📹 YouTube Video & Audio Downloader - Reliable

Fast, reliable YouTube video and audio downloads with direct download URLs that work from anywhere — not Google URLs that break on servers.

Download in any format — 1080p (Full HD) to audio only.

Run this Actor → poll pollUrl → fetch the direct downloadUrl. Media is delivered via VidKraken direct links, not Google URLs that fail from Apify / datacenters.

📈 99.99% of downloads succeeded over the last 30 days (2.5M+ downloads on the Vid Kraken API) — live track record

Apify's run stats for this Actor show a lower number because a run fails whenever the request is rejected up front: an invalid URL, a deleted or private video, or a live stream that's still running. Those runs aren't charged.

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🤨 How are we different

⚠️ Typical YouTube download Actors on the Store

• ‼️ Google links that fail from servers / datacenters ❌
• ‼️ Silent / video-only muxes unless you pick a bad quality 🔇
• ‼️ Sync timeouts on long videos ⏳
• ‼️ Your infra gets banned when extractors run on your side 🚫
• ‼️ Opaque compute quotas that don’t match real bandwidth 💸

🚀 This Actor (VidKraken on Apify)

• ✅ Direct download URLs that work from anywhere (proxy.vidkraken.com) 🔥
• ✅ Audio always on for video formats (or pick audio) 🔊
• ✅ No VidKraken API key for Store users 🔒
• ✅ 99.99% success rate with a public 30-day track record 📈

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💰 Over 90% cheaper on vidkraken.com direct

This Store Actor costs $0.004 / MB ($4 / GB) (PPE BandwidthMB), plus Apify platform usage.

Buyers can get over 90% cheaper pricing by using VidKraken directly at vidkraken.com — typically ~$0.15–$0.25 / GB on published plans (custom volume can go lower).

Easy 1-line migration: same request/response JSON shapes as the direct API — only auth/headers change (Apify Actor input/output mirrors POST /download + job status).

	🛒 Apify Store (this Actor)	🏠 Direct vidkraken.com
Price story	$4 / GB + Apify platform usage	About ~$0.15–$0.25 / GB on published plans
Metering	Upper-end estimate (BandwidthMB PPE)	Actual completed file size
Auth	Apify account / Actor run	VidKraken API key
Status	Absolute pollUrl from Actor output (no key)	pollUrl or authenticated job status

Live reliability: 99.99% of downloads over 30 days — vidkraken.com/reliability

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🏆 Formats

Format	Type	Resolution	Use case
1080	Video	1920×1080	Pro / presentations
720	Video	1280×720	Web / social
480	Video	854×480	General web
360	Video	640×360	Mobile / low bandwidth
audio	Audio	N/A	Podcasts, music, voice

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🚀 How to use

Same flow as Rapid/Zyla: run the Actor → poll pollUrl → fetch downloadUrl.
Or include webhookUrl and still keep pollUrl as backup.

1️⃣ Run the Actor

{ "url": "https://youtu.be/dQw4w9WgXcQ", "format": "audio" }

Optional fields: startTime, endTime, language, webhookUrl.

Response (job enqueued):

{
  "jobId": "69cfc45e8a3b4d2f9c1e0a7b",
  "title": "Rick Astley - Never Gonna Give You Up",
  "duration": 213,
  "status": "IN_QUEUE",
  "pollUrl": "https://vidkraken.com/api/v2/poll/xYzAbC_examplePollToken_32bytes",
  "estimatedBandwidthMb": 20
}

2️⃣ Poll pollUrl (no auth keys)

{
  "jobId": "69cfc45e8a3b4d2f9c1e0a7b",
  "status": "COMPLETED",
  "format": "audio",
  "downloadUrl": "https://proxy.vidkraken.com/downloads/.../audio.m4a",
  "fileSize": 3407872
}

3️⃣ Download from downloadUrl

When status is COMPLETED, fetch the file from downloadUrl. Direct download URLs work from anywhere and expire about 12 hours after completion.

Optional webhook

Include webhookUrl in input. Return HTTP 2xx quickly when VidKraken POSTs the final status. You can still poll pollUrl.

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📐 How we estimate BandwidthMB

This Actor charges an upper-end size estimate via Apify PPE event BandwidthMB (not the final file size).

Format	MB / minute
1080	18
720	8
480	5.5
360	3.5
audio	1.5

BandwidthMB = ceil(minutes × rate)

• Clip length uses startTime / endTime when set
• Failed / invalid runs are not billed for BandwidthMB

Direct vidkraken.com bills actual MB instead — see the section about savings above.

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💵 Pricing

PPE event BandwidthMB at $0.004 / MB ($4 / GB), plus Apify platform usage. Dataset-item pricing is off for this Actor.

For the $4 / GB vs ~$0.15–$0.25 / GB comparison, see the section about savings above.

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❓ FAQ

Q: Do I need a VidKraken API key?
A: No. Run the Actor from your Apify account.

Q: How do I check job status?
A: GET the absolute pollUrl from the Actor output. No Apify key and no VidKraken key.

Q: Are failed downloads charged?
A: No. Only a successful enqueue bills BandwidthMB.

Q: How long does downloadUrl last?
A: About 12 hours. The direct download URL works from anywhere while it is valid.

Q: What formats are supported?
A: 1080, 720, 480, 360, and audio.

Q: Why is direct VidKraken cheaper?
A: See the section about savings above ($4 / GB here vs ~$0.15–$0.25 / GB on published direct plans).

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🔒 Acceptable use

You must have the rights to download and use the content you request. See vidkraken.com/terms.