# YouTube Scraper (`rupom888/youtube-scraper-js`) Actor Scrape YouTube videos, channels, playlists, Shorts, and comments. Search by keyword, channel URL, playlist URL, or video URL. No API key required — unlimited results. - **URL**: https://apify.com/rupom888/youtube-scraper-js.md - **Developed by:** [Syed Rupom](https://apify.com/rupom888) (community) - **Categories:** Videos, Social media, Lead generation - **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, NaN bookmarks - **User rating**: No ratings yet ## Pricing from $2.00 / 1,000 results This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events. Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-event ## What's an Apify Actor? Actors are a software tools running on the Apify platform, for all kinds of web data extraction and automation use cases. In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours, and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store. In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server. Actors are written with capital "A". ## How to integrate an Actor? If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects. You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready. The best way to integrate Actors is as follows. In JavaScript/TypeScript projects, use official [JavaScript/TypeScript client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js.md): ```bash npm install apify-client ``` In Python projects, use official [Python client library](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python.md): ```bash pip install apify-client ``` In shell scripts, use [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): ````bash # MacOS / Linux curl -fsSL https://apify.com/install-cli.sh | bash # Windows irm https://apify.com/install-cli.ps1 | iex ```bash In AI frameworks, you might use the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/mcp.md). If your project is in a different language, use the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md). For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below. For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt). # README ## YouTube Scraper Extract YouTube videos, channels, playlists, Shorts, comments, and transcripts — no API key, no quotas. Includes **real like counts, subscriber counts, and comment counts** via internal YouTube API enrichment. Priced at **$1 per 1,000 results** (60% cheaper than competitors). ### What it scrapes - **Search** — find videos by keyword with sort and date filters - **Channel** — scrape all videos from any YouTube channel - **Playlist** — extract videos from a playlist URL - **Video** — get full metadata for a specific video - **Shorts** — extract Shorts from a channel - **Comments** — scrape comments from any video - **Subtitles / Transcripts** — extract auto-generated or manual captions ### Sample output ```json { "video_id": "dQw4w9WgXcQ", "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ", "title": "Rick Astley - Never Gonna Give You Up", "description": "The official video...", "channel_name": "Rick Astley", "channel_id": "UCuAXFkgsw1L7xaCfnd5JJOw", "channel_url": "https://www.youtube.com/channel/...", "view_count": 1400000000, "like_count": 16000000, "comment_count": 3200000, "subscriber_count": 4100000, "subscriber_text": "4.1M subscribers", "published_at": "2009-10-25", "duration": "3:33", "duration_secs": 213, "thumbnail": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/dQw4w9WgXcQ/maxresdefault.jpg", "keywords": ["rick astley", "never gonna give you up"], "is_short": false, "subtitles": null } ```` ### Input ```json { "scrapeType": "search", "queries": ["python tutorial for beginners"], "resultsPerQuery": 50, "sortBy": "relevance", "uploadDateFilter": "any", "durationFilter": "any", "includeSubtitles": false, "enrichDetails": true, "minViews": 0, "minLikes": 0 } ``` ### Input fields | Field | Type | Default | Description | |-------|------|---------|-------------| | `scrapeType` | string | `search` | Mode: `search`, `channel`, `playlist`, `video`, `shorts`, `comments` | | `queries` | string\[] | required | Keywords, URLs, or channel handles | | `resultsPerQuery` | integer | 50 | Max results per query (up to 5,000 for channels/playlists) | | `sortBy` | string | `relevance` | `relevance`, `upload_date`, `view_count`, `rating` | | `uploadDateFilter` | string | `any` | `any`, `hour`, `today`, `week`, `month`, `year` | | `durationFilter` | string | `any` | `any`, `short` (<4 min), `medium` (4–20 min), `long` (>20 min) | | `enrichDetails` | boolean | true | Fetch real like count, comment count, and subscriber count via internal API | | `includeSubtitles` | boolean | false | Extract full video transcript/captions | | `minViews` | integer | 0 | Filter out videos with fewer views | | `minLikes` | integer | 0 | Filter out videos with fewer likes | ### Scrape type reference | `scrapeType` | `queries` format | Example | |---|---|---| | `search` | Keywords | `"machine learning"` | | `channel` | Channel URL or handle | `"https://www.youtube.com/@mkbhd"` | | `playlist` | Playlist URL | `"https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=..."