YouTube Channel & Video Scraper - Subscribers, Engagement, Comments & Creator Intelligence

Scrape YouTube channels, videos, and search results. Extract subscriber counts, video stats, engagement metrics, comment threads, and creator data. Search by keyword, scrape by channel handle or URL, and analyze upload patterns. Essential for influencer research, competitive analysis, and content strategy.

What's New

• Videos scrape type -- scrapeType: "videos" navigates to individual video pages and extracts title, views, likes, description, and publish date directly from the watch page
• Search scrape type -- scrapeType: "search" with searchQueries input searches YouTube and extracts video results from the search results page
• Session cookies -- optional sessionCookies field for injecting browser cookies to bypass aggressive bot detection and age-restricted content walls
• Bot detection handling -- postNavigationHooks automatically detect CAPTCHA/human verification pages and retry with delay

Features

• Channel Profiles - Subscribers, total views, video count, description, join date
• Video Statistics - Views, likes, comments, duration, upload date, tags
• YouTube Search - Find channels or videos by keyword
• Comment Extraction - Comment text, author, likes, and replies
• Engagement Metrics - Average views, likes, engagement rate per channel
• Upload Patterns - Posting frequency and schedule analysis
• Shorts Detection - Identify YouTube Shorts vs. long-form content
• Playlist Scraping - Extract videos from playlists
• Subscriber Filtering - Minimum subscriber threshold for search
• Anti-Detection - Camoufox stealth browser + residential proxies
• Cookie Authentication - Optional session cookies for reliable access
• Demo Mode - Test with sample data before going live

Who Should Use This Actor?

Influencer Marketing Teams

Find YouTube creators by niche and engagement metrics. Evaluate potential partners based on subscriber growth, engagement rates, and content quality.

Content Creators & YouTubers

Research competitor channels and successful content strategies. Identify trending topics, optimal video lengths, and posting schedules in your niche.

Marketing Agencies

Build YouTube analytics reports for clients. Track competitor channel performance, content strategy, and audience engagement.

Brand Managers

Monitor brand mentions and competitor YouTube activity. Track product reviews, unboxing videos, and sponsored content.

Talent Agencies & MCNs

Discover rising creators for early partnerships. Track creator growth velocity and engagement trends.

Ad Buyers & Media Planners

Find channels matching your target demographics for YouTube ad placements. Analyze channel categories, engagement quality, and audience composition.

Quick Start

Demo Mode (Free Test)

{
  "demoMode": true
}

Scrape Channels by @Handle

{
  "scrapeType": "channels",
  "channelUrls": ["@MrBeast", "@PewDiePie", "@LinusTechTips"],
  "includeVideos": true,
  "videosPerChannel": 10,
  "demoMode": false
}

Scrape Channels by URL

{
  "scrapeType": "channels",
  "channelUrls": [
    "https://www.youtube.com/@MrBeast",
    "https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCX6OQ3DkcsbYNE6H8uQQuVA"
  ],
  "includeVideos": true,
  "demoMode": false
}

Scrape Individual Videos

{
  "scrapeType": "videos",
  "videoUrls": [
    "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ",
    "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abc123"
  ],
  "demoMode": false
}

Navigates to each video page and extracts title, views, likes, description, publish date, and channel info.

Search YouTube

{
  "scrapeType": "search",
  "searchQueries": ["tech reviews", "cooking tutorials"],
  "maxResults": 50,
  "minViews": 10000,
  "demoMode": false
}

Searches YouTube for each query and extracts video results from the search page.

Search for Creators

{
  "scrapeType": "search",
  "searchQueries": ["tech reviews", "cooking tutorials"],
  "searchType": "channel",
  "minSubscribers": 100000,
  "maxResults": 20,
  "demoMode": false
}

Authentication (Optional)

YouTube does not require login for public content, but it blocks scrapers aggressively. Providing session cookies makes scraping more reliable and avoids age-restricted content walls.

How to Get Cookies

1. Install the Cookie-Editor browser extension (Chrome/Firefox/Edge)
2. Go to youtube.com and log in to your Google account
3. Click the Cookie-Editor icon in your browser toolbar
4. Click Export (JSON format) -- this copies all YouTube cookies to your clipboard
5. Paste the JSON array into the sessionCookies input field

Example with Cookies

{
  "scrapeType": "channels",
  "channelUrls": ["@MrBeast"],
  "sessionCookies": "[{\"name\":\"LOGIN_INFO\",\"value\":\"...\",\"domain\":\".youtube.com\"}, ...]",
  "demoMode": false
}

Without Cookies

• Public channels and videos still work
• You may hit bot detection (CAPTCHA / "unusual traffic" pages) more frequently
• Age-restricted content will be blocked

With Cookies

• More reliable scraping with fewer blocks
• Bypasses age-restricted content walls
• Reduces CAPTCHA frequency

