# YouTube Channel Finder (`scrapevanta/youtube-channel-finder`) Actor YouTube Channel Finder discovers relevant YouTube channels based on keywords, topics, niches, or search criteria. Extract channel details, subscriber counts, descriptions, social links, and URLs. Ideal for influencer research, competitor analysis, outreach, and market discovery. - **URL**: https://apify.com/scrapevanta/youtube-channel-finder.md - **Developed by:** [ScrapeVanta](https://apify.com/scrapevanta) (community) - **Categories:** Automation, Lead generation, Social media - **Stats:** 2 total users, 0 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, NaN bookmarks - **User rating**: No ratings yet ## Pricing from $5.99 / 1,000 results This Actor is paid per event and usage. You are charged both the fixed price for specific events and for Apify platform usage. 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 Channel Finder 🎯 Finding relevant YouTube creators by keyword and pulling their channel URLs is harder than it should be—especially when you need results fast for outreach or research. **YouTube Channel Finder** discovers YouTube channels in bulk from your keywords and country filter, so you can move from search to a structured dataset quickly. It supports **YouTube channel search**, **YouTube channel discovery tool**, and **YouTube channel lookup** workflows, which is ideal for marketers, analysts, and researchers doing lead generation. In a single run, you can collect up to **100 channels on the free tier** (or unlimited on a paid plan), saving hours of manual browsing. --- ### See the Data: Sample Output Here's a real record from a single run: ```json { "keyword": "fitness", "url": "https://www.youtube.com/@fitlife", "description_snippet": "Personal training tips, meal plans, and workouts for all fitness levels.", "source": "Search Engine", "status": "success", "error_message": null } ```` | Field | Type | What It Tells You | |---|---|---| | `keyword` | string | Which keyword produced this channel suggestion. | | `url` | string | The normalized channel URL you can use directly in outreach, CRM, or research workflows. | | `description_snippet` | string | A short snippet from the discovery results—helpful for quick relevance checks. | | `source` | string | Where the record came from (for this actor’s dataset, it’s the search-based discovery step). | | `status` | string | Indicates whether the record is considered usable (`success`) or not. | | `error_message` | string | null | Explains failures when something goes wrong; otherwise `null`. | | `country` | string | null | The target country filter used for the run (when available from your run context). | | `channel_id` | string | null | A potential identifier if the channel URL resolves to a channel ID (when present in the URL). | | `note` | string | null | Extra human-readable notes you can add downstream while enriching or deduplicating. | Export your full dataset as JSON, CSV, or Excel from the Apify dashboard. *** ### Setting It Up Drop this into your `input.json` and you're ready to go: ```json { "keywords": ["fitness", "tech reviewer", "gaming"], "country": "United States" } ``` | Parameter | Required | What It Does | |---|---:|---| | `keywords` | ✅ | A list of keywords to search for YouTube channels (for example: “tech reviewer”, “fitness”, “gaming”). | | `country` | ⬜ | Selects the target country for your YouTube channel discovery. | *** ### What It Does This actor helps you build a channel shortlist by discovering YouTube Channel candidates from your keywords and exporting the findings to your dataset. #### YouTube channel discovery from your keywords You provide a list of `keywords`, and the **YouTube Channel Finder** turns them into discovered channel results you can review and reuse. This makes it easy to run repeatable **YouTube channel search** or **find YouTube channels** workflows for different campaigns. #### Country-targeted channel results Use the `country` input to focus discovery on a specific target country. This supports more relevant outreach lists when your audience is region-specific (useful for **YouTube channel lookup** and **YouTube channel discovery tool** use cases). #### Clean, integration-ready dataset output Each discovered channel is pushed into the dataset with fields that match the configured dataset transformation: `keyword`, `url`, `description_snippet`, and `source`. That means your **YouTube channel id finder** and downstream enrichment steps can start immediately from structured data. #### Includes resilience for smoother runs The actor uses retry logic and includes safeguards to stop a keyword search after multiple consecutive empty pages. If you’re building an automated prospecting pipeline, it’s designed to keep results flowing without constant manual intervention. #### Built-in proxy support for more reliable scraping When proxy setup succeeds, the actor routes traffic through built-in proxy support for reliability. This is useful when you run **YouTube channel finder tool** jobs repeatedly or at scale. Overall, **YouTube Channel Finder** gives you a fast path from keyword ideas to a usable dataset of YouTube channels. *** ### Why YouTube Channel Finder? There are plenty of ways to pull data from YouTube—here’s why YouTube Channel Finder stands out. #### Fast bulk discovery for outreach and research You can feed multiple keywords at once and collect a large channel set in a single run, so you don’t waste time opening channels one by one. This is built for speed in lead generation and **YouTube