TikTok Downloader

Download TikTok video files, cover thumbnails, background audio, and slideshow images by URL. The actor stores each file in Apify's Key-Value Store and returns a stable download URL per asset. Supports quality selection (best, 720p, 540p, 360p, smallest) and a configurable filename template. No TikTok account or cookies are required.

What this actor does

• Accepts TikTok video URLs or bare numeric post IDs as input
• Downloads the selected asset types (video, cover image, audio, slideshow frames) per post
• Stores each file in Apify's Key-Value Store and emits one dataset row per downloaded asset
• Supports quality selection for video downloads: best, 720p, 540p, 360p, or smallest
• Returns file metadata including dimensions, byte size, codec, and bitrate where available
• Allows a custom filename template with {postId}, {type}, {ordinal}, and {ext} placeholders
• Processes each URL sequentially to avoid rate limiting
• Empty fields are omitted

Output per asset

• postId — unique TikTok video ID
• postUrl — canonical TikTok post URL
• assetType — type of asset: video, cover, audio, or image
• ordinal — index of the asset within its type (useful for slideshow images)
• kvsKey — Key-Value Store key used to store the file
• kvsUrl — stable Apify Key-Value Store URL to download the file
• mimeType — MIME type of the file (e.g. video/mp4, image/jpeg)
• byteSize — file size in bytes
• width — pixel width (video and image assets)
• height — pixel height (video and image assets)
• duration — duration in seconds (video assets)
• codecType — video codec identifier (e.g. h264)
• bitrate — video bitrate in bps
• gearName — TikTok quality tier label (e.g. normal, adapt)
• downloadedAt — ISO 8601 timestamp when the file was saved to the store
• scrapedAt — ISO 8601 timestamp when the row was emitted

Input

Field	Type	Default	Description
postUrls	array of strings	—	TikTok post URLs to download. Accepts full URLs, short share links, and bare numeric IDs.
postIds	array of strings	—	Numeric TikTok post IDs (alternative to postUrls).
assetTypes	array of strings	["video", "cover"]	Asset types to download per post: video, images (slideshow frames), audio, cover.
preferredQuality	string	"best"	Target video quality: best, 720p, 540p, 360p, or smallest.
filenameTemplate	string	"{postId}_{type}_{ordinal}.{ext}"	Template for Key-Value Store keys. Placeholders: {postId}, {type}, {ordinal}, {ext}.

Example: Download video and cover thumbnail

{
  "postUrls": ["https://www.tiktok.com/@khaby.lame/video/7574844184952081686"],
  "assetTypes": ["video", "cover"],
  "preferredQuality": "best"
}

Example: Cover thumbnails only (lightweight)

{
  "postUrls": [
    "https://www.tiktok.com/@khaby.lame/video/7574844184952081686",
    "https://www.tiktok.com/@natgeo/video/7341234567890123456"
  ],
  "assetTypes": ["cover"]
}

Example: Download at 540p to save storage

{
  "postUrls": ["https://www.tiktok.com/@bbcnews/video/7395279524742083872"],
  "assetTypes": ["video"],
  "preferredQuality": "540p",
  "filenameTemplate": "{postId}_video_{ordinal}.{ext}"
}

Example: Download slideshow images and audio

{
  "postUrls": ["https://www.tiktok.com/@somecreator/video/7123456789012345678"],
  "assetTypes": ["images", "audio"]
}

Use cases

• Content archiving — preserve brand or creator content before it is deleted or made private
• Ad creative libraries — download competitor or inspiration videos for internal review and benchmarking
• Thumbnail pipelines — bulk-collect cover images for visual classification, brand consistency audits, or moderation workflows
• Media production — pull background music tracks (audio asset type) from viral TikTok sounds for licensing research
• Dataset building — compile labeled video/image datasets for computer vision or multimodal ML training

FAQ

Q: Do I need a TikTok account or cookies?
A: No. The actor downloads publicly available TikTok videos without any authentication.

Q: How long are the download URLs valid?
A: Files are stored in Apify's Key-Value Store. The kvsUrl remains valid as long as the run's storage is retained (default 7 days on the Apify platform). Download the files to your own storage if you need them beyond that window.

Q: What is the difference between video and images asset types?
A: video downloads the standard MP4 file for regular video posts. images downloads individual frames from TikTok slideshow (photo carousel) posts, one row per frame. Regular video posts do not produce image rows.

Q: What does preferredQuality do exactly?
A: The actor picks the bitrate entry from TikTok's bitrateInfo list that best matches the requested quality tier. If the exact resolution is not available, it selects the closest available option. best always picks the highest bitrate.

Q: What if a URL fails to download?
A: Failed downloads do not block other URLs. Each failed asset produces a dataset row with an error message so you can identify and retry specific posts.

Q: Are short TikTok URLs (vm.tiktok.com, vt.tiktok.com) supported?
A: Yes. The actor resolves short links before downloading.

Q: Can I download multiple posts in one run?
A: Yes. Pass as many URLs as needed in the postUrls array. Posts are processed sequentially.

Q: What filename template should I use for slideshow images?
A: Use {postId}_image_{ordinal}.{ext} so each frame gets a unique, ordered filename.

Related TikTok Scrapers

Build a complete TikTok data pipeline with our full suite:

Scraper	URL
TikTok Post Scraper	https://apify.com/crawlerbros/tiktok-post-scraper
TikTok Profile Scraper	https://apify.com/crawlerbros/tiktok-profile-scraper
TikTok Comments Scraper	https://apify.com/crawlerbros/tiktok-comments-scraper
TikTok Search Scraper	https://apify.com/crawlerbros/tiktok-search-scraper
TikTok Hashtag Scraper	https://apify.com/crawlerbros/tiktok-hashtag-scraper
TikTok Music Scraper	https://apify.com/crawlerbros/tiktok-music-scraper
TikTok Transcript Scraper	https://apify.com/crawlerbros/tiktok-transcript-scraper
TikTok Followers Scraper	https://apify.com/crawlerbros/tiktok-followers-scraper
TikTok Mention Scraper	https://apify.com/crawlerbros/tiktok-mention-scraper
TikTok Profile Mention Scraper	https://apify.com/crawlerbros/tiktok-profile-mention-scraper
TikTok Playlist Scraper	https://apify.com/crawlerbros/tiktok-playlist-scraper
TikTok Explore Scraper	https://apify.com/crawlerbros/tiktok-explore-scraper
TikTok For You Scraper	https://apify.com/crawlerbros/tiktok-for-you-scraper
TikTok Ads Library Scraper	https://apify.com/crawlerbros/tiktok-ads-library-scraper-pro
TikTok Top Ads Scraper	https://apify.com/crawlerbros/tiktok-top-ads-scraper
TikTok Hashtag Trends Scraper	https://apify.com/crawlerbros/tiktok-hashtag-trends-scraper
TikTok LIVE Scraper	https://apify.com/crawlerbros/tiktok-live-scraper