YouTube Scraper — Videos, Shorts & Channels

YouTube Scraper — Videos, Shorts & Channels

YouTube Scraper extracts structured YouTube records, metadata, metrics, and direct links in real time. Built on a zero-browser HTTP/2 engine running in 256 MB RAM, it delivers normalized datasets with zero null fields ready for CSV, Excel, JSON, or API pipelines.

Looking for related scrapers? Check out YouTube Comments Scraper, YouTube Transcript Scraper, YouTube Channel & Creator Intelligence Scraper, YouTube Shorts Scraper, or browse our full catalog of 118+ dedicated scrapers.

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What does YouTube Scraper do?

Ultra-fast YouTube scraper powered by Google's internal InnerTube API. Extract search results, video metadata, shorts, view counts and ch.... Compatible Make.com, Zapier, n8n, Sheets & Webhooks. 256MB RAM & sub-second speed.

Whether you need to monitor YouTube at scale, enrich B2B/B2C databases, or feed structured records into analytics and AI workflows, YouTube Scraper handles pagination, field normalization, and schema validation automatically:

• Bulk Data Extraction: Collect YouTube listings, items, and detailed attributes in batches using keywords, filters, or direct URLs.
• Complete Public Metadata: Capture identifiers, pricing/engagement metrics, author/vendor details, timestamps, and canonical URLs.
• Multi-Format Export: Download results in JSON, CSV, Excel (XLSX), XML, or HTML Table directly from the Apify Console.
• Ready for Automation & AI: Connect seamlessly to Apify Integrations (Make, Zapier, n8n, Google Sheets), REST API endpoints, or the Apify MCP Server.

Beyond the Official YouTube API

• No API Keys or Approval Delays: Start extracting public YouTube data immediately without registering developer apps or waiting for quota approvals.
• No Restrictive Rate Quotas: Bypass strict per-minute API limits and expensive enterprise tiers while capturing the complete public data points displayed on YouTube.
• 256 MB Zero-Browser Architecture: Uses native HTTP/2 and TLS session emulation instead of heavy Chromium instances, executing in seconds at a fraction of standard compute costs.

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What data can you scrape from YouTube?

YouTube Scraper extracts the following data points from YouTube:

📝 Mode (mode)	📝 Search Keywords (searchKeywords)	🔗 Video URLs Or Ids (videoUrlsOrIds)
🔗 Channel URLs Or Handles (channelUrlsOrHandles)	🏷️ Type (type)	🆔 Video ID (videoId)
🔗 URL (url)	📝 Title (title)	👤 Channel Title (channelTitle)
👤 Channel ID (channelId)	🔗 Channel URL (channelUrl)	👀 View Count (viewCount)

Data Category	Extracted Fields & Data Points
Identity & Core Identifiers	type (Type), videoId (Video ID), title (Title), channelTitle (Channel Title), channelId (Channel ID)
Metrics, Pricing & Engagement	viewCount (View Count), likes (Likes), commentsCount (Comments Count)
Details, Attributes & Context	mode (Mode), searchKeywords (Search Keywords)
Direct Links, Media & Timestamps	videoUrlsOrIds (Video URLs Or Ids), channelUrlsOrHandles (Channel URLs Or Handles), url (URL), channelUrl (Channel URL), engagementRatePercent (Engagement Rate Percent), duration (Duration)

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Why scrape YouTube? (Typical Use Cases & Guides)

You can use YouTube Scraper for a wide range of data and business workflows:

• YouTube SEO & Title Optimization: Analyze top ranking videos for high-volume keywords to craft viral titles.
• Sponsorship Discovery: Find mid-tier channels with high view velocity for influencer marketing partnerships.
• Competitor Video Tracking: Monitor publication frequency and view velocity of competitor YouTube channels.
• AI Agents, RAG & LLM Knowledge Pipelines: Stream clean, structured YouTube JSON records into vector databases, Claude, GPT-4, or LangChain workflows.
• Automated BI Dashboards & Scheduled Alerts: Schedule daily or hourly runs and push live YouTube updates directly to Google Sheets, Looker Studio, Slack, or webhooks.
• Market Research & Competitor Analysis: Benchmark YouTube offerings, pricing strategies, and market share across regions.
• Lead Generation & CRM Enrichment: Build targeted prospect lists and sync verified records straight into HubSpot, Salesforce, or Clay.
• AI Agents & RAG Pipelines via MCP: Connect live YouTube data directly to Claude Desktop, Cursor, or LangChain agents.

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How to scrape YouTube data

YouTube Scraper is designed for a zero-configuration start, even if you have never scraped data before:

1. Create a free Apify account using your email (includes $5.00 in free monthly credits).
2. Open YouTube Scraper and click on the Input tab — all required fields are already pre-filled with a working example.
3. Enter your search terms, target URLs, or filter criteria (or keep the default pre-filled configuration for an instant 1-Click test).
4. Click the green "Start" button and wait a few seconds for the data to be extracted.
5. Download your dataset in JSON, CSV, Excel (XLSX), or HTML, or fetch it via the API tab.

For more technical details on every parameter, check out the Input Schema tab or read the Apify Platform Documentation.

🔗 How to scrape YouTube by Search Term or Direct URL

Scraping by Search Term / Filter 🔑	Enter keywords, categories, or filter parameters just as you would search on YouTube. Set the maximum number of items you want to extract and click Start.
Scraping by Direct URL 🔗	Paste one or more direct YouTube links (or import a list of URLs from a Google Sheet / CSV) to extract targeted item or profile details in bulk.

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⬇️ Input Configuration & Examples

To start scraping YouTube, fill in the visual input form in the Apify Console or pass a JSON payload via the API. Full technical specifications are available on the Input Schema tab.

Input Parameters Reference

Parameter	Type	Default / Prefill	Description
mode	string	search	Choose whether to search YouTube by keywords, fetch detailed video data by URLs/IDs, or scrape a channel. Options: search, videos, channel.
searchKeywords	array	["apify web scraping"]	Keywords or search queries to run on YouTube (e.g. ['python tutorial', 'web scraping']). Used in 'Search' mode.
videoUrlsOrIds	array	["https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5...	List of YouTube video URLs (e.g. 'https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kcaHAuGxmY') or raw video IDs. Used in 'Direct Video Details' mode.
channelUrlsOrHandles	array	["@Apify"]	List of YouTube channel URLs or handles (e.g. '@Apify', 'https://www.youtube.com/@Apify'). Used in 'Channel Scraper' mode.
sortBy	string	relevance	How to sort YouTube search results. Options: relevance, upload_date, view_count, rating.
durationFilter	string	all	Filter videos by length. Options: all, short, medium, long.
uploadDateFilter	string	all	Filter search results by upload date recency (e.g. Today for breaking news or fresh content). Options: all, hour, today, this_week, this_month, this_year.
maxResultsPerSearch	integer	40	Maximum number of video results to return per keyword or channel.
proxyConfiguration	object	—	Apify Proxy configuration. InnerTube works well without proxies, but proxies help prevent throttling during high-volume jobs.

Example 1: Standard Extraction (1-Click Default)

{
  "mode": "search",
  "searchKeywords": [
    "apify web scraping"
  ],
  "videoUrlsOrIds": [
    "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kcaHAuGxmY"
  ],
  "channelUrlsOrHandles": [
    "@Apify"
  ]
}

Example 2: Filtered & Batch Extraction

{
  "mode": "videos",
  "searchKeywords": [
    "apify web scraping"
  ],
  "videoUrlsOrIds": [
    "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kcaHAuGxmY"
  ],
  "channelUrlsOrHandles": [
    "https://www.youtube.com/@Apify"
  ],
  "sortBy": "upload_date",
  "durationFilter": "short",
  "uploadDateFilter": "hour",
  "maxResultsPerSearch": 80
}

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⬆️ Output Example (Table View, JSON & Fields Reference)

The scraped results are stored in a structured Apify Dataset available in the Storage tab. Below is a preview of the dataset in both Table View (CSV/Excel format) and JSON format.

Table View (CSV / Excel Dataset Preview)

Mode	Search Keywords	Video URLs Or Ids	Channel URLs Or Handles
search	apify web scraping	https://www.youtube.com/watch...	@Apify
search	apify web scraping	https://www.youtube.com/watch...	@Apify
search	apify web scraping	https://www.youtube.com/watch...	@Apify

JSON Output Example

{
  "mode": "search",
  "searchKeywords": [
    "apify web scraping"
  ],
  "videoUrlsOrIds": [
    "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kcaHAuGxmY"
  ],
  "channelUrlsOrHandles": [
    "@Apify"
  ]
}

Output Fields Reference

Field Name	Type	Description
mode	string	Extracted mode value.
searchKeywords	array	Extracted search keywords value.
videoUrlsOrIds	array	Extracted video urls or ids value.
channelUrlsOrHandles	array	Extracted channel urls or handles value.
type	string	Extracted type value.
videoId	string	Extracted video id value.
url	string	Extracted url value.
title	string	Extracted title value.
channelTitle	string	Extracted channel title value.
channelId	string	Extracted channel id value.
channelUrl	string	Extracted channel url value.
viewCount	integer / number	Extracted view count value.
likes	integer / number	Extracted likes value.
commentsCount	integer / number	Extracted comments count value.
engagementRatePercent	number	Extracted engagement rate percent value.
duration	string	Extracted duration value.
publishedTime	string	Extracted published time value.
thumbnailUrl	string	Extracted thumbnail url value.
scrapedAt	string	Extracted scraped at value.

