YouTube Channel Search Scraper

🔎 Find YouTube channels for your next creator list

YouTube Channel Search Scraper helps marketers, creator researchers, and analysts find public YouTube channels from keywords or reusable YouTube search-result URLs. Get channel IDs, handles, public metrics, profile details, and the first search match that found each saved channel.

• Build a niche YouTube creator list from topics, products, or audience interests.
• Run Influencer discovery before reviewing creators for a campaign.
• Do YouTube competitor research for a market or content category.
• Create a Channel prospect list for later review and outreach research.
• Collect YouTube channel metrics to compare public audience size.
• Set up YouTube channel monitoring with scheduled discovery runs.

📦 Data you can export

Each dataset row is one saved public channel. It can include:

• channel: ID, handle, name, URL, description, verification, and public visibility signals
• metrics: subscriber, video, and total view counts, plus the count text shown by YouTube
• profile: country, joined text, keywords, tags, RSS URL, tabs, links, and country codes
• images: thumbnail, avatar, banner, and avatar sizes
• discoverySource: the keyword or search URL, discovery surface, rank, and results URL for the first saved match
• sourceVideo: the video that first exposed the channel, or null for a channel-only match

Optional values can be null or empty when YouTube does not show them. Export rows as JSON, CSV, Excel, XML, RSS, or HTML, or use the Apify API.

▶️ Running the Actor

1. Keep the sample keyword or add your own topics.
2. You can also add public YouTube /results URLs.
3. Choose video results, channel-only search, or both.
4. Set the limits for each source and the whole run.
5. You can set subscriber limits, a minimum video count, verified-only results, or channel URLs to exclude.
6. Run the Actor and open the dataset.

The Actor saves the first eligible match for a channel right away. If the same channel appears again from any source, that later match is ignored. The saved row is not changed.

⚙️ Input

Field	Type	What it does
searchTerms	string array	Searches up to 500 topics, products, niches, or creator types.
searchTermsFiles	string array	Loads terms from up to 20 TXT or CSV files. All inputs together can hold up to 500 terms.
searchUrls	object array	Runs public youtube.com/results URLs again. Each object has a url.
discoveryMode	string	Uses video results, channel-only search, or both.
maxChannelsPerSearchTerm	integer	Stops after this many saved channels for each keyword or URL. Leave it empty to return all available channels until that source is exhausted.
maxTotalResults	integer	Stops after this many saved channels in the run. Leave it empty to return all available channels until every source is exhausted.
minSubscribers	integer	Saves channels at or above this public subscriber count. Channels with no public count are skipped.
maxSubscribers	integer	Saves channels at or below this public subscriber count. Channels with no public count are skipped.
minVideos	integer	Saves channels at or above this public video count. Channels with no public video count are skipped.
verifiedOnly	boolean	Saves only channels YouTube marks as verified.
excludedChannels	object array	Leaves out YouTube handle URLs or /channel/UC... URLs. Each object has a url.
languageHint	string	Sets a two-letter YouTube page language hint, such as en.
countryHint	string	Sets a two-letter YouTube country hint, such as US.

Example input from a successful run:

{
  "searchTerms": [
    "coffee roasting"
  ],
  "discoveryMode": "both",
  "maxChannelsPerSearchTerm": 10,
  "maxTotalResults": 10,
  "verifiedOnly": false,
  "languageHint": "en",
  "countryHint": "US"
}

🧾 Output

Each row has the same channel shape. sourceVideo is an object when a video result first showed the channel. It is null for a channel-only match.

