Do I need a YouTube developer account?

No. There is no YouTube app, OAuth flow or app review. One InsightSocial API key works for this endpoint and every other platform, and your first 10 calls priced at 100 credits or less are free.

What does one call return?

One call returns the data in the data object of the standard response envelope. Fields the platform did not provide are listed in unavailable, so a null there means unknown, not zero.

What happens if the account is private or nothing is found?

You get an error or an empty result, and it costs 0 credits. The API reads public YouTube data only, so private accounts and deleted content come back as not found rather than as partial data.

Can I call the YouTube Video Thumbnails API from Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor?

Yes. Add the hosted MCP server at https://api.insightsocial.app/mcp to your AI app and sign in. The assistant finds this endpoint by name, shows its price and calls it with your credits.

GET /v1/youtube/video/thumbnailsbeta

YouTube Video Thumbnails API

Q: How much does the YouTube Video Thumbnails API cost?

10 credits per successful call. A call that errors or finds nothing costs 0 credits, and an answer from the shared cache costs 2. Pro's 10,000 monthly credits cover about 1,000 calls at 10 credits each. Add dry_run=1 to see the price of a call without making it.

Returns a video's thumbnail images at every available size, each with a direct image URL, width, height, aspect ratio, and image format.

Get a free API key Full API reference

10 credits a call · single call · failed calls free · 10 free calls to start

curl "https://api.insightsocial.app/v1/youtube/video/thumbnails?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DdQw4w9WgXcQ" \
-H "x-api-key: $INSIGHTSOCIAL_API_KEY"

200 OKJSON

{
"success": true,
"platform": "youtube",
"endpoint": "/v1/youtube/video/thumbnails",
"schema_version": "2",
"data": {
"<field>": "<value>"
},
"unavailable": [],
"credits_used": "<integer>"
}

When to use it

Use it when you need a video's artwork on its own, for example to pick the largest image for your own listing or preview.

Parameters

Query parameters for GET /v1/youtube/video/thumbnails. Send your key in the x-api-key header.

Name	Required	Description
url	Yes	Full URL of the YouTube video.

Response

This endpoint returns the platform's own fields in data, in snake_case, rather than a unified post or profile. The reference page lists them.

Every field, error and example is in the YouTube Video Thumbnails API reference.

How much does the YouTube Video Thumbnails API cost?

10 credits per successful call.

Failed calls are free
A call that errors or finds nothing costs 0 credits.
Know the price first
Add dry_run=1 and the response quotes the call without making it. Nothing is charged.
One balance
API calls and Chrome extension exports share the same credits, on the free plan too.

See plans and credit packs How credits work