# YouTube Similar Channels Finder (`seemuapps/youtube-similar-channels-finder`) Actor Find similar and competitor YouTube channels for any seed channel or topic, ranked by topic overlap and audience-size proximity. - **URL**: https://apify.com/seemuapps/youtube-similar-channels-finder.md - **Developed by:** [Andrew](https://apify.com/seemuapps) (community) - **Categories:** Lead generation, Social media, Videos - **Stats:** 1 total users, 0 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, NaN bookmarks - **User rating**: No ratings yet ## Pricing from $20.00 / 1,000 similar channel discovereds 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 Similar Channels Finder Find similar and competitor YouTube channels for any seed channel or topic — ranked by topic overlap and audience size, not just raw keyword match. Give it a channel (handle, URL, or ID) or a topic keyword, and it returns a clean, ranked list of related channels with full subscriber, view, and video stats — ready for competitor analysis, niche research, or creator outreach. ### What you get For every discovered channel: - **channelTitle** and **channelUrl** — the channel name and a direct link - **subscriberCount**, **totalViews**, **videoCount** — full public statistics - **sizeTier** — `nano` (<10k), `micro` (10k–100k), `mid` (100k–1M), `macro` (1M–10M), or `mega` (>10M) so you can target channels in your own league - **overlapScore** (0–100) — how similar the channel is to your seed, combining topic/keyword overlap with audience-size proximity - **sharedKeywords** — the exact topic terms the channel has in common with your seed - **country** and a trimmed channel **description** - **seedChannelId / seedChannelTitle** — the seed (or topic) the result was matched against Results are sorted by **overlapScore** descending, so the most relevant, best-fit channels are at the top. Impersonator, fan, and reupload clones are detected and pushed down automatically. ### Use cases - **Competitor analysis** — map out the channels competing for your audience and benchmark their size - **Find similar channels** — discover creators in the same niche as any channel you admire - **Niche research** — explore a topic (e.g. "home espresso machine reviews") and surface the channels that own it - **Creator outreach & partnerships** — find channels in your size tier for collabs, sponsorships, or cross-promotion - **Influencer discovery** — build shortlists of vetted channels with real subscriber and view counts ### How to use 1. Enter a **Seed Channel** — a handle (`@mkbhd`), a channel URL, or a `UC...` channel ID. Or leave it blank and enter a **Topic Query** instead. 2. Optionally add a **Topic Query** to steer discovery toward a specific niche. 3. Set **Max Results** (default 25) — how many similar channels to return. 4. Set **Max Searches** (default 4) — how many discovery queries to run. Keep this low; more searches find more channels but take longer. 5. Run the actor — ranked results appear in the **Dataset** tab, ready to export to JSON, CSV, or Google Sheets. You must provide at least one of **Seed Channel** or **Topic Query**. ### Output format Each dataset record: ```json { "seedChannelId": "UCBJycsmduvYEL83R_U4JriQ", "seedChannelTitle": "Marques Brownlee", "channelId": "UC...", "channelTitle": "UrAvgConsumer", "channelUrl": "https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC...", "subscriberCount": 3440000, "totalViews": 612000000, "videoCount": 540, "country": "US", "sizeTier": "macro", "overlapScore": 25, "sharedKeywords": ["tech"], "description": "Helping you make smarter buying decisions ...", "status": "success" } ```` When the seed cannot be resolved and no topic query is given, the run fails with a clear message. When a topic genuinely returns no channels, the run finishes cleanly with no rows. ### How ranking works - **Topic overlap** is the primary signal: the actor pulls keywords from the seed channel's title, description, and recent video titles (or from your topic query), then measures how many a candidate channel shares. - **Size proximity** rewards channels in the same order of magnitude as your seed, so a 500k-subscriber channel surfaces peers of a similar scale rather than only the biggest names. - **Clone suppression** detects impersonator, fan, and reupload channels (names that copy the seed) and ranks them far below genuine competitors. - In **topic-only mode** (no seed channel), ranking blends topic overlap with channel popularity. ### Related YouTube actors Part of a complete YouTube toolkit — explore the rest of the suite: - [YouTube Channel Videos Scraper](https://apify.com/seemuapps/youtube-channel-videos-scraper) — List every video on a channel with metadata - [YouTube Video Metadata Scraper](https://apify.com/seemuapps/youtube-video-metadata-scraper) — Bulk video metadata — views, tags, chapters, more - [YouTube Transcript Scraper](https://apify.com/seemuapps/youtube-transcript-scraper) — Full transcripts and timestamped captions - [YouTube Comment Insights](https://apify.com/seemuapps/youtube-comment-insights) — Sentiment, keywords, and topics from comments - [YouTube Channel Growth