Youtube Shorts Scraper

Youtube Shorts Scraper

The Youtube Shorts Scraper is a fast, reliable YouTube Shorts data scraper that collects structured metadata from Shorts discovered via channel handles, full channel URLs, or keyword search. It solves the pain of manual research by programmatically extracting titles, views, likes, comment counts, channel details, hashtags, captions, monetization flags, and more — all from public data. Built for marketers, developers, data analysts, and researchers, this YouTube Shorts scraper tool enables trend tracking, competitor analysis, and content planning at scale. 🚀

What data / output can you get?

Below are examples of the structured fields this YouTube short video scraper returns. Each item represents a single Short saved to the Apify dataset.

• title — Video title — "We Built a Giant Domino Tower"
• type — Constant "shorts" — "shorts"
• id — Video ID (11 chars) — "R7MkZL5i3FQ"
• url — Canonical Shorts URL — "https://www.youtube.com/shorts/R7MkZL5i3FQ"
• thumbnailUrl — Best available thumbnail — "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/R7MkZL5i3FQ/hqdefault.jpg"
• viewCount — Parsed views (supports K/M/B) — 1250000
• date — Publish date (ISO 8601 if found) — "2026-03-01T00:00:00.000Z"
• likes — Parsed likes (supports K/M/B) — 48200
• duration — HH:MM:SS (e.g., 00:27) — "00:00:27"
• commentsCount — Total comment count (if available) — 713
• commentsTurnedOff — Boolean when comments are disabled — false
• text — Video description or fallback to title — "Behind the scenes of our latest challenge"
• descriptionLinks — Unique links found in description/title — ["https://example.com", "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abcdEFGhIJK"]
• hashtags — Extracted hashtags — ["shorts", "challenge"]
• channelName — Channel name — "MrBeast"
• channelUrl — Canonical channel URL — "https://www.youtube.com/@MrBeast"
• numberOfSubscribers — Parsed subscriber count — 450000000
• isChannelVerified — Channel verification flag — true
• aboutChannelInfo — Nested object with channel metadata (description, joined date, location, totals, etc.)
• subtitles — Available caption tracks with language codes — [{"url": "...", "languageCode": "en", "name": "English"}]
• isMonetized — Monetization flag (if present) — true
• formats — Available format qualities with truncated URLs — [{"quality": "720p", "url": "https://..."}]
• location — Video location (if present) — "Los Angeles, CA"
• order — Sequential index within the current input — 1
• fromYTUrl — The source YouTube page used to fetch details — "https://www.youtube.com/@MrBeast/shorts"
• input — The original input string for this batch — "@MrBeast"
• fromChannelListPage — "shorts" when from channel tab; "search" when from keyword search — "shorts"
• isAgeRestricted, isMembersOnly, isPaidContent — Safety flags — false

Notes:

• Bonus outputs include channel-level enrichments inside aboutChannelInfo (e.g., channelDescription, channelJoinedDate, channelLocation, channelAvatarUrl, channelBannerUrl, channelTotalVideos, channelTotalViews) when available.
• Results are saved to the Apify dataset for easy download or API consumption.

Key features

• 🔍 Channel & keyword discovery Scrape YouTube Shorts without API from channel handles (e.g., @MrBeast), full channel URLs, or keyword queries. The YouTube Shorts crawler automatically switches to search when a channel’s Shorts tab is empty.

• 🧠 Rich metadata extractor Collect titles, URLs, thumbnails, viewCount, likes, duration, commentsCount, commentsTurnedOff, text, descriptionLinks, hashtags, subtitles, and monetization flags — plus channel analytics like numberOfSubscribers and verification status.

• 🧩 Channel analytics enrichment Fetches aboutChannelInfo with channelDescription, channelJoinedDate, channelLocation, channelAvatarUrl, channelBannerUrl, channelTotalVideos, channelTotalViews, and more when available.

• 🗂️ Sorting & date filtering Control output with sortOrder ("newest", "popular", "oldest") and publishedAfter (absolute date or relative time like 7 days, 2 weeks, 1 month, 1 year).

• ⚡ Asynchronous performance Uses parallel, asynchronous requests under the hood (aiohttp) for faster, scalable collection — ideal for a YouTube Shorts analytics scraper.

• 🌐 Optional proxy support Enable proxyConfiguration to route via Apify Proxy for higher reliability in restricted regions. Default is direct connection.

• 🛠️ Developer-friendly Built on the Apify platform; results are pushed via Actor.pushData for downstream integration into workflows and pipelines (great for YouTube Shorts Python scraper users and API automation).

• 🔒 Public data only Operates on publicly available YouTube Shorts metadata; no login or official API key required.

