⚡ Fast YouTube Channel Scraper — Videos, Shorts, Live, Stats & Insights

Fast YouTube Channel Scraper is a production-grade Apify Actor built for one job: turn a list of YouTube channel links into clean, structured video and channel data — no official Data API key or daily quota needed. Paste channel URLs or @handles, pick how many Videos / Shorts / Live streams you want per channel, and every finished result is streamed straight to your Dataset the moment it's ready.

💡 Need a custom version, private integration, or a tailored pipeline? Email hello.dataminds@gmail.com.

Built for content & trend researchers, marketers & SEO teams, creator/influencer outreach, competitor benchmarking, social listening and AI/LLM data pipelines — anyone who needs "every recent upload from these channels, with exact stats, as clean rows" without fighting API quotas or scrolling by hand.

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📑 Table of contents

• What is Fast YouTube Channel Scraper?
• Main features
• Who is this Actor for?
• What the scraper does
• Inputs it accepts
• Output format (Dataset)
• Example output (JSON)
• Quick start
• Input parameters reference
• Reliability & anti-blocking
• Integrations & automation
• Pricing & how to control cost
• Frequently asked questions (FAQ)
• Troubleshooting
• Help, support & custom builds
• Is scraping YouTube legal?
• SEO keywords targeted

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⚡ What is Fast YouTube Channel Scraper?

The official YouTube Data API meters everything in daily quota units, hides fields you actually want (no outlier/virality signal, no sponsor detection, no easy Shorts-vs-Live split), and still needs a Google Cloud key to set up. This Actor is a drop-in, quota-free alternative purpose-built around channels:

• Accepts any channel link — @handle, /channel/UC…, /c/…, /user/…, or a bare handle/ID — bulk input supported.
• Reads Videos, Shorts and Live tabs independently, each with its own max-results limit and sort order (Newest / Popular / Oldest).
• Returns the full video record — exact view/like/comment counts, description, tags, category, thumbnail, duration, publish date, live/members-only flags.
• Reads the channel About panel — description, country, joined date, exact subscriber/view/video totals and every external link resolved to its real destination.
• Computes an outlier score and engagement rate for free — every video is compared against that channel's own collected median, no extra requests needed.
• Flags sponsor & affiliate signals — description phrasing and tracked/shortened links, so you can spot brand deals at a glance.
• Pulls comments and transcripts on request — top comments with author/likes/replies, and the caption track in text, timestamped, SRT or raw segment form.
• Streams every finished result to your Dataset instantly — export to JSON, CSV, Excel, XML, or pull it through the Apify API.

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✨ Main features

• 🔗 Any channel link accepted — handle, /channel/, /c/, /user/ or legacy URL — bulk input in one field.
• 🎬 📱 🔴 Videos, Shorts and Live streams collected independently, with their own per-channel limits.
• 🔃 Sort order control — Newest, Most popular or Oldest, validated live against that channel's own sort chips.
• 📅 Date-cutoff filtering — stop a channel's listing once videos get older than an absolute or relative date.
• 🔍 Deep per-video enrichment (opt-in) — exact counts, full description, tags, category, publish date, playability.
• 📺 Channel About-panel enrichment — description, country, joined date, exact totals, resolved external links.
• 💰 Sponsor & affiliate detection — structural + phrasing heuristics flag likely brand deals in the description.
• 📊 Outlier score & engagement rate — a video's views vs. the channel's own recent median, plus (likes + comments) / views, computed for free.
• 💬 Comment extraction — author, text, timestamp, likes, replies, pinned/verified flags.
• 📝 Transcript/caption download — any available track, in your choice of format.
• 🔁 Monitor mode — stop each channel's listing at a video ID you already have, and optionally fire a webhook with what's new.
• 🚦 Automatic network fallback — direct ➜ datacenter proxy ➜ residential proxy (3 retries, sticky), fully logged.
• 📦 Live dataset writes, seven prebuilt table views, and the exact {channel, videos[]} JSON shape also saved to the key-value store.
• 🧾 Run summary stored alongside your results, with per-run totals.