Analyzer](https://apify.com/seemuapps/youtube-channel-growth-analyzer) — Growth metrics, cadence, and best posting time - [YouTube Sponsorship & Brand Deal Tracker](https://apify.com/seemuapps/youtube-sponsorship-tracker) — Extract sponsors, brand deals, and promo codes - [YouTube Creator Contact Finder](https://apify.com/seemuapps/youtube-creator-contact-finder) — Find a creator's email and social links - [YouTube Email Scraper](https://apify.com/seemuapps/youtube-email-scraper) — Bulk-extract contact emails from channels - [YouTube Thumbnail Downloader](https://apify.com/seemuapps/youtube-thumbnail-downloader) — Download video thumbnails in every size - [YouTube Video Downloader](https://apify.com/seemuapps/youtube-video-downloader) — Download videos as MP4 up to 1440p - [YouTube to MP3 Converter](https://apify.com/seemuapps/youtube-to-mp3) — Convert videos to MP3 audio (128–320 kbps) - [YouTube MCP Server](https://apify.com/seemuapps/youtube-mcp) — All YouTube tools for AI agents via MCP # Actor input Schema ## `seedChannel` (type: `string`): A seed YouTube channel to find similar channels for. Accepts a handle (@mkbhd), a full channel URL, or a UC... channel ID. Leave blank to discover channels from a topic keyword instead. ## `topicQuery` (type: `string`): Optional topic keyword (e.g. "tech reviews") used to discover channels around a niche, instead of or in addition to a seed channel. At least one of Seed Channel or Topic Query is required. ## `maxResults` (type: `integer`): Maximum number of similar channels to return, ranked by overlap score (1–100). ## `maxSearches` (type: `integer`): How many discovery search queries to run. Each search consumes more quota, so keep this low (1–8). ## Actor input object example ```json { "seedChannel": "@mkbhd", "maxResults": 25, "maxSearches": 4 } ``` # Actor output Schema ## `results` (type: `string`): One record per similar channel: seedChannelId, seedChannelTitle, channelId, channelTitle, channelUrl, subscriberCount, totalViews, videoCount, country, sizeTier (nano|micro|mid|macro|mega), overlapScore (0-100), sharedKeywords, description, status. # 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 = { "seedChannel": "@mkbhd" }; // Run the Actor and wait for it to finish const run = await client.actor("seemuapps/youtube-similar-channels-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 = { "seedChannel": "@mkbhd" } # Run the Actor and wait for it to finish run = client.actor("seemuapps/youtube-similar-channels-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 '{ "seedChannel": "@mkbhd" }' | apify call seemuapps/youtube-similar-channels-finder --silent --output-dataset ``` ## MCP server setup ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "command": "npx", "args": [ "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=seemuapps/youtube-similar-channels-finder", "--header", "Authorization: Bearer " ] } } } ``` ## OpenAPI specification ```json { "openapi": "3.0.1", "info": { "title": "YouTube Similar Channels Finder", "description": "Find similar and competitor YouTube channels for any seed channel or topic, ranked by topic overlap and audience-size proximity.", "version": "1.0", "x-build-id": "ZdcaPHEuSobeO770m" }, "servers": [ { "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2" } ], "paths": { "/acts/seemuapps~youtube-similar-channels-finder/run-sync-get-dataset-items": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-seemuapps-youtube-similar-channels-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": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } }, "/acts/seemuapps~youtube-similar-channels-finder/runs": { "post": { "operationId": "runs-sync-seemuapps-youtube-similar-channels-finder", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$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": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema" } } } } } } }, "/acts/seemuapps~youtube-similar-channels-finder/run-sync": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-seemuapps-youtube-similar-channels-finder", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$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", "properties": { "seedChannel": { "title": "Seed Channel", "type": "string", "description": "A seed YouTube channel to find similar channels for. Accepts a handle (@mkbhd), a full channel URL, or a UC... channel ID. Leave blank to discover channels from a topic keyword instead." }, "topicQuery": { "title": "Topic Query", "type": "string", "description": "Optional topic keyword (e.g. \"tech reviews\") used to discover channels around a niche, instead of or in addition to a seed channel. At least one of Seed Channel or Topic Query is required." }, "maxResults": { "title": "Max Results", "minimum": 1, "maximum": 100, "type": "integer", "description": "Maximum number of similar channels to return, ranked by overlap score (1–100).", "default": 25 }, "maxSearches": { "title": "Max Searches", "minimum": 1, "maximum": 8, "type": "integer", "description": "How many discovery search queries to run. Each search consumes more quota, so keep this low (1–8).", "default": 4 } } }, "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 } } } } } } } } } } ```