YouTube Data Scraper & AI Analyzer - Complete API Solution 🎥🤖

Extract comprehensive YouTube data and get AI-powered insights with this professional-grade Apify Actor. Scrape videos, channels, comments, live streams, and more - then analyze with advanced AI for sentiment, topics, and engagement metrics.

Perfect for: Content creators, marketers, researchers, data analysts, and businesses monitoring YouTube presence.

---

🌟 Why Choose This YouTube Scraper?

✅ 16 Data Types - Most comprehensive YouTube scraper available
✅ AI-Powered Analysis - Sentiment, summarization, topic extraction with OpenAI GPT
✅ Official API Only - 100% compliant with YouTube Terms of Service
✅ Pay-Per-Use - Only pay for what you scrape
✅ No Coding Required - Simple configuration, instant results
✅ Export Ready - JSON, CSV, Excel, Google Sheets integration

---

📊 What Can You Extract?

Core YouTube Data

1. Video Details 📹

Extract complete video metadata:

• Title, description, tags
• View count, like count, comment count
• Duration, publish date, category
• Thumbnails (all resolutions)
• Channel information

2. Channel Information 📺

Get comprehensive channel stats:

• Subscriber count, total videos
• Total views, country
• Channel description, custom URL
• Upload playlist ID
• Creation date

3. Comments & Replies 💬

Scrape full comment threads:

• Comment text and author
• Like counts, reply counts
• All nested replies
• Publish timestamps
• Author channel IDs

4. Search Results 🔍

Find videos by keywords:

• Matching videos for any search query
• Video metadata and stats
• Channel information
• Ranked by relevance

5. Trending Videos 🔥

Track what's trending:

• Regional trending (US, IN, GB, etc.)
• Category-specific (Music, Gaming, News)
• Real-time trending data
• Engagement metrics

6. Playlist Contents 📋

Extract entire playlists:

• All videos in any playlist
• Video positions and metadata
• Playlist creator info

Advanced Features

7. Captions/Subtitles 📝

Get available caption tracks:

• All languages available
• Auto-generated vs manual
• Closed captions (CC)
• Perfect for transcript generation

8. Live Chat Messages 💰

Scrape live stream chats:

• Real-time chat messages
• SuperChat donations with amounts
• Author information
• Moderator/sponsor status
• Perfect for donation tracking

9. Live Broadcasts 📡

Monitor live streams:

• Scheduled start times
• Live status tracking
• Stream metadata
• Recording status

10. Related Videos 🔗

Find recommended content:

• YouTube's recommendation algorithm
• Related video suggestions
• Build content networks

11. Channel Activities 📊

Track channel behavior:

• Recent uploads
• Liked videos
• Activity timeline
• Content patterns

12. Video Categories 🏷️

Get all YouTube categories:

• Music, Gaming, Education
• News, Entertainment, Sports
• Region-specific categories

13-16. Plus More!

• Channel subscriptions
• Channel sections (featured content)
• Supported languages
• Supported regions

---

🤖 AI-Powered Analysis (Optional)

Unlock deep insights with AI analysis powered by OpenAI GPT:

1. Sentiment Analysis 😊😐😢

Understand audience emotions:

• Positive/Negative/Neutral percentages
• Overall sentiment score
• AI-generated sentiment summary
• Trend analysis over time

Example Output:

{
  "sentiment": {
    "positive": 68.5,
    "negative": 12.3,
    "neutral": 19.2,
    "overall": "positive",
    "summary": "Audience highly appreciates the content quality..."
  }
}

2. Comment Summarization 📝

Get the big picture instantly:

• AI-generated summaries of all comments
• Key themes and opinions
• Main concerns and praises
• 3-5 bullet point insights

3. Topic Extraction 🏷️

Discover what people discuss:

• Main topics and themes
• Trending keywords
• Common questions
• Popular discussion points

4. Engagement Analysis 📈

Understand interaction patterns:

• Like distribution (high/medium/low)
• Reply patterns
• Top commenters
• Engagement rate calculation