How to use Youtube Shorts Scraper - step by step

1. Create or log in to your Apify account.
2. Open the “youtube-shorts-scraper” actor in the Apify Console.
3. In the Input tab, add values to startUrls. You can mix:
   • Channel handles: "@MrBeast" or "mrbeast"
   • Full channel URLs: "https://www.youtube.com/@MrBeast"
   • Keywords: "funny shorts", "cooking tips"
4. Set maxResults (1–10,000) to control how many Shorts to collect per input.
5. (Optional) Set publishedAfter with an absolute date (YYYY-MM-DD) or a relative period (e.g., "7 days", "2 weeks", "1 month", "1 year").
6. Choose sortOrder: "newest", "popular", or "oldest".
7. (Optional) Configure proxyConfiguration and set useApifyProxy to true if you need to route traffic via Apify Proxy.
8. Click Start. The run will fetch Shorts IDs from channel tabs or search results, then enrich each video and push items to the dataset.
9. Open the Dataset tab to preview items or download via API.

Pro Tip: Use keyword inputs like “YouTube Shorts trending” to turn it into a YouTube Shorts trending scraper, or target hashtags for a YouTube Shorts hashtag scraper workflow.

Use cases

• Trend tracking — Identify viral Shorts by keyword to inform content calendars and social strategy.
• Competitor monitoring — Monitor channels’ YouTube Shorts performance and metadata over time for benchmarking.
• SEO insights — Extract hashtags, titles, and descriptionLinks with a YouTube Shorts metadata extractor to refine keyword strategy.
• Research pipelines — Pipe structured Shorts data into analytics dashboards using the Apify dataset and API.
• Channel discovery — Use keyword mode as a YouTube Shorts search results scraper to find new creators and topics.
• Academic studies — Collect longitudinal Shorts datasets for research without manual collection.

Why choose Youtube Shorts Scraper?

Positioned for precision and scale, this YouTube Shorts API scraper alternative delivers structured results reliably from public pages.

• ✅ Accurate, structured output with robust field coverage across videos and channels
• 🌍 Keyword or channel-first inputs for flexible discovery flows
• ⚡ Async, parallel fetching for faster throughput on larger batches
• 🧠 Channel enrichment via aboutChannelInfo when available
• 🧪 Sorting and time filters to prioritize recency or popularity
• 🧰 Developer-ready via Apify datasets and API for automation
• 🔐 Public-only data collection — no login or keys required

Unlike unstable browser extensions, it runs on Apify infrastructure and focuses on structured, repeatable YouTube Shorts scraping workflows.

Is it legal / ethical to use Youtube Shorts Scraper?

Yes, when done responsibly. This tool collects publicly available data from YouTube Shorts and does not access private or authenticated content.

Guidelines:

• Only scrape publicly visible information.
• Be mindful of YouTube’s Terms of Service and applicable laws (e.g., GDPR, CCPA).
• Avoid republishing content in ways that violate rights or fair-use policies.
• Consult your legal team for edge cases or commercial re-use scenarios.

Input parameters & output format

Example JSON input

{
  "startUrls": [
    "@MrBeast",
    "https://www.youtube.com/@NASA",
    "funny shorts"
  ],
  "maxResults": 25,
  "publishedAfter": "7 days",
  "sortOrder": "newest",
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": false
  }
}

Parameters

• startUrls (array, required) — Where to scrape Shorts from. Add one or more: channel handles (@MrBeast), usernames (mrbeast), full URLs (https://www.youtube.com/@MrBeast), or search keywords (e.g. funny shorts). Default: ["rainbowicecream9780"].
• maxResults (integer, optional) — Maximum number of Shorts to scrape per channel or keyword. Range: 1–10,000. Default: 10.
• publishedAfter (string, optional) — Filter by publish date. Use a date (YYYY-MM-DD) or relative time (e.g. 7 days, 2 weeks, 1 month, 1 year). Default: not set (include all Shorts).
• sortOrder (string, optional) — Order of results: "newest", "popular", or "oldest". Default: "newest".
• proxyConfiguration (object, optional) — Turn on Apify Proxy for more reliable scraping (useful in EU or restricted regions). Default prefill: {"useApifyProxy": false}.

