YouTube Search Scraper

YouTube search results by keyword: video ID, title, channel, views, length, upload time, and thumbnail.

For creators, marketers, and analysts who research YouTube. Every run tells you plainly what worked and what did not: no silent empty runs.

What you can do with it

• Content research: see which videos win for a topic, with views and upload time.
• Creator discovery: list channels that rank for your keywords.
• AI datasets: collect video IDs and titles for a topic.

What you get

Field	What it is	Example
query	The search term that produced this row.	how to make a website
type	video, channel, playlist, movie, unknown, or error.	video
position	1-based rank in that query's result list.	1
title	Video, channel, or playlist title.	How to Make a Website | Step by Step [2026]
url	Watch, channel, or playlist URL.	https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prLv5uwUtuY
videoId	YouTube video id when type is video.	prLv5uwUtuY
channelName	Uploader or channel display name.	Steve Builds Websites
channelId	YouTube channel id when present.	UCY6EhaDjf8668J_LTDz43IQ
channelUrl	https://www.youtube.com/channel/{channelId}	https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCY6EhaDjf8668J_LTDz43IQ
views	Parsed view count when YouTube provided one.	1742977
viewsText	Raw view-count string from YouTube.	1,742,977 views
duration	Video length as shown in search, e.g. 10:32.	27:45
durationSeconds	Video length in seconds.	1665
publishedTime	Relative upload time as shown in search, e.g. 2 weeks ago.	1y ago
publishedDateApprox	Date computed from the relative upload time on the day of the run (YYYY-MM-DD). Approximate for week, month, and year values.	2025-10-17
thumbnailUrl	Largest thumbnail URL returned for the result.	https://i.ytimg.com/vi/prLv5uwUtuY/hq720.jpg?sqp=-oaymwEnCNAFEJQDSFry…
playlistId	Present when type is playlist.
deep	Whether this row came from a deep search.	false

Examples come from a real run. Every row has every field; a value the page did not show is null, never guessed.

One query gave 20 results in our tests.

How to use it

1. Click Try for free (or Start) on this page.
2. Enter one search query per line in the first field. The form is prefilled with a working example.
3. Optional: set Max results and the other options.
4. Click Start. Open the Output tab, or export JSON, CSV, Excel, or HTML.

Example input

{
  "queries": [
    "how to make a website"
  ],
  "deep": false,
  "maxResults": 20,
  "sortBy": "relevance"
}

Example output

One real row from a run on 17 October 2026 (long values shortened here):

{
  "query": "how to make a website",
  "type": "video",
  "position": 1,
  "title": "How to Make a Website | Step by Step [2026]",
  "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prLv5uwUtuY",
  "videoId": "prLv5uwUtuY",
  "channelName": "Steve Builds Websites",
  "channelId": "UCY6EhaDjf8668J_LTDz43IQ",
  "channelUrl": "https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCY6EhaDjf8668J_LTDz43IQ",
  "views": 1742977,
  "viewsText": "1,742,977 views",
  "duration": "27:45",
  "durationSeconds": 1665,
  "publishedTime": "1y ago",
  "publishedDateApprox": "2025-10-17",
  "thumbnailUrl": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/prLv5uwUtuY/hq720.jpg?sqp=-oaymwEnCNAFEJQDSFryq4qpAxkIARUAAIhCGAHYAQHiAQoIGBACGAY4AUAB&rs=AOn4CLAUL-6k_kXldFsoheHFjTQdxmKp2Q",
  "playlistId": null,
  "deep": false
}

Pricing

Pay per result: $1.00 per 1,000 rows, plus $0.001 per run start. No subscription.

Event	When	Price
Actor start	Once per run (per GB of memory; the default 256 MB counts as one)	$0.001
Result row	Each row saved to the dataset	$0.001

Example	Rows	Cost
10 videos	10	$0.001 + $0.01 = $0.011
100 videos	100	$0.001 + $0.10 = $0.101
1,000 videos	1,000	$0.001 + $1.00 = $1.001

• Retries after a bot check or a temporary error cost you nothing. You pay only for rows saved.
• An input that fails after all retries saves one error row (one row charge), so you can see what failed and why.
• Set Max total charge per run in the run options. The Actor stops cleanly at that limit and keeps every row saved so far.

What you can count on

• Same columns on every row. Missing values are null, so spreadsheets and databases never break.
• No silent failures. An input that fails gets an error row with errorCode and a plain-language errorMessage. The other inputs keep running.
• A clear run summary. The run status says how many results were saved, how many inputs failed, and why. The same numbers are saved as the RUN_SUMMARY record in the run's key-value store, for automations.
• Automatic retries. Bot checks and temporary errors are retried with a fresh request before an input counts as failed.
• Limits respected. Max results and your spending limit stop the run cleanly.

Use it from code, automations, and AI agents

API (returns the rows when the run finishes):

curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/datacortex~youtube-search-scraper/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=YOUR_API_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"queries": ["how to make a website"], "deep": false, "maxResults": 20, "sortBy": "relevance"}'

Python (pip install apify-client):

from apify_client import ApifyClient

client = ApifyClient("YOUR_API_TOKEN")
run = client.actor("datacortex/youtube-search-scraper").call(run_input={"queries": ["how to make a website"], "deep": false, "maxResults": 20, "sortBy": "relevance"})
for row in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items():
    print(row)

JavaScript (npm install apify-client):

import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

const client = new ApifyClient({ token: 'YOUR_API_TOKEN' });
const run = await client.actor('datacortex/youtube-search-scraper').call({"queries": ["how to make a website"], "deep": false, "maxResults": 20, "sortBy": "relevance"});
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();

No-code: connect the Actor in Make, Zapier, n8n, or Google Sheets through Apify's integrations, or add a webhook to get notified when a run finishes.

AI agents (MCP): add https://mcp.apify.com?tools=datacortex/youtube-search-scraper to Claude, Cursor, or any MCP client. The agent can call this Actor as a tool with the same input as above.

Limitations

• Video files, transcripts, and comments are not included.
• Views and upload time are what YouTube showed in search; upload dates are approximate.

FAQ

Can I filter by upload date or length? Yes. Use Upload date, Duration, Sort by, and the other filters in the input.

What does an error row mean? It marks an input that failed after retries. errorCode is short (blocked, empty_result, not_available, http_404, or invalid_... for a bad ID or URL) and errorMessage says what to do. Remove error rows with a filter on type.

Can I run it on a schedule? Yes. Create a task with your input in Apify Console, then add a schedule (for example every day at 8:00).

Is it legal to collect this data? The Actor reads public pages that anyone can open without logging in. You are responsible for how you use the data, including copyright, personal data rules such as GDPR, and the site's terms. If you are not sure, ask a lawyer.

Related Actors

• YouTube Channel Scraper: Latest videos from any YouTube channel plus the channel profile.
• YouTube Metadata Scraper: Full metadata for YouTube videos by ID or URL.
• Google Videos Scraper: Google video results by keyword.

Support

Found a problem or need a field? Open an issue on the Issues tab. Include the run ID and one input that shows the problem. We read every issue.