# YouTube Scraper — Videos, Channels, Comments, Likes & Dislikes (`arpitgandhi1934/youtube-scraper`) Actor Scrape YouTube without the API limits. Search videos by keyword or scrape a whole channel by name — with views, likes, dislikes, comments, subtitles, and full metadata. No login, no API key. Export to JSON, CSV, or Excel. - **URL**: https://apify.com/arpitgandhi1934/youtube-scraper.md - **Developed by:** [Arpit Gandhi](https://apify.com/arpitgandhi1934) (community) - **Categories:** Videos, Social media, Developer tools - **Stats:** 1 total users, 0 monthly users, 97.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks - **User rating**: No ratings yet ## Pricing from $2.00 / 1,000 results This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events. Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-event ## What's an Apify Actor? Actors are a software tools running on the Apify platform, for all kinds of web data extraction and automation use cases. 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. Actors are written with capital "A". ## 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. The best way to integrate Actors is as follows. In JavaScript/TypeScript projects, use official [JavaScript/TypeScript client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): ```bash npm install apify-client ``` In Python projects, use official [Python client library](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): ```bash pip install apify-client ``` In shell scripts, use [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): ````bash # MacOS / Linux curl -fsSL https://apify.com/install-cli.sh | bash # Windows irm https://apify.com/install-cli.ps1 | iex ```bash In AI frameworks, you might use the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md). If your project is in a different language, use the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md). For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below. For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt). # README ## ▶️ YouTube Scraper — Videos, Channels, Comments & More **Pull YouTube data in bulk — without the API limits, without logging in.** Search for videos, scrape an entire channel by name, extract comments, get likes and dislikes, subtitles, and full metadata. Clean, structured data ready for Excel, JSON, or your app. 🎬 > 🚫 No login · 🔑 No API key · 🤖 No setup · ⚡ Fast · 🌍 Any video, channel, or topic --- ### 🧭 What can it do? There are **4 simple ways** to use it. Pick whichever fits — you can even mix them in one run. | You want… | Use this input | Example | |---|---|---| | 🔎 Videos about a **topic** | **Search terms** | `"lofi hip hop"` | | 📺 **A creator's whole channel** | **Channels** | `"Fireship"` | | 🎧 **A playlist's** videos | **Start URLs** | a playlist link | | 📹 **Specific videos** | **Start URLs** | one or more video links | Every result comes back with the same rich data: title, views, likes, dislikes, duration, upload date, channel, subscribers, description — plus optional **comments** and **subtitle info**. --- ### 🚀 Quick start (30 seconds) 1. Pick an input — type a **search term**, a **channel name**, or paste a **YouTube link**. 2. Set **Max items** — how many videos you want. 3. (Optional) Turn on **comments**, **dislikes**, or **subtitles**. 4. Click **Start**. Download as JSON, CSV, or Excel. That's it. No account, no keys, nothing to configure. --- ### 📖 The 4 ways to use it — with examples #### 1️⃣ Search for videos 🔎 Type keywords, just like the YouTube search bar. Get the top matching videos. ```json { "searchTerms": ["apify tutorial"], "maxItems": 50 } ```` #### 2️⃣ Scrape a whole channel 📺 *(great for creators!)* Just type the **channel name** — no URL needed. Get **every video** with full stats. Perfect for tracking your own channel or a competitor's. ```json { "channels": ["Fireship"], "maxItems": 100 } ``` You can also use an `@handle` or a channel URL: ```json { "channels": ["@RickAstleyYT", "MrBeast"], "maxItems": 200 } ``` #### 3️⃣ Scrape a playlist 🎧 Paste a playlist link to get all its videos. ```json { "startUrls": ["https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLxxxxxx"], "maxItems": 100 } ``` #### 4️⃣ Scrape specific videos 📹 Paste one or more video links. ```json { "startUrls": ["https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ"] } ``` #### ➕ Add comments and dislikes to any of the above 💬👎 ```json { "channels": ["Fireship"], "maxItems": 50, "maxComments": 20, "includeDislikes": true } ``` *** ### ⚙️ All input options | Field | What it does | Default | |---|---|---| | 🔎 **Search terms** | Keywords to search on YouTube | — | | 📺 **Channels** | Channel **name**, `@handle`, or URL → all their videos | — | | 🔗 **Start URLs** | Video, channel, playlist, or search links | — | | 🔢 **Max items** | How many videos per search / channel / playlist | `10` | | 💬 **Max comments per video** | Number of top comments to pull (`0` = none) | `0` | | 👎 **Include dislikes** | Add an estimated dislike count | `off` | | 📝 **Include subtitles** | List/attempt subtitle download | `off` | | 🧾 **Full video details** | Category, keywords, exact duration | `off` | *(You need at least one of: Search terms, Channels, or Start URLs.)* *** ### 📤 What you get (output) **One clean row per video.