Input Parameters

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
scrapeType	string	channels	Mode: channels, videos, search, playlists
channelUrls	array	-	YouTube channel URLs or @handles
videoUrls	array	-	YouTube video URLs to scrape
searchQueries	array	-	Search terms for discovery
searchType	string	channel	Search for: channel, video, playlist
includeVideos	boolean	true	Include recent videos per channel
videosPerChannel	number	10	Videos per channel (max: 50)
includeComments	boolean	false	Scrape comments (slower)
commentsPerVideo	number	20	Comments per video
maxResults	number	50	Maximum results (max: 500)
minSubscribers	number	-	Minimum subscriber threshold
minViews	number	-	Minimum video views threshold
uploadedAfter	string	-	Filter by upload date (YYYY-MM-DD)
sortBy	string	subscribers	Sort: subscribers, views, videoCount, engagement, recent
sessionCookies	string	-	JSON array of cookies from Cookie-Editor extension
proxyConfiguration	object	Residential	Proxy settings
demoMode	boolean	true	Return sample data for testing
webhookUrl	string	-	Webhook URL for results delivery

Output Format

Channel Profile

{
  "channelId": "UCX6OQ3DkcsbYNE6H8uQQuVA",
  "channelName": "MrBeast",
  "handle": "@MrBeast",
  "channelUrl": "https://youtube.com/@MrBeast",
  "description": "SUBSCRIBE FOR A COOKIE!",
  "avatarUrl": "https://yt3.ggpht.com/...",
  "bannerUrl": "https://yt3.ggpht.com/...",
  "subscribers": 345000000,
  "subscriberGrowth": "+2.1M this month",
  "totalViews": 62500000000,
  "videoCount": 812,
  "country": "US",
  "joinedDate": "2012-02-20",
  "verified": true,
  "avgViews": 125000000,
  "avgLikes": 4500000,
  "avgComments": 180000,
  "engagementRate": 3.74,
  "uploadFrequency": "2-3 videos/month",
  "categories": ["Entertainment"],
  "topTags": ["mrbeast", "challenge", "money"],
  "recentVideos": [
    {
      "videoId": "abc123",
      "title": "$1 vs $1,000,000 Hotel Room!",
      "url": "https://youtube.com/watch?v=abc123",
      "thumbnailUrl": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/...",
      "description": "We stayed in the most expensive hotel...",
      "publishedAt": "2025-12-15T19:00:00.000Z",
      "duration": "PT18M32S",
      "durationSeconds": 1112,
      "views": 156000000,
      "likes": 5800000,
      "comments": 245000,
      "isShort": false,
      "tags": ["mrbeast", "hotel", "expensive"],
      "engagementRate": 3.87
    }
  ],
  "scrapedAt": "2026-01-28T10:30:00.000Z"
}

Video Output (from scrapeType: "videos")

{
  "videoId": "dQw4w9WgXcQ",
  "title": "Rick Astley - Never Gonna Give You Up",
  "description": "The official video for Rick Astley...",
  "videoUrl": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ",
  "thumbnailUrl": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/dQw4w9WgXcQ/hqdefault.jpg",
  "channelId": "",
  "channelName": "Rick Astley",
  "publishedAt": "Oct 25, 2009",
  "duration": "",
  "durationSeconds": 0,
  "views": 1500000000,
  "likes": 16000000,
  "comments": 0,
  "tags": [],
  "isShort": false,
  "isLive": false,
  "engagementRate": 1.07,
  "scrapedAt": "2026-03-05T10:00:00.000Z"
}

Search Result Output (from scrapeType: "search")

{
  "videoId": "xyz789",
  "title": "Best Tech Reviews 2026 - Complete Guide",
  "description": "",
  "videoUrl": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyz789",
  "thumbnailUrl": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/xyz789/hqdefault.jpg",
  "channelId": "",
  "channelName": "TechReviewerPro",
  "publishedAt": "2 weeks ago",
  "duration": "",
  "durationSeconds": 0,
  "views": 250000,
  "likes": 7500,
  "comments": 250,
  "tags": [],
  "isShort": false,
  "isLive": false,
  "engagementRate": 0,
  "scrapedAt": "2026-03-05T10:00:00.000Z"
}

Understanding the Output

What is engagementRate? The percentage of viewers who interact: (likes + comments) / views x 100. Higher is better. 3-6% is typical for popular creators.

What is PT18M32S (duration format)? ISO 8601 duration format. PT18M32S = 18 minutes, 32 seconds. durationSeconds is also provided for convenience.

What is uploadFrequency? How often the creator posts, like "2-3 videos/month" or "daily".

Pricing (Pay-Per-Event)

Event	Description	Price
actor-start	Base cost per run	$0.10
channel-scraped	Per channel profile	$0.05
video-scraped	Per video extracted	$0.003
comment-scraped	Per comment extracted	$0.001

Example costs:

• 50 channels with 10 videos each: $0.10 + (50 x $0.05) + (500 x $0.003) = $4.10
• 100 videos with 20 comments each: $0.10 + (100 x $0.003) + (2000 x $0.001) = $2.40
• 10 channels, profiles only: $0.10 + (10 x $0.05) = $0.60
• Search 5 queries, 50 results each: $0.10 + (250 x $0.003) = $0.85
• Demo mode: $0.00

Common Scenarios

Scenario 1: Influencer Discovery

{
  "scrapeType": "search",
  "searchQueries": ["fitness workout", "home exercise"],
  "searchType": "channel",
  "minSubscribers": 50000,
  "maxResults": 100,
  "demoMode": false
}

Find fitness creators with engaged audiences for brand partnerships.

