Youtube Shorts Scraper

Youtube Shorts Scraper

Youtube Shorts Scraper is a fast, reliable Apify actor that extracts structured data from YouTube Shorts across channels, handles, and keyword searches. It solves the pain of aggregating Shorts metadata at scale by collecting titles, views, likes, comments count, hashtags, and rich channel details into clean datasets. Built for marketers, developers, data analysts, and researchers, this YouTube Shorts data scraper and YouTube Shorts metadata scraper supports bulk runs and automation-ready exports — a production-ready YouTube Shorts extractor for insights at scale. 🚀

What data / output can you get?

Below are examples of the structured fields saved to the dataset for each Shorts video. Export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or via the API.

Data field	Description	Example value
title	Video title	“Giving Trick-or-Treaters Weirder and Weirder Gifts”
id	YouTube video ID (11 chars)	“R7MkZL5i3FQ”
url	Canonical Shorts URL	“https://www.youtube.com/shorts/R7MkZL5i3FQ”
thumbnailUrl	Thumbnail image URL	“https://i.ytimg.com/vi/R7MkZL5i3FQ/hqdefault.jpg”
viewCount	Total views parsed from the page	64493572
date	Publish date (ISO at midnight if available)	“2025-11-07T00:00:00.000Z”
likes	Parsed like count (if available)	909841
duration	Video length (HH:MM:SS)	“00:00:27”
commentsCount	Number of comments (if available)	7171
commentsTurnedOff	Whether comments are disabled	false
channelName	Channel display name	“MrBeast”
aboutChannelInfo	Nested channel “About” info (joined date, location, subscribers, etc.)	{ "channelJoinedDate": "Jan 1, 2012", ... }

Note: You also get channelUrl, numberOfSubscribers, hashtags, descriptionLinks, subtitles (caption tracks), detected streaming formats, source context (shorts/search), and more. All exports are available from the Apify dataset (CSV, JSON, Excel, API).

Key features

• 🔎 Accurate Shorts targeting
  Leverages YouTube’s internal endpoints with a Shorts-specific search filter to collect only Shorts results — a dependable YouTube Shorts crawler for both channels and keywords.

• 📚 Rich metadata extraction
  Captures titles, viewCount, likes, duration, commentsCount, commentsTurnedOff, hashtags, descriptionLinks, subtitles, and channel signals like numberOfSubscribers for deep analysis.

• 🧭 Channel or keyword modes
  Works as a YouTube Shorts channel scraper and a keyword-driven YouTube Shorts crawler. Provide @handles/URLs or search queries — both paths are supported.

• 🧰 Bulk scraping & automation
  Process multiple inputs in one run for large-scale datasets — the ideal bulk YouTube Shorts scraper for reporting and dashboards.

• 💻 Developer-friendly integration
  Built on Apify with an API-first design — great for YouTube Shorts scraper Python workflows, pipelines, and “YouTube Shorts API scraper” alternatives.

• 🌐 Proxy support
  Optional Apify Proxy to improve reliability in restricted regions. Off by default, direct connections work in most regions.

• 💾 Easy data export
  Export datasets to CSV, JSON, Excel, or pull data via the Apify API for downstream BI and automation.

• ⚙️ Sorting and date filtering
  Sort by newest, oldest, or popularity (views). Filter by a “published after” date/time window to stay focused on recent Shorts.

• 🛡️ Production-ready reliability
  Async requests, retries, and structured outputs make this a robust YouTube Shorts scraper tool — more stable than browser extensions.

How to use Youtube Shorts Scraper - step by step

1. Create or sign in to your Apify account.
2. Open the “youtube-shorts-scraper” actor in the Apify Console.
3. In startUrls, paste one or more inputs:
   • Channel handles: “@MrBeast”
   • Usernames: “mrbeast”
   • Full URLs: “https://www.youtube.com/@MrBeast”
   • Keywords: “funny shorts”, “cooking tips”
4. Set maxResults (1–10,000), publishedAfter (date or relative time), and sortOrder (“newest”, “popular”, “oldest”).
5. (Optional) Enable proxyConfiguration.useApifyProxy for reliability in restricted regions.
6. Click Start. The actor resolves IDs, fetches video details, enriches channel info, and pushes items to the Dataset as they’re found.
7. Monitor progress in logs; each item is saved immediately to the Dataset.
8. Export results from the Dataset tab (CSV/JSON/Excel) or fetch via the API.

