# YouTube Channel Scraper: Videos, Video Details & Comments (`data-done-right/youtube-channel-scraper`) Actor

Scrape YouTube channels, playlists and YouTube search results: all YouTube videos with views, likes, comment counts, duration, tags, chapters and upload date, plus YouTube comments with replies. Fast, no API key or quota.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/data-done-right/youtube-channel-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Data Done Right](https://apify.com/data-done-right) (community)
- **Categories:** Videos, Social media
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $0.64 / 1,000 videos

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 Channel Scraper: Videos, Video Details & Comments

This YouTube channel scraper gets everything about a channel in one run: **all videos** (or a playlist, or search results) with **views, likes, comment counts, upload dates, duration, tags, chapters and descriptions**, plus the **comments with replies**. No API key or quota.

### What data can you extract from a YouTube channel

- **Channels** (`@handle`, `/channel/ID`), **playlists**, single **videos**, or **YouTube search** queries.
- **Full stats per video:** views, likes, comment count, upload time, duration, tags, categories, chapters, live/short flags, captions availability, channel subscribers.
- **Comments and replies:** text, author, likes, date, pinned, by-creator and creator-hearted flags. Top or newest first. They go to a separate `comments` dataset so you get one clean table per type.
- **De-duplicated** across sources.

### Output (videos)

```json
{"videoId": "QVv3mQzlrN0", "title": "Apple Homeview Impressions: Not Convinced!", "channel": "Marques Brownlee",
 "uploadDate": "2026-10-13T22:42:38Z", "viewCount": 9948603, "likeCount": 102887, "durationSeconds": 913,
 "tags": ["apple", "homeview", "review"], "chapters": [{"title": "Intro", "start": 0}], "commentsScraped": 100}
```

### How to scrape YouTube comments

Turn on **Scrape comments**, set **Max comments per video** and the **Comment order** (top or newest), and run. Comments and replies go to a separate `comments` dataset.

### Output (comments)

```json
{"videoId": "QVv3mQzlrN0", "author": "@CarlosVijande", "likes": 18000, "text": "...", "publishedAt": "2026-10-14T00:00:00Z",
 "isReply": false, "isPinned": false, "byCreator": false}
```

### Use cases

Competitor and creator analytics, influencer vetting, audience research from comments, content strategy (which titles and lengths win). For transcripts, use our *YouTube Transcript Scraper*.

### How to scrape all videos from a YouTube channel to CSV

1. Paste the channel link (`@handle` or `/channel/ID`) into **Start URLs**.
2. Set **Max videos per channel/playlist/search** (raise it for the whole channel).
3. Run the Actor, then open the dataset and click **Export** → CSV, Excel or JSON.

Each video comes with views, likes, comment count, duration, tags and upload date.

### YouTube channel scraper API

Call it from the Apify API, Python, JavaScript, Make, Zapier or n8n. Example with the Apify Python client:

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

run = ApifyClient("<APIFY_TOKEN>").actor("data-done-right/youtube-channel-scraper").call(run_input={
    "startUrls": [{"url": "https://www.youtube.com/@mkbhd"}], "maxVideosPerSource": 30})
```

Then read the videos from the run's default dataset.

### Use it in Claude, ChatGPT and Cursor

Connect Apify's MCP server (mcp.apify.com) and your AI assistant can research a channel itself. For example: "list the 30 newest videos of @mkbhd with views and likes, and tell me which title style gets the most views." The main input is `startUrls` (channel, playlist or video links); use `searchQueries` to search YouTube instead.

### How much does it cost

Pay per event, with no subscription:

- **$0.0008 per video** (about $0.80 per 1,000 videos)
- **$0.003 per video with full details** (tags, chapters, likes, captions info)
- **$0.0017 per comment or reply** (about $1.70 per 1,000)

Paid Apify plans get 10% (Silver) to 20% (Gold and up) off. **Max videos per channel/playlist/search** and **Max comments per video** cap your bill.

### FAQ

#### How do I get all videos from a YouTube channel?

Paste the channel link (`@handle` or `/channel/ID`) and set the maximum number of videos per channel, as in the steps above. Each video comes with views, likes, comment count, duration, tags and upload date.

#### Do I need a YouTube API key?

No. There is no API key and no quota to manage.

#### Can it scrape YouTube comments and replies?

Yes. You get the text, author, likes, date and flags for pinned, creator and creator-hearted comments, top or newest first.

#### Can I search YouTube instead of using a channel?

Yes. Use the YouTube search field to collect videos from search results.

#### How do I get the subtitles or transcript of a video?

Use our YouTube Transcript Scraper. This Actor only reports whether captions are available.

#### Is it legal to scrape YouTube?

It reads public pages and no login is used. Follow YouTube's terms and data-protection law for any personal data in comments.

### Related tools

- **[YouTube Transcript Scraper](https://apify.com/data-done-right/youtube-transcript-scraper)** downloads transcripts and SRT for videos, channels and playlists.
- **Transcribe Audio to Text** transcribes videos without captions with your own API key.

# Actor input Schema

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

youtube.com/@handle, /channel/ID, playlist links, or video links.

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

Search terms; returns the top results.

## `maxVideosPerSource` (type: `integer`):

Newest first for channels.

## `includeDetails` (type: `boolean`):

Likes, comment count, upload date, description, tags, chapters, category.

## `includeComments` (type: `boolean`):

Comments go to a second dataset ('comments').

## `maxCommentsPerVideo` (type: `integer`):

Including replies.

## `commentsSort` (type: `string`):

Top or newest first.

## `maxConcurrency` (type: `integer`):

Videos processed at the same time.

## `proxyConfiguration` (type: `object`):

YouTube blocks many datacenter IPs; residential is most reliable.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "startUrls": [
    "https://www.youtube.com/@mkbhd"
  ],
  "maxVideosPerSource": 3,
  "includeDetails": true,
  "includeComments": false,
  "maxCommentsPerVideo": 100,
  "commentsSort": "top",
  "maxConcurrency": 4,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true,
    "apifyProxyGroups": [
      "RESIDENTIAL"
    ]
  }
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

All result items of this run (the default dataset), as JSON, CSV, Excel and more.

## `records` (type: `string`):

Key-value store records: the run summary, notes on any problems, and any files.

# 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 = {
    "startUrls": [
        "https://www.youtube.com/@mkbhd"
    ],
    "maxVideosPerSource": 3,
    "includeComments": false
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("data-done-right/youtube-channel-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 = {
    "startUrls": ["https://www.youtube.com/@mkbhd"],
    "maxVideosPerSource": 3,
    "includeComments": False,
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("data-done-right/youtube-channel-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 '{
  "startUrls": [
    "https://www.youtube.com/@mkbhd"
  ],
  "maxVideosPerSource": 3,
  "includeComments": false
}' |
apify call data-done-right/youtube-channel-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,data-done-right/youtube-channel-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/Es3ifEaz0vNzuiOQx/builds/LUZQ8X3kKdwn9z8dV/openapi.json