# YouTube Channel Scraper - Subscribers, Views & Links (`yegnata/youtube-channel-scraper`) Actor

Get YouTube channel profiles without an API key: subscribers, total views, video count, joined date, country, description and external links (Instagram, X, websites). Find channels by keyword. Pay per channel.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/yegnata/youtube-channel-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [eshetu elias](https://apify.com/yegnata) (community)
- **Categories:** Social media, Lead generation
- **Security:** Limited permissions
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $1.50 / 1,000 channels

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 Channel Scraper - Subscribers, Views & Links

Get **full YouTube channel profiles** with no API key, quota or login: subscribers, total views, video count, joined date, country, description and the channel's **external links** (Instagram, X/Twitter, websites, shops). Paste channels you know, or **find channels by keyword** for influencer discovery.

### What you get

| name | handle | subscribers | videoCount | totalViews | country | joinedDate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marques Brownlee | @mkbhd | 21,400,000 | 1,863 | 5,857,906,431 | United States | 2008-03-21 |
| HOMEWORKOUT | @workoutstart | 658,000 | 1,349 | 77,068,222 | South Korea | 2023-02-28 |
| HOME WORKOUT | @HomeWorkout011 | 13,100 | 28 | 12,002,347 | India | 2024-07-12 |

Every channel also has `channelId`, `url`, `description`, `links` (title + URL of each external link), `avatar`, `keywords`, `isFamilySafe`, `source` (which handle or keyword it came from) and `scrapedAt`.

### Use cases

- **Influencer discovery:** search "home workout", "crypto news" or "skincare" and get every channel's audience size, country and contact links in one table.
- **Lead generation:** collect channels' websites and social profiles for outreach.
- **Competitor tracking:** schedule a daily run on your competitors' channels and chart subscribers, views and upload counts over time.
- **Market research:** compare channels in a niche by size, age and country.

### How much does it cost?

You pay **$1.50 per 1,000 channels**, nothing else. No YouTube API key, so no quota limits. Set *Maximum results* to cap your spend.

### How to use it

1. Add **Channels** (`@mkbhd`, a channel URL or a `UC…` ID) and/or **Find channels by keyword**.
2. Set **Channels per keyword** and **Maximum results**.
3. Click **Start** and download as JSON, CSV or Excel, or pull results by API.

### Input example

```json
{
  "channels": ["@mkbhd", "https://www.youtube.com/@veritasium"],
  "searchQueries": ["home workout", "budget travel"],
  "maxChannelsPerSearch": 50,
  "maxItems": 200
}
```

### Speed

About 100–200 channels a minute (each channel is two requests: the page and its About panel).

### FAQ

**Do I need a YouTube API key?** No.

**Why is `country` or `links` empty for some channels?** The channel owner didn't set them. The Actor returns what the channel's About panel shows.

**How exact are the numbers?** `totalViews` and `joinedDate` are exact. `subscribers` is YouTube's rounded public figure (e.g. 21.4M); YouTube doesn't publish exact counts.

**A channel returned nothing.** It's listed under `FAILED_SOURCES` in the run's key-value store. Check the handle opens in your browser.

**Want the channel's videos too?** Use our **YouTube Scraper** (channel videos with views, likes and dates) or **YouTube Shorts Scraper**.

**Something broke.** Open an issue on the Issues tab; fixes usually ship within 24 hours.

# Actor input Schema

## `channels` (type: `array`):

Channel @handles, URLs or IDs: "@mkbhd", "https://www.youtube.com/@mkbhd", "UCBJycsmduvYEL83R_U4JriQ".

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

Search YouTube for channels, e.g. "tech review" or "home workout", and get each channel's full profile. Great for influencer discovery.

## `maxChannelsPerSearch` (type: `integer`):

How many channels to take from each keyword search.

## `maxItems` (type: `integer`):

Stop after this many channels in total. You are charged per channel, so this caps your cost.

## `proxyConfiguration` (type: `object`):

Not needed for normal use.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "channels": [
    "@mkbhd",
    "@veritasium"
  ],
  "maxChannelsPerSearch": 20,
  "maxItems": 100,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": false
  }
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

Every channel saved in this run.

# 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 = {
    "channels": [
        "@mkbhd",
        "@veritasium"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("yegnata/youtube-channel-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 = { "channels": [
        "@mkbhd",
        "@veritasium",
    ] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("yegnata/youtube-channel-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 '{
  "channels": [
    "@mkbhd",
    "@veritasium"
  ]
}' |
apify call yegnata/youtube-channel-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,yegnata/youtube-channel-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/Kddr7M8SYxaJnTPVx/builds/D96LGVDCeWp0ejJRU/openapi.json