---
title: "Similar Videos"
description: "The Similar Videos API enables you to discover YouTube videos that are related to a given video. This powerful tool helps identify content recommendations, competitive analysis, and related videos within the same niche using advanced similarity algorithms."
source: "https://dashboard.nexlev.io/docs/n8n/similar-videos"
---

# Similar Videos

The Similar Videos API enables you to discover YouTube videos that are related to a given video. This powerful tool helps identify content recommendations, competitive analysis, and related videos within the same niche using advanced similarity algorithms.

## Overview

Use this API to find videos that share similar content, topics, or characteristics with a target video. This resource analyzes video attributes and returns a list of similar videos ranked by relevance, helping you understand content relationships and discover related videos.

## Quick Start

Get started in 3 simple steps:

1. **Install NexLev**: Add the NexLev node to your n8n instance ([Installation Guide](/docs/n8n/quickstart))
2. **Get API Key**: Create your API key at [API Key](https://dashboard.nexlev.io/nexlev-api/create-api-key)
3. **Make Your First Request**:
   - Add NexLev node → Select "Similar Video" → Choose "Get Similar Videos"
   - Enter a Video ID (e.g., `eLDq5TflHys`)
   - Execute to get similar videos

**Example Result**: You'll receive a list of videos similar to your target video, ranked by similarity score.

### Endpoint Details

- **Resource**: Similar Video
- **Operations**: Get Similar Videos
- **Authentication**: Required ([API Key](https://dashboard.nexlev.io/nexlev-api/create-api-key))
- **Pagination**: ❌ No
- **Returns**: Array of similar videos
- **Quota Cost**: 🥞 **10 quota** per request

### API Reference

> **Info**
>
> Full endpoint details, cURL example, and response schema live in the [Similar
> Videos API reference](/docs/api/similar-videos).

**Endpoint**: `POST /api/external/similar-videos/videos` · **Quota Cost**: 🥞 10 — see [Rate Limits & Quota](/docs/api/rate-limits)

> **Warning**
>
> **Authentication Required** — see [Authentication](/docs/api/authentication)
> for the required header format and how to get an API key.

## Configuration

### Parameters

| Parameter | Type   | Required | Description                                               |
| --------- | ------ | -------- | --------------------------------------------------------- |
| Video ID  | string | Yes      | The unique YouTube video identifier (e.g., `eLDq5TflHys`) |

### Setup Steps

**Step 1: Add NexLev Node**

- Add the **NexLev** node to your workflow
- See [Quickstart Guide](/docs/n8n/quickstart) for installation instructions

**Step 2: Configure Resource**

- Under **Resource**, select **Similar Video**

**Step 3: Select Operation**

- Under **Operation**, select **Get Similar Videos**

**Step 4: Authentication**

- Under **Credential to connect with**, select your **NexLev account**
- If not configured, create one using your [API Key](https://dashboard.nexlev.io/nexlev-api/create-api-key)

**Step 5: Enter Video ID** ✅ Required

- In the **Video ID** field, enter the YouTube video ID you want to find similar videos for
- Video IDs are typically 11 characters long (e.g., `eLDq5TflHys`)

![Configure get similar videos operation](https://dashboard.nexlev.io/images/documentation/get-similar-videos.png)

### Execution

Click **Execute step** to retrieve a list of similar videos ranked by relevance.

### Response

> **Tip**
>
> Full response schema and error codes: [Similar Videos — API Reference
> →](/docs/api/similar-videos#get-similar-videos)

## Use Cases

Leverage similar video discovery in your workflows for:

- **Content Research**: Find related videos to understand what content performs well in your niche
- **Competitive Analysis**: Identify similar videos from competitors to analyze their strategies
- **Content Recommendations**: Build recommendation systems for your audience or platform
- **Video Database Building**: Create comprehensive databases of related videos with full metadata
- **Trend Analysis**: Discover trending topics and content patterns by analyzing similar videos
- **SEO Research**: Study how similar videos optimize titles, descriptions, and tags
- **Collaboration Opportunities**: Find creators making similar content for partnership opportunities
- **Gap Analysis**: Identify content opportunities by analyzing what similar videos cover
- **Playlist Creation**: Automatically generate playlists of related content
- **Audience Insights**: Understand what type of content attracts similar audiences

## Best Practices

### Performance Optimization

- **Filter by similarity score**: Focus on videos with similarity scores above 70 for best matches
- **Combine with video details**: Use the Similar Videos API with Video Content API for complete analysis
- **Cache results**: Similar video relationships change slowly, consider caching for 24-48 hours
- **Monitor quota usage**: Each request costs 🥞 **10 quota** — cache results and batch wisely to stay within your plan

### Common Mistakes to Avoid

❌ **Don't**: Use similar videos as the only metric for content decisions
✅ **Do**: Combine similarity data with performance metrics and audience insights

❌ **Don't**: Ignore the format_score when analyzing video similarities
✅ **Do**: Consider both similarity_score and format_score for comprehensive analysis

❌ **Don't**: Process similar videos without filtering by relevance
✅ **Do**: Set minimum similarity thresholds to ensure quality results

## Workflow Examples

These examples show how to implement common use cases in n8n. Each workflow builds on the previous concepts, starting with simple queries and progressing to advanced implementations.

