Best YouTube MCP servers for agents in 2026

The best YouTube MCP server depends on the job. For live YouTube Trending videos and youtube search-volume growth inside Cursor or Claude, Trends MCP is the match: type YouTube Trending, source youtube, one Bearer key, no Google Cloud project. kimtaeyoon83 and coyaSONG win local transcripts with no Data API key. TubeAlfred, HasData, and Manifold win hosted object research. youtube-studio-mcp from pauling-ai wins owned-channel Analytics. Composio wins managed posting. Rank by that split. A transcript CLI will not return a public trending board, and a trending board will not return captions.

Which YouTube MCP server fits which job?

Google still does not ship a first-party YouTube MCP server. Every option below is third party, checked against primary docs on 15 October 2026. Trends MCP sits in the first row only for public demand: the live YouTube Trending board plus the youtube keyword series. It does not fetch captions, comments, video IDs, or Studio retention.

Use two servers when the ticket asks for both a public board and a caption track. One install cannot honestly cover both.

What does Trends MCP return for YouTube in Cursor?

Cursor Agent gets a public video board and a search-volume series, not Studio and not Data API v3. After the JSON below is saved and Cursor is fully quit, get_top_trends with type YouTube Trending returns ranked titles. get_growth with source youtube returns whether a phrase is moving as YouTube search demand. Default limit is 25, max 200. Free boards return the top 10 and pin offset at 0. Sending the board type into get_growth is invalid_source.

The llms.txt Cursor object on 15 October 2026 (Last updated: 2026-10-15) includes transport and the Bearer prefix. The homepage copy-config the same day omits both. Paste the llms.txt shape:

"trends-mcp": {
  "url": "https://api.trendsmcp.ai/mcp",
  "transport": "http",
  "headers": {
    "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"
  }
}

Mac and Linux: ~/.cursor/mcp.json. Windows: %USERPROFILE%\.cursor\mcp.json. Claude.ai Connectors use OAuth against the www host path /mcp instead, with no key in that connector. The api host 401s if that www URL is pasted into Cursor.

The proving pair that teaches the YouTube job:

get_top_trends(type="YouTube Trending", limit=25)
get_growth(keyword="clayface", source="youtube", percent_growth=["7D", "30D"])

Type is two words, capital T on Trending. History source is lowercase youtube. Optional country on the board is an ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 code; omit it for the default board. as_of_ts on the payload is the timestamp to cite. Do not pin this morning's titles in project rules. The board turns over. The YouTube trends in Cursor page holds the type string. The Trends MCP server for Cursor page holds the host object.

Request math is the other durable fact. pricing.md and llms.txt, both Last updated 2026-10-15, bill MCP get_top_trends at 1 credit per 10 requested rows, max 10 credits per call. REST is 1 request per POST. The HTML pricing FAQ the same day still says one successful API or MCP call equals one request. A limit 25 board on MCP is 3 credits under the markdown rule and 1 request under the HTML FAQ. Quote the transport in use. Failed 2xx-miss calls are free on both writeups. Free 100/month, JSON-LD Starter $19 / 1,000, Pro $49 / 5,000, Business $199 / 25,000. Markdown says annual billing saves 20%. HTML yearly cards the same day showed $16 / $192 for Starter, $39 / $468 for Pro, $159 / $1,910 for Business. Heading copy says 30+ data sources. The same page's FAQ says 40+. Homepage hero says 35+. Homepage FAQ says 40+. llms.txt lists 16 keyword sources including youtube and python, plus 24 live feed names. The homepage live-feed table prints 20 rows and drops the four category boards, which still appear in the playground dropdown.

None of those fights change the YouTube type string. They do change how a buyer should read a "one call" invoice.

Which local servers pull transcripts without a Google Cloud project?

kimtaeyoon83/mcp-server-youtube-transcript is the smallest keyless local install. npm 0.1.1, MIT, Node 18+. One required tool, get_transcript, accepts a watch URL, a Shorts URL, or a raw video ID. Optional lang (default en) falls back when that track is missing. include_timestamps defaults false. strip_ads defaults true and filters sponsorship chapters. Optional analyze_video needs a TwelveLabs key and a direct media URL, not a watch page. Claude Desktop config is command npx with args -y @kimtaeyoon83/mcp-server-youtube-transcript. No YouTube Data API key.