Pro tip: Schedule runs via the Apify API and feed outputs into your ETL or a YouTube Shorts scraper Python pipeline for fully automated reporting.

Use cases

Use case	Description
Marketing trend tracking	Track trending Shorts by keyword and measure performance (views, likes) to guide content strategy.
Competitor monitoring	Monitor competitor channels’ Shorts and rank by popularity to spot winning formats and opportunities.
Content research & ideation	Build topic-based datasets of Shorts for benchmarking and editorial planning.
Audience insights	Analyze hashtags and frequency to understand engagement drivers on YouTube Shorts.
Data enrichment (API)	Pipe structured Shorts metadata into your ETL or data warehouse for analytics at scale.
Academic & media research	Collect public Shorts metadata for studies on short-form video consumption and trends.
Automation workflows	Power alerts, dashboards, and reporting with a reliable YouTube Shorts API scraper alternative.

Why choose Youtube Shorts Scraper?

• 🎯 Precision-focused YouTube Shorts extractor that targets Shorts specifically across channels and search.
• 📊 Analytics-ready fields (views, likes, commentsCount, duration, hashtags, subscribers) for fast insights.
• ⚡ Scales to bulk scraping with multiple inputs in one run — great for recurring reporting.
• 💻 Developer access via the Apify platform — integrate with APIs and YouTube Shorts scraper Python pipelines.
• 🔒 No login or cookies required — collects only public data.
• 🌐 Optional proxy support to improve reliability across regions.
• 🧱 More stable than browser-based tools or a YouTube Shorts scraper Chrome extension — production-grade infrastructure.

Is it legal / ethical to use Youtube Shorts Scraper?

Yes — when done responsibly. This actor collects publicly available YouTube data and does not access private or authenticated content. You are responsible for:

• Respecting YouTube’s Terms of Service and applicable laws (e.g., GDPR, CCPA).
• Scraping only public pages and avoiding private or paywalled content.
• Using the data for ethical purposes and non-spammy workflows.
• Consulting your legal team for edge cases or regulated use.

Input parameters & output format

Example JSON input

{
  "startUrls": [
    "@MrBeast",
    "mrbeast",
    "https://www.youtube.com/@MrBeast",
    "funny shorts"
  ],
  "maxResults": 10,
  "publishedAfter": "7 days",
  "sortOrder": "newest",
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": false
  }
}

Input fields

• startUrls (array) — required

  • Description: 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

  • Description: Maximum number of Shorts to scrape per channel or keyword. Ranges from 1 to 10,000. Higher = more data, longer run.
  • Minimum: 1, Maximum: 10000
  • Default: 10

• publishedAfter (string) — optional

  • Description: Filter by publish date. Use a date (YYYY-MM-DD) or relative time (e.g. 7 days, 2 weeks, 1 month, 1 year). Leave empty to include all Shorts.
  • Default: none

• sortOrder (string) — optional

  • Description: Order of results: Newest first, Oldest first, or by Popularity (views).
  • Allowed values: "newest", "popular", "oldest"
  • Default: "newest"

• proxyConfiguration (object) — optional

  • Description: Turn on Apify Proxy for more reliable scraping (useful in EU or restricted regions). Off = direct connection; works in most regions and for Apify QA.
  • Prefill: { "useApifyProxy": false }

Example JSON output (one dataset item)

