# YouTube Channel Scraper – Subscribers, Videos & Links (`smoldesk/youtube-channel-scraper`) Actor

Scrape YouTube channels without an API key: subscribers, exact total views, video count, join date, country, about text and external links, plus the channel's latest videos, Shorts and streams with views, likes and dates.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/smoldesk/youtube-channel-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Smoldesk Studios](https://apify.com/smoldesk) (community)
- **Categories:** Social media, Videos, Lead generation
- **Security:** Limited permissions
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $0.40 / 1,000 videos

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.
Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
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.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## 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.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## YouTube Channel Scraper – Subscribers, Videos & Links

![YouTube Channel Scraper: subscribers, total views, social links and the latest videos of any channel](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/smoldesk/apify-scrapers/main/assets/youtube-channel/banner.webp)

Scrape **YouTube channels** without an API key or quota. Paste channel URLs or `@handles` and get a **channel profile** for each one: **subscribers**, **exact total views**, **video count**, **join date**, **country**, **description**, **keywords** and the **external links** the creator lists (Instagram, TikTok, website, shop, Patreon, business email in the description…). Add the channel's **latest videos, Shorts and live streams** with exact views and likes, publish date, duration and comment count.

**One flat record per channel and per video**, the same fields every time, real numbers instead of "1.2M", and ISO dates.

### What you can use it for

- **Influencer research and outreach**: compare subscribers, total views and posting activity across a list of creators, and collect their social links and contact info from the description.
- **Competitor monitoring**: schedule a run on competitor channels with **Only videos published after = 7 days** to get just their new uploads and how they perform.
- **Creator databases and lead lists**: turn a list of 1,000 handles into a clean table of profiles. Leave **Channel tabs** empty for profiles only (fast and cheap).
- **Content strategy**: see which of a channel's last 50 videos or Shorts did best, and how often it posts.
- **Datasets for AI**: clean descriptions and stats ready for LLMs, RAG or scoring models.

Ready-made examples you can run in one click: [YouTube creator list: subscribers, views and links](https://apify.com/smoldesk/youtube-channel-scraper/examples/youtube-creator-list-profiles) · [Track competitors' new YouTube videos and Shorts](https://apify.com/smoldesk/youtube-channel-scraper/examples/youtube-competitor-new-videos).

### How to use it

**1. Add channels.** Paste channel URLs or @handles, pick the tabs (Videos, Shorts, Live) or leave them empty for profiles only.

![Step 1: add channel URLs or handles and pick the tabs](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/smoldesk/apify-scrapers/main/assets/youtube-channel/how-to-1.webp)

**2. Click Start.** Each channel's profile is saved first, then its newest videos until your limit or date filter.

![Step 2: click Start and watch the run log](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/smoldesk/apify-scrapers/main/assets/youtube-channel/how-to-2.webp)

**3. Get clean data.** Profiles come with subscribers, exact total views, join date, country and links. Export them as JSON, CSV or Excel, or read them through the API.

![Step 3: get clean channel data and export it as JSON, CSV, Excel or via API](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/smoldesk/apify-scrapers/main/assets/youtube-channel/how-to-3.webp)

### How to scrape a YouTube channel

1. Create a free Apify account and open this Actor.
2. Add **Channel URLs or @handles**, one per line: `https://www.youtube.com/@mkbhd`, just `@mkbhd`, `/channel/UC…` or `/c/…` URLs. Over the API, `["@mkbhd"]` and `[{"url": "https://…"}]` both work.
3. Choose **Channel tabs**: Videos, Shorts and/or Live. Leave them empty to get only the channel profiles. A URL ending in `/shorts` or `/streams` scrapes just that tab.
4. Set **Max videos per tab** (0 = the whole tab) and, for monitoring, **Only videos published after** (`7 days`, `2025-01-31`). Paging stops at the first older video, so daily runs stay small.
5. Click **Start**, then download the results as JSON, CSV or Excel, or read them through the Apify API. The **Channels** and **Videos** tabs show each record type as a table.
6. Use **Schedule** to run it daily or weekly.

