Wistia Video Downloader

Wistia Video Downloader turns one accessible Wistia media page or iframe into a structured Dataset record and can optionally store its video file in Apify.

• The public input contract has two fields and requires one Wistia media URL.
• Four quality values separate a metadata check from three video-download preferences.
• The output schema defines 39 fields for media identity, ownership, technical properties, processing, and delivery.
• Viewer comments are not a public feature; the reserved comments list is normally empty.

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Publish the Actor, then validate one permitted public iframe with metadata mode before asking it to store media.

What does Wistia Video Downloader do?

Wistia Video Downloader processes one Wistia media reference at a time. The reference can be a directly accessible media page or an iframe URL that identifies one video. The Actor normalizes extractor output into an Apify Dataset item instead of exposing host-specific response shapes.

Possible fields include the hashed media ID, title, description, thumbnail, duration, publication time, uploader information, available counters, dimensions, frame rate, and audio labels. Availability varies because Wistia publishers control privacy, embedding, domains, passwords, and the media renditions associated with each asset.

Metadata mode avoids file transfer. A low, medium, or high selection asks for an available rendition and can place the result in run storage. The setting does not manufacture a resolution or override publisher access. This Actor does not crawl projects, channels, galleries, account libraries, analytics, lead forms, or comments.

How do I run Wistia Video Downloader?

Open the local Actor draft in Apify Console and verify its Wistia identity. Obtain a URL that resolves to one media asset. The iframe form is usually less ambiguous than a marketing page containing several embeds because it carries the media identifier directly.

The examples below all use this one-media scenario:

{
  "video_url": "https://fast.wistia.net/embed/iframe/26sk4lmiix",
  "video_quality": "metadata"
}

The media owner can change availability, so confirm that the sample is still accessible or replace it with an asset you are authorized to test. Run metadata first and compare ID, title, thumbnail, and duration with the intended embed. Only request a file after the metadata identity is correct.

Do not add a Wistia account token, password, domain override, project ID, or comment limit. Those fields are not part of the schema and additional properties are rejected.

What data does Wistia Video Downloader return?

The normalized item has 39 possible fields:

Record area	Fields
Run context	processor, processed_at
Media identity	id, thumbnail, platform, title, description, duration, published_at
Publisher	author, author_id, author_url
Classification	categories, tags
Source counters	view_count, like_count, shares_count, dislike_count, comment_count
Rendition properties	width, height, fps, audio_title, audio_artist
Reserved and file	comments, video

An abbreviated example tied to the same iframe is:

{
  "id": "26sk4lmiix",
  "platform": "Wistia",
  "title": "Example Wistia media",
  "author": null,
  "thumbnail": "https://example.com/wistia-thumbnail.jpg",
  "duration": null,
  "comments": [],
  "video": ""
}

This is a contract illustration, not a captured response. A Wistia asset often has fewer social counters than a public social-video post, so nullable fields are expected. Never turn absent metrics into zero. Metadata mode intentionally returns no stored file, and the public input never requests viewer comments.

Source-dependent fields also present in every item:

Field	Meaning
source_url	Canonical page URL of the item on its own platform
media_type	Kind of media the source reports, such as video or audio
live_status	Whether the item is a recording, currently live, or a finished stream
availability	Source visibility, such as public, unlisted, or needs_auth
age_limit	Minimum viewer age the source enforces; zero means no restriction
language	Primary language of the item as reported by the source
followers	Follower or subscriber count of the author at processing time
is_verified	Whether the author's account carries a verified badge
saves_count	Times viewers saved the item, on sources that expose it
file_ext	Container extension of the selected media, such as mp4 or webm
file_size	Size of the selected media in bytes, exact or approximate
subtitles	Language codes of published subtitle tracks; auto-captions excluded
chapters	Chapter markers with title and start and end time in seconds

What inputs can I configure?

There are only two inputs:

Input	Required	Behavior
video_url	Yes	One accessible Wistia media page or iframe URL.
video_quality	No	metadata, low, medium, or high; metadata skips media storage.

The URL field contains a Wistia iframe example. The quality selector is optional and has no prefill or example, allowing the submitted input to show whether the caller made an explicit choice. Omission falls back to metadata in the current runtime.

The Actor offers no project, account, folder, gallery, playlist, date, market, domain, password, batch, analytics, or comments control. Process multiple authorized media items through separate inputs.

What platforms and markets does Wistia Video Downloader cover?

Coverage follows a Wistia media URL rather than a geographical market. The local yt-dlp installation includes Wistia extractors, including playlist-related support, but this public Actor intentionally documents only one media asset per run.

Wistia is frequently embedded on another organization’s website. A page opening in a browser does not automatically mean its video endpoint is unrestricted: a publisher can limit playback by domain, require a password, gate the page behind authentication, remove the asset, or change embedding settings. This Actor exposes none of the credentials or browser session required to cross those boundaries.

Before release, test a direct public iframe, a host page with one embed, a page with multiple embeds, a domain-restricted media item, and a removed identifier. Validate which ID was selected and whether metadata and file outcomes match the documented boundary. A run status alone is insufficient evidence.

For the multiple-embed case, compare the requested hashed ID with the returned id and thumbnail; do not accept the first playable asset merely because it is valid Wistia media. For the domain-restricted case, record the expected refusal without attempting to weaken the publisher’s controls. These assertions protect both data accuracy and the intended access boundary.

Why use Wistia Video Downloader?

Wistia embeds are common in product demos, training pages, help centers, and marketing sites. A normalized record can let a team index an authorized media asset by ID, thumbnail, duration, and source page without maintaining a custom extraction response parser. An approved file can then enter a controlled archive, transcription job, review workflow, or content catalog.