{
  "title": "Giving Trick-or-Treaters Weirder and Weirder Gifts",
  "translatedTitle": null,
  "type": "shorts",
  "id": "R7MkZL5i3FQ",
  "url": "https://www.youtube.com/shorts/R7MkZL5i3FQ",
  "thumbnailUrl": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/R7MkZL5i3FQ/hqdefault.jpg",
  "viewCount": 64493572,
  "date": "2025-11-07T00:00:00.000Z",
  "likes": 909841,
  "location": null,
  "channelName": "MrBeast",
  "channelUrl": "https://www.youtube.com/@MrBeast",
  "channelUsername": "MrBeast",
  "collaborators": null,
  "channelId": null,
  "channelDescription": null,
  "channelJoinedDate": null,
  "channelDescriptionLinks": [],
  "channelLocation": null,
  "channelAvatarUrl": null,
  "channelBannerUrl": null,
  "channelTotalVideos": null,
  "channelTotalViews": null,
  "numberOfSubscribers": 450000000,
  "isChannelVerified": false,
  "inputChannelUrl": null,
  "isAgeRestricted": false,
  "aboutChannelInfo": {
    "channelDescription": null,
    "channelJoinedDate": null,
    "channelDescriptionLinks": [],
    "channelLocation": null,
    "channelUsername": "MrBeast",
    "channelAvatarUrl": null,
    "channelBannerUrl": null,
    "channelTotalVideos": null,
    "channelTotalViews": null,
    "numberOfSubscribers": 450000000,
    "isChannelVerified": false,
    "channelName": "MrBeast",
    "channelUrl": "https://www.youtube.com/@MrBeast",
    "channelId": null,
    "inputChannelUrl": "https://www.youtube.com/@MrBeast",
    "isAgeRestricted": false
  },
  "duration": "00:00:27",
  "commentsCount": 7171,
  "text": "Giving Trick-or-Treaters Weirder and Weirder Gifts",
  "translatedText": null,
  "descriptionLinks": ["https://example.com"],
  "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": ["giveaway", "halloween"],
  "formats": [
    {
      "quality": "360p",
      "url": "https://r2---sn-xxxxx.googlevideo.com/videoplayback..."
    }
  ],
  "isMembersOnly": false,
  "input": "@MrBeast",
  "fromChannelListPage": "shorts",
  "isPaidContent": false
}

Notes:

• Some fields may be null if not present for a specific video/channel on YouTube.
• The actor sets fromChannelListPage to “shorts” for channel tabs and “search” for keyword-based results.

FAQ

Do I need to log in or provide cookies to use this YouTube Shorts scraper tool?

No. The actor collects publicly available data without login, cookies, or browser extensions. It’s a lightweight YouTube Shorts API scraper alternative on Apify.

Can I scrape both channels and keywords?

Yes. Provide channel handles/usernames/URLs or keyword queries like “funny shorts.” The actor will load the Shorts tab for channels or scrape YouTube Shorts search results (with a Shorts filter) for keywords.

How many results can I get per input?

You control this with maxResults (1 to 10,000). Larger limits return more data and require longer run times.

Can I export YouTube Shorts to CSV or JSON?

Yes. All results are stored in the Apify dataset. From there, export to CSV, JSON, or Excel, or fetch via the dataset API.

Does it extract comments?

It does not fetch comment texts. It extracts commentsCount (if available) and whether comments are turned off, making it a practical YouTube Shorts comments scraper for counts/status.

Does it capture captions/subtitles?

Yes. When available, the actor includes subtitles as caption tracks with language codes and names — useful for a YouTube Shorts captions scraper workflow.

Does it support proxies or restricted regions?

Yes. Set proxyConfiguration.useApifyProxy to route traffic through Apify Proxy, which can improve reliability in restricted regions. By default, it uses a direct connection.

Can developers integrate this with Python and automation tools?

Absolutely. Trigger runs via the Apify API and process the dataset programmatically — ideal for YouTube Shorts scraper Python pipelines and end-to-end automation.

Closing thoughts

Youtube Shorts Scraper is built for fast, reliable collection of Shorts metadata at scale. It helps marketers, developers, analysts, and researchers assemble clean datasets with views, likes, commentsCount, hashtags, captions, and channel signals. Use it as a YouTube Shorts channel scraper or to scrape YouTube Shorts search results, then export to CSV/JSON/Excel or pipe into your analytics stack. Developers can automate via the API for end-to-end workflows. Start extracting smarter YouTube Shorts insights today.

🔗 What are other Youtube scraping tools?

If you want to scrape specific Youtube data, you can use any of the dedicated scrapers below for faster and more targeted results.

🔗 Scraper Name	🔗 Scraper Name
📧 YouTube Channel Email Scraper	📝 YouTube Transcript Scraper
📞 YouTube Channel Phone Number Scraper	📈 YouTube Trending Scraper
💬 YouTube Comments Scraper	🧠 YouTube Video Summarizer
📺 YouTube Channel Scraper	🎥 YouTube Video Scraper by Hashtag
🗂️ YouTube Metadata Scraper	🔍 YouTube Channel Finder
▶️ YouTube Playlist Scraper	🔎 YouTube Search Scraper
🧰 YouTube Scraper	📝 YouTube Community Posts Scraper
🎥 YouTube Shorts Scraper	🎥 YouTube Video Details Scraper