YouTube Shorts Scraper Pro

The most reliable YouTube Shorts scraper on Apify. Uses YouTube's InnerTube API (the same internal API used by YouTube's web app, mobile app, and smart TV app) instead of fragile HTML parsing. No browser needed = 5x faster and 4x cheaper than alternatives.

Why InnerTube API instead of HTML parsing?

Most YouTube scrapers parse HTML that changes every 1-2 weeks. This actor uses the InnerTube API — YouTube's own internal JSON API. YouTube can't break it without breaking their own products.

yt-dlp (200K+ GitHub stars) uses the same approach and has been stable for years.

Method	Stability	Speed	Memory	Maintenance
HTML/DOM parsing	Breaks every 1-2 weeks	Slow (browser)	1024MB	Weekly
ytInitialData regex	Breaks every 2-4 weeks	Medium	512MB	Biweekly
InnerTube API	Stable months/years	Fast (HTTP only)	256MB	Monthly or less

This actor auto-detects YouTube's current API key and client version on each run, ensuring compatibility even when YouTube updates these values.

3 Scraping Modes

Mode 1: Channel Shorts

Extract Shorts from specific YouTube channels.

Input:

{
    "mode": "channel_shorts",
    "channelUrls": [
        "https://www.youtube.com/@MrBeast",
        "@mkbhd",
        "pewdiepie"
    ],
    "maxResults": 50
}

Mode 2: Search Shorts

Find Shorts by keyword search.

Input:

{
    "mode": "search_shorts",
    "searchQuery": "cooking recipes shorts",
    "maxResults": 30
}

Mode 3: Trending Shorts

Get popular/trending Shorts.

Input:

{
    "mode": "trending_shorts",
    "country": "US",
    "maxResults": 50
}

Engagement enrichment

Enable enrichWithEngagement to fetch likes, comments, and full descriptions for each Short. This adds 1 extra API request per Short (slower but more data).

{
    "mode": "channel_shorts",
    "channelUrls": ["@MrBeast"],
    "maxResults": 10,
    "enrichWithEngagement": true
}

Output format

Field	Type	Description
videoId	string	YouTube video ID
title	string	Short title
url	string	Direct link to the Short
channelName	string	Creator's channel name
channelUrl	string	Creator's channel URL
channelId	string	YouTube channel ID
viewCount	integer	Number of views
viewCountText	string	Original view count text (e.g., "45M views")
likeCount	integer	Likes (requires enrichment)
commentCount	integer	Comments (requires enrichment)
description	string	Full description (requires enrichment)
publishedTimeText	string	Relative publish time
thumbnailUrl	string	Thumbnail image URL
hashtags	array	Hashtags from title/description
isShort	boolean	Always true
enriched	boolean	Whether engagement data was fetched
scrapedAt	string	ISO timestamp

Use cases

• Content creators: analyze competitor Shorts performance and find content gaps
• Marketing agencies: track viral Shorts trends across categories
• Brands: monitor brand mentions and product appearances in Shorts
• Researchers: study short-form video engagement patterns and virality
• Influencer marketing: find creators by Shorts views and engagement rate

Pricing

$0.003 per Short ($3 per 1,000 Shorts). You only pay for successfully extracted results.

Shorts	Cost
100	$0.30
1,000	$3.00
10,000	$30.00

Performance

• Speed: ~30-50 Shorts/second (without enrichment)
• Speed with enrichment: ~1 Short per 2 seconds (extra request per Short)
• Memory: 256MB (no browser)
• Reliability: InnerTube API is far more stable than HTML parsing

Accepted input formats

Channel inputs accept multiple formats:

• Full URL: https://www.youtube.com/@MrBeast
• Handle: @MrBeast
• Username: MrBeast
• Channel ID: UCX6OQ3DkcsbYNE6H8uQQuVA

Proxy configuration

Datacenter proxies usually work fine. Switch to residential proxies if you experience blocks at high volume.

FAQ

Does this need a browser? No. It uses pure HTTP requests to YouTube's InnerTube API. No Playwright, no Puppeteer.

Does this need a proxy? Optional but recommended for production use. Datacenter proxies are usually sufficient.

How is this different from the popular YouTube Shorts scraper? The incumbent (30K users, 2.87 stars) uses HTML parsing that breaks when YouTube updates its frontend. This scraper uses the InnerTube API — the same internal API YouTube's own apps use — which is fundamentally more stable.

Can I get likes and comments? Yes, enable enrichWithEngagement. It adds 1 extra API request per Short.

What happens when YouTube changes something? The InnerTube API rarely changes (YouTube would break their own apps). When minor changes happen, the recursive parser adapts automatically. The actor also auto-detects the current API key and client version on each run.

Limitations

• YouTube may change InnerTube API parameters (rare but possible)
• View/like counts may have slight reporting delays vs real-time
• Full descriptions require enrichment mode (adds 1 request per Short)
• Rate limited to ~40 requests/minute to avoid blocks
• Maximum 500 results per channel/search

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