5. Video Performance Scoring 🎯

Rate your video success:

• Engagement rate: (likes + comments) / views
• Performance rating: Excellent/Good/Average/Low
• Virality score (0-100)
• Like-to-view and comment-to-view ratios

---

🚀 How to Use This Actor

Step 1: Configure Your Scrape

Choose your scrape type and provide the required inputs:

Example: Scrape Video Details

{
  "scrapeType": "video",
  "videoUrls": [
    "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ",
    "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID_2"
  ]
}

Example: Scrape Comments with AI Analysis

{
  "scrapeType": "comments",
  "videoUrls": ["https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID"],
  "maxComments": 500,
  "includeReplies": true,
  "enableAI": true,
  "aiAnalysisType": "all"
}

Example: Track Trending Videos

{
  "scrapeType": "trending",
  "trendingRegion": "US",
  "trendingCategory": "music",
  "maxResults": 50
}

Example: Scrape Live Chat

{
  "scrapeType": "live_chat",
  "liveChatId": "YOUR_LIVE_CHAT_ID",
  "maxMessages": 200
}

Step 2: Set Up API Keys

YouTube Data API Key (Required)

1. Go to Google Cloud Console
2. Create a new project
3. Enable YouTube Data API v3
4. Create credentials → API Key
5. Copy your API key

Add to Actor input:

{
  "apiKey": "YOUR_YOUTUBE_API_KEY"
}

Or set as environment variable: YOUTUBE_API_KEY

OpenAI API Key (Optional - for AI features)

1. Go to OpenAI Platform
2. Create account or sign in
3. Navigate to API Keys
4. Create new secret key
5. Copy your API key

Add to Actor input:

{
  "openaiApiKey": "YOUR_OPENAI_API_KEY",
  "enableAI": true
}

Or set as environment variable: OPENAI_API_KEY

Step 3: Run the Actor

Click Start and the Actor will:

1. ✅ Connect to YouTube Data API
2. ✅ Extract your requested data
3. ✅ Perform AI analysis (if enabled)
4. ✅ Save results to Dataset

Step 4: Export Your Data

Download results in your preferred format:

• JSON - For developers and APIs
• CSV - For Excel and spreadsheets
• Excel - Ready-to-analyze spreadsheets
• Google Sheets - Direct integration
• HTML - Web-ready tables

---

📋 Complete Input Reference

Required Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description
scrapeType	String	Type of data to scrape (see table below)

Scrape Types

Scrape Type	Description	Required Input
video	Video details and metadata	videoUrls
channel	Channel information and stats	channelUrls
comments	Comments and reply threads	videoUrls
search	Search YouTube videos	searchQueries
trending	Trending videos by region	trendingRegion
playlist	Playlist contents	playlistUrls
captions	Available caption tracks	videoUrls
categories	Video categories	trendingRegion
live_broadcasts	Live stream information	channelUrls
live_chat	Live chat messages	liveChatId
activities	Channel recent activities	channelUrls
subscriptions	Channel subscriptions	channelUrls
related_videos	Related/recommended videos	videoUrls
channel_sections	Channel featured sections	channelUrls
languages	Supported languages	None
regions	Supported regions	None

Optional Parameters

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
videoUrls	Array	[]	YouTube video URLs
channelUrls	Array	[]	YouTube channel URLs
playlistUrls	Array	[]	YouTube playlist URLs
searchQueries	Array	[]	Search keywords
liveChatId	String	-	Live chat ID
maxResults	Integer	50	Max results per query (1-500)
maxComments	Integer	100	Max comments per video (1-1000)
maxMessages	Integer	200	Max live chat messages (1-1000)
includeReplies	Boolean	true	Include comment replies
trendingRegion	String	"US"	Region code (US, IN, GB, etc.)
trendingCategory	String	"all"	Category (all, music, gaming, movies, news)
apiKey	String	-	Your YouTube API key (optional if set in env)

AI Analysis Parameters

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
enableAI	Boolean	false	Enable AI-powered analysis
aiAnalysisType	String	"all"	Type of AI analysis
openaiApiKey	String	-	Your OpenAI API key (optional if set in env)

