# YouTube Scraper - Channels, Videos, Search, Shorts & Transcript (`admirala/youtube-scraper`) Actor

YouTube scraper without API key: search results, channel videos, Shorts, live streams, playlists and video details (views, likes, tags, date, subscribers). Optional transcripts. $0.0033 per result.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/admirala/youtube-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Ja doei](https://apify.com/admirala) (community)
- **Categories:** Videos, Social media
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $2.31 / 1,000 per video or channel record delivereds

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.
Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## YouTube Scraper - Channels, Videos, Search, Shorts & Transcript

> ✅ **Tested daily** with its default input (Apify's automated QA plus our own smoke test before every release).

**YouTube scraper without an API key or quota.** Give it search keywords, channels, playlists or single video links and get clean JSON for every video: title, full description, exact publish date, duration, views, likes, tags, category, channel name and subscriber count, Shorts and live flags. Channels come back as their own record with subscribers, video count, total views, country and the links shown on the channel page. Captions can be added as a transcript in the same run.

**$0.0033 per result** (video or channel record), lower on higher Apify plans. The date filter is included, no add-on fee.

### What you can scrape

- **YouTube search**: videos, Shorts or channels for any keyword, with YouTube's own filters (sort by relevance or popularity, upload date, video length)
- **Channel videos**: the Videos, Shorts and Live tabs of any channel, newest first, by URL, `@handle` or channel ID
- **Video details**: any list of video URLs or IDs (watch, youtu.be, shorts, live, embed)
- **Playlists**: all videos of a playlist in playlist order
- **Transcripts (optional)**: the captions of each video as plain text plus timestamped segments

### Why this scraper

- **Complete video records**: exact publish timestamp, exact view count, likes, tags and category for every video, not only what the result list shows
- **Subscriber count on every video**: looked up once per channel and reused
- **Cutoff date that saves money**: with `publishedAfter` the channel tabs stop paging as soon as older videos appear, so you only pay for what you keep
- **Light and fast**: reads YouTube's public JSON data, nothing is downloaded (no video, no thumbnails). 100 results usually take 10 to 20 seconds
- **Works around blocking automatically**: requests go out directly first; if YouTube blocks them the Actor switches to Apify datacenter proxy and, only if still needed, to residential proxy. Proxy cost is included in the price
- **Deduplicated output**: a video found by two queries or sources is delivered (and charged) once

### Input

| Field | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
| `searchQueries` | – | Keywords to search |
| `searchType` | `video` | `video`, `shorts` or `channel` |
| `maxResultsPerQuery` | 20 | Results per search query |
| `sortBy` | `relevance` | `relevance` or `popularity` |
| `uploadDate` | `any` | `today`, `week`, `month`, `year` |
| `duration` | `any` | `short` (< 3 min), `medium` (3-20 min), `long` (> 20 min) |
| `channels` | – | Channel URLs, `@handles` or `UC...` IDs |
| `channelVideos` / `channelShorts` / `channelStreams` | true / false / false | Which channel tabs to scrape |
| `maxResultsPerChannel` | 20 | Videos per channel and per tab |
| `publishedAfter` | – | `YYYY-MM-DD` or relative, e.g. `7 days`, `3 months` |
| `videoUrls` | – | Single videos for full details |
| `playlists` | – | Playlist URLs or IDs |
| `maxResultsPerPlaylist` | 50 | Videos per playlist |
| `videoDetails` | true | Exact date, likes, tags, category, full description (false = list data only, faster) |
| `channelInfo` | true | Subscriber count on videos + one record per input channel |
| `includeTranscript` | false | Add captions ($0.0049 per transcript) |
| `transcriptLanguage` | `en` | Preferred caption language(s), e.g. `de,en` |

Example:

```json
{
  "searchQueries": ["web scraping tutorial"],
  "maxResultsPerQuery": 50,
  "channels": ["@GoogleDevelopers"],
  "channelShorts": true,
  "maxResultsPerChannel": 100,
  "publishedAfter": "30 days"
}
```

