YouTube Video Downloader

Download YouTube videos as MP4 (up to 1080p Full HD) or extract MP3 audio, in batch, straight to ready-to-use files with a public download link for each one. Drop in a mix of regular watch links, Shorts, and youtu.be URLs and get back a file plus a clean metadata row per video — title, uploader, duration, view count, and file size. Built for content teams, archivists, podcasters, and developers who need YouTube media as real files without command-line tools or sketchy download sites.

Why This Scraper?

• MP4 up to 1080p Full HD or MP3 audio — pick a resolution cap (360p, 480p, 720p, or 1080p) for video, or switch the format to MP3 to pull just the soundtrack as an audio file.
• Regular videos, Shorts, AND youtu.be links — paste full youtube.com/watch URLs, youtube.com/shorts URLs, and shortened youtu.be links in the same run; each becomes one file and one row.
• Batch any number of URLs in one run — hand it a list of 5 or 500 links; videos download several at a time in parallel and are billed individually.
• A public, ready-to-use download URL on every file — each finished MP4 or MP3 is stored and returned as a direct link you can hand to a browser, a teammate, or a webhook.
• Rich metadata per video — every row carries the title, video ID, uploader, duration in seconds, view count, exact file size in bytes, chosen quality, and format.
• Pay only for successful downloads — blocked, private, deleted, or oversized videos return a clear failed row and cost you nothing.
• Automatic residential fallback — when a video is throttled or blocked on the standard connection, it's retried over a residential connection automatically so it still downloads, billed only when it's actually used ($0.015/MB).
• YouTube cookie support for gated content — paste your exported cookies to download age-restricted, members-only, or sign-in-required videos.
• Cap your spend per run — set a maximum cost per run in the Apify Console and the platform stops the run before it exceeds the limit you choose.

Use Cases

Content Production & Repurposing

• Pull source clips for video editing, reaction content, or compilations
• Convert long-form videos to MP3 for podcast feeds and audiograms
• Grab Shorts in bulk to remix across other platforms
• Build a library of B-roll and reference footage as local files

Research & Archiving

• Preserve channels and videos before they're taken down or made private
• Archive lectures, talks, and tutorials for offline study
• Collect view-count and duration metadata alongside the media for analysis
• Keep an evidence-grade copy of public statements and announcements

Audio & Podcasting

• Extract MP3 audio from interviews, panels, and conference talks
• Batch-convert a back catalog of episodes into downloadable audio files
• Pull music or voiceovers for transcription and captioning pipelines
• Feed audio into speech-to-text and summarization tools

Developer & Automation Workflows

• Wire downloaded file URLs straight into Make, Zapier, or your own API
• Feed MP4/MP3 files into transcoding, thumbnailing, or analysis pipelines
• Trigger downloads on a schedule and post links to Slack on completion
• Power internal tools that need YouTube media as addressable files

Getting Started

Download a single video

The simplest run — one URL, default MP4 at 1080p:

{
    "urls": ["https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ"]
}

Batch download as MP3 audio

Mix watch links, Shorts, and youtu.be URLs, all extracted to MP3:

{
    "urls": [
        "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ",
        "https://youtu.be/9bZkp7q19f0",
        "https://www.youtube.com/shorts/abcdEFGHijk"
    ],
    "format": "audio"
}

Advanced — quality cap, residential fallback, and cookies

Cap video at 720p, reach blocked videos over a residential connection, and sign in for gated content:

{
    "urls": ["https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ"],
    "quality": "720",
    "format": "video",
    "residentialProxyMode": "fallback",
    "proxyCountry": "US",
    "youtubeCookies": "# Netscape HTTP Cookie File\n.youtube.com\tTRUE\t/\tTRUE\t0\tCONSENT\tYES+1"
}

Input Reference

Videos

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
urls	array	—	One or more YouTube Video URLs. Accepts full watch URLs, short youtu.be URLs, and Shorts URLs. One file and one metadata row are produced per URL. Playlists are not supported — paste individual video URLs.

Output options

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
quality	string	"1080"	Video Quality — maximum resolution to download. Options: 1080p (Full HD), 720p (HD), 480p, 360p. The best available stream up to this cap is chosen; lower-resolution videos return the highest they offer. Ignored for MP3 audio.
format	string	"video"	Format — choose MP4 video to download the full video file, or MP3 audio to extract just the soundtrack. MP3 ignores the quality setting.

Proxy & access

Advanced options for videos that are blocked, region-locked, or require sign-in. The defaults work for most public videos — leave these alone unless a download fails.

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
residentialProxyMode	string	"fallback"	Residential Fallback — On — auto-retry throttled/blocked videos over residential ($0.015/MB, only if used) (default) or Off — standard connection only. When on, only videos that are throttled or blocked on the standard connection are retried over a residential connection so they still download. You're charged only when a residential retry actually delivers a video.
proxyCountry	string	"auto"	Country — download as if connecting from a specific country, useful for region-restricted videos. Automatic plus 15 countries (United States, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Canada, Australia, Japan, Brazil, India, Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Mexico, Poland, South Korea).
customProxyUrl	string	—	Custom Proxy URL — optional. Bring your own proxy instead of the built-in connection, in the format http://username:password@host:port. Leave empty to use the built-in connection.
youtubeCookies	string	—	YouTube Cookies — optional. Paste your exported YouTube cookies (Netscape cookies.txt format) to download videos that require sign-in, such as age-restricted or members-only content. Leave empty for normal public videos.