AI Analysis Types:

• all - Complete analysis (sentiment + summary + topics + engagement)
• sentiment - Sentiment analysis only
• summary - AI summarization only
• topics - Topic extraction only
• engagement - Engagement metrics only
• basic - Basic stats without AI (free)

---

💰 Pricing & Pay-Per-Event

Actor Usage Pricing

This Actor uses Apify's pay-per-event model. You only pay for what you use:

Pricing Events:

• Actor Start - Charged once per run
• Task Completed - Charged per scrape type execution

Typical Costs:

• Scraping 10 videos: ~$0.01-$0.02
• Scraping 100 comments: ~$0.02-$0.05
• Scraping trending videos: ~$0.03-$0.06
• AI analysis (100 comments): ~$0.10-$0.20 (OpenAI cost)

Free Tier: Apify offers free credits for testing!

API Quota Costs

YouTube Data API v3

• Free quota: 10,000 units/day
• Video details: 1 unit per video
• Comments: 1 unit per request (~100 comments)
• Search: 100 units per request
• Live chat: 5 units per request

Most users stay within the free quota!

OpenAI API (Optional - for AI features)

• GPT-3.5-turbo: ~$0.002 per 1,000 tokens
• Average analysis: 500-1000 tokens
• Cost per analysis: ~$0.001-$0.002

Example Costs:

• 100 comments analyzed: ~$0.10-$0.20
• 500 comments analyzed: ~$0.50-$1.00
• 1000 comments analyzed: ~$1.00-$2.00

💡 Tip: Use aiAnalysisType: "basic" for free analysis without OpenAI!

---

🎯 Use Cases & Applications

For Content Creators 🎬

• Audience Sentiment - Understand how viewers feel about your content
• Engagement Tracking - Monitor likes, comments, and shares
• Competitor Analysis - See what works for similar channels
• Trend Identification - Discover trending topics in your niche
• Comment Management - Export and analyze all comments

For Digital Marketers 📈

• Brand Monitoring - Track brand mentions and sentiment
• Influencer Research - Find and analyze influencers
• Campaign Performance - Measure video marketing ROI
• Market Research - Understand audience preferences
• Competitor Intelligence - Monitor competitor content

For Researchers & Analysts 📊

• Social Media Research - Academic and market research
• Sentiment Studies - Large-scale sentiment analysis
• Trend Analysis - Identify and track trends
• Dataset Creation - Build ML/AI training datasets
• Network Analysis - Map content relationships

For Businesses 💼

• Customer Feedback - Analyze product reviews and feedback
• Support Insights - Identify common customer questions
• Crisis Management - Monitor negative sentiment
• Product Research - Understand market demand
• Competitive Intelligence - Track competitor activity

For Developers 💻

• API Integration - Build YouTube data into your apps
• ML/AI Training - Create training datasets
• Recommendation Systems - Build content recommenders
• Analytics Dashboards - Power real-time dashboards
• Automation - Automate YouTube monitoring

---

📤 Data Export & Integration

Export Formats

• ✅ JSON - Perfect for APIs and developers
• ✅ CSV - Import into Excel, Google Sheets
• ✅ Excel - Ready-to-analyze spreadsheets
• ✅ XML - Enterprise system integration
• ✅ RSS - Feed readers and aggregators
• ✅ HTML - Web-ready tables

Integrations

• ✅ Google Sheets - Direct export to spreadsheets
• ✅ Slack - Real-time notifications
• ✅ Email - Automated reports
• ✅ Webhooks - Custom integrations
• ✅ Zapier - Connect to 5,000+ apps
• ✅ Make (Integromat) - Advanced automation

API Access

Access your data programmatically:

// Get dataset items via Apify API
const dataset = await client.dataset('DATASET_ID').listItems();

---

⚡ Performance & Limits

Speed

• Video scraping: ~100 videos in 2 minutes
• Comment scraping: ~500 comments in 1 minute
• AI analysis: ~100 comments in 30 seconds
• Batch processing: Process multiple URLs simultaneously