` | | `video` | Video URL | `"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=..."` | | `shorts` | Channel URL | `"https://www.youtube.com/@channel"` | | `comments` | Video URL | `"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=..."` | ### Use cases - Competitor channel analysis with subscriber and engagement data - Content research: find top videos by topic with real like/comment counts - Influencer discovery with subscriber and view metrics - AI/LLM pipelines: bulk extract transcripts for training or summarization - Social listening: monitor comments on brand-related videos ### Notes - No proxy needed — YouTube allows datacenter IPs - `enrichDetails: true` adds ~150ms per video for real engagement stats - Channel and playlist scraping supports up to 5,000 results via continuation tokens - Subtitles available for videos with auto-generated or manual captions ### Pricing **$1.00 per 1,000 results** — no API key costs, no quota limits. Competitors charge $2.40/1K. # Actor input Schema ## `scrapeType` (type: `string`): What to scrape: keyword search, channel videos, playlist, video details, Shorts, or comments. ## `queries` (type: `array`): Keywords for search; channel URLs (youtube.com/@channel); playlist URLs; or video URLs for details/comments. ## `resultsPerQuery` (type: `integer`): Number of videos/comments to extract per query. ## `sortBy` (type: `string`): How to sort keyword search results. ## `uploadDateFilter` (type: `string`): Filter search results by upload date. ## `durationFilter` (type: `string`): Filter search results by video duration. ## `minViews` (type: `integer`): Only return videos with at least this many views. Set 0 to disable. ## `minLikes` (type: `integer`): Only return videos with at least this many likes. Set 0 to disable. ## `includeSubtitles` (type: `boolean`): Extract auto-generated subtitles/transcript for each video. ## `proxyConfiguration` (type: `object`): YouTube works well without proxy. Proxy optional. ## Actor input object example ```json { "scrapeType": "search", "queries": [ "python programming tutorial" ], "resultsPerQuery": 50, "sortBy": "relevance", "uploadDateFilter": "any", "durationFilter": "any", "minViews": 0, "minLikes": 0, "includeSubtitles": false, "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": false } } ``` # API You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup. ## JavaScript example ```javascript import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client'; // Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token // Replace the '' with your token const client = new ApifyClient({ token: '', }); // Prepare Actor input const input = { "queries": [ "python programming tutorial" ], "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": false } }; // Run the Actor and wait for it to finish const run = await client.actor("rupom888/youtube-scraper-js").call(input); // Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any) console.log('Results from dataset'); console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`); const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems(); items.forEach((item) => { console.dir(item); }); // 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs ``` ## Python example ```python from apify_client import ApifyClient # Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token # Replace '' with your token. client = ApifyClient("") # Prepare the Actor input run_input = { "queries": ["python programming tutorial"], "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": False }, } # Run the Actor and wait for it to finish run = client.actor("rupom888/youtube-scraper-js").call(run_input=run_input) # Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any) print("💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/" + run["defaultDatasetId"]) for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items(): print(item) # 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start ``` ## CLI example ```bash echo '{ "queries": [ "python programming tutorial" ], "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": false } }' | apify call rupom888/youtube-scraper-js --silent --output-dataset ``` ## MCP server setup ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "command": "npx", "args": [ "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=rupom888/youtube-scraper-js", "--header", "Authorization: Bearer " ] } } } ``` ## OpenAPI specification ```json { "openapi": "3.0.1", "info": { "title": "YouTube Scraper", "description": "Scrape YouTube videos, channels, playlists, Shorts, and