Output

Each video produces one dataset row plus a stored media file reachable at downloadUrl. Successful downloads carry full metadata; failed ones carry a plain-English failureReason and no file.

{
    "videoId": "dQw4w9WgXcQ",
    "title": "Rick Astley - Never Gonna Give You Up (Official Video)",
    "uploader": "Rick Astley",
    "originalUrl": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ",
    "durationSeconds": 213,
    "viewCount": 1543209876,
    "quality": "1080p",
    "format": "video",
    "fileSizeBytes": 41875632,
    "status": "success",
    "failureReason": null,
    "downloadUrl": "https://api.apify.com/v2/key-value-stores/abc123/records/dQw4w9WgXcQ.mp4",
    "kvStoreKey": "dQw4w9WgXcQ.mp4"
}

Output Fields

Field	Type	Description
videoId	string	YouTube's unique ID for the video.
title	string	Video title.
uploader	string	Channel or uploader name.
originalUrl	string	The URL you submitted (also available as url).
durationSeconds	number	Length of the video in seconds.
viewCount	number	View count at download time.
quality	string	Actual resolution of the downloaded file (e.g. 1080p, 720p) or audio for MP3.
format	string	video for MP4 or audio for MP3.
fileSizeBytes	number	Exact size of the downloaded file in bytes.
status	string	success or failed.
failureReason	string	Plain-English reason when a download fails (also available as error); null on success.
downloadUrl	string	Public, direct link to the stored MP4 or MP3 file.
kvStoreKey	string	File key in the run's storage (e.g. dQw4w9WgXcQ.mp4).

Tips for Best Results

• Provide YouTube cookies to download age-restricted, members-only, or sign-in-gated videos — export them in Netscape cookies.txt format and paste them into the YouTube Cookies field; public videos need nothing.
• Very long or high-resolution videos may exceed the ~230 MB file limit — if a 1080p download is too large to store, pick 720p or 480p, or switch to MP3 audio to bring the size down.
• Use MP3 audio for podcasts, interviews, and music — it ignores the quality setting, produces much smaller files, and is far less likely to hit the size limit on long content.
• Leave Residential Fallback on (the default) for the most reliable downloads — videos that YouTube throttles or blocks on the standard connection are retried over a residential connection automatically, and you're only charged ($0.015/MB) when that retry actually delivers a video. Switch it off if you'd rather such videos simply fail at no extra cost.
• Set the Country option for region-locked videos — pick the country where the video is available so it downloads as if you were watching from there.
• Paste individual video URLs, not playlist links — playlists aren't supported; expand the playlist and add each video URL to the list.
• Live streams, premieres, and private videos can't be downloaded — these return a clear failed row at no charge, so it's safe to include them in a large batch.

Pricing

From $0.01 per minute of video — you pay per minute of video you successfully download, by the quality you receive. There are no compute or time-based charges, and failed downloads are free. Bronze, Silver, and Gold loyalty subscribers automatically pay less on the Apify Console.

Each video is charged by its actual quality, with a minimum of 1 minute per video:

Quality	Price per minute
360p	$0.010
480p	$0.015
720p	$0.020
1080p (Full HD)	$0.030
MP3 audio	$0.010

A small fixed start fee of about $0.005 per run applies once per run. The residential fallback (on by default) costs $0.015 per megabyte and is billed only when it's actually used to deliver a video that was throttled or blocked on the standard connection — every video that succeeds on the standard connection is free of it.

Example costs

Example	Cost
A 4-minute music video at 1080p	$0.12
A 30-second Short at 720p (minimum 1 minute)	$0.02
A 10-minute tutorial at 480p	$0.15
50 podcast episodes as MP3, ~45 min each	~$22.50

No compute or time-based charges — you pay per minute of video you successfully download, plus a small fixed per-run start fee. Failed downloads are free.

Integrations

Export data in JSON, CSV, Excel, XML, or RSS. Connect to 1,500+ apps via:

• Zapier / Make / n8n — Workflow automation
• Google Sheets — Direct spreadsheet export
• Slack / Email — Notifications and file links on new results
• Webhooks — Trigger custom APIs on run completion
• Apify API — Full programmatic access to runs, files, and metadata

Legal & Ethical Use

This tool is intended for downloading content you own, have created, or have explicit permission to download — and for personal, fair-use, or otherwise lawful purposes. Always respect copyright and the rights of content creators, and comply with YouTube's Terms of Service. Do not download or redistribute copyrighted material you do not have the rights to use. You are responsible for ensuring your use of downloaded content complies with all applicable laws and platform terms.