### Output

Video record:

```json
{
  "type": "video",
  "id": "SOF3_evPje8",
  "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOF3_evPje8",
  "title": "Design and replicate voices with Gemini 3.8 Flash TTS",
  "description": "See how Gemini 3.8 Flash TTS lets you design custom voices ...",
  "publishedAt": "2026-10-21T12:00:23-07:00",
  "duration": 849,
  "views": 26389,
  "likes": 260,
  "channelName": "Google for Developers",
  "channelId": "UC_x5XG1OV2P6uZZ5FSM9Ttw",
  "channelUrl": "https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_x5XG1OV2P6uZZ5FSM9Ttw",
  "channelHandle": "@GoogleDevelopers",
  "channelSubscribers": 2680000,
  "tags": ["Google", "developers"],
  "category": "Science & Technology",
  "thumbnails": [{"quality": "hqdefault", "url": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/SOF3_evPje8/hqdefault.jpg"}],
  "isShort": false,
  "isLive": false,
  "source": {"type": "channel", "channel": "@GoogleDevelopers", "tab": "videos"}
}
```

Channel record:

```json
{
  "type": "channel",
  "channelId": "UC_x5XG1OV2P6uZZ5FSM9Ttw",
  "name": "Google for Developers",
  "handle": "@GoogleDevelopers",
  "subscribers": 2680000,
  "videoCount": 6120,
  "totalViews": 366512479,
  "joinedDate": "Aug 22, 2007",
  "country": "United States",
  "description": "Welcome to Google for Developers! ...",
  "links": [{"title": "Website", "url": "https://developers.google.com"}]
}
```

Subscriber counts are as YouTube displays them publicly (rounded, e.g. 2.68M). Likes are empty when the creator hides them. With `includeTranscript` a video also gets `transcript`, `transcriptSegments` (`start`/`end` in seconds), `transcriptLanguage` and `transcriptIsAutoGenerated`.

### Pricing (pay per event)

- **$0.0033 per result** (one video or one channel record); $0.0028 on Silver, $0.00231 on Gold and above
- **$0.0049 per transcript** delivered (optional; videos without captions are not charged for it)
- Inputs that fail (unknown channel, private video) are free

So 1,000 videos with full details and subscriber counts cost $3.30 on the free plan. Set the max-results fields or a maximum cost per run to cap spending.

### What this Actor does not collect

Only public video and channel metadata. No comments, no subscriber lists, no e-mail addresses or other contact data, no login, no video or audio download. Make sure your use of the data follows YouTube's terms and applicable law.

### Use with AI agents (MCP)

This Actor can be used as a tool by AI agents (Claude, Cursor, VS Code, other MCP clients) through the official [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/mcp):

- Add only this Actor as a tool: `https://mcp.apify.com?tools=admirala/youtube-scraper` (sign in with OAuth or an Apify API token).
- Or connect `https://mcp.apify.com` and let the agent find it with `search-actors` (e.g. "youtube scraper channel videos"), read the input schema with `fetch-actor-details` and run it with `call-actor`.

Example input an agent can pass:

```json
{
  "searchQueries": ["best budget laptop 2026"],
  "maxResultsPerQuery": 20,
  "sortBy": "popularity"
}
```

Cost per call: $0.0033 per video or channel returned (plus $0.0049 per transcript if `includeTranscript` is true). Results come back as dataset items (`get-dataset-items`).

### FAQ

**Do I need a YouTube Data API key?**
No. The Actor reads the same public data the YouTube website loads, so there is no API key and no daily quota.

**How do I scrape all videos of a YouTube channel?**
Put the channel URL or `@handle` in `channels` and set `maxResultsPerChannel` high enough (e.g. 5000). Turn on `channelShorts` and `channelStreams` to include Shorts and live streams.

**How do I get only recent videos?**
Set `publishedAfter` to a date (`2026-10-01`) or a period (`7 days`). Channel scraping stops at the first older video, so you are not charged for old ones.

**Can I scrape YouTube Shorts?**
Yes: set `searchType` to `shorts` for Shorts search results, or enable `channelShorts` for a channel's Shorts tab. Every video has an `isShort` flag.

**Can I get the transcript of each video?**
Yes, enable `includeTranscript`. It uses the video's existing captions (creator-made or auto-generated) and costs $0.0049 per transcript. For transcripts only, use the dedicated YouTube Transcript Scraper below.

**Does it download videos or thumbnails?**
No. Thumbnail URLs are returned, nothing is downloaded.

### Related actors

- [YouTube Transcript Scraper - Text, Timestamps & SRT](https://apify.com/admirala/youtube-transcript-scraper)
- [YouTube Transcript & Audio to Text (Whisper) - SRT/VTT](https://apify.com/admirala/audio-to-subtitles)
- [Podcast Transcription - RSS Feed to Text, SRT & VTT](https://apify.com/admirala/podcast-rss-transcriber)

### More examples

Ready-to-run Python, curl and MCP examples with real sample output: https://github.com/AdmiraalA/apify-scrapers-examples

# Actor input Schema

## `searchQueries` (type: `array`):

Keywords to search on YouTube, one per line. Each query returns up to 'Max results per search query' items. Example: \["web scraping tutorial", "lofi hip hop"].