**Tips**

- Filter the dataset by `type` (`channel` or `video`) when you read it through the API.
- `sourceInput` on every video tells you which channel input it came from.
- Need comments too? Use [YouTube Comments Scraper](https://apify.com/smoldesk/youtube-comments-scraper) with the same channel URLs.

### Output: channel

```json
{
  "type": "channel",
  "id": "UCBJycsmduvYEL83R_U4JriQ",
  "url": "https://www.youtube.com/@mkbhd",
  "handle": "@mkbhd",
  "name": "Marques Brownlee",
  "description": "MKBHD: Quality Tech Videos | YouTuber | Geek | Consumer Electronics | Tech Head | Internet Personality!\n\nbusiness@MKBHD.com\n\nNYC",
  "subscriberCount": 21400000,
  "videoCount": 1864,
  "viewCount": 5873912525,
  "joinedAt": "2008-03-21",
  "country": "United States",
  "isVerified": true,
  "links": [
    {"title": "Twitter", "url": "http://twitter.com/MKBHD"},
    {"title": "Instagram", "url": "http://instagram.com/MKBHD"},
    {"title": "Discord", "url": "http://discord.gg/MKBHD"}
  ],
  "keywords": ["MKBHD", "MarquesBrownlee", "Marques", "Brownlee"],
  "avatarUrl": "https://yt3.googleusercontent.com/…",
  "bannerUrl": "https://yt3.googleusercontent.com/…",
  "rssUrl": "https://www.youtube.com/feeds/videos.xml?channel_id=UCBJycsmduvYEL83R_U4JriQ",
  "sourceType": "channel",
  "sourceInput": "@mkbhd",
  "scrapedAt": "2026-11-06T07:06:12Z"
}
```

| Field | Notes |
|---|---|
| `subscriberCount` | Rounded the way YouTube shows it ("21.4M" → 21400000) |
| `viewCount` | Exact total channel views |
| `links` | The links on the channel's About page, with their titles |
| `rssUrl` | The channel's public RSS feed of new uploads |

### Output: video

```json
{
  "type": "video",
  "id": "8jPQjjsBbIc",
  "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jPQjjsBbIc",
  "title": "How to stay calm when you know you'll be stressed | Daniel Levitin | TED",
  "videoType": "video",
  "liveStatus": null,
  "publishedDate": "2015-11-23",
  "durationSeconds": 741,
  "duration": "12:21",
  "viewCount": 20358146,
  "likeCount": 270554,
  "commentCount": 4000,
  "commentsDisabled": false,
  "channelId": "UCAuUUnT6oDeKwE6v1NGQxug",
  "channelName": "TED",
  "channelHandle": "@TED",
  "channelUrl": "https://www.youtube.com/@TED",
  "channelSubscriberCount": 28000000,
  "channelIsVerified": true,
  "description": "Visit http://TED.com to get our entire library of TED Talks…",
  "descriptionLinks": ["http://TED.com", "http://twitter.com/TEDTalks"],
  "hashtags": [],
  "chapters": [
    {"start": "0:00", "startSeconds": 0, "title": "The personal crisis"}
  ],
  "thumbnailUrl": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/8jPQjjsBbIc/hqdefault.jpg",
  "isUnlisted": false,
  "isMembersOnly": false,
  "sourceType": "channel",
  "sourceInput": "@TED",
  "sourcePosition": 12,
  "scrapedAt": "2026-11-06T07:06:14Z"
}
```

| Field | Notes |
|---|---|
| `videoType` | `video`, `short` or `live` (live streams, premieres and past streams) |
| `viewCount`, `likeCount` | Exact numbers. `viewCount` is `null` while a stream is live |
| `commentCount` | Rounded the way YouTube shows it ("4K" → 4000) |
| `durationSeconds` | `null` for Shorts and live streams (YouTube shows their length only inside the player) |
| `sourcePosition` | Position in the channel tab (1 = newest) |

### Input example

```json
{
  "startUrls": ["@mkbhd", "https://www.youtube.com/@veritasium", "https://www.youtube.com/@nasa/shorts"],
  "includeChannelInfo": true,
  "channelTabs": ["videos", "shorts"],
  "maxResults": 50,
  "publishedAfter": "30 days"
}
```

### Pricing

Pay per result. No monthly fee, and Apify's free plan credit covers your first runs. The price drops on bigger Apify plans:

| Your Apify plan | Per channel profile | Per video | Per 1,000 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0.001 | $0.001 | **$1.00** |
| Starter | $0.0008 | $0.0008 | **$0.80** |
| Scale | $0.0006 | $0.0006 | $0.60 |
| Business | $0.0004 | $0.0004 | $0.40 |
| Run start | $0.00005 | | – |

Example on the Free plan: profiles of 1,000 channels (tabs empty) cost **$1.00**. The latest 50 videos of 20 channels plus their profiles cost **$1.02**. The date filter is free, and videos that can't be loaded (private, deleted) are not charged.

### Use with AI agents (Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, MCP)

Add the Actor as a tool through the Apify MCP server: `https://mcp.apify.com?actors=smoldesk/youtube-channel-scraper`. Then paste this into your agent's system prompt or tool notes:

```text
Tool: smoldesk/youtube-channel-scraper (YouTube Channel Scraper, Apify)
Use it when: the user wants YouTube channel stats (subscribers, total views, video count, join date, country), a creator's social links or description, or a channel's latest videos, Shorts or streams with views and likes. No API key or login needed.
Don't use it when: the user wants to search YouTube by keyword (use smoldesk/youtube-scraper), comments (use smoldesk/youtube-comments-scraper), transcripts or video files.
How to call: run the Actor with JSON input and read the dataset items. Each record costs money, so keep maxResults small unless the user asks for more.
Example input: {"startUrls": ["@mkbhd", "@veritasium"], "channelTabs": ["videos"], "maxResults": 20}
```

Questions an agent can answer with it:

- Compare these 10 tech creators by subscribers and total views.
- Which of this channel's last 30 videos got the most views?
- Find the Instagram and business email of each creator on this list.

### Use with AI (LangChain / LlamaIndex / CrewAI)

With LangChain (`pip install langchain-apify`):

```python
from langchain_apify import ApifyWrapper
from langchain_core.documents import Document

apify = ApifyWrapper()  # reads APIFY_API_TOKEN
loader = apify.call_actor(
    actor_id="smoldesk/youtube-channel-scraper",
    run_input={"startUrls": ["@mkbhd"], "maxResults": 20},
    dataset_mapping_function=lambda v: Document(
        page_content=f"{v.get('title') or v.get('name')}\n\n{v.get('description')}",
        metadata={k: v.get(k) for k in ("type", "url", "viewCount", "likeCount", "subscriberCount")},
    ),
)
docs = loader.load()
```

**LlamaIndex**: `ApifyActor` from `llama-index-readers-apify`. **CrewAI**: use the Apify MCP server above.

### Limitations

- **No keyword search for channels.** Give channel URLs or handles; to find videos by keyword use [YouTube Scraper](https://apify.com/smoldesk/youtube-scraper).
- **Subscriber and comment counts are rounded** the way YouTube displays them. View and like counts are exact.
- **Shorts and live streams have no duration** on public pages.
- **No transcripts or video downloads**, and no YouTube Analytics data (watch time, revenue).

### FAQ

**Do I need a YouTube API key?** No. There is no daily quota and no Google Cloud project.

**Can I get every video of a channel?** Yes: set **Max videos per tab** to 0. Add the Shorts and Live tabs if you need those too.

**Can I get only the profiles?** Yes: leave **Channel tabs** empty. You pay only for the profiles.

**Do I need a login, cookies or proxies?** No. Residential proxies are never needed or used.

**Is it legal to scrape YouTube channels?** It reads public data that any logged-out visitor can see. Check YouTube's terms and your local rules (e.g. GDPR when you store creator contact details) for your use case. This Actor is not affiliated with YouTube or Google.

### Feedback

Found a bug or missing a field? Open an issue in the **Issues** tab. If the Actor saved you time, a short review on this page helps other people find it.

### More Actors from Smoldesk Studios

- [Contact Details Scraper](https://apify.com/smoldesk/contact-details-scraper): emails, phone numbers, social profiles and contact forms from any list of websites, with email domains checked and junk removed, charged only when contacts are found
- [Google Maps Scraper](https://apify.com/smoldesk/google-maps-scraper): places with phones, websites, ratings and hours from any search, plus emails and social profiles from each business website, lead filters and new-place monitoring
- [YouTube Scraper](https://apify.com/smoldesk/youtube-scraper): videos, Shorts, channels, playlists and comments from search or URLs, with exact views and likes, chapters and description links
- [YouTube Comments Scraper](https://apify.com/smoldesk/youtube-comments-scraper): comments and replies from videos, channels, playlists or keyword searches, with likes, pinned/hearted flags and authors
- [Bilibili Scraper](https://apify.com/smoldesk/bilibili-scraper): videos, stats, danmaku, comments and creators from China's video site, no login
- [Google Trends Scraper](https://apify.com/smoldesk/google-trends-scraper): interest over time, by region and city, related queries and Trending now — no API key
- [Google Ads Transparency Scraper](https://apify.com/smoldesk/google-ads-transparency-scraper): every ad a competitor runs on Google Search, YouTube and Shopping — creatives, landing pages, countries, EU impressions and new-ad alerts
- [Weibo Scraper](https://apify.com/smoldesk/weibo-scraper): keyword and hashtag search, posts, comments, profiles and the hot-search board from China's biggest microblog, no login
- [Telegram Channel Scraper](https://apify.com/smoldesk/telegram-channel-scraper): public channel posts, views, reactions and subscribers
- [Substack Scraper](https://apify.com/smoldesk/substack-scraper): newsletters, subscriber counts and posts
- [Shopify Store Analyzer](https://apify.com/smoldesk/shopify-store-analyzer): apps, contacts and products of any Shopify store
- [Career Site Jobs Scraper](https://apify.com/smoldesk/career-site-jobs-scraper): live jobs from 12,000+ company career sites (Greenhouse, Lever, Workday, Ashby) with salary and seniority

# Actor input Schema

## `startUrls` (type: `array`):

One per line: https://www.youtube.com/@mkbhd, just @mkbhd, /channel/UC… or /c/… URLs. A URL ending in /shorts or /streams scrapes only that tab.

## `includeChannelInfo` (type: `boolean`):

One record per channel: subscribers, exact total views, video count, join date, country, description and external links (Instagram, website…).

## `channelTabs` (type: `array`):

Which tabs to list videos from. Leave empty to get only the channel profiles (fast and cheap for big lists of channels).

## `maxResults` (type: `integer`):

Newest videos to save from each tab of each channel. 0 = the whole tab.

## `publishedAfter` (type: `string`):

Only videos newer than this date (2025-01-31) or period (7 days, 3 months). Paging stops at the first older video, so daily monitoring runs stay cheap.

## `maxConcurrency` (type: `integer`):

How many YouTube pages to load at once. The default is fast and safe.

## `proxyConfiguration` (type: `object`):

Not needed — the Actor already falls back to Apify datacenter proxy when YouTube slows a connection down. Residential proxy is not used.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "startUrls": [
    "https://www.youtube.com/@mkbhd"
  ],
  "includeChannelInfo": true,
  "channelTabs": [
    "videos"
  ],
  "maxResults": 10,
  "maxConcurrency": 10
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `channels` (type: `string`):

Channel profiles.

## `videos` (type: `string`):

Latest videos, Shorts and streams of each channel.

# 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 '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "startUrls": [
        "https://www.youtube.com/@mkbhd"
    ],
    "maxResults": 10
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("smoldesk/youtube-channel-scraper").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 '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {
    "startUrls": ["https://www.youtube.com/@mkbhd"],
    "maxResults": 10,
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("smoldesk/youtube-channel-scraper").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "startUrls": [
    "https://www.youtube.com/@mkbhd"
  ],
  "maxResults": 10
}' |
apify call smoldesk/youtube-channel-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,smoldesk/youtube-channel-scraper"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/kDj6uOFiPA9aDPTlp/builds/cRDTuhwZZZFCprcCZ/openapi.json