# YouTube Channel Scraper (`deadmist/youtube-channels`) Actor

YouTube channel details by URL, handle or keyword search: subscribers, exact total views, video count, country, joined date, social links and emails from the description. Pay per channel.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/deadmist/youtube-channels.md
- **Developed by:** [Vladyslav Kosenko](https://apify.com/deadmist) (community)
- **Categories:** Videos, Lead generation, Social media
- **Security:** Limited permissions
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

$1.50 / 1,000 channels

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/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

Get the details of YouTube channels by **URL, @handle, channel ID or keyword search**: **subscribers, exact total views, video count, country, joined date, social links, and emails found in the channel description**, plus the avatar, banner and verified badge. Use it to find influencers, qualify creator leads, track competitors or enrich a CRM.

You pay per channel. Proxies are included.

### Features

- **Find channels by keyword:** `fitness coach`, `crypto news`, `vegan recipes`, the same as the YouTube search with the Channels filter.
- **Exact numbers:** total views and video count are exact, from the channel's About panel.
- **Contacts:** emails found in the description, social and website links, and a flag when the channel has a business email behind the "View email address" button.
- **Profile:** country, joined date, verified badge, avatar, banner and keywords.
- **Flexible input:** channel URLs, `@handles`, `UC…` IDs, or any video URL (its channel is used).

### Input example

```json
{
  "channels": ["https://www.youtube.com/@mkbhd", "@veritasium"],
  "searchQueries": ["fitness coach"],
  "maxChannelsPerSearch": 50
}
```

### Output example

```json
{
  "status": "ok",
  "channelId": "UCBJycsmduvYEL83R_U4JriQ",
  "url": "https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBJycsmduvYEL83R_U4JriQ",
  "handle": "@mkbhd",
  "title": "Marques Brownlee",
  "description": "MKBHD: Quality Tech Videos | YouTuber | Geek | Consumer Electronics | Tech Head | Internet Personality!\n\nbusiness@MKBHD.com\n\nNYC",
  "emails": ["business@mkbhd.com"],
  "hasBusinessEmail": true,
  "country": "United States",
  "joinedDate": "2008-03-21",
  "subscriberCount": 21400000,
  "subscriberCountText": "21.4M subscribers",
  "totalViews": 5831922293,
  "videoCount": 1861,
  "links": [
    { "title": "Twitter", "url": "https://twitter.com/MKBHD" },
    { "title": "Instagram", "url": "https://instagram.com/MKBHD" }
  ],
  "isVerified": true,
  "avatar": "https://yt3.googleusercontent.com/…",
  "banner": "https://yt3.googleusercontent.com/…"
}
```

### Notes

- YouTube rounds subscriber counts (for example `21.4M`), and `subscriberCount` is rounded the same way. Total views and video count are exact.
- `emails` contains only addresses written publicly in the description. The business email behind YouTube's captcha is not scraped; `hasBusinessEmail` tells you that one exists.

### Pricing

You pay a fixed price per channel. Proxies are included. Set a maximum cost per run in the run options, and the Actor stops when it is reached.

### More YouTube tools by the same author

- **YouTube Scraper:** search results, channel videos, playlists and video stats.
- **YouTube Comments Scraper:** comments and replies.
- **YouTube Transcript Scraper:** transcripts, SRT and translations.

### Is scraping YouTube channels legal?

The Actor reads only public channel information. Emails and names are personal data, so use them in line with GDPR, CAN-SPAM and the other laws and terms that apply to you.

### Feedback

Found a bug or need another field? Open an issue on the **Issues** tab.

# Actor input Schema

## `channels` (type: `array`):

Channel URLs, @handles, channel IDs (UC…), or video URLs (their channel is used).

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

Finds channels like the YouTube search with the Channels filter, for example "fitness coach" or "crypto news".

## `maxChannelsPerSearch` (type: `integer`):

YouTube usually stops at a few hundred channels per keyword.

## `includeImages` (type: `boolean`):

Needs one more request per channel. The price is the same either way.

## `language` (type: `string`):

For example en, de, uk.

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

Higher is faster, but YouTube blocks more requests, so more of them are retried.

## `maxAttempts` (type: `integer`):

Each blocked request is retried with a new proxy session.

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

Apify Proxy is used by default. Residential IPs take over automatically when YouTube blocks a request. Proxy costs are included in the price.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "channels": [
    "https://www.youtube.com/@mkbhd",
    "@veritasium",
    "UCX6OQ3DkcsbYNE6H8uQQuVA"
  ],
  "searchQueries": [
    "fitness coach"
  ],
  "maxChannelsPerSearch": 20,
  "includeImages": true,
  "language": "en",
  "maxConcurrency": 8,
  "maxAttempts": 6,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true
  }
}
```

# Actor output Schema

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

All channels.

## `overview` (type: `string`):

The overview view of the dataset.

# 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 = {
    "channels": [
        "https://www.youtube.com/@mkbhd"
    ],
    "proxyConfiguration": {
        "useApifyProxy": true
    }
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("deadmist/youtube-channels").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 = {
    "channels": ["https://www.youtube.com/@mkbhd"],
    "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": True },
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("deadmist/youtube-channels").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 '{
  "channels": [
    "https://www.youtube.com/@mkbhd"
  ],
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true
  }
}' |
apify call deadmist/youtube-channels --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,deadmist/youtube-channels"
        }
    }
}
```

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/HeA4iMEdFs2tsgFDM/builds/RC6fy3lvfcV2kxR45/openapi.json