Scenario 2: Competitor Channel Tracking

{
  "scrapeType": "channels",
  "channelUrls": ["@YourChannel", "@Competitor1", "@Competitor2"],
  "includeVideos": true,
  "videosPerChannel": 20,
  "demoMode": false
}

Schedule weekly to track competitor content strategy and performance.

Scenario 3: Trending Content Analysis

{
  "scrapeType": "search",
  "searchQueries": ["AI tools 2026"],
  "searchType": "video",
  "minViews": 10000,
  "uploadedAfter": "2025-12-01",
  "maxResults": 50,
  "demoMode": false
}

Find trending videos in your topic area for content inspiration.

Scenario 4: Deep Video Analysis

{
  "scrapeType": "videos",
  "videoUrls": [
    "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=video1",
    "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=video2",
    "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=video3"
  ],
  "includeComments": true,
  "commentsPerVideo": 50,
  "demoMode": false
}

Scrape specific videos with full details and top comments for content analysis.

Webhook & Automation Integration

Webhook Configuration

{
  "scrapeType": "channels",
  "channelUrls": ["@CompetitorChannel"],
  "webhookUrl": "https://your-endpoint.com/webhook"
}

Zapier / Make.com / n8n

1. Create a webhook trigger in your automation platform
2. Copy the webhook URL to webhookUrl
3. Route results to Google Sheets, Slack, Airtable, etc.

Popular automations:

• New competitor videos -> Slack alert (competitive awareness)
• Channel metrics -> Google Sheets (performance dashboard)
• Creator data -> Airtable (influencer database)
• High-engagement videos -> Email to content team

Apify Scheduled Runs

Schedule daily or weekly runs for continuous YouTube monitoring.

Official API Alternatives

YouTube Data API v3

YouTube offers an official API:

• Pros: Official, real-time, structured data, comment management
• Cons: 10,000 quota units/day (each request costs 1-100 units), requires API key
• Best for: Applications needing real-time, authenticated access

Alternative YouTube Tools

• Social Blade - Creator stats and rankings (free/premium)
• VidIQ - YouTube SEO tools ($7.50+/month)
• TubeBuddy - Creator tools ($7.99+/month)
• NoxInfluencer - Influencer analytics (free/premium)

This Scraper's Advantages

1. No API quota limits - Not constrained by daily quotas
2. Engagement rate calculation - Pre-calculated engagement metrics
3. Upload frequency analysis - Content schedule patterns
4. Subscriber growth - Growth velocity data
5. Batch processing - Hundreds of channels per run
6. Pay-per-result pricing

FAQ

Q: Do I need a YouTube/Google account?

A: No. This scraper works with public YouTube data. No login required. However, providing session cookies via sessionCookies improves reliability and avoids bot detection.

Q: How do I format channel URLs?

A: Use @handles (e.g., @MrBeast), full URLs (e.g., https://www.youtube.com/@MrBeast), or channel IDs (e.g., UCX6OQ3DkcsbYNE6H8uQQuVA).

Q: Can I track subscriber growth over time?

A: Schedule regular runs and compare subscriber counts between runs to track growth velocity.

Q: Does this scrape YouTube Shorts?

A: Yes. Shorts are included in channel videos with isShort: true for identification.

Q: Can I filter private or unlisted videos?

A: No. Only public videos are accessible. Unlisted and private videos are not visible.

Q: What is the difference between "videos" and "search" scrape types?

A: videos navigates directly to specific video URLs you provide and extracts full details from the watch page. search takes keyword queries, searches YouTube, and extracts video results from the search results page.

Troubleshooting

Problem	Cause	Solution
"Channel not found"	Missing @ symbol or bad URL	Include @ for handles (e.g., @MrBeast), use full URL, or verify channel exists in browser
"Videos missing or limited"	Low videosPerChannel, unlisted/private videos	Increase videosPerChannel (max 50). Some videos may be unlisted, private, or region-restricted
"Comments not appearing"	Comments disabled or includeComments not set	Set includeComments: true. Comments may be disabled on some videos. Costs more and is slower
"Demo data showing"	demoMode still enabled	Set demoMode: false -- no account required
Bot detection / CAPTCHA	YouTube blocking automated access	Add sessionCookies from Cookie-Editor. Use residential proxies. Space out runs
Age-restricted content blocked	No cookies provided	Export cookies while logged in via Cookie-Editor and paste into sessionCookies
"Unusual traffic" warning	Too many requests or datacenter IP detected	Use residential proxy, add session cookies, reduce maxResults, space runs 15+ min apart
Empty search results	Query too narrow or minViews too high	Broaden search queries, lower minViews threshold, remove date filters
Timeout errors	YouTube slow to load or heavy page	Increase retries (built-in 3 retries). Large channels take longer to load video tabs

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Support

• Actor Arsenal: Full Actor Catalog
• Developer: John Rippy

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