# YouTube Shorts Scraper (`lergassy/youtube-shorts-scraper`) Actor

\[$1.50/1K Shorts] Scrape YouTube Shorts from channels, hashtags and search: exact views, likes, comments, publish date, title, description, hashtags and the channel with subscribers. No API key, no quota, no run fee. Filtered Shorts are free.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/lergassy/youtube-shorts-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Matvey](https://apify.com/lergassy) (community)
- **Categories:** Social media, Videos, Agents
- **Stats:** 3 total users, 2 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $1.05 / 1,000 shorts

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 Shorts Scraper** collects **YouTube Shorts** from **channels, hashtags and YouTube search** and returns one row per Short with the exact numbers: **views, likes, comment count, publish date, title, description, hashtags, and the channel with its subscriber count**.

**$0.0015 per Short** — $1.50 per 1,000. No API key, no YouTube quota, no login, no start fee. Sources that fail and Shorts removed by your filters are free.

### What is YouTube Shorts Scraper?

Shorts are YouTube's answer to TikTok, and the YouTube Data API makes them hard to pull: quotas, no hashtag feed, no Shorts filter. This Actor reads the same pages and JSON the YouTube website shows to any visitor and turns them into clean rows. Use it to find viral Shorts in a niche, track competitors' Shorts, collect creators for influencer campaigns, or feed trends to an AI agent.

Three kinds of sources, mixed freely in one run:

- **Channels** — handle, URL or channel id; the whole Shorts tab.
- **Hashtags** — `#bali`, `#fitness`; the hashtag's Shorts feed.
- **Search queries** — anything you would type into YouTube, filtered to Shorts.

### What is in every row

| Field | Meaning |
|---|---|
| `title`, `url`, `videoId`, `thumbnailUrl` | The Short |
| `views`, `likes`, `comments` | Exact counters |
| `publishedAt`, `dateText` | Publish date |
| `description`, `hashtags` | Text under the Short and its hashtags |
| `channelName`, `channelHandle`, `channelId`, `channelSubscribers` | Who posted it |
| `source`, `sourceValue`, `position` | Which channel, hashtag or search it came from |

### How much does it cost?

| Event | Price |
|---|---|
| Short | **$0.0015** |

- Exact numbers (likes, comments, date) are included in the price.
- Shorts below **Minimum views** or older than **Published after**: **$0**.
- Channels, hashtags or searches that fail: **$0** (an error row says why).

#### Bulk export: what 50,000 rows actually cost

This Actor is built for bulk jobs — hundreds of channels, hashtags or searches in one run, or a daily schedule. There is **no
fee per run, no fee per page and no proxy charge**: you pay for the rows you keep.

| Job | This Actor | Most-used Actor in this category |
|---|---|---|
| 50,000 Shorts across 100 runs | **$75** | $200 |
| 10,000 Shorts a day for a month | **$450** | $1,200 |

Checked on the Apify Store on 23 September 2026 against the Actor with the most monthly users in this category
($0.004 per result). Some Actors here ask less per row — this table compares against the one buyers actually use most.

### How to use it in three steps

1. Paste **channels**, **hashtags** or **search queries** — one per line.
2. Set **Shorts per source**, and a **Minimum views** or **Published after** filter if you want only the winners.
3. Press **Start**, then download JSON, CSV or Excel — or call the run from the API, n8n, Make, Zapier or an AI agent.