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👥 Who is this Actor for?

• 🔬 Content & trend researchers — track what's performing on a channel or niche without manual scrolling.
• 📈 Marketers & SEO teams — mine titles, descriptions and tags at scale for content ideas and keyword research.
• 🤝 Creator/influencer outreach & talent teams — subscriber counts, upload cadence and engagement rate for shortlisting partners.
• 🕵️ Competitor benchmarking — track a competitor channel's upload frequency, view trends and sponsor activity over time.
• 👂 Social listening tools — pull comments for sentiment analysis and brand monitoring.
• 🤖 AI / LLM data pipelines — clean, structured video and transcript data for RAG and fine-tuning.
• 🗃️ Analytics & BI teams — feed a warehouse with view/like/comment time series per channel.
• 🧑‍💻 Developers — a dependable channel-level YouTube data source with no quota-limited API key to manage.

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⚙️ What the scraper does

1. Reads every channel URL you provide — one bulk field, any link format welcome.
2. Opens each channel once and reads its live Videos/Shorts/Live tabs, honoring your sort order and limits.
3. Collects the listing fields instantly — title, approximate views, relative date, thumbnail, duration.
4. Optionally enriches every video with exact counts, full metadata, comments, transcript and sponsor detection.
5. Scores each video — outlier vs. the channel's own median, plus engagement rate — the moment its own data is in.
6. Saves every finished result straight to your Dataset — watch results land in the Console in real time, one channel after another.
7. Keeps going even when a channel fails — a private, deleted or unreachable channel is logged as a clear error row without stopping the run.
8. Reports a full run summary at the end — totals by type, network route used, and duration.

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📥 Inputs it accepts

Input type	Example
Channel handle	https://www.youtube.com/@mkbhd
Channel ID	https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBJycsmduvYEL83R_U4JriQ
Legacy custom URL	https://www.youtube.com/c/MKBHD
Legacy username URL	https://www.youtube.com/user/marquesbrownlee

All the above can be mixed freely in a single run, and the field supports bulk paste or file upload. Each entry needs the full https:// link — a bare @handle or channel ID on its own isn't accepted by the URL field.

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📤 Output format (Dataset)

Every video record streams to the dataset the moment it's ready — one flat row per video, with the channel's own fields merged in — organized into seven ready-made Console views:

View	What it shows
✨ Overview	Type, title, channel, views, likes, comments, date, category, duration, link
📊 Insights	Outlier flag/basis and engagement rate / views-to-subscribers ratio per video
📺 Channel	Channel description, country, joined date, subscriber/view/video totals, links
💰 Sponsors	Sponsor/affiliate signal object per video
💬 Comments & Transcript	Comment count, top comments array, transcript text
🎞️ Media	Duration, thumbnail, tags, description
⚠️ Errors	Any channel or video that could not be processed, with a clear reason

The exact { "channel": {...}, "videos": [...] } shape — one object per channel — is also saved live to the key-value store under the OUTPUT record, updated as each channel finishes, so you get both a flat table for the Console/CSV and a nested JSON export in one run.

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🧾 Example output (JSON)

{
  "channelName": "Marques Brownlee",
  "channelId": "UCBJycsmduvYEL83R_U4JriQ",
  "channelHandle": "@mkbhd",
  "channelUrl": "https://www.youtube.com/@mkbhd",
  "channelSubscriberCount": 21200000,
  "channelTotalViews": 5555015293,
  "channelCountry": "United States",
  "videoId": "ngPkbaZliaU",
  "title": "The Truth About the Bezelless Concept Phone",
  "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngPkbaZliaU",
  "type": "video",
  "duration": "6:29",
  "publishedAt": "2026-08-24T20:27:50.000Z",
  "viewCount": 3869243,
  "likeCount": 88657,
  "category": "Science & Technology",
  "tags": ["bezelless smartphone", "bezelless", "bezels", "MKBHD"],
  "sponsorSignal": { "hasSponsorSignal": false, "sponsorPhraseMatched": false, "affiliateLinks": [] },
  "engagementRate": 0.02291,
  "viewsToSubsRatio": 0.1825,
  "isOutlier": false,
  "outlierBasis": "median of 9 videos collected this run: 3,500,000 views"
}