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🔗 Scrape any data you need with dedicated scrapers

Combine YouTube Scraper with our other dedicated scrapers from @RBBscrap if you want to extract specialized data across platforms:

🔹 YouTube Comments Scraper	🔹 YouTube Transcript Scraper	🔹 YouTube Channel & Creator Intelligence Scraper
🔹 YouTube Shorts Scraper	🔹 YouTube Playlist & Course Scraper	🔹 YouTube Trending & Viral Charts Scraper

Scraper	Extracted Data & Primary Use Case
YouTube Comments Scraper	Comments & Sentiment
YouTube Transcript Scraper	Subtitles for AI
YouTube Channel & Creator Intelligence Scraper	Extract structured YouTube Channel & Creator Intelligence datasets and metrics
YouTube Shorts Scraper	Viral Videos, Sounds & Creators
YouTube Playlist & Course Scraper	Extract structured YouTube Playlist & Course datasets and metrics
YouTube Trending & Viral Charts Scraper	Extract structured YouTube Trending & Viral Charts datasets and metrics

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⚠️ Error Items & Resilience Reference

YouTube Scraper is engineered to process multi-query and batch runs resiliently without crashing if a single query or URL fails:

Status / Code	Meaning & Automatic Handling
OK	Record successfully extracted, validated, and normalized with zero null fields.
DEFAULT_PREFILL_APPLIED	When an empty input payload {} is submitted, the Actor automatically applies its built-in default query so 1-Click runs always succeed.
RATE_LIMIT_RETRY	Transient HTTP 429 / 503 responses trigger automatic retry with exponential backoff and session rotation.
INVALID_TARGET_SKIPPED	Unreachable or malformed target items in a batch are logged with [WARN] and skipped without interrupting the run.

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❓ Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

How much does scraping YouTube cost?

YouTube Scraper uses transparent Pay-Per-Event (PAY_PER_EVENT) pricing set 10x cheaper than the market leader ($\div 10$):

• Event Rate: $0.0003 per Scraped YouTube Scraper Record ($0.3 per 1,000 items).
• 🎁 1st Run 100% FREE: Your very first execution is 100% free ($0.00 event charges are applied on your initial run).
• Apify Free Plan ($5.00/month included): Every Apify account receives $5.00 in free monthly credits, which is enough to extract up to ~16,666 items per month for free.
• View full details on the Pricing tab and the Apify Pricing page.

Can I integrate YouTube Scraper with Make, Zapier, n8n, or Google Sheets?

Yes. YouTube Scraper can be connected with almost any cloud service or web app thanks to integrations on the Apify platform, including Make, Zapier, n8n, Slack, Airbyte, Google Sheets, Google Drive, and webhooks.

Can I use YouTube Scraper with the Apify API (Python & Node.js)?

Yes. The Apify API gives you programmatic access to run YouTube Scraper, schedule jobs, and fetch datasets. Use the apify-client PyPI package for Python or the apify-client NPM package for Node.js, or check the Apify API Reference:

Python (apify-client)

from apify_client import ApifyClient

client = ApifyClient("YOUR_APIFY_API_TOKEN")

run = client.actor("rbbscrap/youtube-scraper").call(run_input={
    "mode": "search",
    "searchKeywords": ["apify web scraping"],
    "videoUrlsOrIds": ["https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kcaHAuGxmY"],
    "channelUrlsOrHandles": ["@Apify"]
})

for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items():
    print(item)

Node.js (apify-client)

import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

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

const run = await client.actor('rbbscrap/youtube-scraper').call({
    mode: "search",
    searchKeywords: ["apify web scraping"],
    videoUrlsOrIds: ["https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kcaHAuGxmY"],
    channelUrlsOrHandles: ["@Apify"]
});

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

Can I use YouTube Scraper through an MCP Server (Claude Desktop, Cursor, AI Agents)?

Yes. With the Apify API, you can use YouTube Scraper in conjunction with an MCP server to connect directly to Claude Desktop, Cursor, Windsurf, or LibreChat. Read the official guide on how to set up Apify Actors with MCP, or go to the MCP tab:

1. Start a Server-Sent Events (SSE) session to receive a sessionId.
2. Send API messages using that sessionId to trigger YouTube Scraper with your input parameters.
3. Receive structured YouTube dataset records directly inside your AI agent conversation.

Do I need residential proxies or login cookies to scrape YouTube?

No. YouTube Scraper operates on a zero-browser HTTP/2 protocol engine (256 MB RAM) and works out-of-the-box without requiring login cookies or external proxies for standard workloads. For high-volume enterprise runs, you can optionally use Apify Proxy in the input configuration.

Is it legal to scrape data from YouTube?

Our scrapers are ethical and do not extract any private user data behind login walls. They only extract what is shared publicly on the web. However, please keep in mind that personal data is protected by GDPR (EU Regulation 2016/679) and other regulations worldwide. You should not scrape personal data unless you have a legitimate legal basis. Read more in Apify's guide on the legality of web scraping.

Your feedback & support

We are continuously improving the performance of our Actors. If you have any technical feedback for YouTube Scraper, need a custom feature, or found a bug, please create an issue on the Actor's Issues tab in the Apify Console.