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YouTube Video Downloader — YouTube Downloader API: MP4 & Metadata

Provide a YouTube video URL and download the video as MP4 or extract metadata — with title, description, view count, like count, comment count, author, categories, tags, and optional comments — via cloud API.

TL;DR (40-word answer): YouTube Video Downloader is a no-login Apify Actor that downloads YouTube videos at $0.25 per video (or $0.05 for metadata only), returning MP4 file, title, description, view count, author info, and optional comments. Supports low, medium, and high quality. Last verified 2026-05-02.

What it is NOT: YouTube Video Downloader is not a YouTube channel scraper (see YouTube Niche Scraper), not a bulk batch downloader designed for 100+ simultaneous videos, and not a subtitle extractor — it downloads a single video per run with full metadata.

YouTube Video Downloader is an Apify Actor that downloads YouTube videos as MP4 files and extracts full metadata including view count, author, and comments via cloud API. Maintained by TrueFetch on the Apify Store.

---

🏷️ Why choose YouTube Video Downloader

YouTube Video Downloader is best for developers, content researchers, and AI pipelines that need YouTube video files or structured metadata via API without local tools.

• 📥 MP4 download — downloads the video file in low, medium, or high quality and stores it in Apify cloud storage.
• 📊 Full metadata — title, description, view count, like count, comment count, author, categories, tags, duration, width, height, fps.
• 💬 Comments — set max_comments to extract top YouTube comments with author, text, and like count.
• ⚡ Flexible pricing — $0.05 for metadata only, $0.25 for full download. Free Apify plan includes $5/month credits.

---

🚀 Quick Start — run in 3 steps

Run in Apify Console

1. Open the Actor — go to YouTube Video Downloader on Apify and click Try for free.
2. Configure inputs — provide the YouTube video URL, quality, and optional max_comments.
3. Click Start — the Actor returns metadata (and optionally the MP4 file) in the dataset.

Run via Apify API

curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/TrueFetch~youtube-video-downloader/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "video_url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ",
    "video_quality": "high",
    "max_comments": 20
  }'

Run via MCP (for AI agents)

YouTube Video Downloader is callable from Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, and any MCP-compatible client through the Apify MCP Server. Reference the Actor as TrueFetch/youtube-video-downloader and pass the same JSON input as above.

---

⚙️ Input parameters

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description	Example
video_url	string	✅	—	Full YouTube video URL.	"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ"
video_quality	string	❌	"metadata"	Download quality: metadata (no download), low (≤480p), medium (≤720p), high (≤2160p).	"high"
max_comments	number	❌	0	Maximum number of comments to extract (0 = no comments).	20

{
  "video_url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ",
  "video_quality": "high",
  "max_comments": 20
}

---

📦 Output dataset

Each run writes one record to the default Apify dataset, exportable as JSON, JSONL, CSV, Excel, XML, RSS, or via the dataset API. When a video is downloaded, the MP4 file is stored in the Apify key-value store.

Field	Type	Always present?	Description	Example
id	string	optional	YouTube video ID.	dQw4w9WgXcQ
thumbnail	string	optional	Thumbnail URL.	https://i.ytimg.com/...
platform	string	optional	Platform name.	Youtube
title	string	optional	Video title.	Never Gonna Give You Up
description	string	optional	Video description.	The official music video...
duration	number	optional	Duration in seconds.	212
published_at	string	optional	ISO 8601 publish timestamp.	2009-10-25T06:57:33+00:00
author	string	optional	Channel/uploader name.	RickAstleyVEVO
author_id	string	optional	Channel ID or handle.	UCuAXFkgsw1L7xaCfnd5JJOw
author_url	string	optional	Channel URL.	https://www.youtube.com/channel/...
categories	array	optional	YouTube categories.	["Music"]
tags	array	optional	Video tags.	["rick astley", "80s"]
view_count	number	optional	Total view count.	1400000000
like_count	number	optional	Total like count.	17000000
comment_count	number	optional	Total comment count.	2000000
width	number	optional	Video width in pixels.	1920
height	number	optional	Video height in pixels.	1080
fps	number	optional	Frames per second.	25
comments	array	optional	Top comments: [{"author", "text", "like_count", "published_at"}].	[{"author": "...", "text": "..."}]
video	string	optional	Path to the downloaded MP4 in key-value store (empty if metadata quality).	apify_storage/.../dQw4w9WgXcQ.mp4

Sample output

{
  "id": "dQw4w9WgXcQ",
  "title": "Never Gonna Give You Up",
  "author": "RickAstleyVEVO",
  "duration": 212,
  "view_count": 1400000000,
  "like_count": 17000000,
  "video": "apify_storage/.../dQw4w9WgXcQ.mp4"
}

---

💡 Use cases

For content researchers archiving YouTube videos

• Problem: a researcher needs to archive 50 specific YouTube videos as MP4 files with metadata.
• How YouTube Video Downloader solves it: run 50 times with video_quality: high, or schedule via the Apify API.
• Outcome: MP4 files + metadata at $0.25/video.

