# YouTube Shorts Scraper (`calm_builder/youtube-shorts-scraper`) Actor

Scrape YouTube Shorts from channels, search terms, hashtags and Short links. Exact views, likes and comment counts, publish date, hashtags, sound, channel details with social links and comments. Fast and low cost.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/calm\_builder/youtube-shorts-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Coder](https://apify.com/calm_builder) (community)
- **Stats:** 14 total users, 13 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $0.80 / 1,000 shorts

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 Shorts Scraper

Scrape **YouTube Shorts** from **channels, search terms, hashtags and Short links** into clean JSON, CSV or Excel. Every Short comes with **exact views, likes and comment count**, publish date, duration, description, hashtags and channel - plus optional **sound / music**, **channel details with every social link** and **comments with replies**. No YouTube account, no login and no API key needed.

Use it for **trend and hashtag research**, **influencer discovery**, **competitor monitoring**, **content ideas** and **short-form video analytics**.

### What you get

#### Every Short

Title, description, hashtags, exact view / like / comment counts, publish date, duration, thumbnail, channel (name, handle, link), made-for-kids and age-restriction flags, and where it came from (channel, search term or hashtag and its position).

#### Optional extras

- **Sound** - the song or sound the Short uses (or "Original sound").
- **Channel details** - subscribers, total views, video count, country, join date and all social / website links, in their own table.
- **Comments** - with exact likes and publish time, and replies if you want them, in their own table.

Shorts are always in the main (default) table, so integrations, exports and the API get them straight away. The run log ends with one line per table and a link to it.

### Input

| Field | What it does |
| --- | --- |
| **Search terms or hashtags** | Keywords to search Shorts for; start with `#` for a hashtag |
| **Channels, Shorts and hashtag links** | Channel `@handle` or URL (its Shorts tab), Short links, hashtag pages and YouTube search links |
| **Shorts per channel, search or hashtag** | How many Shorts to collect for each |
| **Channel Shorts order** | Latest, most popular or oldest first |
| **Search sort / upload date** | Relevance or popularity; today, this week, this month or this year |
| **Published after** | Only Shorts newer than a date (`2026-09-01`) or a period (`7 days`) |
| **$ Add Shorts sound / $ Add channel details / $ Comments per Short** | Optional extras, each charged per row |

#### Example input

```json
{
    "searchQueries": ["#cooking"],
    "startUrls": ["@MrBeast", "https://www.youtube.com/shorts/T_SMf9j50uc"],
    "maxShorts": 20,
    "channelSortBy": "popular"
}
```

***

### Pricing

You pay only for results you receive - never for searches, filters, retries or Shorts that turned out to be private or removed.

| Result | Price per 1,000 |
| --- | --- |
| Short (full details) | **$1.50** |
| Shorts sound add-on (per Short) | **$0.50** |
| Channel details add-on (per channel) | **$2.00** |
| Comment or reply | **$0.50** |

Prices are for the Apify Free plan; paid Apify plans get lower prices automatically. **Sorting, search filters and date filters are free.** You can set a maximum cost per run in the run options - the Actor stops cleanly when it is reached.

### Free plan

On Apify's free plan a run uses up to 5 search terms or links and up to 10 Shorts each (3 comments per Short, no replies). Every feature works, so you can try all of them before upgrading.

### Good to know

- **Hashtags** work as search terms (`#cooking`) or as hashtag page links (`youtube.com/hashtag/cooking`).
- **"Published after"** applies to channels and searches; Short links you paste are always kept.
- **Private, removed and members-only** Shorts are skipped and not charged.
- Want long videos, transcripts, community posts or playlists too? Use our **YouTube Scraper**.

### FAQ

**Do I need a YouTube account or API key?** No. Everything is public data, collected without logging in.

**Can I get all Shorts of a channel?** Yes - paste the channel and set "Shorts per channel" high enough. Use "Published after" for only recent ones.

**How do I find trending Shorts on a topic?** Search the topic or hashtag, sort by popularity and set the upload date to this week or this month.

# Actor input Schema

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

Keywords to search for Shorts, one per row. Start with # for a hashtag (e.g. #cooking).

## `startUrls` (type: `array`):

One per row: channel @handle or URL (its Shorts tab is used), Short links (youtube.com/shorts/...), hashtag pages (youtube.com/hashtag/...) and YouTube search links.

## `maxShorts` (type: `integer`):

Shorts to collect for each channel, search term and hashtag. Short links are always used.

## `channelSortBy` (type: `string`):

Order of a channel's Shorts tab: latest, most popular or oldest first.

## `searchSortBy` (type: `string`):

YouTube's 'Prioritize' option.

## `searchUploadDate` (type: `string`):

Only videos uploaded within this period.

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

Only Shorts published after this date (exact date or e.g. '7 days'). Short links you paste are always kept.

## `includeShortsSound` (type: `boolean`):

Extra charge per Short. Adds the sound / song the Short uses (or 'Original sound').

## `includeChannelInfo` (type: `boolean`):

Extra charge per channel. Adds one row per channel in its own table: subscribers, total views, video count, country, join date, description and all social / website links. Each channel is collected and charged once per run.

## `maxComments` (type: `integer`):

Charged per comment. Top-level comments to collect for each Short (0 = none), in their own table.

## `commentsSortBy` (type: `string`):

YouTube's comment order.

## `maxReplyDepth` (type: `integer`):

How many levels of replies to collect: 0 = no replies, 1 = direct replies, up to 6 for replies to replies.

## `maxRepliesPerComment` (type: `integer`):

Replies to collect under each comment, at every level.

## `country` (type: `string`):

YouTube shows search results and availability for this country.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "searchQueries": [
    "ai tools"
  ],
  "startUrls": [
    "@MrBeast",
    "https://www.youtube.com/shorts/T_SMf9j50uc"
  ],
  "maxShorts": 20,
  "channelSortBy": "latest",
  "searchSortBy": "relevance",
  "searchUploadDate": "",
  "includeShortsSound": false,
  "includeChannelInfo": false,
  "maxComments": 0,
  "commentsSortBy": "top",
  "maxReplyDepth": 0,
  "maxRepliesPerComment": 5,
  "country": "US"
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `shorts` (type: `string`):

No description

## `channels` (type: `string`):

No description

## `comments` (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": [
        "ai tools"
    ],
    "startUrls": [
        "@MrBeast",
        "https://www.youtube.com/shorts/T_SMf9j50uc"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("calm_builder/youtube-shorts-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": ["ai tools"],
    "startUrls": [
        "@MrBeast",
        "https://www.youtube.com/shorts/T_SMf9j50uc",
    ],
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("calm_builder/youtube-shorts-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": [
    "ai tools"
  ],
  "startUrls": [
    "@MrBeast",
    "https://www.youtube.com/shorts/T_SMf9j50uc"
  ]
}' |
apify call calm_builder/youtube-shorts-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,calm_builder/youtube-shorts-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/1digCcUmBdxRc4w2E/builds/ly4bxHCwfcpf7Wn7s/openapi.json