YouTube Similar Channels Finder

YouTube

Operated by Sourcelane✓ verified

A tool to discover and rank YouTube channels related to a seed channel or topic keyword by measuring topical keyword overlap and audience-size proximity. It accepts a seed channel or a topic query, extracts keywords from channel metadata and recent video titles, and evaluates candidate channels by shared topical terms and subscriber-scale similarity. The connector returns a ranked list of related channels with public audience and content metrics (channel name and URL, subscriber totals, aggregate view counts, video counts), a relative size tier, a numeric similarity score (0–100), the shared topic keywords, country and a trimmed channel description, and the seed channel identity used for matching. Ranking combines topic overlap (primary signal), size proximity (preference for peers in the same order of magnitude), and clone-suppression (impersonator/fan/reupload detection); in topic-only mode, ranking blends topic overlap with channel popularity.

Verified Sep 28, 3:56 AM

$0.02

per similar channel

Up to 50 per call. Only pay for results returned; failed calls are refunded.

What people use it for

Competitor analysis: map competing channels and benchmark audience size
Find similar channels: discover creators in the same niche as a given channel
Niche research: surface channels owning a specific topic or keyword cluster
Creator outreach & partnerships: identify channels in a target size tier for collaborations or sponsorships
Influencer discovery: build shortlists of vetted channels with real subscriber and view metrics

Trust & reliability

7d uptime trend

Window	Uptime	Success rate	p50	p95
24h	—	—	—	—
7d	—	—	—	—
30d	—	—	—	—

Calling contract

Call it through Sourcelane's gateway or MCP server. We run the connector, apply your agent's spend guardrails, and bill only the results returned.

Call it via Sourcelane

curl -X POST https://api.usesourcelane.com/v1/call \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer sl_live_your_agent_key" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"listing":"youtube-similar-channels-finder","params":{"seedChannel":"@mkbhd","maxResults":5},"maxResults":10}'

Request params

Field	Type	Required	Description
`seedChannel`	string	optional	A seed YouTube channel to find similar channels for. Accepts a handle (@mkbhd), a full channel URL, or a UC... channel ID. Leave blank to discover channels from a topic keyword instead.
`topicQuery`	string	optional	Optional topic keyword (e.g. "tech reviews") used to discover channels around a niche, instead of or in addition to a seed channel. At least one of Seed Channel or Topic Query is required.
`maxResults`	integer	optional	Maximum number of similar channels to return, ranked by overlap score (1-100). Capped at 50 per call.
`maxSearches`	integer	optional	How many discovery search queries to run. Each search consumes more quota, so keep this low (1-8).

Each result contains

Field	Type	Description
`seedChannelId`	string	—
`seedChannelTitle`	string	—
`channelId`	string	—
`channelTitle`	string	Channel
`channelUrl`	string	URL
`subscriberCount`	integer	Subscribers
`totalViews`	integer	Total views
`videoCount`	integer	Videos
`country`	string	Country
`sizeTier`	string	Size
`overlapScore`	integer	Overlap score
`sharedKeywords`	array	Shared keywords
`description`	string	—
`status`	string	—

Use YouTube Similar Channels Finder from Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor

Pick your tool and connect in under a minute. Then just ask — for example: “Get the transcript of this video and turn it into a blog outline: <url>”

Connect Claude

Web, desktop and mobile. Paste one URL.

1Copy your personal connector URL
2In Claude open Settings → Connectors → Add custom connector
3Paste the URL and click Add — done

Manual setup (config files, REST, Python) +

Claude Code

Adds the Sourcelane MCP server with your key as a header.

terminal

claude mcp add --transport http sourcelane https://api.usesourcelane.com/mcp \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer sl_live_your_agent_key"

Claude Desktop (config file)

Alternative to the connector URL: add to claude_desktop_config.json, then restart Claude.

claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "sourcelane": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "mcp-remote",
        "https://api.usesourcelane.com/mcp",
        "--header",
        "Authorization:${AUTH_HEADER}"
      ],
      "env": {
        "AUTH_HEADER": "Bearer sl_live_your_agent_key"
      }
    }
  }
}

Cursor & Windsurf

Add to ~/.cursor/mcp.json (or Windsurf's mcp_config.json).

mcp.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "sourcelane": {
      "url": "https://api.usesourcelane.com/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer sl_live_your_agent_key"
      }
    }
  }
}

VS Code

Save as .vscode/mcp.json. VS Code prompts for your key once.

.vscode/mcp.json

{
  "servers": {
    "sourcelane": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://api.usesourcelane.com/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer ${input:sourcelane-key}"
      }
    }
  },
  "inputs": [
    {
      "type": "promptString",
      "id": "sourcelane-key",
      "description": "Sourcelane agent key",
      "password": true
    }
  ]
}

ChatGPT Custom GPT (Actions)

Create a GPT → Actions → Import from URL, then Authentication: API Key, Bearer.

OpenAPI schema URL

https://usesourcelane.com/openapi.json

REST

One POST. Pass maxResults to cap cost.

curl

curl -X POST https://api.usesourcelane.com/v1/call \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer sl_live_your_agent_key" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"listing":"youtube-similar-channels-finder","params":{"seedChannel":"@mkbhd","maxResults":5},"maxResults":10}'

Python, LangChain, CrewAI, OpenAI Agents SDK…

Wrap the REST call as a tool, or point an MCP client at the endpoint.

python

import requests

res = requests.post(
    "https://api.usesourcelane.com/v1/call",
    headers={"Authorization": "Bearer sl_live_your_agent_key"},
    json={
        "listing": "youtube-similar-channels-finder",
        "params": {"seedChannel":"@mkbhd","maxResults":5},
        "maxResults": 10,
    },
    timeout=300,
)
body = res.json()
print(body["receipt"]["chargedMicros"], "micro-USD for", body["receipt"]["results"], "results")
print(body["data"])

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