YouTube Scraper API - Search, Playlists & Videos ($1/1K)

Scrape YouTube videos from keyword searches, playlists, channels and video URLs into one clean dataset. Get titles, channels, view counts, durations, thumbnails and links for $1 per 1,000 videos. No YouTube Data API key, no quota, no login.

Real output from a default run of YouTube Scraper API in Apify Console.

What can this YouTube scraper do?

• Search YouTube by keyword and export the top video results for each search term.
• Scrape playlists by URL or playlist ID.
• List a channel's latest uploads from a channel URL, @handle, or UC... ID.
• Enrich video and Shorts URLs with title, channel, view count, duration, description and thumbnail.
• Mix all four sources in one run, with automatic de-duplication of repeated video IDs.
• Set language and country so search results match the market you care about.
• Respect your budget: maxTotalResults and your run's maximum charge cap the number of paid results.

Built for keyword and trend research, competitor content audits, influencer discovery, playlist exports, and feeding video lists into AI or analytics pipelines.

What data can I extract from YouTube?

Field	Search	Playlist	Channel	Video URL
videoId, videoUrl, title	yes	yes	yes	yes
channelName	yes	yes	yes	yes
channelId	-	-	yes	yes
views (number)	yes	when shown	yes	yes
viewCountText	yes	when shown	-	-
durationText, durationSeconds	yes	yes	-	yes
publishedAt (ISO date)	-	-	yes	-
description	-	-	yes	yes
thumbnailUrl	yes	yes	yes	yes
sourceType, query, scrapedAt	yes	yes	yes	yes

sourceType is search, playlist, channel or video, and query holds the input that produced the row, so you can group results by keyword or source.

How much does it cost to scrape YouTube?

Pay-per-event pricing:

• $1.00 per 1,000 videos ($0.001 per video saved to the dataset)
• $0.00005 per Actor start (per GB of memory)

Job	Videos	Approx. cost
10 keyword searches	~200	$0.20
5 playlists	~250	$0.25
1,000 video URLs	1,000	$1.00

Duplicates removed by dedupe are not saved and not charged. See the Pricing tab for current rates.

How to use YouTube Scraper API

1. Add one or more search terms, playlist URLs, channel URLs, or video URLs.
2. Set maxResultsPerQuery (per source) and maxTotalResults (whole run).
3. Optional: set language (for example en) and country (for example US).
4. Click Start, then download the dataset as JSON, CSV, Excel or HTML, or read it through the API.

Input example

{
  "searchTerms": ["ai coding assistant review", "cursor vs copilot"],
  "playlistUrls": ["https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLx0sYbCqOb8TBPRdmBHs5Iftvv9TPboYG"],
  "channelUrls": ["https://www.youtube.com/@fireship"],
  "videoUrls": ["https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ", "https://youtube.com/shorts/abc123def45"],
  "maxResultsPerQuery": 30,
  "maxTotalResults": 200,
  "language": "en",
  "country": "US",
  "dedupe": true
}

Output example

{
  "videoId": "dQw4w9WgXcQ",
  "title": "Cursor vs Copilot: which AI coding assistant wins?",
  "channelName": "Example Dev Channel",
  "views": 482113,
  "viewCountText": "482,113 views",
  "durationText": "12:41",
  "durationSeconds": 761,
  "thumbnailUrl": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/dQw4w9WgXcQ/hq720.jpg",
  "videoUrl": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ",
  "sourceType": "search",
  "query": "cursor vs copilot",
  "scrapedAt": "2026-10-25T08:30:41.512Z"
}

Input reference

Field	Default	Notes
searchTerms	[]	YouTube search keywords
channelUrls	[]	Channel URLs, @handles, or UC... IDs (latest uploads from the channel feed)
playlistUrls	[]	Playlist URLs or IDs
videoUrls	[]	Video URLs, Shorts URLs, or 11-character IDs
maxResultsPerQuery	30	Cap per search term, channel or playlist
maxTotalResults	100	Cap for the whole run (max 10,000)
language / country	en / US	Search locale
dedupe	true	Skip repeated video IDs across sources
includeVideoDetails	true	Fetch full details for direct video URLs

Limits you should know

• Search: returns the first page of YouTube results for each term (usually about 20 videos). Use several specific search terms to collect more.
• Channels: returns the latest uploads from the public channel feed (up to 15 per channel). For scheduled "new upload" alerts, use YouTube Channel Monitor.
• Playlists: returns the first page of the playlist that YouTube serves.
• Likes, comments and transcripts are not included in this Actor.

Use it from code, MCP and no-code tools

import os
from apify_client import ApifyClient

client = ApifyClient(os.environ["APIFY_TOKEN"])
run = client.actor("groupoject/youtube-scraper-api").call(run_input={
    "searchTerms": ["n8n tutorial"],
    "maxResultsPerQuery": 20,
})
for v in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items():
    print(v["views"], v["title"], v["videoUrl"])

• MCP: https://mcp.apify.com?tools=groupoject/youtube-scraper-api lets Claude, Cursor or ChatGPT search YouTube for you.
• Make, Zapier, n8n: use the Apify integration to run the Actor and send rows to Sheets, Airtable or a CRM.
• Schedules: save a task with your keywords and schedule it daily to track what ranks for them.

Each run also stores a SUMMARY record and an ERRORS record listing any input that failed and why.

FAQ

Do I need a YouTube Data API key? No. There is no API key, no OAuth and no 10,000-unit daily quota.

Can it scrape YouTube Shorts? Yes. Shorts URLs work in videoUrls, and Shorts can appear in search, playlist and channel results.

Does it scrape comments? No. Use YouTube Comments Scraper API for comments.

Why are view counts slightly different from YouTube Studio? Public view counts are rounded or delayed by YouTube. Treat them as public estimates.

Is it legal to scrape YouTube? The Actor collects only publicly visible data. Make sure your use complies with YouTube's terms and data protection law, especially for personal data.

Related Actors

• YouTube Channel Monitor - scheduled new-video alerts for many channels
• YouTube Channel Scraper API - subscribers, video counts, emails in bio
• YouTube Comments Scraper API - comments, likes and reply counts