coyaSONG/youtube-mcp-server (npm @coyasong/youtube-mcp-server 2.0.0, MIT, Node 22+) is the citation-shaped sibling. research-video returns timestamped segments plus a URL that opens at that second. Default maxSegments is 200, range 1 to 1,000. research-videos applies one query across 2 to 5 URLs. The README's live smoke test on a public fixture cut a full transcript of 85,518 characters down to 1,550 characters of cited snippets, a 98.2% reduction in response characters, not model tokens. Transcripts need no key. Search, comments, stats, get-trending-videos, and channel analysis need YOUTUBE_API_KEY and switch the process from transcript-only to full. Local HTTP listens on port 3000 at /mcp. A remote full-mode deploy wants MCP_BEARER_TOKEN; /health stays public. Cursor and Claude Desktop stdio: npx -y @coyasong/youtube-mcp-server@latest.

ZubeidHendricks/youtube-mcp-server is not keyless. npm zubeid-youtube-mcp-server 1.0.2, MIT, 10 tools. videos_searchVideos, transcripts_getTranscript, channel search, creator find, playlists. At least one of YOUTUBE_API_KEY, YOUTUBE_API_KEY2, or YOUTUBE_API_KEY3 must be set; quota exhaustion retries the next key. Docker defaults to HTTP on http://localhost:8088/mcp. That is the local Data API wrapper, not a trending-board product.

anaisbetts/mcp-youtube remains a one-tool yt-dlp wrapper (@anaisbetts/mcp-youtube). It needs yt-dlp on the machine. Useful when the only ask is "summarize this URL" and a local binary is acceptable. It does not search, and it does not rank Trending.

What do hosted YouTube MCP servers actually charge?

TubeAlfred's pricing.md (Last updated 2026-10-13, re-fetched 15 October 2026) and the live /mcp page agree this run: 50 signup credits expire in 14 days, Creator Plus is $15 per month for 5,000 credits, Creator Pro is $29 for 12,000. JSON-LD offers.price on /mcp is "15". Most successful MCP calls cost 1 credit. Available transcripts cost 1. Unavailable transcripts are free. Non-empty comments cost 1 credit per 20 fetched comments with a 100-comment minimum. Burst limit 60 requests per minute. Endpoint https://mcp.tubealfred.com/ exactly, including the trailing slash. Docs warn not to use api.tubealfred.com/mcp. Cursor-shaped JSON uses "type": "streamable-http" plus Authorization: Bearer. Manifold's 9 October 2026 roundup still listed TubeAlfred at $5 per month. That figure is stale against TubeAlfred's own pages today.

HasData's YouTube MCP page lists four tools at 10 credits each: hasdata_youtube_search_getYoutubeSearchResults, hasdata_youtube_video_getYoutubeVideo, hasdata_youtube_transcript_getYoutubeTranscript, hasdata_youtube_channel_getYoutubeChannel. Demo prompts on the same page call them youtube_search, youtube_video, youtube_transcript, and youtube_channel. Failed calls are not billed. Free plan: 1,000 credits per month, so 100 YouTube MCP calls if every call is 10 credits. /prices cards: Startup $49 / 200,000 credits, Basic $99 / 1,000,000, Growth $208 / 3,000,000. Cursor JSON uses url plus x-api-key and omits transport. The query string is apis=youtube, not a bare /mcp?apis=youtube path.

Manifold's YouTube MCP (https://mcp.manifoldmcp.com/mcp) exposes six tools, each from 1 credit: youtube_get_channel, youtube_get_videos, youtube_get_video, youtube_get_comments, youtube_search_videos, youtube_get_transcript. Docs: Free 250 credits once; Pro starts at $20 / 2,500 per month. Cache hits cost 25% or less. No Google Cloud project. The YouTube page still describes Data API quota as "10,000 units a day." That sentence does not match Google's quota calculator as fetched this run (next section).

Hosted scrapers win video objects. They do not replace type YouTube Trending. Pair one with Trends MCP when the ticket needs both a board and a caption.

Which servers wrap Data API v3, Analytics, or posting?

pauling-ai's server installs as youtube-studio-mcp 0.3.0 on PyPI (requires-python >=3.11). README: 40 tools across YouTube Data API v3, Analytics API, and Reporting API. OAuth Desktop client saved at ~/.youtube-mcp/client_secret.json, token at ~/.youtube-mcp/token.json. Uploads, thumbnails, playlists, comments, revenue (Partner Program), retention curves, bulk CSV reports. Dual transcript path: official captions for owned videos, youtube-transcript-api fallback for public ones. Claude Desktop command is youtube-studio-mcp. This is the own-channel pick. It is the wrong pick for a public trending board.