** Here's a real example: ```json { "id": "dQw4w9WgXcQ", "title": "Rick Astley - Never Gonna Give You Up (Official Video)", "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ", "thumbnailUrl": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/dQw4w9WgXcQ/maxresdefault.jpg", "viewCount": 1792628321, "likes": 19243762, "dislikes": 514894, "duration": "3:33", "date": "Oct 24, 2009", "channelName": "Rick Astley", "channelUrl": "https://www.youtube.com/@RickAstleyYT", "numberOfSubscribers": 4520000, "text": "The official video for “Never Gonna Give You Up”...", "commentsCount": 3, "comments": [ { "author": "@YouTube", "text": "can confirm: he never gave us up", "likes": 268000, "replyCount": 412, "publishedTime": "2 years ago" } ], "fromYTUrl": "https://www.youtube.com/@RickAstleyYT", "scrapedAt": "2026-07-14T12:00:00.000Z" } ``` #### 📋 Every field explained | Field | Description | |---|---| | 🆔 `id`, 🔗 `url` | Video ID and link | | 🏷️ `title` | Video title | | 🖼️ `thumbnailUrl` | Highest-res thumbnail | | 👀 `viewCount` | Number of views | | 👍 `likes` | Exact like count | | 👎 `dislikes` | Estimated dislikes *(only if enabled)* | | ⏱️ `duration` | Video length (e.g. `3:33`) | | 📅 `date` | Upload date | | 📺 `channelName`, `channelUrl`, `channelId` | Channel info | | 📈 `numberOfSubscribers` | Channel subscriber count | | 📝 `text` | Full video description | | 🏷️ `category`, `keywords` | Category and tags *(with Full details)* | | 💬 `commentsCount`, `comments` | Comments: author, text, likes, replies, time | | 🗣️ `availableSubtitles`, `subtitles` | Subtitle languages (+ SRT if available) | | 🔗 `fromYTUrl` | Where this result came from | | 📅 `scrapedAt` | When it was scraped | *** ### 💡 Who is this for? - 🎥 **Creators** — track your channel's performance, or study competitors' videos, views, and engagement - 📣 **Marketers & brands** — find influencers, monitor mentions, analyze what's trending - 🔬 **Researchers** — study topics, opinions, and comment sentiment at scale - 🤖 **AI & data teams** — feed video metadata and comments into your pipelines - 🏢 **Agencies** — build reports and dashboards from live YouTube data *** ### ❓ FAQ **Do I need a YouTube account or API key?** No. It uses YouTube's public data. Nothing to log in to, nothing to set up. **Can I really scrape a channel just by its name?** Yes! Type `"Fireship"` (or an `@handle`, or a channel URL) in the **Channels** field and it pulls all their videos with full stats. This is the easiest way to do channel analytics. **Can it get dislikes?** Yes, as an **estimate**. YouTube removed public dislikes in 2021, so we use the community *Return YouTube Dislike* database — accurate for older videos, a solid estimate for newer ones. Turn on **Include dislikes** to add it. **Can I get comments?** Yes. Set **Max comments per video** to how many you want (e.g. `20`). Each comment includes the author, text, likes, reply count, and time. **What about subtitles?** The scraper lists every video's available subtitle **languages**. Downloading the subtitle **text** depends on YouTube availability (they recently locked this behind bot-checks), so it's best-effort. **How many videos can I scrape?** Thousands per input. Very large runs may fluctuate depending on YouTube. **Which proxy should I use?** The default (Apify Proxy) works great. Residential is available if you ever need it. *** ### 🔒 Notes - Scrapes **publicly available** data only. - Please respect copyright and privacy laws (e.g. GDPR) when handling personal data like comments. - Not affiliated with YouTube. *Channel, playlist, video, search, and comments are all supported today. Subtitle text download is best-effort. Questions or a bug? Open an issue on the actor's Issues tab.* # Actor input Schema ## `searchTerms` (type: `array`): Keywords to search on YouTube, as you'd type in the search bar. One or more. ## `channels` (type: `array`): Channel names, @handles, or channel URLs — pulls all their videos with full data. Great for creator analytics. One or more. ## `startUrls` (type: `array`): YouTube video, channel, playlist, or search URLs. One or more. ## `maxItems` (type: `integer`): Max videos per search term. ## `enrich` (type: `boolean`): Fetch each video's full metadata (likes, description, keywords, category). Off = fast search-feed fields only. ## `includeSubtitles` (type: `boolean`): Download available subtitles/transcripts (auto + manual) as SRT. ## `includeDislikes` (type: `boolean`): Add an estimated dislike count via Return YouTube Dislike (3rd-party estimate — YouTube removed public dislikes in 2021). ## `proxyConfiguration` (type: `object`): Proxy — RESIDENTIAL required (datacenter IPs hit YouTube bot challenges). ## `maxComments` (type: `integer`): How many top comments to pull per video (0 = none). ## Actor input object example ```json { "searchTerms": [ "lofi hip hop" ], "channels": [ "@RickAstleyYT" ], "maxItems": 10, "enrich": true, "includeSubtitles": false, "includeDislikes": false, "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": true, "apifyProxyGroups": [ "RESIDENTIAL" ] }, "maxComments": 0 } ``` # 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 '' with your token const client = new ApifyClient({ token: '', }); // Prepare Actor input const input = { "searchTerms": [ "lofi hip hop" ], "channels": [ "@RickAstleyYT" ], "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": true, "apifyProxyGroups": [ "RESIDENTIAL" ] } }; // Run the Actor and wait for it to finish const run = await client.actor("arpitgandhi1934/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 '' with your token. client = ApifyClient("") # Prepare the Actor input run_input = { "searchTerms": ["lofi hip hop"], "channels": ["@RickAstleyYT"], "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": True, "apifyProxyGroups": ["RESIDENTIAL"], }, } # Run the Actor and wait for it to finish run = client.actor("arpitgandhi1934/youtube-scraper").call(run_input=run_input) # Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any) print("💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/" + run["defaultDatasetId"]) for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items(): print(item) # 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start ``` ## CLI example ```bash echo '{ "searchTerms": [ "lofi hip hop" ], "channels": [ "@RickAstleyYT" ], "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": true, "apifyProxyGroups": [ "RESIDENTIAL" ] } }' | apify call arpitgandhi1934/youtube-scraper --silent --output-dataset ``` ## MCP server setup ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "command": "npx", "args": [ "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=arpitgandhi1934/youtube-scraper", "--header", "Authorization: Bearer " ] } } } ``` ## OpenAPI specification ```json { "openapi": "3.0.1", "info": { "title": "YouTube Scraper — Videos, Channels, Comments, Likes & Dislikes", "description": "Scrape YouTube without the API limits. Search videos by keyword or scrape a whole channel by name — with views, likes, dislikes, comments, subtitles, and full metadata. No login, no API key. Export to JSON, CSV, or Excel.", "version": "0.1", "x-build-id": "Y1OyirHEI4HSb2gUK" }, "servers": [ { "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2" } ], "paths": { "/acts/arpitgandhi1934~youtube-scraper/run-sync-get-dataset-items": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-arpitgandhi1934-youtube-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for its completion, and returns Actor's dataset items in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } }, "/acts/arpitgandhi1934~youtube-scraper/runs": { "post": { "operationId": "runs-sync-arpitgandhi1934-youtube-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK", "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema" } } } } } } }, "/acts/arpitgandhi1934~youtube-scraper/run-sync": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-arpitgandhi1934-youtube-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } } }, "components": { "schemas": { "inputSchema": { "type": "object", "properties": { "searchTerms": { "title": "🔎 Search terms", "type": "array", "description": "Keywords to search on YouTube, as you'd type in the search bar. One or more.", "items": { "type": "string" } }, "channels": { "title": "📺 Channels", "type": "array", "description": "Channel names, @handles, or channel URLs — pulls all their videos with full data. Great for creator analytics. One or more.", "items": { "type": "string" } }, "startUrls": { "title": "🔗 Start URLs", "type": "array", "description": "YouTube video, channel, playlist, or search URLs. One or more.", "items": { "type": "string" } }, "maxItems": { "title": "Max items", "minimum": 1, "maximum": 20000, "type": "integer", "description": "Max videos per search term.", "default": 10 }, "enrich": { "title": "Full video details", "type": "boolean", "description": "Fetch each video's full metadata (likes, description, keywords, category). Off = fast search-feed fields only.", "default": true }, "includeSubtitles": { "title": "Include subtitles", "type": "boolean", "description": "Download available subtitles/transcripts (auto + manual) as SRT.", "default": false }, "includeDislikes": { "title": "Include dislikes (estimated)", "type": "boolean", "description": "Add an estimated dislike count via Return YouTube Dislike (3rd-party estimate — YouTube removed public dislikes in 2021).", "default": false }, "proxyConfiguration": { "title": "Proxy", "type": "object", "description": "Proxy — RESIDENTIAL required (datacenter IPs hit YouTube bot challenges).", "default": { "useApifyProxy": true, "apifyProxyGroups": [ "RESIDENTIAL" ] } }, "maxComments": { "title": "💬 Max comments per video", "minimum": 0, "maximum": 5000, "type": "integer", "description": "How many top comments to pull per video (0 = none).", "default": 0 } } }, "runsResponseSchema": { "type": "object", "properties": { "data": { "type": "object", "properties": { "id": { "type": "string" }, "actId": { "type": "string" }, "userId": { "type": "string" }, "startedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "finishedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "status": { "type": "string", "example": "READY" }, "meta": { "type": "object", "properties": { "origin": { "type": "string", "example": "API" }, "userAgent": { "type": "string" } } }, "stats": { "type": "object", "properties": { "inputBodyLen": { "type": "integer", "example": 2000 }, "rebootCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "restartCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "resurrectCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "computeUnits": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "options": { "type": "object", "properties": { "build": { "type": "string", "example": "latest" }, "timeoutSecs": { "type": "integer", "example": 300 }, "memoryMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 1024 }, "diskMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 2048 } } }, "buildId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultKeyValueStoreId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultDatasetId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultRequestQueueId": { "type": "string" }, "buildNumber": { "type": "string", "example": "1.0.0" }, "containerUrl": { "type": "string" }, "usage": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 1 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "usageTotalUsd": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "usageUsd": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } } } } } } } } } ```