YouTube Channel Scraper - Subscribers, Views & Links

What does YouTube Channel Scraper do?

YouTube Channel Scraper returns the public profile of YouTube channels with their latest uploads: one clean record per channel, with typed values (numbers, booleans, ISO dates) ready for spreadsheets, databases and AI pipelines.

• Exact video and total view counts, the join date and country, read from the channel's own About page
• Latest uploads (up to 30) with views, duration and age in the same record
• The links the channel publishes, resolved to their real URLs
• Accepts @handles, channel IDs and legacy /c/ and /user/ URLs
• An error item with a clear code for every channel that cannot be read, never charged
• No login, no cookies, no browser; respects robots.txt

Use cases

• Build creator lists with subscriber, view and video counts
• Track competitor channels: growth, upload cadence and latest videos
• Collect the links channels publish for partnership research
• Feed clean channel data into CRMs, dashboards and AI pipelines

Why this YouTube channel scraper?

• Several competitors have unreliable runs (<90% success in 30 days)
• Cheaper than typical alternatives ($0.70 vs $1.00 per 1,000 results)

How it compares

YouTube channel scraper	Users (last 30 days)	Successful runs (last 30 days)	Price per 1,000 results
Fast YouTube Channel Scraper	3780	97.9%	$1.30
Youtube Channel Video Scraper	1580	100.0%	$1.00
Fast YouTube Channel Scraper API / Profiles, Subs & Stats	1219	99.9%	$0.50
This Actor	new	every release is tested on live pages first	$0.70

Apify Store data from 2026-11-06, free-plan prices. Prices and stats change; check each listing before you compare.

How it works

YouTube embeds each channel's data in the HTML of its public About and Videos pages. The Actor fetches those two pages over plain HTTP, without a browser, login or cookies, honours YouTube's robots.txt, and reads the embedded data: subscriber, video and total view counts, the join date and country, the description, the links the channel publishes, its avatar and banner, and its latest uploads with views, duration and age. A channel that cannot be read gets an error item that says why, and is not charged.

How to use it

1. Click Try for free.
2. Add channel URLs to Channel URLs (for example https://www.youtube.com/@Google), or handles and IDs to Channel handles or IDs.
3. Optionally lower Latest videos per channel (up to 30, or 0 for profiles only).
4. Click Start, then download results as JSON, CSV, Excel or via the API.

Input example

{
  "startUrls": [
    {
      "url": "https://www.youtube.com/@Google"
    }
  ],
  "channels": [
    "@NASA"
  ],
  "maxVideosPerChannel": 30
}

Output example

A real record from the latest test run (youtube.com) on 2026-11-07. Fields the page didn't publish are left out here; the Actor returns them as null.

{
  "url": "https://www.youtube.com/@Google",
  "type": "Channel",
  "channelId": "UCK8sQmJBp8GCxrOtXWBpyEA",
  "handle": "@Google",
  "name": "Google",
  "description": "Here to help. \n\nReimagining how AI can make your life better and help you explore your creativity, connect with the world, and discover new possibilities. Browse our latest product demos, unboxings, developer roundtables, podcasts, tips, tricks and more. Subscribe for the latest product updates,…",
  "subscriberCount": 14700000,
  "subscriberCountText": "14.7M subscribers",
  "videoCount": 2796,
  "viewCount": 6753156352,
  "joinedDate": "2005-09-18",
  "isVerified": true,
  "isFamilySafe": true,
  "avatarUrl": "https://yt3.googleusercontent.com/bAseQlKvNmjdLQrvYWm_q3QDp8C8YKyYI-nYJewgOkPi0JU1_3X9oFgjrEdzkOlXzLGFxFbnsw=s900-c-k-c0x00ffffff-no-rj",
  "bannerUrl": "https://yt3.googleusercontent.com/H9gGqPJUwNvqOwEZBewLZiW_gV2nFdeQOugRyKv1qclCvIH4ucb6E5z5zYUOZJE4Z2E0KcS6=w2560-fcrop64=1,00005a57ffffa5a8-k-c0xffffffff-no-nd-rj",
  "keywords": [
    "Google",
    "Technology",
    "Science",
    "Android",
    "Google app",
    "Google Doodles",
    "Google Gemini",
    "Gemini AI",
    "Google AI",
    "Google Chrome",
    "Google Search",
    "YouTube",
    "Google Play Store",
    "AI",
    "Artificial Intelligence",
    "Tech",
    "Innovation",
    "Machine Learning",
    "Quantum Computing",
    "Google I/O",
    "Made by Google",
    "Google Doodle",
    "Team Google",
    "Explained",
    "How-to",
    "Tutorial",
    "Google Tips",
    "Tech Tips",
    "Google Help",
    "Google products",
    "Google updates",
    "NotebookLM",
    "NanoBanana",
    "Veo",
    "Gen AI",
    "Pixel",
    "unboxing"
  ],
  "links": [
    {
      "title": "Google Search",
      "url": "https://google.com/"
    },
    {
      "title": "Gemini App",
      "url": "https://gemini.google.com/app"
    },
    {
      "title": "News from Google",
      "url": "https://blog.google/"
    }
  ],
  "videos": [
    {
      "videoId": "DDjr6gXqtN8",
      "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDjr6gXqtN8",
      "title": "What’s New in Google Accessibility | Episode 13 | American Sign Language",
      "viewCount": 12000,
      "viewCountText": "12K",
      "publishedText": "11 days ago",
      "durationSeconds": 478,
      "thumbnailUrl": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/DDjr6gXqtN8/hq720_custom_2.jpg?sqp=CJDwudcG-oaymwEXCNAFEJQDSFryq4qpAwkIARUAAIhCGAE=&rs=AOn4CLCeS1lD2x5NE-QtnSZXCevXW_8rOQ"
    },
    {
      "videoId":

Output fields

Field	Description
url	Channel URL
type	Always Channel
channelId	Channel ID (UC...)
handle	Handle (@name)
name	Channel name
description	Full channel description
subscriberCount	Subscribers as a number, from the count YouTube displays (rounded for large channels)
subscriberCountText	Subscribers as YouTube displays them ("14.7M subscribers")
videoCount	Number of public videos (exact)
viewCount	Total channel views (exact)
joinedDate	Date the channel was created (YYYY-MM-DD)
country	Country the channel set, when public
isVerified	true when the channel has a verified badge
isFamilySafe	YouTube family-safe flag
avatarUrl	Largest avatar image
bannerUrl	Largest banner image
keywords	Channel keywords
links	Links the channel publishes (title and URL)
videos	Latest uploads: ID, URL, title, views, age and duration
scrapedAt	ISO timestamp

Error items

When an input produces no data, the dataset gets one error item for it, so nothing is skipped silently. Error items are free: only result records are charged.

{
  "url": "https://www.youtube.com/@no-such-channel-example",
  "input": "https://www.youtube.com/@no-such-channel-example",
  "error": {
    "type": "https://rocketyard.dev/errors#channel-not-found",
    "title": "Channel not found",
    "status": 404,
    "detail": "YouTube answered HTTP 404 for https://www.youtube.com/@no-such-channel-example/about",
    "instance": "https://www.youtube.com/@no-such-channel-example",
    "code": "CHANNEL_NOT_FOUND"
  }
}

The error object follows RFC 9457 (Problem Details). Its type links to the explanation of the code, and status is the site's HTTP status when there was one. Filter on error.code to separate failures from data; it has its own column in CSV and Excel exports.