## `searchType` (type: `string`):

What the search returns: regular videos, Shorts, or channels (channel profile with subscribers, video count, country and links).

## `maxResultsPerQuery` (type: `integer`):

Maximum number of results per search query. You pay per result, so this caps the cost per query.

## `sortBy` (type: `string`):

Search ordering, as offered by YouTube's own search filters.

## `uploadDate` (type: `string`):

YouTube's upload-date search filter. For an exact cutoff use 'Published after' below.

## `duration` (type: `string`):

YouTube's duration search filter (search only).

## `channels` (type: `array`):

Channel URLs, @handles or channel IDs (UC...). For each channel you get one channel record (subscribers, video count, total views, country, links, description) plus its newest videos. Example: \["@GoogleDevelopers", "https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_x5XG1OV2P6uZZ5FSM9Ttw"].

## `channelVideos` (type: `boolean`):

Scrape the channel's Videos tab (newest first).

## `channelShorts` (type: `boolean`):

Also scrape the channel's Shorts tab.

## `channelStreams` (type: `boolean`):

Also scrape the channel's Live tab (current and past live streams).

## `maxResultsPerChannel` (type: `integer`):

Maximum number of videos per channel and per selected tab (videos / shorts / streams), newest first.

## `publishedAfter` (type: `string`):

Only return videos published on or after this date: 'YYYY-MM-DD' or a relative period like '7 days', '3 months', '1 year'. Channel tabs stop paging as soon as older videos appear, so you do not pay for them. Leave empty for no cutoff.

## `videoUrls` (type: `array`):

Individual videos to get full details for: watch, youtu.be, shorts, live or embed URLs, or 11-character video IDs.

## `playlists` (type: `array`):

Playlist URLs (with list=...) or playlist IDs. Returns the videos in playlist order.

## `maxResultsPerPlaylist` (type: `integer`):

Maximum number of videos per playlist.

## `videoDetails` (type: `boolean`):

true = exact publish date, likes, tags, category, full description and exact view count for every video (one small extra request per video, same price). false = only what the result list shows (faster): relative date like '2 days ago' and rounded views.

## `channelInfo` (type: `boolean`):

true = add the channel's subscriber count to every video and output one channel record per input channel.

## `includeTranscript` (type: `boolean`):

Add the video's captions as text plus timestamped segments. Charged separately: $0.0049 per transcript delivered (videos without captions are not charged for the transcript).

## `transcriptLanguage` (type: `string`):

Preferred caption language(s), comma-separated, e.g. 'en' or 'de,en'. If none is available the first available track is used.

## `allowResidentialProxy` (type: `boolean`):

If YouTube blocks the direct and datacenter routes, retry through Apify residential proxy. Included in the price.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "searchQueries": [
    "web scraping tutorial"
  ],
  "searchType": "video",
  "maxResultsPerQuery": 10,
  "sortBy": "relevance",
  "uploadDate": "any",
  "duration": "any",
  "channels": [
    "https://www.youtube.com/@GoogleDevelopers"
  ],
  "channelVideos": true,
  "channelShorts": false,
  "channelStreams": false,
  "maxResultsPerChannel": 10,
  "maxResultsPerPlaylist": 50,
  "videoDetails": true,
  "channelInfo": true,
  "includeTranscript": false,
  "transcriptLanguage": "en",
  "allowResidentialProxy": true
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

No description

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "searchQueries": [
        "web scraping tutorial"
    ],
    "maxResultsPerQuery": 10,
    "channels": [
        "https://www.youtube.com/@GoogleDevelopers"
    ],
    "maxResultsPerChannel": 10
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("admirala/youtube-scraper").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {
    "searchQueries": ["web scraping tutorial"],
    "maxResultsPerQuery": 10,
    "channels": ["https://www.youtube.com/@GoogleDevelopers"],
    "maxResultsPerChannel": 10,
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("admirala/youtube-scraper").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "searchQueries": [
    "web scraping tutorial"
  ],
  "maxResultsPerQuery": 10,
  "channels": [
    "https://www.youtube.com/@GoogleDevelopers"
  ],
  "maxResultsPerChannel": 10
}' |
apify call admirala/youtube-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,admirala/youtube-scraper"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/YduQPFT9Gk2xQhhT9/builds/tQcx0n9KnLcE5h8EL/openapi.json