# YouTube Competitor Analyzer - Compare 5 Channels (`convertfleetdotonline/youtube-competitor-analyzer`) Actor Compare up to 5 YouTube channels side-by-side: subscribers, views, video count, top-viewed and latest videos, posting cadence. No API key. Built for SEO, content strategy, and competitor research. - **URL**: https://apify.com/convertfleetdotonline/youtube-competitor-analyzer.md - **Developed by:** [Hasnain Nisar](https://apify.com/convertfleetdotonline) (community) - **Categories:** Videos, Social media - **Stats:** 3 total users, 2 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, NaN bookmarks - **User rating**: No ratings yet ## Pricing $0.99 / 1,000 channel analyzeds 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.md): ```bash npm install apify-client ``` In Python projects, use official [Python client library](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python.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/platform/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 The **YouTube Competitor Analyzer** compares up to 5 [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com) channels side-by-side in a single run — subscriber counts, top-performing videos, posting cadence, and average views — with **no YouTube Data API key, no quota, and no login**. Paste 1–5 channel URLs and get one consolidated comparison record plus per-channel records, ready to drop into Google Sheets, Notion, Airtable, or a BI dashboard. It is the fastest no-code way to benchmark competitors, run influencer due diligence, and shape your YouTube content strategy. ### What does the YouTube Competitor Analyzer do? The YouTube Competitor Analyzer is an Apify actor for **YouTube competitor analysis** that scrapes channel metadata and recent videos to produce side-by-side competitive metrics — without the official YouTube Data API. You provide 1–5 channel URLs, and it pulls each channel's stats and a configurable window of recent uploads in parallel, then surfaces the highlights you need to compare. - **Compare up to 5 YouTube channels in one run** for category benchmarking - **Pull subscriber count, total views, and video count** for every competitor - **Identify each channel's top 3 most-viewed, latest 3, and oldest 3 videos** in the fetched window - **Analyze posting cadence** using the oldest-to-latest upload spread - **Get a single comparison record plus per-channel records** for easy filtering - **Accept any URL format** — `@handle`, `/channel/UC...`, `/c/`, `/user/`, or a video URL - **Export comparison data to CSV, Excel, JSON, or Google Sheets** via Apify exports ### What data can I extract? The first dataset item is a consolidated comparison object containing a `channels` array; each subsequent item is a single-channel record. Each channel object contains: | Field | Description | |-------|-------------| | `channel_name` | Channel display name | | `subscriber_count` | Subscriber count | | `view_count` | Total channel view count | | `video_count` | Total number of videos on the channel | | `videos_fetched` | How many videos were pulled this run | | `top_viewed` | Top 3 most-viewed videos in the fetched window | | `latest_videos` | Most recent 3 uploads | | `oldest_videos` | Oldest 3 in the window (for posting-cadence math) | | `all_videos` | All videos considered in the window | ### How to compare YouTube channels (step-by-step) 1. Open the YouTube Competitor Analyzer on Apify and click **Try for free**. 2. Paste between 1 and 5 competitor channel URLs into **Competitor channel URLs**. 3. Set **Max videos per channel** (default 30, range 5–500) — the recent window to analyze. 4. Leave **Proxy configuration** on Apify Proxy so the per-video highlights populate reliably. 5. Click **Start** — the comparison and per-channel records stream into the dataset. 6. Export to **CSV, Excel, JSON, or Google Sheets** and build side-by-side charts. ### Input | Field | Type | Default | Description | |-------|------|---------|-------------| | `channelUrls` | array of 1–5 strings | required | YouTube channel URLs to compare in parallel. Accepts `/@handle`, `/channel/UC...`, `/c/`, `/user/`, or any video URL. | | `maxVideos` | integer | 30 | How many recent videos to consider per channel (5–500). | | `proxyConfiguration` | object | `{ "useApifyProxy": true }` | Routes yt-dlp through Apify Proxy; required to populate top/latest/oldest video metadata. | ```json { "channelUrls": [ "https://www.youtube.com/@MrBeast", "https://www.youtube.com/@MarkRober", "https://www.youtube.com/@VeritasiumYT" ], "maxVideos": 30, "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": true } } ```` ### Output example ```json { "channels": [ { "channel_name": "MrBeast", "subscriber_count": 250000000, "view_count": 50000000000, "video_count": 800, "videos_fetched": 30, "top_viewed": [], "latest_videos": [], "oldest_videos": [], "all_videos": [] }, { "channel_name": "Mark Rober", "subscriber_count": 60000000, "view_count": 9000000000, "video_count": 90, "videos_fetched": 30, "top_viewed": [], "latest_videos": [], "oldest_videos": [], "all_videos": [] } ] } ``` ### Use cases - **Competitor benchmarking** — compare your channel against up to 4 rivals in your niche - **Influencer due diligence** — qualify creators before sponsoring or partnering - **Content gap analysis** — see which video formats and topics your competitors crush - **Niche research** — identify which channels are growing fastest in a category - **Pitch decks & reports** — generate clean comparison tables and highlight samples in minutes ### Pricing This actor runs on Apify's usage-based pricing — you pay only for compute time and proxy. Because channel pulls run concurrently with flat-playlist extraction (no Playwright, no API tokens), an analysis of 5 channels at 30 videos each completes in roughly 30–60 seconds. See the **Pricing** tab for current rates. ### Why this analyzer instead of the YouTube Data API? The official YouTube Data API caps you at 10,000 quota units per day and requires a key and Google Cloud setup — awkward for quick competitive benchmarking. This actor uses [yt-dlp](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp) with `extract_flat='in_playlist'` and runs all channel pulls concurrently via `asyncio.gather`, so you get multi-channel comparisons with no API tokens and no rate limits. ### FAQ #### Is it legal to scrape YouTube for competitor analysis? This actor extracts only publicly available channel and video metadata. You are responsible for complying with YouTube's Terms of Service and applicable laws such as GDPR and CCPA. #### Do I need a YouTube API key or account? No. The actor needs no API key, no OAuth, and no Google login. #### Can I compare more than 5 channels? The actor caps at 5 to keep runtimes predictable. Run multiple jobs and combine the datasets if you need more. #### How much does it cost? It runs on Apify's usage-based pricing. A 5-channel, 30-video analysis finishes in about 30–60 seconds, so costs stay low. #### Can I export the comparison to CSV, Excel, JSON, or Google Sheets? Yes. Every Apify dataset exports to CSV, Excel, JSON, or Google Sheets, or you can pull it via the Apify API. #### Is the data live? Yes — every run hits YouTube fresh. There is no staleness window. #### Does it use proxies, and will I get blocked? Yes, it routes through Apify Proxy, which is required to populate the per-video top/latest/oldest highlights without being rate-limited. #### Does it handle very large channels? Set `maxVideos` to the window you actually need (e.g. the last 100). Runtime scales linearly with that value. ### Related actors - [YouTube Channel Scraper](https://apify.com/hasnainnisar67/youtube-channel-scraper) — single-channel deep dive with full video history - [YouTube Video Info Scraper](https://apify.com/hasnainnisar67/youtube-video-info-scraper) — full per-video metadata - [YouTube Downloader](https://apify.com/hasnainnisar67/youtube-downloader) — downloadable MP4 / MP3 URLs - [TikTok Scraper](https://apify.com/hasnainnisar67/tiktok-scraper) — scrape TikTok by hashtag, profile, and search - [Reddit Scraper](https://apify.com/hasnainnisar67/reddit-scraper) — scrape Reddit posts, comments, and communities ### Support Need an extra metric or a custom comparison? Open an issue on the actor's **Issues** tab. Custom scraping and analytics solutions are available on request. # Actor input Schema ## `channelUrls` (type: `array`): Provide between 1 and 5 YouTube channel URLs to analyze in parallel. Accepts /@handle, /channel/UC..., /c/, /user/, or any video URL. ## `maxVideos` (type: `integer`): How many recent videos to consider per channel. ## `proxyConfiguration` (type: `object`): yt-dlp is routed through this proxy. Apify datacenter IPs are aggressively rate-limited by YouTube, so a proxy is required to populate top\_viewed / latest\_videos / oldest\_videos (which need per-video metadata). ## Actor input object example ```json { "channelUrls": [ "https://www.youtube.com/@MrBeast", "https://www.youtube.com/@MarkRober" ], "maxVideos": 30, "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": true } } ``` # 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 = { "channelUrls": [ "https://www.youtube.com/@MrBeast", "https://www.youtube.com/@MarkRober" ], "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": true } }; // Run the Actor and wait for it to finish const run = await client.actor("convertfleetdotonline/youtube-competitor-analyzer").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 = { "channelUrls": [ "https://www.youtube.com/@MrBeast", "https://www.youtube.com/@MarkRober", ], "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": True }, } # Run the Actor and wait for it to finish run = client.actor("convertfleetdotonline/youtube-competitor-analyzer").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 '{ "channelUrls": [ "https://www.youtube.com/@MrBeast", "https://www.youtube.com/@MarkRober" ], "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": true } }' | apify call convertfleetdotonline/youtube-competitor-analyzer --silent --output-dataset ``` ## MCP server setup ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "command": "npx", "args": [ "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=convertfleetdotonline/youtube-competitor-analyzer", "--header", "Authorization: Bearer " ] } } } ``` ## OpenAPI specification ```json { "openapi": "3.0.1", "info": { "title": "YouTube Competitor Analyzer - Compare 5 Channels", "description": "Compare up to 5 YouTube channels side-by-side: subscribers, views, video count, top-viewed and latest videos, posting cadence. No API key. Built for SEO, content strategy, and competitor research.", "version": "0.1", "x-build-id": "qsdKbhCwx9rP60lxt" }, "servers": [ { "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2" } ], "paths": { "/acts/convertfleetdotonline~youtube-competitor-analyzer/run-sync-get-dataset-items": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-convertfleetdotonline-youtube-competitor-analyzer", "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": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } }, "/acts/convertfleetdotonline~youtube-competitor-analyzer/runs": { "post": { "operationId": "runs-sync-convertfleetdotonline-youtube-competitor-analyzer", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$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": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema" } } } } } } }, "/acts/convertfleetdotonline~youtube-competitor-analyzer/run-sync": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-convertfleetdotonline-youtube-competitor-analyzer", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$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", "required": [ "channelUrls" ], "properties": { "channelUrls": { "title": "Competitor channel URLs (1-5)", "type": "array", "description": "Provide between 1 and 5 YouTube channel URLs to analyze in parallel. Accepts /@handle, /channel/UC..., /c/, /user/, or any video URL.", "items": { "type": "string" } }, "maxVideos": { "title": "Max videos per channel", "minimum": 5, "maximum": 500, "type": "integer", "description": "How many recent videos to consider per channel.", "default": 30 }, "proxyConfiguration": { "title": "Proxy configuration", "type": "object", "description": "yt-dlp is routed through this proxy. Apify datacenter IPs are aggressively rate-limited by YouTube, so a proxy is required to populate top_viewed / latest_videos / oldest_videos (which need per-video metadata).", "default": { "useApifyProxy": true } } } }, "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 } } } } } } } } } } ```