Example JSON output item

{
  "title": "We Built a Giant Domino Tower",
  "translatedTitle": null,
  "type": "shorts",
  "id": "R7MkZL5i3FQ",
  "url": "https://www.youtube.com/shorts/R7MkZL5i3FQ",
  "thumbnailUrl": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/R7MkZL5i3FQ/hqdefault.jpg",
  "viewCount": 1250000,
  "date": "2026-03-01T00:00:00.000Z",
  "likes": 48200,
  "location": "Los Angeles, CA",
  "channelName": "MrBeast",
  "channelUrl": "https://www.youtube.com/@MrBeast",
  "channelUsername": "MrBeast",
  "collaborators": null,
  "channelId": "UCX6OQ3DkcsbYNE6H8uQQuVA",
  "channelDescription": "We make videos that help people and do crazy challenges.",
  "channelJoinedDate": "2012-02-19",
  "channelDescriptionLinks": [
    "https://shopmrbeast.com",
    "https://www.youtube.com/@MrBeast"
  ],
  "channelLocation": "USA",
  "channelAvatarUrl": "https://yt3.googleusercontent.com/abcd1234=s176-c-k-c0x00ffffff-no-rj",
  "channelBannerUrl": "https://yt3.googleusercontent.com/banner_hero=...-no-rj",
  "channelTotalVideos": 985,
  "channelTotalViews": 31000000000,
  "numberOfSubscribers": 450000000,
  "isChannelVerified": true,
  "inputChannelUrl": "https://www.youtube.com/@MrBeast",
  "isAgeRestricted": false,
  "aboutChannelInfo": {
    "channelDescription": "We make videos that help people and do crazy challenges.",
    "channelJoinedDate": "2012-02-19",
    "channelDescriptionLinks": [
      "https://shopmrbeast.com",
      "https://www.youtube.com/@MrBeast"
    ],
    "channelLocation": "USA",
    "channelUsername": "MrBeast",
    "channelAvatarUrl": "https://yt3.googleusercontent.com/abcd1234=s176-c-k-c0x00ffffff-no-rj",
    "channelBannerUrl": "https://yt3.googleusercontent.com/banner_hero=...-no-rj",
    "channelTotalVideos": 985,
    "channelTotalViews": 31000000000,
    "numberOfSubscribers": 450000000,
    "isChannelVerified": true,
    "channelName": "MrBeast",
    "channelUrl": "https://www.youtube.com/@MrBeast",
    "channelId": "UCX6OQ3DkcsbYNE6H8uQQuVA",
    "inputChannelUrl": "https://www.youtube.com/@MrBeast",
    "isAgeRestricted": false
  },
  "duration": "00:00:27",
  "commentsCount": 713,
  "text": "Behind the scenes of our latest challenge",
  "translatedText": null,
  "descriptionLinks": [
    "https://shopmrbeast.com",
    "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abcdEFGhIJK"
  ],
  "subtitles": [
    {
      "url": "https://www.youtube.com/api/timedtext?v=R7MkZL5i3FQ&lang=en",
      "languageCode": "en",
      "name": "English"
    }
  ],
  "order": 1,
  "commentsTurnedOff": false,
  "fromYTUrl": "https://www.youtube.com/@MrBeast/shorts",
  "isMonetized": true,
  "hashtags": [
    "shorts",
    "challenge"
  ],
  "formats": [
    {
      "quality": "720p",
      "url": "https://rr4---sn-...mp4..."
    },
    {
      "quality": "360p",
      "url": "https://rr4---sn-...mp4..."
    }
  ],
  "isMembersOnly": false,
  "input": "@MrBeast",
  "fromChannelListPage": "shorts",
  "isPaidContent": false
}

Notes:

• Some fields may return null when not present in the YouTube response (e.g., translatedTitle, translatedText, location).
• subtitles and formats appear only when available in the playerResponse.

FAQ

Do I need a YouTube API key or login to use this?

No. This YouTube Shorts API scraper alternative works on public endpoints and does not require an official API key or account login.

Can I scrape by channel handle, full URL, or keyword?

Yes. Provide @handles (e.g., @MrBeast), usernames (mrbeast), full channel URLs (https://www.youtube.com/@MrBeast), or keywords (“funny shorts”). The YouTube Shorts crawler will use the Shorts tab for channels or perform a keyword search when appropriate.

What data does it collect from each Short?

It extracts core video metadata (title, id, url, thumbnailUrl, viewCount, likes, duration), engagement (commentsCount, commentsTurnedOff), text/hashtags/links, subtitles (when available), monetization flag, and channel analytics (e.g., numberOfSubscribers, channelDescription, channelJoinedDate) via aboutChannelInfo.

Does this download videos?

No. This is a YouTube Shorts metadata extractor and analytics scraper. It returns structured metadata and formats (quality + truncated URL) when available, but it is not a downloader.

Can it scrape comments?

It captures commentsCount and commentsTurnedOff where available. It does not collect individual comment text.

How many results can I get per input?

Use maxResults (1–10,000) to control how many Shorts to collect for each channel or keyword.

Is proxy required?

No. By default, it uses a direct connection. You can enable proxyConfiguration with useApifyProxy if you need to route requests via Apify Proxy for reliability in certain regions.

Can I integrate this in a Python or API workflow?

Yes. This is a production-ready YouTube Shorts scraper tool built on Apify. Results are saved to the dataset and accessible via the Apify API, making it easy to plug into pipelines or a YouTube Shorts Python scraper workflow.

Closing thoughts

The Youtube Shorts Scraper is built for structured, scalable extraction of public YouTube Shorts data. It helps marketers, developers, analysts, and researchers turn Shorts activity into actionable insights with rich metadata and channel analytics. Start by feeding @handles, full URLs, or keywords, then automate your pipeline via the Apify API for repeatable, analytics-ready outputs. Start extracting smarter insights from YouTube Shorts today.