Code	Meaning	Retry?
ROBOTS_DISALLOWED	The site's robots.txt does not allow automated access to this URL (or to the page it redirects to), so it was not fetched.	no
ROBOTS_UNREACHABLE	The site's robots.txt could not be loaded because of a server or network error. Under RFC 9309, the page is then not fetched.	yes
PRIVATE_ADDRESS	The URL, or a redirect from it, points to a private or local network address. Only public websites are fetched.	no
NOT_FOUND	The page or source does not exist (HTTP 404 or 410).	no
BLOCKED	The site refused access (HTTP 401, 403 or 429) or answered with a bot-check or consent page instead of the content.	sometimes
HTTP_ERROR	The site answered with another HTTP error: a server error (5xx) that persisted after retries, or an unexpected 4xx status.	sometimes
TIMEOUT	The site did not answer in time, even after retries.	yes
NETWORK_ERROR	The connection failed (DNS, TLS or a reset connection), even after retries.	yes
WRONG_CONTENT_TYPE	The URL returned something the Actor doesn't read, such as a PDF or image instead of an HTML page, or a web page where an API response was expected.	no
TOO_LARGE	The response exceeded the size limit (10 MiB for web pages, 48 MiB for API responses).	no
PARSE_ERROR	The response could not be read (malformed HTML or JSON).	sometimes
CHANNEL_NOT_FOUND	No public channel exists at this handle, ID or URL.	no

Limits

• The video list holds the latest uploads YouTube shows on the channel's Videos tab (up to 30). Older uploads load through YouTube's internal API, which robots.txt disallows.
• Subscriber counts are as YouTube displays them, rounded for large channels (14.7M). Video and total view counts are exact.
• Contact emails that some channels show only after a sign-in and a CAPTCHA are never collected.

Pricing

Pay per result: $0.70 per 1,000 channels, plus a tiny per-run start fee. Channels that cannot be read produce an error item, which is not charged. There is no monthly rental, and you can cap spend per run with Max results or Maximum cost per run.

Integrations and API

Run it from the Apify API, the JavaScript/Python clients, Make, Zapier, n8n, LangChain or any MCP-compatible AI agent, and send results to Google Sheets, webhooks, S3 and more. Schedule it to track changes over time.

FAQ

Which channels does it work on? Any public YouTube channel: @handle URLs, /channel/UC... IDs, legacy /c/ and /user/ URLs, or just the handle or ID.

How exact are the numbers? Video and total view counts are exact, as YouTube publishes them on the About page at the time of the run. The subscriber count is the number YouTube displays, which it rounds for large channels (14.7M); subscriberCountText keeps it as shown.

Does it return contact emails? No. YouTube shows business emails only after a sign-in and a CAPTCHA; the Actor never signs in or solves CAPTCHAs. It returns the links a channel publishes on its About page.

Can it list every video of a channel? It lists the latest uploads (up to 30) that the channel's Videos page shows. Loading more needs YouTube's internal API, which robots.txt disallows.

How much does it cost? You pay per result: $0.70 per 1,000 channels, plus a start fee of $0.00005 per run, with no subscription. Cap any run with Maximum cost per run.

How do I call it from the API? One request starts a run and returns its results, using your Apify API token:

$curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/rocketyard~youtube-channel-scraper/run-sync-get-dataset-items" -H "Authorization: Bearer $APIFY_TOKEN" -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d '{"startUrls":[{"url":"https://www.youtube.com/@Google"}],"channels":["@NASA"],"maxVideosPerChannel":30}'

How do I use it with AI agents? Connect Apify's MCP server at https://mcp.apify.com?tools=rocketyard/youtube-channel-scraper, and the agent can call this Actor as a tool.

Is it legal to scrape YouTube data? The Actor reads only public pages that YouTube's robots.txt allows, without logging in, without cookies and without bypassing consent or bot checks. It returns no comment text and no data about commenters or viewers. You are responsible for how you use the data under YouTube's terms and the law (for example copyright and GDPR).

What happens when an input fails? If a channel can't be read, the dataset gets one error item for it with a code and the reason. Error items are free, and the other channels still run.

I need a field that is not supported. Open an issue on the Actor's Issues tab. Requests are reviewed regularly and drive new features.

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Made by Rocketyard

Rocketyard builds pay-per-result scrapers for public web data, and every release is tested on live pages before it ships. Guides for this Actor: overview, REST API, MCP for AI agents and n8n, Make and Zapier.