channel search engine**-style workflows. #### Practical limits that fit both free and paid workflows Free tier runs are capped (100 channels per run), while paid users don’t face the same hard limit. That makes it straightforward to test, then scale up when you’re ready. #### Works without login or account setup The actor is designed for “no login required” channel discovery, so you can start quickly. This helps keep **YouTube channel verification search** and creator research workflows moving without extra steps. *** ### Real-World Use Cases Here's how different teams put YouTube Channel Finder to work: **Marketing outreach teams**\ A growth marketer needs a list of creators for a campaign but doesn’t have a clean starting point. They run the **YouTube channel finder** with campaign keywords and a target country, then export the dataset to their outreach workflow with channel URLs and snippets for fast screening. **Freelance researchers**\ A freelance researcher is building a creator map for a client brief and needs consistent, keyword-based discovery. They use **YouTube channel search** runs per niche, consolidate results in the dataset, and deliver structured exports without manual tab-by-tab research. **Sales development reps**\ A sales team wants to prospect creators in a specific market. They run **YouTube channel lookup** using role-aligned keywords and filter by country to build a lead list they can enrich later. **Data analysts**\ An analyst needs channel discovery samples for experimentation and segmentation. They run **YouTube channel discovery tool** jobs with multiple keywords, export JSON/CSV, then analyze which channels match their criteria based on snippet relevance and source. **Automation & integration specialists**\ A technical operator wants to automate channel list generation as part of a larger pipeline. They call **YouTube Channel Finder** via the Apify API, then push the dataset into downstream systems (CRM, spreadsheets, or webhooks) for enrichment and deduplication. *** ### How to Run It No code required. Here's how to get your first results in under 5 minutes: 1. **Open the actor on Apify** — go to [console.apify.com](https://console.apify.com) and find **YouTube Channel Finder**. 2. **Enter your inputs** — set `keywords` (required) and optionally `country`. 3. **Configure proxy settings (if needed)** — if prompted, keep proxy support enabled for better reliability on repeated runs. 4. **Start the run** — launch it and monitor the live log for progress. 5. **Open the Dataset tab** — results appear as the actor pushes discovered channels. 6. **Export your data** — download JSON/CSV/Excel from the dataset view. 7. **(Optional) Enrich further** — use the exported channel URLs in later steps (for example, matching to additional contact signals in your workflow). The whole setup takes under 5 minutes — results start appearing within seconds of launch. *** ### Export & Integration Options Once your data is collected, **YouTube Channel Finder** fits directly into your existing workflow. You can export your dataset in the Apify dashboard as **JSON, CSV, or Excel** for analysis, enrichment, or manual review. If you want automation, you can connect results to downstream tools using Apify-supported approaches like **API access**, **webhooks**, and no-code automation such as **Zapier / Make**. You can also run scheduled jobs so **YouTube channel search** stays continuous without repeated manual launches. *** ### Pricing YouTube Channel Finder runs on Apify, which includes a **free tier** — no credit card needed to start. The free tier provides **$5 platform credits on sign-up**, which is typically enough for several real test runs. For heavier workloads, Apify uses **pay-as-you-go** billing based on Actor compute units (CU) and offers subscription plans for sustained usage. There’s no per-row markup for extracted results—you pay for platform compute. Start free at [apify.com](https://apify.com) — scale up when you need. *** ### Reliability & Limitations | What We Handle | How | |---|---| | Rate-limiting / temporary failures | Retries with backoff are built into requests. | | Proxy reliability | Proxy support can be used for more stable runs. | | Empty result pages | The actor stops after multiple consecutive empty pages to avoid wasting time. | | Run-to-run repeatability | You control discovery via `keywords` and `country`. | | Output consistency | Dataset records are structured with `keyword`, `url`, `description_snippet`, and `source`. | Limitations: this actor discovers **publicly available** YouTube channels based on your keyword inputs and country filter. It does not guarantee that every channel has complete profile information in the discovery snippet—some results may be sparse depending on what’s visible in public sources. For enterprise-scale needs or custom configurations, reach out and we'll help. *** ### Frequently Asked Questions #### Is there a free plan? Yes. Apify provides a free tier, and this actor applies a channel cap on free tier runs. If you need more than the free limit, upgrading removes the hard limit behavior. #### Do I need to log in or create an account on YouTube? No. This actor is designed for “no login required” discovery of YouTube channels from publicly available data. #### How accurate is the extracted data? Accuracy is driven by what’s visible in public sources for each channel result. You’ll receive the channel URL (`url`) and a discovery snippet (`description_snippet`) tied to the keyword used. #### How many results can I get