### ⬇️ Input

```json
{
  "channels": ["mkbhd", "https://www.youtube.com/@NASA"],
  "hashtags": ["bali", "#fitness"],
  "searchQueries": ["iphone 17 review"],
  "maxShortsPerSource": 50,
  "minViews": 10000
}
```

### ⬆️ Output

```json
{
  "type": "short",
  "source": "channel",
  "sourceValue": "mkbhd",
  "videoId": "R6yNUnRXZ64",
  "url": "https://www.youtube.com/shorts/R6yNUnRXZ64",
  "title": "iPhone Duo is here",
  "views": 6687652,
  "likes": 191381,
  "comments": 4300,
  "publishedAt": "2026-09-10",
  "description": "What to know about iPhone Duo",
  "channelName": "Marques Brownlee",
  "channelHandle": "@mkbhd",
  "channelId": "UCBJycsmduvYEL83R_U4JriQ",
  "channelSubscribers": 21300000,
  "scrapedAt": "2026-09-23T12:10:46.723Z"
}
```

### Use cases

#### Find viral Shorts in your niche

A hashtag or a search plus **Minimum views** — the Shorts that took off, with the channel behind each.

#### Competitor tracking

Your competitors' channels every week: what they post, what gets views, how likes and comments compare.

#### Influencer discovery

Every row carries the channel and its subscribers — sort by views per subscriber to find creators punching above their size.

#### Trend data for AI

Titles, descriptions and hashtags as clean rows through the Apify MCP server or API.

### Integrations

Every run is available through the Apify API, and the Actor works out of the box with n8n, Make, Zapier, Google Sheets, LangChain and the Apify MCP server.

### FAQ

**Do I need a YouTube API key?** No. There is no quota either.

**How many Shorts can I get from a channel?** The whole Shorts tab — thousands for big channels. Hashtags and searches usually give a few hundred per source.

**Why is `publishedAt` sometimes empty?** For Shorts published in the last hours YouTube shows only "2 hours ago"; `dateText` keeps what it shows.

**Can I get the transcript or the video file?** No — this Actor returns data, not media.

**Is this legal?** The Actor reads public pages that anyone can open without logging in. Use the data in line with YouTube's terms and your local law.

# Actor input Schema

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

Handles, channel URLs or channel ids — <b>mkbhd</b>, <b>https://www.youtube.com/@NASA</b>, <b>UCBJycsmduvYEL83R\_U4JriQ</b>. The Actor reads each channel's Shorts tab.

## `hashtags` (type: `array`):

Hashtags with or without # — <b>bali</b>, <b>#fitness</b>. Reads the hashtag's Shorts feed.

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

Anything you would type into YouTube search — the results are filtered to Shorts.

## `maxShortsPerSource` (type: `integer`):

How many Shorts to take from each source. Channels give their whole Shorts tab; hashtags and searches usually give a few hundred.

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

Opens every Short for exact views, likes, comment count, publish date, description, hashtags and channel subscribers. Same price — switch off only for a faster run.

## `minViews` (type: `integer`):

Skip Shorts with fewer views. Skipped Shorts are not charged.

## `publishedAfter` (type: `string`):

Keep only Shorts published on or after this date (needs Exact numbers on). Older Shorts are not charged.

## `concurrency` (type: `integer`):

How many channels or searches to read at the same time.

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

Pages are fetched directly first; a page YouTube refuses is retried on a fresh Apify datacenter address. Residential is never switched on by itself.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "channels": [
    "mkbhd"
  ],
  "hashtags": [
    "bali"
  ],
  "maxShortsPerSource": 20,
  "includeDetails": true,
  "minViews": 0,
  "concurrency": 4,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true
  }
}
```

# Actor output Schema

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

One row per YouTube Short: views, likes, comments, date, channel.

# 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": [
        "mkbhd"
    ],
    "hashtags": [
        "bali"
    ],
    "proxyConfiguration": {
        "useApifyProxy": true
    }
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("lergassy/youtube-shorts-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 = {
    "channels": ["mkbhd"],
    "hashtags": ["bali"],
    "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": True },
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("lergassy/youtube-shorts-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 '{
  "channels": [
    "mkbhd"
  ],
  "hashtags": [
    "bali"
  ],
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true
  }
}' |
apify call lergassy/youtube-shorts-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,lergassy/youtube-shorts-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/XkNIJ3Gb89V9g6dTO/builds/n7HaO0qyNSQV3OI9f/openapi.json