Every YouTube channel has a hidden RSS feed

That is the whole trick. YouTube maintains this feed for every channel and has never put a link to it anywhere in its interface. It returns the channel's 15 most recent uploads, updates within minutes of a new video, and needs no API key.

How to do it

1. Open the channel page and view sourceOn any channel page, view the page source (Ctrl+U) and search for channel_id — the 24-character string starting with UC is what you need.
2. Or take it from the channel URLIf the address bar already shows youtube.com/channel/UC…, that UC-string is the channel ID. Vanity URLs (/@handle) hide it — use view-source there.
3. Build the feed URLAppend the ID to the pattern above. Paste the result into any reader. Done — new uploads now arrive as feed items, no subscriptions, no recommendations, no autoplay.

Verified channel feeds we crawl

Live feeds from our own crawler — the post counts are measured over the last 90 days, not copied from anyone's marketing page. One click follows the feed in HushFlow Reader; the URL works in any reader.

Denominator: 6 feeds shown, chosen by recent activity from the 87 we crawl on this platform.

Questions people actually ask

Does the YouTube RSS feed include Shorts and live streams?

Yes — the feed lists the channel's 15 most recent public uploads of any kind, newest first. It does not include members-only or unlisted videos.

Can I get an RSS feed for a YouTube playlist?

Yes: youtube.com/feeds/videos.xml?playlist_id=PLAYLIST_ID works the same way, with the ID from the playlist URL.