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🚀 Quick start

Apify Console

1. Log in at console.apify.com → Actors → open Fast YouTube Channel Scraper.
2. Paste one or more channel links / @handles.
3. Set how many Videos / Shorts / Streams you want per channel, adjust any other options.
4. Click Start.
5. Watch the log and the Output tab fill up in real time.
6. Export to JSON, CSV or Excel when it's done.

API

curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/YOUR_USERNAME~fast-youtube-channel-scraper/run-sync-get-dataset-items" \
     -H "Authorization: Bearer $APIFY_TOKEN" \
     -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
     -d '{"urls":[{"url":"https://www.youtube.com/@mkbhd"}],"maxResults":10}'

Python client

from apify_client import ApifyClient

client = ApifyClient("YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN")
run = client.actor("YOUR_USERNAME/fast-youtube-channel-scraper").call(run_input={
    "urls": [{"url": "https://www.youtube.com/@mkbhd"}],
    "maxResults": 10,
})
for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items():
    print(item["title"], item["viewCount"])

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⚙️ Input parameters reference

🚀 Start here

Field	Type	Default	Description
urls	array	[]	Channel links / handles, bulk input

📬 How much to collect

Field	Type	Default	Description
maxResults	integer	10	Max regular videos per channel
maxResultsShorts	integer	0	Max Shorts per channel
maxResultStreams	integer	0	Max streams per channel
sortVideosBy	string	NEWEST	NEWEST / POPULAR / OLDEST
oldestPostDate	string	—	Absolute (YYYY-MM-DD) or relative (30 days) cutoff

🔍 Enrichment

Field	Type	Default	Description
enrichVideos	boolean	true	Exact counts, description, tags, category, publish date
includeAboutInfo	boolean	true	Channel About panel
detectSponsors	boolean	true	Sponsor/affiliate signal detection

💬 Comments & transcript

Field	Type	Default	Description
includeComments	boolean	false	Collect top comments
maxComments	integer	20	Max comments per video
includeTranscript	boolean	false	Collect the caption track
transcriptFormat	string	text	text / timestamped / srt / segments

🔁 Monitor mode

Field	Type	Default	Description
monitorMode	boolean	false	Stop each channel's listing at a known video ID
sinceVideoId	string	""	The video ID to stop at
webhookUrl	string	""	POSTed once per channel with any new videos found

🌍 Network & 📦 Advanced

Field	Type	Default	Description
proxyConfiguration	object	no proxy	Automatic direct → datacenter → residential fallback unless overridden
cookie	string (secret)	—	Optional raw Cookie header for age/consent-gated channels
outputFormat	string	nested	Shape of the aggregate OUTPUT key-value record: nested / flat

⚡ Speed & reliability

Field	Type	Default	Description
maxConcurrency	integer	5	Videos enriched in parallel per channel
maxRetries	integer	3	Retries per request on the current network route
maxScrollRetries	integer	3	Empty-page tolerance before a tab is considered exhausted
maxScanned	integer	20000	Safety cap on listing rows scanned per tab

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🛡️ Reliability & anti-blocking

This Actor starts every run on a direct connection — no proxy overhead unless it's actually needed. If YouTube pushes back, the run automatically and transparently escalates:

Direct connection ➜ datacenter proxy ➜ residential proxy (3 retries)

Once the run escalates to the residential route it stays there for every remaining request, so you don't pay for a slower route longer than necessary. Every fallback is logged clearly in the run log. You can also pin your own proxy group in Proxy configuration to skip the automatic ladder entirely.