per run? On the free tier, results are capped at **100 channels per run**. On paid plans, the actor does not enforce the same hard cap (it allows effectively unlimited collection for the run). #### How fresh is the data? The actor fetches data during your run, so results reflect what’s publicly visible at that moment. If you need newer results, rerun with the same inputs. #### Is this legal? Does it comply with GDPR / CCPA? This actor operates on **publicly available data**. It’s your responsibility to comply with GDPR, CCPA, platform Terms of Service, and any applicable local regulations when using or storing the output. #### Can I export to Google Sheets or Excel? Yes. You can export from the Apify dashboard as JSON, CSV, or Excel, then import into tools like Google Sheets. You can also use automation to push results into other systems. #### Can I schedule this to run automatically? Yes. You can schedule actor runs so your **YouTube channel finder tool** keeps generating updated discovery lists on a cron schedule. #### Can I access results via the API? Yes. You can trigger runs programmatically and pull results via the Apify API as part of your pipeline. #### What happens when the actor encounters an error? If the actor hits an error condition, it logs the issue and applies stop conditions to avoid endless paging. You’ll still get whatever valid dataset records were collected during the run. *** ### Get Help & Use Responsibly Got a question about YouTube Channel Finder or a feature you'd like added? Reach out at . We welcome feedback such as country-based discovery improvements and tighter dataset formatting for downstream enrichment. *** **publicly available data**: This actor collects data only from public web sources that are accessible without logging in. It does not access private accounts, login-gated pages, or password-protected content. It’s your responsibility to follow GDPR, CCPA, and platform Terms of Service when using the results. For data-removal requests, contact . Use responsibly, ethically, and only for lawful purposes. # Actor input Schema ## `keywords` (type: `array`): List of keywords to search for YouTube channels (e.g., 'tech reviewer', 'fitness', 'gaming'). ## `country` (type: `string`): Select the target country for leads. ## Actor input object example ```json { "keywords": [ "fitness" ], "country": "United States" } ``` # 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 = { "keywords": [ "fitness" ], "country": "United States" }; // Run the Actor and wait for it to finish const run = await client.actor("scrapevanta/youtube-channel-finder").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 = { "keywords": ["fitness"], "country": "United States", } # Run the Actor and wait for it to finish run = client.actor("scrapevanta/youtube-channel-finder").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 '{ "keywords": [ "fitness" ], "country": "United States" }' | apify call scrapevanta/youtube-channel-finder --silent --output-dataset ``` ## MCP server setup ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "command": "npx", "args": [ "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=scrapevanta/youtube-channel-finder", "--header", "Authorization: Bearer " ] } } } ``` ## OpenAPI specification ```json { "openapi": "3.0.1", "info": { "title": "YouTube Channel Finder", "description": "YouTube Channel Finder discovers relevant YouTube channels based on keywords, topics, niches, or search criteria. Extract channel details, subscriber counts, descriptions, social links, and URLs. Ideal for influencer research, competitor analysis, outreach, and market discovery.", "version": "1.0", "x-build-id": "Mro9Si3oJzpF7ZsbB" }, "servers": [ { "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2" } ], "paths": { "/acts/scrapevanta~youtube-channel-finder/run-sync-get-dataset-items": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-scrapevanta-youtube-channel-finder", "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": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } }, "/acts/scrapevanta~youtube-channel-finder/runs": { "post": { "operationId": "runs-sync-scrapevanta-youtube-channel-finder", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$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": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema" } } } } } } }, "/acts/scrapevanta~youtube-channel-finder/run-sync": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-scrapevanta-youtube-channel-finder", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$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": [ "keywords" ], "properties": { "keywords": { "title": "Search Keywords", "minItems": 1, "uniqueItems": true, "type": "array", "description": "List of keywords to search for YouTube channels (e.g., 'tech reviewer', 'fitness', 'gaming').", "items": { "type": "string" } }, "country": { "title": "Target Country", "enum": [ "United States", "United Kingdom", "Canada", "Australia", "India", "Germany", "France", "Spain", "Italy", "Brazil", "Mexico", "Japan", "South Korea", "China", "Singapore", "United Arab Emirates", "Netherlands", "Sweden", "Norway", "Denmark", "Switzerland", "Belgium", "Austria", "Ireland", "New Zealand", "South Africa" ], "type": "string", "description": "Select the target country for leads.", "default": "United States" } } }, "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": { 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"type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } } } } } } } } } ```