Platform API access keeps getting harder for agencies — what still works

Every social platform has tightened API access over the last few years, and agencies feel it directly the moment they try to pull real stats instead of typing them in by hand. YouTube remains the most open: the Data API v3 gives real subscriber counts and engagement via a free API key, no OAuth. Instagram's Business Discovery endpoint gives real follower/bio/caption data for any public Business or Creator account without that account's own login — but only once the requesting app has its own linked Business account, and production volume needs a Meta App Review.

Twitch is the sharpest cautionary tale: an app-level access token could read any channel's follower count until 2023, when Twitch moved that behind the broadcaster's own user token. TikTok never opened a legitimate no-consent stats API at all — a scraper would violate its terms and break on every anti-bot update, which is exactly why we don't build one.

The honest answer, published right next to the data itself rather than hidden in a support article, beats a plausible-looking number that quietly went stale.