The run also watches for a quieter failure mode than a hard block: a route that answers normally but hands back an incomplete video record (most often a missing like count and category). The first time that happens it escalates the network route automatically and re-checks that video — no separate setting needed. Listing-level fields (title, approximate views, thumbnail, duration, publish date) always come from the channel page itself and are unaffected either way; it's only the small set of exact per-video fields from deep enrichment that can occasionally come back null for a handful of videos in a run even after escalating — raising Retries per request or picking Residential proxy up front both reduce how often that happens.

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🔌 Integrations & automation

• Schedules — run this Actor daily/weekly with Monitor mode on to only collect new uploads.
• Webhooks — fire ACTOR.RUN.SUCCEEDED to your own endpoint when a run finishes, or use the built-in webhookUrl for per-channel new-video notifications.
• Zapier / Make / n8n — feed dataset items straight into a spreadsheet, CRM or Slack alert.
• MCP / AI agents — call this Actor as a tool from Claude, Cursor or any MCP-compatible client via mcp.apify.com.
• REST API — pull dataset items directly: GET https://api.apify.com/v2/datasets/{datasetId}/items?format=json.

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💰 Pricing & how to control cost

This Actor runs on Apify's pay-per-usage pricing — you pay for the platform compute, proxy and storage your run consumes, no separate per-result fee. To control cost:

• Start with a low maxResults to sample a channel before a full run.
• Leave includeComments / includeTranscript off unless you need them — they add requests per video.
• Turn off enrichVideos for the fastest, cheapest listing-only run (title, approximate views, thumbnail, duration).
• Turn on Monitor mode for recurring runs so you only pay for new uploads each time.
• Leave Proxy configuration on automatic — it only escalates to a paid proxy route when actually needed.

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❓ Frequently asked questions (FAQ)

Does this need a YouTube Data API key or quota? No — it works without any Google API key or daily quota limit.

Can I scrape an entire channel's uploads? Yes — paste the channel URL (or @handle) and raise maxResults (and maxResultsShorts/maxResultStreams if you also want those tabs).

Can I scrape multiple channels in one run? Yes — the urls field accepts bulk input; every channel is processed and streamed to the same dataset.

What's the outlier score? A video's view count compared against the median of the videos collected from that same channel in this run — a quick way to spot uploads that are over- or under-performing relative to that channel's normal reach.

What's the sponsor signal? A heuristic (description phrasing + affiliate/tracking link patterns) that flags a likely brand deal — always a lead to verify, never a certainty.

Can I get video transcripts? Yes — turn on includeTranscript and pick a format; only videos with an available caption track will return one.

Does it work for private or age-restricted videos? No — only publicly available YouTube pages are read, same as any anonymous visitor would see (unless you supply your own cookie).

What's the difference between the dataset and the OUTPUT key-value record? The dataset is a live table, one row per video, with per-section views. The OUTPUT record is the same run's data grouped back into { channel, videos[] } objects — handy for a single JSON export per channel.

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🛠️ Troubleshooting

Symptom	Fix
A channel comes back as an error row	Check the ⚠️ Errors view for the reason — usually the handle/ID is wrong or the channel is unreachable
Fewer results than maxResults	The channel may simply have fewer videos than requested in that tab
No channel About info	includeAboutInfo may be off, or the channel doesn't expose an About panel
Run seems slow	Lower maxConcurrency, or turn off comments/transcript if you don't need them
Some videos have likeCount/category as null	Occasionally happens on a subset of videos even with deep enrichment on and after the automatic route escalation; picking Residential proxy in Proxy configuration up front, or raising maxRetries, both make it rarer

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🆘 Help, support & custom builds

Something not working, or need a custom field, private integration or a bespoke pipeline built on top of this Actor? Email hello.dataminds@gmail.com — we read every message.

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⚖️ Is scraping YouTube legal?

This Actor only reads publicly available YouTube pages — the same pages any anonymous visitor's browser can load. It does not bypass logins, paywalls or private content. You are responsible for how you use the collected data — respect YouTube's Terms of Service, applicable copyright law, and privacy regulations (GDPR, CCPA, etc.) for your jurisdiction and use case.

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🔑 SEO keywords targeted

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