YouTube Video Downloader

Download YouTube videos and audio in any quality and format. Paste one or more links, pick your settings, get download links.

🎬 What it does

Give it one or more YouTube links, and it will:

1. Download the video or audio in your chosen quality and format
2. Save the files to your Apify storage with direct download links
3. Grab video details like the channel name, title, duration, view count, and more
4. Save the thumbnails with direct download links
5. Download subtitles (optional) in every available language

Works with any public YouTube video, Shorts, and playlists. Just copy the link from the YouTube app or website.

📋 How to use it

Step 1: Paste your links and choose options

Add your YouTube video URLs and select quality/format in the input. You can add up to 1,000 URLs at a time.

{
    "videoUrls": [
        "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ",
        "https://youtu.be/9bZkp7q19f0"
    ],
    "quality": "720p",
    "format": "mp4"
}

Quality options: best (up to 4K if available), 1080p, 720p, 480p, 360p

Format options:

• mp4: Standard video format, works everywhere
• webm: Open video format, smaller file sizes
• mp3: Audio only, great for music
• m4a: Audio only, higher quality than mp3

Selecting mp3 or m4a downloads audio only (quality setting is ignored).

Supported URL types:

• Full links: youtube.com/watch?v=...
• Short links: youtu.be/...
• Shorts: youtube.com/shorts/...
• Playlists: youtube.com/playlist?list=... (automatically expanded into individual videos)

Step 2: Run it

Click Start and wait for it to finish. Download time depends on video length, quality, and number of videos.

Step 3: Get your files

Once it's done, check the Output tab. For each video you'll get:

• status: Shows "Success" if the video was downloaded. If something went wrong, it tells you what happened and what you can do about it.
• videoFileUrl: Direct link to the downloaded file, stored in your Apify storage.
• thumbnailFileUrl: Direct link to the thumbnail image.
• subtitleFileUrls: Links to subtitle files for each available language (when subtitles are enabled).
• videoYoutubeUrl: Original YouTube URL.
• channel: Channel name.
• title: Video title.
• duration: Video length in seconds.
• stats: Views, likes, and comments.

Example output

{
    "status": "Success",
    "videoId": "dQw4w9WgXcQ",
    "title": "Rick Astley - Never Gonna Give You Up (Official Music Video)",
    "channel": "Rick Astley",
    "channelId": "UCuAXFkgsw1L7xaCfnd5JJOw",
    "duration": 212,
    "uploadDate": "2009-10-25",
    "videoFileUrl": "https://api.apify.com/v2/key-value-stores/.../records/video-dQw4w9WgXcQ",
    "videoYoutubeUrl": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ",
    "thumbnailFileUrl": "https://api.apify.com/v2/key-value-stores/.../records/thumbnail-dQw4w9WgXcQ",
    "format": "mp4",
    "quality": "720p",
    "fileSize": 15728640,
    "stats": {
        "views": 1500000000,
        "likes": 16000000,
        "comments": 3000000
    },
    "error": null
}

🌐 Proxy settings

By default, the Actor uses Apify's datacenter proxies to avoid IP blocks from YouTube.

You can change this in the Proxy Configuration section of the input:

• Automatic (default): Apify selects the best proxy group automatically.
• Datacenter: Fast and cheap. Works for some videos, but YouTube may block requests.
• Residential: Use if you get frequent blocking errors. Slower and costs more, but most reliable.
• Own proxies: Provide your own proxy URLs.
• No proxy: Disable proxies entirely. Not recommended for YouTube.

💰 Pricing

You pay per minute of video downloaded, based on the quality you choose. Only successful downloads are charged. Failed videos are free.

Quality	Price per minute
Audio (MP3/M4A)	$0.002
360p	$0.004
480p	$0.006
720p	$0.008
1080p	$0.012
Best (up to 4K)	$0.020

Minutes are rounded up. A 3.5-minute video counts as 4 minutes.

Examples:

• A 4-minute music video at 720p costs $0.032
• A 10-minute video at 1080p costs $0.12
• A 4-minute song as MP3 costs $0.008

💡 Good to know

• Proxy recommended. YouTube blocks most requests from datacenter IPs. If you see "YouTube is blocking this request", switch to Residential proxy in the Proxy configuration input.
• Age-restricted videos cannot be downloaded. They require a logged-in YouTube account, which this Actor does not have.
• Private videos cannot be downloaded. You'll get a clear error message.
• Playlists are automatically expanded into individual videos.
• Shorts work just like regular videos.
• Short links (youtu.be/...) are resolved automatically.
• Duplicate URLs are automatically removed.
• You can add up to 1,000 URLs per run.
• Very long videos (over 2 GB file size) are not supported.
• Live streams cannot be downloaded.
• Set includeSubtitles to true to download available captions for each video.
• You can adjust maxConcurrency (1 to 5) to process more videos in parallel.
• Storage: Files at videoFileUrl and thumbnailFileUrl are stored in your Apify storage. How long they're kept depends on your Apify plan.

❓ FAQ

Why did my download fail?

Check the status field in the output. Common reasons:

• YouTube is blocking the request. Try switching to Residential proxy in the Proxy configuration input.
• The video is age-restricted. These require a logged-in YouTube account and cannot be downloaded.
• The video is private or has been removed by the creator.

Which proxy should I use?

Start with the default (Automatic). If you see errors about blocking or sign-in challenges, switch to Residential. It costs more but handles most blocking issues.

Which quality should I choose?

720p is a good default for most uses. Choose 1080p for high quality. Choose 360p for the smallest file size. Choose "best" for the highest available quality (up to 4K). If you only need the audio, choose mp3 or m4a as the format.

How long are the downloaded files stored?

Files are stored in your Apify storage. How long they're kept depends on your Apify plan. Check your plan details for retention periods.

Can I use this from my backend?

Yes. The videoFileUrl is a URL stored on Apify's servers that works from any IP and any server. Call the Actor via the Apify API and read the dataset items to get the download URLs.

Can I download entire playlists?

Yes. Paste the playlist URL and the Actor will automatically expand it into individual videos and download each one.

🔗 Other tools you might like

• YouTube to MP3 Audio Downloader: Extract audio from YouTube videos in 8 formats (MP3, FLAC, WAV, and more) with optional metadata embedding.
• TikTok Video Downloader: Download TikTok videos without watermark.

⚖️ Disclaimer

This tool is intended for personal, research, and educational use. You are responsible for complying with YouTube's Terms of Service and applicable laws in your jurisdiction. The developer is not liable for misuse. Video availability depends on YouTube at run time.

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