There are no per-download fees, and failures, polling and webhooks are free.

• Free to start, no credit card.
• Plans from $99 a month for 400 GB ($0.25 per GB), down to $0.15 per GB on Scale.

A 4-minute 1080p video is around 30 to 60 MB, and a 4-minute 320 kbps MP3 is about 10 MB (billed as 20 MB). See pricing.

yt-dlp, or an API?

If you download a few videos for yourself, use yt-dlp. It's free and excellent. Our yt-dlp guide covers it.

If downloads are a feature of your product, the question is who keeps it working. Running yt-dlp in production means proxies, cookies, PO tokens, updates and on-call when YouTube changes something. An API makes that our problem. Vid Kraken's success rate over the last 30 days is above 99.99%, and the live reliability page shows the current number. More on the trade-off in yt-dlp alternatives.

Frequently asked questions