# YouTube Video & Channel Scraper (`travelmonitorlab/youtube-scraper`) Actor

Scrape YouTube videos and channels: titles, views, likes, duration, publish dates and channel stats as structured JSON. Pay per video.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/travelmonitorlab/youtube-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Travel Monitor Lab](https://apify.com/travelmonitorlab) (community)
- **Categories:** Social media, Marketing, Business
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

$2.00 / 1,000 video scrapeds

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/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 Video & Channel Scraper — metadata and stats as JSON

Scrape YouTube videos and channels: titles, views, likes, duration, publish dates, descriptions, tags and channel statistics — from video URLs, channel URLs or search queries, delivered as structured JSON. Built for content research, trend analysis, competitor monitoring and AI agents that need fresh YouTube data.

### Use this tool when…

- You need **video or channel metadata** at scale (views, likes, dates, tags).
- You want to **research what content performs** in a niche, with numbers.
- Your **AI agent needs YouTube data** — via the Apify MCP server, Claude/GPT/Cursor/n8n can call it with zero glue code.
- You want to **monitor competitor channels**: what they publish and how it performs.

### Features

- **Video scraping** from URLs or IDs (youtube.com/watch, youtu.be): title, description, views, likes, duration, publish date, tags, thumbnail.
- **Channel scraping** (@handle, /channel/, /c/ formats): subscriber count, total views, video count, recent videos.
- **Search mode**: run YouTube search queries and get the top results with stats.
- **Batch mode**: dozens of URLs or queries per run.
- **Structured JSON output** as JSON, CSV or Excel, or via the Apify API.
- **AI-agent ready**: README and input schema readable by LLMs through MCP.

### Use cases

#### Content research

Find which formats, titles and lengths get views in your vertical before you produce.

#### Competitor channel monitoring

Track publishing cadence and performance of competing channels week over week.

#### Trend and keyword analysis

See which videos rank for your target queries and how fast they accumulate views.

#### Dataset building

Collect training or analysis datasets of video metadata at scale.

### Input

| Field | Type | Required | Description | Example |
|-------|------|----------|-------------|---------|
| `videoUrls` | array | optional | Video URLs or IDs | `["https://youtu.be/dQw4w9WgXcQ"]` |
| `channelUrls` | array | optional | Channel URLs (@handle, /channel/, /c/) | `["@MrBeast"]` |
| `searchQueries` | array | optional | YouTube search queries | `["AI agents tutorial"]` |
| `maxResults` | integer | no | Max results per query (1–50) | `20` |

```json
{ "searchQueries": ["AI agents tutorial"], "maxResults": 10 }
```

### Output

Videos: `title`, `description`, `views`, `likes`, `duration`, `publishedAt`, `tags`, `channelName`, `videoUrl`, `thumbnailUrl`.
Channels: `channelName`, `subscribers`, `totalViews`, `videoCount`, `videos[]` (recent videos with stats).

### Pricing (pay per event)

| Event | Price |
|-------|-------|
| `video-scraped` | $0.002 per video |

1,000 videos = **$2.00**. No subscription. Platform margin: Apify takes 20%. Tiered Apify plans (Bronze/Silver/Gold) get progressively lower prices.

### Agentic payments (x402 / USDC)

This actor supports **x402 agentic payments**: AI agents without an Apify account can call it and pay per call in **USDC on Base** — verified live.

### FAQ

**Does it use the official YouTube API?**
No API key needed — it scrapes public pages directly.

**Can I scrape a whole channel?**
Yes: pass the channel URL and set `maxResults` for how many recent videos to include.

**How fresh is the data?**
Live at run time.

**Does it work with Claude, Cursor, GPT or n8n?**
Yes, via the Apify MCP server.

### More tools from this toolbox

- [TikTok Profile & Video Scraper](https://apify.com/travelmonitorlab/tiktok-scraper)
- [Instagram Profile Scraper](https://apify.com/travelmonitorlab/instagram-scraper)
- Full toolbox: [apify.com/travelmonitorlab](https://apify.com/travelmonitorlab)

***

**Built and maintained by [Adaga solutions](https://adagasolutions.lu)** — full-stack & AI agents in production, Luxembourg.

# Actor input Schema

## `videoUrls` (type: `array`):

YouTube video URLs or IDs to scrape. Supports youtube.com/watch, youtu.be, and /shorts/ formats.

## `channelUrls` (type: `array`):

YouTube channel URLs to scrape. Supports @handle, /channel/, and /c/ formats.

## `searchQueries` (type: `array`):

Search YouTube for videos matching these queries. Returns top results with full video data.

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

Maximum number of results per search query (1-50)

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "videoUrls": [
    "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ"
  ],
  "channelUrls": [],
  "searchQueries": [],
  "maxResults": 10
}
```

# 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 = {
    "videoUrls": [
        "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ"
    ],
    "channelUrls": [],
    "searchQueries": [],
    "maxResults": 10
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("travelmonitorlab/youtube-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 = {
    "videoUrls": ["https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ"],
    "channelUrls": [],
    "searchQueries": [],
    "maxResults": 10,
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("travelmonitorlab/youtube-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 '{
  "videoUrls": [
    "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ"
  ],
  "channelUrls": [],
  "searchQueries": [],
  "maxResults": 10
}' |
apify call travelmonitorlab/youtube-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,travelmonitorlab/youtube-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/eh4PLRaP7leXzGJeb/builds/TKaBQbHyfMik9B3XB/openapi.json