comments. Search by keyword, channel URL, playlist URL, or video URL. No API key required — unlimited results.", "version": "0.1", "x-build-id": "LSrUg166aiiWsSL4s" }, "servers": [ { "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2" } ], "paths": { "/acts/rupom888~youtube-scraper-js/run-sync-get-dataset-items": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-rupom888-youtube-scraper-js", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for its completion, and returns Actor's dataset items in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } }, "/acts/rupom888~youtube-scraper-js/runs": { "post": { "operationId": "runs-sync-rupom888-youtube-scraper-js", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK", "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema" } } } } } } }, "/acts/rupom888~youtube-scraper-js/run-sync": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-rupom888-youtube-scraper-js", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } } }, "components": { "schemas": { "inputSchema": { "type": "object", "required": [ "scrapeType", "queries" ], "properties": { "scrapeType": { "title": "Scrape Type", "enum": [ "search", "channel", "playlist", "video", "shorts", "comments" ], "type": "string", "description": "What to scrape: keyword search, channel videos, playlist, video details, Shorts, or comments.", "default": "search" }, "queries": { "title": "Search Keywords / Channel URLs / Playlist URLs / Video URLs", "type": "array", "description": "Keywords for search; channel URLs (youtube.com/@channel); playlist URLs; or video URLs for details/comments.", "items": { "type": "string" } }, "resultsPerQuery": { "title": "Results Per Query", "minimum": 1, "maximum": 5000, "type": "integer", "description": "Number of videos/comments to extract per query.", "default": 50 }, "sortBy": { "title": "Sort Search Results By", "enum": [ "relevance", "upload_date", "view_count", "rating" ], "type": "string", "description": "How to sort keyword search results.", "default": "relevance" }, "uploadDateFilter": { "title": "Upload Date Filter", "enum": [ "any", "hour", "today", "week", "month", "year" ], "type": "string", "description": "Filter search results by upload date.", "default": "any" }, "durationFilter": { "title": "Duration Filter", "enum": [ "any", "short", "medium", "long" ], "type": "string", "description": "Filter search results by video duration.", "default": "any" }, "minViews": { "title": "Minimum View Count", "minimum": 0, "type": "integer", "description": "Only return videos with at least this many views. Set 0 to disable.", "default": 0 }, "minLikes": { "title": "Minimum Like Count", "minimum": 0, "type": "integer", "description": "Only return videos with at least this many likes. Set 0 to disable.", "default": 0 }, "includeSubtitles": { "title": "Include Subtitles", "type": "boolean", "description": "Extract auto-generated subtitles/transcript for each video.", "default": false }, "proxyConfiguration": { "title": "Proxy Configuration", "type": "object", "description": "YouTube works well without proxy. Proxy optional." } } }, "runsResponseSchema": { "type": "object", "properties": { "data": { "type": "object", "properties": { "id": { "type": "string" }, "actId": { "type": "string" }, "userId": { "type": "string" }, "startedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "finishedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "status": { "type": "string", "example": "READY" }, "meta": { "type": "object", "properties": { "origin": { "type": "string", "example": "API" }, "userAgent": { "type": "string" } } }, "stats": { "type": "object", "properties": { "inputBodyLen": { "type": "integer", "example": 2000 }, "rebootCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "restartCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "resurrectCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "computeUnits": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "options": { "type": "object", "properties": { "build": { "type": "string", "example": "latest" }, "timeoutSecs": { "type": "integer", "example": 300 }, "memoryMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 1024 }, "diskMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 2048 } } }, "buildId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultKeyValueStoreId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultDatasetId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultRequestQueueId": { "type": "string" }, "buildNumber": { "type": "string", "example": "1.0.0" }, "containerUrl": { "type": "string" }, "usage": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 1 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "usageTotalUsd": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "usageUsd": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } } } } } } } } } ```