YouTube Channel Playlists – Titles, Links & Counts

Find the playlists a YouTube channel exposes on its Playlists tab. YouTube Channel Playlists Scraper turns channel handles or IDs into rows of playlist links, titles, displayed video counts, thumbnails, and available owner details.

Set the number of result pages to collect and keep the source channel attached to each playlist. No YouTube account or cookies are required.

At a glance	Details
📥 Input	Channel handles or UC IDs
📤 Output	Playlist cards, titles, counts, thumbnails, owner details, and source-channel context
🔐 Login required	No
📄 Collection	Configurable result pages per input
💾 Delivery	One row per playlist result, in one table

What the YouTube channel playlists scraper collects 🔎

The Actor follows a channel's Playlists tab and returns the playlist entries YouTube exposes there.

• Playlist ID, URL, title, and listing position
• Displayed video count and its numeric interpretation
• Thumbnail URL and image-size variants
• First-video ID when present on the playlist card
• Available playlist-owner identity and avatar details
• Public source-channel identity, counts, branding, and other exposed profile context

Each playlist stays in one row. Its individual videos are not expanded by this Actor.

How to scrape YouTube channel playlists 🚀

1. Prepare the channel handles or IDs you want to collect.
2. Add them to inputList, one value per item.
3. Set pagesPerInput and start the Actor.
4. Check status and export the fields needed for your workflow.

{
  "inputList": [
    "NASA"
  ],
  "pagesPerInput": 1
}

YouTube channel playlists data fields and output 📦

Field group	Included data
Playlist card	ID, URL, title, type, and position
Size and preview	Video count, displayed label, first-video ID, and thumbnails
Owner	Available channel identity, link, avatar, and verification
Source channel	The channel where the playlist was found and exposed public profile context

Complete illustrative success item. The fictional values below demonstrate the output and are not a live result:

{
  "input": "TrailJournal",
  "status": "success",
  "id": "PLtrailjournalroutes2026",
  "url": "https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtrailjournalroutes2026",
  "type": "playlist",
  "title": "Weekend Trail Guides",
  "thumbnail_url": "https://example.com/trail-large.jpg",
  "thumbnails.url": [
    "https://example.com/trail-small.jpg",
    "https://example.com/trail-large.jpg"
  ],
  "thumbnails.width": [
    160,
    1280
  ],
  "thumbnails.height": [
    90,
    720
  ],
  "videos_count": 25,
  "videos_count_text": "25 videos",
  "first_video_id": "TrailWalk01",
  "author.id": "UCabcdefghijklmnopqrstuv",
  "author.name": "Trail Journal",
  "author.handle": "@TrailJournal",
  "author.url": "https://www.youtube.com/@TrailJournal",
  "author.avatar_url": "https://example.com/trail-large.jpg",
  "author.avatar_thumbnails.url": [
    "https://example.com/trail-small.jpg",
    "https://example.com/trail-large.jpg"
  ],
  "author.avatar_thumbnails.width": [
    160,
    800
  ],
  "author.avatar_thumbnails.height": [
    160,
    800
  ],
  "author.is_verified": false,
  "source_channel.id": "UCabcdefghijklmnopqrstuv",
  "source_channel.handle": "@TrailJournal",
  "source_channel.name": "Trail Journal",
  "source_channel.url": "https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCabcdefghijklmnopqrstuv",
  "source_channel.canonical_url": "https://www.youtube.com/@TrailJournal",
  "source_channel.vanity_url": "https://www.youtube.com/@TrailJournal",
  "source_channel.description": "Weekend walks, route guides, and quiet places.",
  "source_channel.avatar_url": "https://example.com/trail-large.jpg",
  "source_channel.avatar_thumbnails.url": [
    "https://example.com/trail-small.jpg",
    "https://example.com/trail-large.jpg"
  ],
  "source_channel.avatar_thumbnails.width": [
    160,
    800
  ],
  "source_channel.avatar_thumbnails.height": [
    160,
    800
  ],
  "source_channel.banner_url": "https://example.com/trail-large.jpg",
  "source_channel.banner_thumbnails.url": [
    "https://example.com/trail-small.jpg",
    "https://example.com/trail-large.jpg"
  ],
  "source_channel.banner_thumbnails.width": [
    1060,
    2120
  ],
  "source_channel.banner_thumbnails.height": [
    175,
    350
  ],
  "source_channel.subscribers": 12000,
  "source_channel.subscribers_text": "12K subscribers",
  "source_channel.videos_count": 25,
  "source_channel.videos_count_text": "25 videos",
  "source_channel.views": 500000,
  "source_channel.views_text": "500K views",
  "source_channel.country": "United States",
  "source_channel.joined_date": "Joined Jan 1, 2020",
  "source_channel.keywords": [
    "hiking",
    "trail guides"
  ],
  "source_channel.keywords_raw": "hiking \"trail guides\"",
  "source_channel.external_links.title": [
    "Website"
  ],
  "source_channel.external_links.url": [
    "https://example.com"
  ],
  "source_channel.external_links.display_url": [
    "example.com"
  ],
  "source_channel.external_links.icon_url": [
    "https://example.com/trail-large.jpg"
  ],
  "source_channel.rss_url": "https://www.youtube.com/feeds/videos.xml?channel_id=UCabcdefghijklmnopqrstuv",
  "source_channel.available_countries": [
    "US",
    "GB"
  ],
  "source_channel.is_verified": false,
  "source_channel.is_family_safe": true,
  "source_channel.is_subscriber_count_hidden": false,
  "position": 1
}

The table and JSON use the same flat field names, including literal dotted keys. Playlist thumbnails, owner avatars, and source-channel image or external-link fields use aligned lists. The source_channel fields describe where the playlist was found; author fields describe the owner information on its card when available.

Optional values can be null, empty strings, false, or empty lists. Missing counts are normally null; numeric values parsed from abbreviated labels remain approximate. Failed rows preserve input and status and set the result-data fields to null. position is the running order of saved results for that input, not a global ranking.

Input requirements and coverage ⚙️

Parameter	Type	Default	Rules
inputList	array of strings	Required	One or more channel handles, with or without @, or UC channel IDs. Full channel URLs are not accepted. No fixed batch-size maximum.
pagesPerInput	integer	1	At least 1; no fixed upper bound. Limits result pages for each input.

Handles allow 1–100 Unicode word characters, periods, hyphens, or middle dots after an optional @. A channel ID must be UC followed by 22 letters, digits, underscores, or hyphens. Other valid values are treated as handles. Leading and trailing spaces are removed.

YouTube controls page size. Collection stops at the requested page limit or when the list ends, whichever comes first. The initial result page counts as page 1; each continuation uses another page. Repeated items within an input are skipped, but repeating the input itself starts a separate collection.

YouTube channel playlists use cases 🎯

Channel content mapping

Group a creator's public playlists by title, size, and topic to understand how the channel organizes its catalogue.

Playlist discovery

Collect playlist URLs from known channels, then pass selected links to the Playlist Details or Playlist Videos Actor.

Curation inventories

Build an inventory of series and learning collections exposed on a channel's Playlists tab.

Recurring catalogue checks

Compare successive exports to identify newly listed playlists or changes in displayed playlist sizes.

Pricing and billable playlist rows 💰

Check the Actor's Pricing tab for the current pricing model and rate.

Under dataset-item pricing, each saved success or failed row can be billable. Automatic retry attempts do not independently add rows. The number of billable items follows saved results, not requested pages. A collection that ends without results or a failed request can produce a failed row; if a later page fails, earlier saved results remain.

Image variants and other list fields remain in their parent row and do not create separate dataset items.

YouTube Channel Playlists Scraper API and integrations 🔌

Use the Actor ID from the API tab as $ACTOR_ID and your Apify token as $APIFY_TOKEN.

curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/$ACTOR_ID/runs?token=$APIFY_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"inputList":["NASA"],"pagesPerInput":1}'

The request starts a run. Retrieve the dataset when it finishes, or use a completion webhook to send results to your application. Apify schedules can repeat collection; exports and integrations support JSON, CSV, Excel, Google Sheets, Make, and Zapier workflows.

Reliability and limits ⚠️

Up to five requests run concurrently, with automatic retries for temporary failures. Invalid, unavailable, or unresolved inputs are visible as failed rows. YouTube can restrict public access or omit fields.

Only playlists exposed on the channel's Playlists tab are collected. A missing tab or empty accessible list produces a failed row when no results were saved. The tab is not a guarantee of every playlist associated with the owner. Card-level owner details and video counts may be omitted, and source-channel context can be less detailed than a dedicated channel lookup.

Pagination preserves results already saved, but a page limit, inaccessible continuation, or changing source list can leave a partial collection. A completed run does not prove that every historical item was available.

Frequently asked questions ❓

Does it return videos inside each playlist?

No. It returns one playlist card per row. Pass the collected URLs to YouTube Playlist Videos Scraper for entries.

How many playlists does one page contain?

YouTube controls page size. pagesPerInput limits result pages, not a fixed number of playlists.

Are the source channel and playlist owner always identical?

Do not assume so. source_channel identifies the channel being browsed, while author reflects the owner details exposed on the playlist card.

Will it find private or unlisted playlists?

It collects what the public Playlists tab exposes and does not discover hidden playlists.

What happens if a later page fails?

Previously saved playlists remain in the dataset, and the failed request can add a failed row for that input.

Support, responsible use, and related actors 🛟

For support, share the run ID and a safe public example input through the Actor's support channel. Keep tokens and credentials out of messages.

Use public data and media within the privacy, copyright, and other obligations that apply to your project.