# YouTube Channel, Playlist & Search Videos Scraper (`jeffev/youtube-videos-pro`) Actor

List every video of YouTube channels, playlists or search results with views, duration and thumbnails in seconds, or in detailed mode with likes, comment count, upload date, tags and description. Videos, Shorts and live streams.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/jeffev/youtube-videos-pro.md
- **Developed by:** [Jefferson Valandro](https://apify.com/jeffev) (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 $0.35 / 1,000 video (fast mode)s

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, Playlist & Search Videos Scraper

List **every video of a YouTube channel, playlist or search** with its metrics. Two modes:

- **Fast**: title, views, duration, thumbnail, channel and subscriber count. Hundreds of videos in seconds.
- **Detailed**: everything in Fast plus **likes, comment count, exact upload date, tags, categories and description** for each video.

### Why this one

- **Channels, playlists, single videos and YouTube searches** in the same run.
- **Videos, Shorts and live streams**: choose which channel tabs to list.
- **Real numbers**: views, likes and comments as integers; dates as `YYYY-MM-DD`.
- **Built-in block handling**: starts direct and switches to Apify Proxy automatically if YouTube blocks the server IP, retrying each blocked video instead of returning it empty.
- **Pay per video delivered**, with a lower price for Fast mode.

### Input

```json
{
  "urls": ["https://www.youtube.com/@veritasium", "https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL..."],
  "searchQueries": ["best noise cancelling headphones 2026"],
  "mode": "detailed",
  "channelTabs": ["videos", "shorts"],
  "maxVideosPerSource": 100
}
```

### Output (one item per video)

| Field | Fast | Detailed |
|---|---|---|
| `videoId`, `url`, `title`, `thumbnail` | ✓ | ✓ |
| `duration` (seconds), `viewCount` | ✓ (views rounded by YouTube) | ✓ (exact) |
| `channel`, `channelId`, `channelFollowers` | ✓ | ✓ |
| `isShort`, `source` | ✓ | ✓ |
| `likeCount`, `commentCount`, `uploadDate` | | ✓ |
| `description`, `tags`, `categories`, `language`, `isLive` | | ✓ |

### Example output

One real item from a test run (long texts and lists shortened):

```json
{
  "videoId": "ONAuUyml0yI",
  "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONAuUyml0yI",
  "title": "We're trying something new...",
  "duration": 308,
  "viewCount": 1200000,
  "thumbnail": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ONAuUyml0yI/hqdefault.jpg?sqp=-oaymwEcCOADEI4CSFXyq4qpAw4IARUAAIhCGAFwAcABBg==&rs=AOn4CLCcdxxWzBr1Y2HQgBBsE-7U-LD7pw",
  "isShort": false,
  "channel": "Veritasium",
  "channelId": "UCHnyfMqiRRG1u-2MsSQLbXA",
  "channelFollowers": 21300000,
  "source": "https://www.youtube.com/@veritasium"
}
```

### Use cases

Competitor and niche research, finding top-performing videos in a channel, tracking a creator's output, building datasets of videos for transcripts or comments (see our [YouTube Transcript](https://apify.com/jeffev/youtube-transcript-pro) and [YouTube Comments](https://apify.com/jeffev/youtube-comments-pro) scrapers).

### How much does it cost?

You pay only for results delivered, at a fixed price per item. **Apify platform usage is included** in that price, so there are no compute costs on top. Errors and items that couldn't be found are free.

| What you get | Price | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Video (detailed mode) | $0.002 each | 1,000 video (detailed mode)s = $2.00 |
| Video (fast mode) | $0.0005 each | 1,000 video (fast mode)s = $0.50 |

The Apify **Free plan includes $5 of monthly credit**, enough for about **2,500 video (detailed mode)s** per month at no cost. You can also set a maximum spend per run.

On paid Apify plans it gets cheaper automatically: **10% off on Starter, 20% on Scale and 30% on Business**.

### Feedback

Found a bug, a site change, or need an extra field? Open an issue in the **Issues** tab: every issue is read and answered. If this actor saved you time, a **review** helps other people find it.

# Actor input Schema

## `urls` (type: `array`):

One per line: channel URL (youtube.com/@name), playlist URL or video URL.

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

Search terms, as typed in YouTube's search box. Each returns up to 'Max videos per source' results.

## `mode` (type: `string`):

Fast lists hundreds of videos in seconds. Detailed opens each video for full metrics (slower, priced higher).

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

Limit per channel tab, playlist or search (newest first for channels).

## `channelTabs` (type: `array`):

Which channel tabs to list.

## `proxy` (type: `object`):

Used automatically if YouTube blocks the server IP. Residential is recommended.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "urls": [
    "https://www.youtube.com/@veritasium"
  ],
  "mode": "fast",
  "maxVideosPerSource": 50,
  "channelTabs": [
    "videos"
  ],
  "proxy": {
    "useApifyProxy": true,
    "apifyProxyGroups": [
      "RESIDENTIAL"
    ]
  }
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `videos` (type: `string`):

One item per video with views, duration and, in detailed mode, likes, comments, upload date and tags.

# 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 = {
    "urls": [
        "https://www.youtube.com/@veritasium"
    ],
    "proxy": {
        "useApifyProxy": true,
        "apifyProxyGroups": [
            "RESIDENTIAL"
        ]
    }
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("jeffev/youtube-videos-pro").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 = {
    "urls": ["https://www.youtube.com/@veritasium"],
    "proxy": {
        "useApifyProxy": True,
        "apifyProxyGroups": ["RESIDENTIAL"],
    },
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("jeffev/youtube-videos-pro").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 '{
  "urls": [
    "https://www.youtube.com/@veritasium"
  ],
  "proxy": {
    "useApifyProxy": true,
    "apifyProxyGroups": [
      "RESIDENTIAL"
    ]
  }
}' |
apify call jeffev/youtube-videos-pro --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

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

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/MQnwXuhOxpbkwI75w/builds/z1x0xZLCoautzJK3c/openapi.json