YouTube Scraper - Extract Videos, Channels, Playlists & Transcripts

The most powerful YouTube data extraction tool on Apify. Scrape unlimited YouTube videos, channels, playlists, and search results without API limits. Extract video metadata, transcripts, subtitles, comments count, and channel analytics in seconds.

Why Choose This YouTube Scraper?

• No YouTube API limits - Scrape thousands of videos without quota restrictions
• Fastest extraction - Get results in minutes, not hours
• Complete data - Video stats, channel info, transcripts, thumbnails, and more
• Multiple formats - Export to JSON, CSV, Excel, or HTML
• Subtitle download - Extract transcripts in SRT, WebVTT, or plain text
• $1/day pricing - Most affordable YouTube scraper on the market

What Data Can You Extract?

Video Data

Field	Description
Title	Video title
Description	Full video description with links
View Count	Number of views
Likes	Like count
Duration	Video length
Upload Date	Publication date
Thumbnail URL	High-quality thumbnail
Channel Name	Creator's channel
Subscriber Count	Channel subscribers
Comments Count	Number of comments
Hashtags	Video hashtags
Monetization	Is video monetized

Channel Data

Field	Description
Channel Name	Channel title
Subscribers	Subscriber count
Total Views	All-time view count
Total Videos	Number of uploads
Description	Channel about text
Social Links	Twitter, Instagram, etc.
Join Date	Channel creation date
Location	Channel country

Subtitles & Transcripts

• SRT format - Standard subtitle format
• WebVTT format - Web-compatible subtitles
• Plain text - Raw transcript text
• Auto-generated - YouTube's automatic captions
• Manual subtitles - Creator-added captions
• Multiple languages - English, Spanish, French, German, and more

Use Cases

Market Research & Competitor Analysis

• Monitor competitor YouTube channels
• Track video performance metrics
• Analyze content strategies
• Identify trending topics

Lead Generation

• Find influencers in your niche
• Extract creator contact information
• Build outreach lists
• Discover collaboration opportunities

Content Creation & SEO

• Research popular video topics
• Analyze successful video titles
• Extract transcripts for repurposing
• Find keyword opportunities

Academic Research

• Collect video data for studies
• Analyze YouTube trends
• Extract transcripts for NLP
• Study content patterns

Brand Monitoring

• Track brand mentions
• Monitor product reviews
• Analyze sentiment
• Competitive intelligence

Input Examples

Search by Keywords

{
  "searchTerms": ["python tutorial", "web scraping guide"],
  "maxVideosPerSearch": 50,
  "maxShortsPerSearch": 10,
  "downloadSubtitles": true
}

Scrape Channel Videos

{
  "directUrls": ["https://www.youtube.com/@MrBeast"],
  "maxVideosPerSearch": 100,
  "channelSortBy": "popular"
}

Extract Playlist

{
  "directUrls": ["https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrAXtmErZgOeiKm4sgNOknGvNjby9efdf"],
  "downloadSubtitles": true,
  "subtitleFormat": "srt"
}

Scrape with Filters

{
  "searchTerms": ["machine learning"],
  "maxVideosPerSearch": 20,
  "dateFilter": "month",
  "lengthFilter": "long",
  "filterHD": true,
  "filter4K": true
}

Output Example

{
  "id": "dQw4w9WgXcQ",
  "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ",
  "title": "Rick Astley - Never Gonna Give You Up",
  "description": "The official video for Rick Astley's...",
  "thumbnailUrl": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/dQw4w9WgXcQ/maxresdefault.jpg",
  "channelName": "Rick Astley",
  "channelUrl": "https://www.youtube.com/@RickAstleyYT",
  "duration": "3:33",
  "viewCount": 1500000000,
  "likes": 15000000,
  "date": "2009-10-25",
  "commentsCount": 3000000,
  "numberOfSubscribers": 14200000,
  "isMonetized": true,
  "hashtags": ["#RickAstley", "#NeverGonnaGiveYouUp"],
  "subtitles": [
    {
      "language": "en",
      "type": "manual",
      "srt": "1\n00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,000\nWe're no strangers to love..."
    }
  ]
}

Integrations

Connect YouTube Scraper with your favorite tools:

• Zapier - Automate workflows
• Make (Integromat) - Visual automation
• Google Sheets - Direct export
• Slack - Get notifications
• Webhooks - Real-time updates
• Python SDK - apify-client package
• Node.js SDK - apify-client package
• REST API - Full programmatic access

API Usage

import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

const client = new ApifyClient({ token: 'YOUR_API_TOKEN' });

const run = await client.actor("YOUR_USERNAME/youtube-scraper").call({
  searchTerms: ["your search term"],
  maxVideosPerSearch: 10
});

const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
console.log(items);

from apify_client import ApifyClient

client = ApifyClient("YOUR_API_TOKEN")

run = client.actor("YOUR_USERNAME/youtube-scraper").call(run_input={
    "searchTerms": ["your search term"],
    "maxVideosPerSearch": 10
})

items = client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).list_items().items
print(items)

Frequently Asked Questions

How many videos can I scrape?

You can scrape up to 500 videos per search term, and there's no limit on the number of search terms or URLs you can provide.

Is it legal to scrape YouTube?

Yes, scraping publicly available data is legal. This scraper only extracts public information that anyone can see on YouTube.

Can I download video files?

This scraper extracts metadata and transcripts only. For video downloads, check our YouTube Video Downloader actor.

What proxies should I use?

The scraper uses Apify's residential proxies by default for best results. You can also use your own proxies.

How often is the data updated?

Data is scraped in real-time. Each run fetches the latest information from YouTube.

Can I scrape YouTube Shorts?

Yes! Set maxShortsPerSearch to scrape YouTube Shorts alongside regular videos.

Does it work with age-restricted videos?

The scraper can extract metadata from most videos, but some age-restricted content may have limited data.

Can I get video transcripts?

Yes, enable downloadSubtitles to extract transcripts in SRT, WebVTT, or plain text format.

Pricing

$1 per day after free trial - the most affordable YouTube scraper available!

• Free trial included
• Pay only for what you use
• No hidden fees
• Cancel anytime

Support

• Issues: Report bugs on the Issues tab
• Documentation: Full docs in the README
• Updates: Regular maintenance and improvements

Related Scrapers

• YouTube Comments Scraper - Extract video comments
• YouTube Shorts Scraper - Focused on Shorts
• TikTok Scraper - Scrape TikTok videos
• Instagram Scraper - Extract Instagram data

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