The README still quotes the old quota story: 10,000 units per day, search at 100 units, upload at 1,600 units. Google's quota calculator, accessed 15 October 2026, now splits buckets. Projects that enable YouTube Data API v3 get a default of 100 search.list calls per day, 100 videos.insert calls per day, and 10,000 units per day combined for all other endpoints. In those dedicated buckets, search.list and videos.insert cost 1 quota per call. Daily quotas reset at midnight Pacific Time. A local Analytics MCP that still budgets search as 100 units per call will under-count how fast a 100-call search bucket empties, and over-count unit cost per search. Check the quota calculator before treating any README unit table as current.

Composio's YouTube toolkit docs (docs.composio.dev/toolkits/youtube, version 20261008_00) list Tools: 60, Triggers: 4, managed OAuth yes. The marketing toolkit page the same day printed "57 Tools 4 Triggers." Counting ### tool headings on the docs page this run produced 61 names if both "List Comment Threads (Deprecated)" and "List Comment Threads" are included. Do not flatten 57, 60, and 61. Hobby is $0, no card, 100,000 tool calls per month, 50,000 triggers, 3 team members, hard cap. Composio-managed apps (the skip-the-Google-app path) use up to 20,000 of those 100,000 free calls; the managed table then lists $0.0005 per extra call, and the FAQ describes that as an extra $0.0002 on top of the base overage rate. Pro is $29 per month with a usage credit that does not roll over. Own-app overage on Pro is $0.0003 per tool call. This is the posting and playlist server, not a public-trend feed.

YouTube Studio remains Google's owned-channel record. Data API v3 remains objects. The YouTube Trending API remains the public board. Mixing those without labels is how a PR note cites "YouTube is trending" with no as_of_ts and no video ID.

FAQ

Is Trends MCP the best YouTube MCP overall?

No. It wins live YouTube Trending plus youtube search growth on the same key as Google and TikTok. It loses transcripts, comments, channel objects, uploads, and Studio analytics. Pick kimtaeyoon83 or coyaSONG for captions, TubeAlfred or HasData or Manifold for hosted objects, pauling-ai for owned-channel Analytics, Composio for posting.

Does a YouTube MCP need a Google Cloud project?

Only the Data API wrappers do. kimtaeyoon83 needs none. coyaSONG needs a key only for search and stats. TubeAlfred, HasData, Manifold, and Trends MCP are hosted and take their own keys or OAuth. pauling-ai and ZubeidHendricks need a Google Cloud project. Composio can use a managed app (20,000-call slice) or a buyer-owned OAuth client for the full Hobby allowance.

How much does a hosted YouTube MCP cost in 2026?

TubeAlfred Creator Plus is $15 / 5,000 credits after 50 trial credits. HasData YouTube tools are 10 credits each on a Free 1,000-credit month, then Startup $49. Manifold Pro starts at $20 / 2,500 after 250 credits once. Trends MCP JSON-LD is Free 100, Starter $19, Pro $49, Business $199. Check current pricing on each vendor if a card and a markdown file disagree, which Trends MCP's HTML yearly toggle and JSON-LD currently do.

Can Cursor call YouTube Trending and a transcript server together?

Yes. Keep Trends MCP for type YouTube Trending and source youtube. Add kimtaeyoon83 or a hosted transcript MCP for captions. Two JSON objects under mcpServers. Ask with "using TrendsMCP" for the board so Agent does not recap youtube.com from web search.

What is the YouTube Data API search quota now?

Google's calculator on 15 October 2026 gives search.list its own bucket of 100 calls per day at 1 quota per call, a separate 100-call videos.insert bucket, and 10,000 units per day for other endpoints. Older MCP READMEs that still say search costs 100 units against a single 10,000-unit pool are describing a previous schedule.

Sources, accessed 15 October 2026: Trends MCP llms.txt (Last updated 2026-10-15) and pricing.md, TubeAlfred pricing.md (Last updated 2026-10-13), TubeAlfred MCP, HasData YouTube MCP, HasData prices, Manifold plans, Manifold YouTube MCP, Composio pricing, Composio YouTube toolkit, YouTube Data API quota calculator, kimtaeyoon83 / ZubeidHendricks / coyaSONG / pauling-ai READMEs on GitHub, npm 0.1.1 / 1.0.2 / 2.0.0 and PyPI 0.3.0 the same day.