This Raspberry Pi project lets you anxiously watch your YouTube subscriber count in real time

If you’re a content creator, you probably watch your subscription count like a hawk. However, what if you could make a device that does all the tracking for you? Fortunately, it does exist in real life, and while it does take a little bit of DIY, it makes for both a simple and cheap project that a beginner can make.

This Raspberry Pi Pico keeps tabs on your subscriber count

This cool project comes to us from Never Code, who wrote up a full guide on their blog. It’s a pretty simple project; you wire up a screen to a Pi and then feed it your YouTube information. Your Pi will then keep tabs on your subscriber count, so you don’t have to keep refreshing the page.

So, what do you need to make this project, and more importantly, how much will it set you back? Fortunately, the bill of materials is pretty lightweight:

• Raspberry Pi Pico W ($6–$10): The Wi-Fi-enabled version of the Pico. (The regular Pico won’t work here—it needs Wi-Fi!)
• 1602 LCD Display with I2C ($5–$8): A 2-line, 16-character screen. The I2C version uses fewer wires.
• Piezo Buzzer ($1–$2): A little speaker for our tunes. Passive ones work fine.
• Jumper Wires: A handful to connect everything.
• Computer with USB Port: To program the Pico.
• Wi-Fi Network: For the Pico W to connect to the internet.
• Google API Key: Free to set up—we’ll cover this carefully.
• YouTube Channel ID: We’ll find this together.

Never Code believes the project will cost $15-25 if you don’t own anything ahead of time, which is a good price point for a mini tracker. And if you like small and easy projects like this, check out these Raspberry Pi projects you can make in an hour.