Limits

• Max results per request: 500
• Max comments per video: 1,000
• Max live chat messages: 1,000
• YouTube API quota: 10,000 units/day (free tier)

Optimization Tips

• Use specific scrape types instead of scraping everything
• Set appropriate maxResults to avoid unnecessary API calls
• Use aiAnalysisType: "basic" when AI isn't needed
• Schedule runs during off-peak hours for better performance

---

🔒 Security & Compliance

100% Compliant

• ✅ Uses official YouTube Data API v3 only
• ✅ Fully compliant with YouTube Terms of Service
• ✅ No unofficial scraping or API abuse
• ✅ Respects video and channel privacy settings
• ✅ Automatic rate limiting and error handling

Data Security

• ✅ API keys stored securely as environment variables
• ✅ No data stored permanently (only in your dataset)
• ✅ GDPR compliant data handling
• ✅ Secure HTTPS connections only

Privacy

• ✅ Only public data is accessible
• ✅ Private videos and comments are not scraped
• ✅ Respects channel privacy settings
• ✅ No personal data collection

---

🛠️ Troubleshooting

"No API key provided"

Solution: Add your YouTube API key to the input or set YOUTUBE_API_KEY environment variable.

"Quota exceeded"

Solution: You've reached YouTube's daily API quota (10,000 units). Wait 24 hours or request a quota increase from Google Cloud Console.

"Video not found"

Solution: The video may be private, deleted, or age-restricted. Verify the URL is correct and the video is public.

"Comments disabled"

Solution: The video owner has disabled comments. This is expected behavior.

"Live chat not found"

Solution: The live chat ID must be from an active or recently ended live stream.

"AI analysis failed"

Solution: Check your OpenAI API key is valid and you have sufficient credits. The Actor will fall back to basic analysis automatically.

---

📞 Support & Resources

Documentation

• 📖 YouTube Data API v3 Documentation
• 📖 OpenAI API Documentation
• 📖 Apify Platform Documentation

Get API Keys

• 🔑 Get YouTube API Key
• 🔑 Get OpenAI API Key

Need Help?

• 💬 Contact Apify support
• 📧 Check the Actor's issue tracker
• 📚 Review example inputs in the Actor's repository

---

🌟 Key Features Summary

✅ 16 Scrape Types - Most comprehensive YouTube data extraction
✅ AI Analysis - 6 types of AI-powered insights
✅ Official API - 100% YouTube TOS compliant
✅ Pay-Per-Use - Only pay for what you scrape
✅ No Coding - Simple JSON configuration
✅ Batch Processing - Scrape multiple URLs at once
✅ Export Ready - JSON, CSV, Excel, Google Sheets
✅ Integrations - Slack, Email, Webhooks, Zapier
✅ Fast - Process 100s of videos in minutes
✅ Secure - GDPR compliant, secure API handling

---

🚀 Get Started Now

1. Click "Try for Free" to test the Actor
2. Configure your scrape using the examples above
3. Add your API keys (YouTube required, OpenAI optional)
4. Click "Start" and get your data in seconds!

---

📊 Example Output

Video Details

{
  "type": "video",
  "id": "dQw4w9WgXcQ",
  "title": "Rick Astley - Never Gonna Give You Up",
  "viewCount": 1400000000,
  "likeCount": 15000000,
  "commentCount": 2500000,
  "duration": "PT3M33S",
  "tags": ["rick astley", "music", "80s"]
}

AI Analysis

{
  "type": "ai_analysis",
  "sentiment": {
    "positive": 72.5,
    "negative": 8.3,
    "neutral": 19.2,
    "overall": "positive"
  },
  "summary": "• Viewers love the nostalgic value\n• Many appreciate the music quality\n• Positive reception overall",
  "topics": ["nostalgia", "music quality", "80s music", "meme culture"]
}

---

Built with ❤️ for YouTube data enthusiasts

100% Official API | Fully Compliant | Production Ready

Start extracting YouTube insights today!