Metadata-first operation makes identity and access errors visible before video transfer. Thumbnail-first Dataset display helps reviewers recognize the asset. The stable cross-video field names allow the same downstream table to accept Wistia and other supported video records while keeping missing properties explicit.

There is no verified Actor ID, public usage, rating, review, Issues history, or live production record, so the README makes no adoption or reliability claim.

Who is Wistia Video Downloader for?

Developers can ingest one permitted Wistia embed into an application. Product education, support, marketing operations, and training teams can catalog media they control. Researchers can preserve metadata for public embeds in a documented sample. AI teams can pass an authorized stored video to a separate speech or visual analysis service.

Non-developers can use the Console for a one-item test.

It is not a Wistia account export, analytics client, project crawler, password bypass, lead collector, viewer tracker, or rights-management tool. The media owner’s access settings and the caller’s authorization remain decisive.

How can I use Wistia Video Downloader through the API or MCP?

The intended Actor name is truefetch/wistia-video-downloader.submit the same iframe through the Apify API:

curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/truefetch~wistia-video-downloader/runs?token=$APIFY_TOKEN" \
 -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
 -d '{"video_url":"https://fast.wistia.net/embed/iframe/26sk4lmiix","video_quality":"metadata"}'

The corresponding hosted MCP configuration and tool arguments are:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "apify-wistia": {
      "url": "https://mcp.apify.com?tools=truefetch/wistia-video-downloader",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer <APIFY_TOKEN>"
      }
    }
  },
  "exampleToolArguments": {
    "video_url": "https://fast.wistia.net/embed/iframe/26sk4lmiix",
    "video_quality": "metadata"
  }
}

The MCP tool appears only. Keep the token secret and use the official Apify MCP instructions.

How much does Wistia Video Downloader cost?

The local publishing metadata declares these events; they are not a verified live offer:

Declared event	Unit	Local price
apify-actor-start	Actor start	$0.01
actor_usage	Metered usage event	$0.00001
metadata	One media item processed without download	$0.11
download	One media item processed with file storage	$0.26

The smallest metadata scenario declares $0.12 for start and result events before metered usage and platform costs. The fixed result event for a download is $0.26 instead of metadata.

How does Wistia Video Downloader compare with alternatives?

Route	Suitable use	Constraint
Wistia Video Downloader	One accessible Wistia asset needs normalized metadata or storage	Publishing identity and live restriction tests are pending.
Wistia owner controls	The account owner manages, exports, or analyzes their media	Requires account authorization and follows Wistia features.
Browser inspection	A person checks one embedded video manually	Not a repeatable Dataset or API integration.
Best Video Downloader	Inputs arrive from several supported hosts	Less focused on Wistia embedding and access boundaries.

Account owners should prefer first-party controls for account-wide operations. This Actor fits a narrow, URL-driven processing step for accessible media.

What are the limits and troubleshooting steps?

Only one URL is accepted. No account, password, domain override, project, playlist, batch, comments, or analytics input exists. The output is nullable and the requested quality is limited by available renditions.

For an empty result, open the iframe in a private window and confirm it displays the intended media without credentials. Check the hashed ID, try the direct iframe instead of a complex host page, and retry in metadata mode. If a host page contains multiple embeds, provide the intended iframe URL to remove ambiguity.

When download mode returns no file, inspect run logs and storage. Domain restrictions, deleted media, unavailable renditions, or platform delivery changes can break a previously valid reference. The public Issues surface is unavailable, so there is no verified incident history.

Scheduled runs repeat the same URL and do not discover project additions. Media owners may change privacy at any time; retention and downstream use require separate policy decisions.

Frequently asked questions

Can it export an entire Wistia project?

No. The documented unit is one media URL.

Can it use a password or account login?

No password, token, or cookie field is exposed.

Are comments or viewer analytics returned?

No. Comments are not requested, and account analytics are outside the contract.

Should I provide the host page or iframe?

A direct iframe is the clearest one-media reference; public host pages may work when unambiguous.

Does high guarantee a resolution?

No. Wistia’s available renditions set the limit.

Why are social counters null?

Many Wistia assets do not expose those cross-platform fields publicly.

Can I schedule a media check?

Yes, but availability and privacy can change.

Why do domain restrictions break a previously working URL?

Wistia lets the media owner limit playback to named domains. When that setting is enabled the embed stops returning a manifest to any other origin, so a reference that worked yesterday can stop resolving. Confirm the iframe still plays in a private window before investigating the run.

Which identifier should I keep for deduplication?

Keep the hashed media ID returned in id. It stays stable across host pages and embed variants, whereas the page URL changes whenever the media is re-embedded on a different site.

How do I handle a host page that embeds several videos?

Submit the specific fast.wistia.net/embed/iframe/<hash> address for the media you want rather than the marketing page that contains it. A host page with several embeds gives the extractor no single target, and the run may resolve a different asset than you intended or end without a Dataset item. Read the hashed ID out of the page source or the embed code, keep it in your own catalogue, and build the iframe URL from that hash so the same asset is requested every time.

Related TrueFetch Actors

• Best Video Downloader processes supported media URLs across multiple hosts.
• Video To Text transcribes speech from authorized media.
• Video Subtitles Downloader retrieves caption tracks when available.

Support

• Apify Actor dashboard
• Apify Actor API reference
• Apify MCP documentation
• yt-dlp supported-sites reference
• TrueFetch community
• Direct support

Send the Actor link, stable ID, redacted media URL, access condition, and run ID with support requests.

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