### Example 1: Basic Similar Videos Workflow

**Difficulty**: Beginner | **Time**: 5 minutes | **Use Case**: Content discovery

1. Add a [Manual Trigger](https://docs.n8n.io/integrations/builtin/core-nodes/n8n-nodes-base.manualworkflowtrigger/) or [Schedule Trigger](https://docs.n8n.io/integrations/builtin/core-nodes/n8n-nodes-base.scheduletrigger/) node
2. Add the **NexLev** node and configure it for **Get Similar Videos** operation
3. Add a [Code](https://docs.n8n.io/code-examples/) node to filter videos by criteria (e.g., similarity_score > 70)
4. Add an output node (e.g., [Google Sheets](https://docs.n8n.io/integrations/builtin/app-nodes/n8n-nodes-base.googlesheets/), **Airtable**, [Webhook](https://docs.n8n.io/integrations/builtin/core-nodes/n8n-nodes-base.webhook/))

**Next Steps**: Once you have similar videos, try analyzing their performance metrics.

---

### Example 2: Competitive Content Analysis

**Difficulty**: Intermediate | **Time**: 15 minutes | **Use Case**: Competitor research

1. Add a [Manual Trigger](https://docs.n8n.io/integrations/builtin/core-nodes/n8n-nodes-base.manualworkflowtrigger/) node with a competitor's popular video ID
2. Add the **NexLev** node to get similar videos
3. Add a **Loop** node to process each similar video
4. Add another **NexLev** node inside the loop to get video analytics for each result
5. Add a [Code](https://docs.n8n.io/code-examples/) node to aggregate and analyze competitor data
6. Add a [Google Sheets](https://docs.n8n.io/integrations/builtin/app-nodes/n8n-nodes-base.googlesheets/) or **Notion** node to save the analysis

**Next Steps**: Combine with channel data to build comprehensive competitor profiles.

---

### Content Recommendation System

1. Add a [Webhook Trigger](https://docs.n8n.io/integrations/builtin/core-nodes/n8n-nodes-base.webhook/) node to receive video ID requests
2. Add the **NexLev** node to find similar videos
3. Add a **Filter** node to select high-quality videos (e.g., view count > 10,000)
4. Add a [Code](https://docs.n8n.io/code-examples/) node to format the response
5. Add a **Respond to Webhook** node to return recommendations

### Video Research Database

1. Add a [Schedule Trigger](https://docs.n8n.io/integrations/builtin/core-nodes/n8n-nodes-base.scheduletrigger/) node (e.g., daily)
2. Add a [Google Sheets](https://docs.n8n.io/integrations/builtin/app-nodes/n8n-nodes-base.googlesheets/) node to read a list of seed video IDs
3. Add a **Loop** node to process each video
4. Add the **NexLev** node inside the loop to find similar videos for each seed
5. Add a [Code](https://docs.n8n.io/code-examples/) node to deduplicate and format video data
6. Add an **Airtable** or **Database** node to store the video database

### Trend Discovery Workflow

1. Add a [Manual Trigger](https://docs.n8n.io/integrations/builtin/core-nodes/n8n-nodes-base.manualworkflowtrigger/) node with a trending video ID
2. Add the **NexLev** node to find similar videos
3. Add a [Code](https://docs.n8n.io/code-examples/) node to extract common keywords from titles and descriptions
4. Add a **Filter** node to select recently published videos (e.g., within last 30 days)
5. Add a [Google Sheets](https://docs.n8n.io/integrations/builtin/app-nodes/n8n-nodes-base.googlesheets/) node to track trending topics and patterns

## Related Resources

- [Quickstart Guide](/docs/n8n/quickstart) - Learn how to set up NexLev with n8n
- [Video Content](/docs/n8n/video-content) - Get comprehensive video information
- [Similar Thumbnails](/docs/n8n/similar-thumbnails) - Find videos with similar thumbnails
- [Channel Content](/docs/n8n/channel-content) - Retrieve channel information and video lists
- [Channel Analytics](/docs/n8n/channel-analytics) - Get detailed performance metrics for channels
- [Similar Channels](/docs/n8n/search-similar-channel) - Find channels similar to a target channel

## Support

If you encounter issues or have questions about the Similar Videos API, please contact our support team at [contact@nexlev.io](mailto:contact@nexlev.io) or refer to our troubleshooting guide.