Field	Type	What it does
channel.id	string	Stable YouTube channel ID.
channel.handle	string or null	Public handle.
channel.title	string or null	Public channel name.
channel.url	string or null	Main public channel URL.
channel.description	string or null	Public channel description.
channel.isVerified	boolean or null	Says if YouTube marks the channel as verified.
channel.isFamilySafe	boolean or null	YouTube's public family-safety signal.
channel.isUnlisted	boolean or null	YouTube's public unlisted signal.
channel.isNoindex	boolean or null	YouTube's public search-indexing signal.
metrics.subscribers	integer or null	Public subscriber count.
metrics.subscriberText	string or null	Subscriber text shown by YouTube.
metrics.subscriberCountIsExact	boolean or null	Says if the count is exact, not shortened.
metrics.videos	integer or null	Public video count.
metrics.videoText	string or null	Video count text shown by YouTube.
metrics.totalViews	integer or null	Total public channel views.
metrics.totalViewText	string or null	Total view text shown by YouTube.
profile.country	string or null	Country shown on the channel.
profile.joinedText	string or null	Join text shown by YouTube.
profile.keywords	string or null	Channel keyword text.
profile.tags	string array	Public channel tags.
profile.rssUrl	string or null	Public channel video-feed URL.
profile.tabs	object array	Public channel tabs.
profile.tabs.title	string	Tab name.
profile.tabs.url	string	Public tab URL.
profile.externalLinks	string array	Public links shared by the channel.
profile.availableCountryCodes	string array	Country codes where the channel is available.
profile.ownerUrls	string array	Public owner URLs listed by YouTube.
profile.alternateUrls	string array	Other public URLs for the channel.
images.thumbnailUrl	string or null	Public thumbnail URL.
images.avatarUrl	string or null	Main public avatar URL.
images.bannerUrl	string or null	Public banner URL.
images.avatarImages	object array	Available public avatar sizes.
images.avatarImages.url	string	Public avatar image URL.
images.avatarImages.width	integer or null	Image width in pixels.
images.avatarImages.height	integer or null	Image height in pixels.
discoverySource.sourceKind	string	Submitted source type: keyword or search_url.
discoverySource.value	string	Keyword or search URL that first found the channel.
discoverySource.discoverySurface	string	First result type: video_results or channel_filter.
discoverySource.rank	integer	Rank on that discovery surface, starting at 1.
discoverySource.sourceUrl	string	Results URL where the first match appeared.
sourceVideo	object or null	Video that first showed the channel, or null for a channel-only match.
sourceVideo.videoId	string	Stable source video ID.
sourceVideo.title	string or null	Source video title.
sourceVideo.url	string	Public source video URL.
sourceVideo.publishedText	string or null	Publication text shown by YouTube.
sourceVideo.viewText	string or null	View-count text shown by YouTube.

💳 Pricing

This Actor uses pay-per-event pricing. You are charged once for each eligible public channel saved to the dataset. Channel profile details are included. Empty searches, failed attempts, excluded channels, filtered channels, and no-result work are not charged as saved channels. Use the source, run, and Apify charge limits to bound a run.

🔌 Integrations

Use dataset exports, the Apify API, schedules, webhooks, and integrations to send channel rows to a spreadsheet, database, or workflow.

❓ FAQ

How do maximum subscribers and hidden counts work?

Set maxSubscribers to skip channels above your chosen public count. You can use it with minSubscribers to make a range. If either subscriber limit is set, channels with no public subscriber count are skipped.

How do I exclude channels I already know?

Add their YouTube handle URLs or /channel/UC... URLs to excludedChannels. The Actor resolves the channel identity, so matching does not rely only on the URL text.

Can the same channel appear more than once?

No. The first eligible match is saved at once. Later matches for the same channel are ignored, even when they come from another keyword or search URL. They do not change the saved row.

Why is a subscriber count approximate or missing?

YouTube may shorten public counts, such as 19.7K, or hide them. Check subscriberCountIsExact and subscriberText. Missing values stay null.

Can I paste YouTube search-result URLs?

Yes. Add public YouTube /results URLs alone or with keywords and uploaded lists.

Does it return every requested channel?

Not always. YouTube may limit, remove, localize, or deduplicate public search data. Your filters and limits can also reduce saved rows.

Does it scrape videos?

It saves source-video evidence only when a video result first exposed a channel. It does not export full channel video lists, comments, or transcripts.

📝 Changelog

• 1.0: Added search URL input, first-match channel output, source-video evidence, public profile data, subscriber range filters, and channel exclusions.
• 0.1: Initial release.

🆘 Support

For issues, questions, or feature requests, file a ticket and I'll fix or implement it in less than 24h 🫡

🔗 Related Actors

• YouTube Channel Scraper ↗ — Get profiles or recent videos for channels you already know.
• YouTube Lead Scraper ↗ — Find public creator emails from keywords or known channels.
• Influencer Scraper ↗ — Find public profiles across TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube.
• YouTube Channel Statistics Scraper ↗ — Check public stats for a known channel list.
• Youtube Keywords Discovery Tool ↗ — Get YouTube autocomplete ideas before channel discovery.

Made with ❤️ by Maxime Dupré