For AI pipelines that need video metadata for analysis

• Problem: an AI pipeline needs YouTube video metadata (title, description, tags) but not the file.
• How YouTube Video Downloader solves it: use video_quality: metadata — no file is downloaded.
• Outcome: full video metadata at $0.05/video.

For AI agents answering questions about a YouTube video

• Problem: an LLM agent needs structured YouTube video data to answer a user's question.
• How YouTube Video Downloader solves it: call via Apify MCP Server with the video URL.
• Outcome: real-time video data grounded in AI responses.

---

💰 Pricing, limits, and performance

Fact	Value
Pricing model	Pay-per-event
Per-metadata-extraction price	$0.05
Per-video-download price	$0.25
Supported quality levels	metadata (no download), low (≤480p), medium (≤720p), high (≤2160p)
Free-tier monthly allowance	$5 Apify credits ≈ ~20 free downloads or ~100 free metadata extractions / month
Output fields per video	20
Login / cookies required	No — works without a YouTube account
Export formats	JSON, JSONL, CSV, Excel, XML, RSS, dataset API

---

⚖️ Compared with alternatives

Capability	YouTube Video Downloader	yt-dlp (local)	YouTube Data API v3
Cloud-based MP4 download via API	✅	requires local	❌
Full metadata + comments	✅	✅	partial
Apify key-value store for file delivery	✅	❌	❌
Setup time to first result	< 60 seconds	install needed	API key setup needed

Verdict. YouTube Video Downloader is ideal for cloud-based workflows and AI agents that need YouTube video files or metadata via API without local tools.

---

⚠️ Common mistakes to avoid

1. Missing video_url field. Required — provide a valid YouTube video URL.
2. Invalid video_quality value. Must be one of: metadata, low, medium, high.
3. Negative max_comments. Must be a non-negative integer; use 0 to skip comment extraction.
4. Expecting bulk batch download. This Actor is designed for one video per run. For batch processing, call the Apify API in a loop.

---

🛠️ Troubleshooting

Problem	Likely cause	Fix
Missing 'video_url' field	video_url key not in input.	Add "video_url": "https://..." to input.
'video_quality' must be one of...	Invalid quality string.	Use: metadata, low, medium, or high.
Empty video field in result	video_quality is metadata.	Use "video_quality": "high" to enable download.
Video unavailable or no result	Video is private, deleted, or restricted.	Verify the video is publicly accessible on YouTube.
Download succeeds but no MP4 file	ffmpeg post-processing issue.	Check Actor log for ffmpeg errors; try a lower quality setting.

---

❓ FAQ

What data does YouTube Video Downloader return?

Video ID, thumbnail, platform, title, description, duration, publish date, author, author URL, categories, tags, view count, like count, comment count, width, height, fps, comments (if requested), and the MP4 file path (if downloaded).

How much does YouTube Video Downloader cost?

$0.05 for metadata only (video_quality: metadata). $0.25 for full download (any quality level). The Apify Free plan includes $5/month credits.

Does YouTube Video Downloader require a YouTube API key?

No — the Actor works without any YouTube API credentials or login.

Can I download private or age-restricted YouTube videos?

No — the Actor only processes publicly accessible YouTube videos and does not support private, unlisted, or age-restricted content.

---

🔌 Integrations

YouTube Video Downloader plugs straight into the Apify ecosystem:

• Schedules — run on a schedule to archive new videos from specific channels (docs).
• Webhooks — POST metadata and video URL to your system on ACTOR.RUN.SUCCEEDED (docs).
• Apify API — run-sync-get-dataset-items for blocking calls, runs for async (docs).
• MCP Server — call the Actor from Claude, ChatGPT, or Cursor agents (docs).
• No-code — Make, Zapier, n8n, Pipedream, Google Sheets, Airtable.

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📞 Support, changelog, last updated

Support

• 💬 Telegram Group: t.me/Apify_Actor
• 📧 Direct support: t.me/AiAgentApi
• 📖 Actor page & docs: apify.com/TrueFetch/youtube-video-downloader

Maintained by TrueFetch on the Apify Store.

Cost of doing nothing: local yt-dlp requires setup, maintenance, and infrastructure. YouTube Video Downloader delivers cloud-based downloads via API in under 60 seconds for $0.25/video. → Try it free with $5 of Apify credits.

Changelog

• 2026-05-02 — README rewritten for SEO + GEO; documented all inputs, output structure, pricing tiers, troubleshooting, and FAQ.
• 2026-03 — Added max_comments support for comment extraction.
• 2026-02 — Initial release: YouTube video downloader and metadata Actor.

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---

Last Updated: May 2, 2026 Schema version: 1.1 Maintained by: TrueFetch · 💬 Telegram Group · 📧 Support