Do I need a Google Cloud API key to detect comments?

No. You can paste any public YouTube video link directly. The tool resolves comments automatically without requiring API key credentials or Google accounts.

Is the contest hashtag or keyword mandatory?

No. The hashtag/keyword input is completely optional. If left blank, all comments on the video are eligible for the drawing.

Can I filter out multiple comments from the same person?

Yes. Enabling 'Filter duplicate users' guarantees that each commenter gets exactly one entry regardless of how many times they posted.

Can I declare multiple winners at once?

Yes. You can select presets from 1 to 10 winners or specify any custom count to declare multiple verified winners in a single drawing.

Free YouTube Giveaway Winner Picker

How YouTube Giveaway Comment Picking Works

Running a giveaway or subscriber contest on YouTube requires transparent, tamper-proof winner selection. Whether you want to award a random viewer who dropped a comment or filter participants based on a mandatory answer or hashtag, this tool guarantees mathematically unbiased drawings.

This tool supports two distinct extraction options:

Free URL Mode: Extracts 20 to 50 comments directly from any public video URL with zero setup, no login, and no Google account required.
Official YouTube API Mode: Connects directly to Google's YouTube Data API v3 using your free API key to crawl through every comment page (100 to 10,000+ comments) with zero CORS issues or rate-limits.

API

How to Get a Free Google YouTube Data API v3 Key

Takes about 2 minutes using Google Cloud Console. 100% free with 10,000 daily quota units (up to 1,000,000 comments/day).

Log in to Google Cloud ConsoleVisit the Google Cloud Console and sign in with your regular Google / Gmail account. No credit card or billing information is required.

Create a New ProjectClick the project dropdown in the top navigation bar (next to “Google Cloud”) and select New Project. Name your project (e.g., YouTube Giveaway Tool) and click Create.

Enable YouTube Data API v3Type “YouTube Data API v3” into the top search bar, click on it from the results, and hit the blue Enable button.

Create API Credentials (Public Data)Navigate to APIs & Services → Credentials in the left sidebar. Click + CREATE CREDENTIALS at the top and select API key. When prompted for data type, select Public data.

Copy Your Key & Paste AboveCopy your new key starting with AIzaSy... and paste it into the Official YouTube API tab above. Your key is saved locally in your browser so you never have to retype it.

YouTube Giveaway Extraction Mode Comparison

Feature	Free Mode (Direct URL)	Official YouTube API Mode
Setup Required	Zero Setup (Instant URL)	Requires free Google Cloud API key
Comment Depth	20 to 50 comments	All comments (10,000+)
Reliability	Public proxy instances	100% direct Google servers
Hashtag / Keyword Filter	Yes (Optional)	Yes (Optional)
Filter Duplicate Users	Yes (1 entry per channel)	Yes (1 entry per channel)
Privacy & Security	100% Client-Side In-Memory	100% Client-Side In-Memory

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Why does the Free Mode only detect up to 50 comments?

YouTube enforces strict anti-bot and pagination restrictions on third-party web requests. Without an authorized Google API connection, public mirror streams are limited to 20–50 comments to prevent bot blocking. For large contests with hundreds or thousands of comments, activating the official API mode enables unlimited paginated comment loading.

How many comments can I fetch per day using my free API key?

Google grants 10,000 free quota units per day to every project. Each comment fetch request retrieves up to 100 comments and costs exactly 1 quota unit. That means you can retrieve up to 1,000,000 (1 Million) comments every day for free without ever paying Google.

Where is my YouTube API key stored?

Your API key is saved strictly in your browser's local memory (localStorage) for convenience. It is used solely to query Google's official googleapis.com endpoints directly from your browser and is never transmitted to, or stored on, our servers.

Does commenting multiple times give a subscriber an unfair advantage?

Not when “Filter duplicate users” is active. The engine automatically indexes channel names and eliminates duplicate comments, ensuring that each unique viewer receives exactly one entry in the eligible drawing pool.