# YouTube Scraper (`parseforge/youtube-scraper`) Actor

Extract YouTube videos with channel profiles and transcripts. No API key required. Export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/parseforge/youtube-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [ParseForge](https://apify.com/parseforge) (community)
- **Categories:** Automation, Social media, Other
- **Stats:** 77 total users, 2 monthly users, 90.3% runs succeeded, 2 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $3.00 / 1,000 results

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.
Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

Actors are web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows.
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.
Actors are written with capital "A".

## 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.
The best way to integrate Actors is as follows.

- **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use).
- **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`.
- **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`.
- **Python projects** — the official [Python client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): `pip install apify-client`.
- **Any other language** — the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md).

For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below.

For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt).

# README

[![ParseForge](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ParseForge/apify-assets/main/banner.jpg)](https://apify.com/parseforge?fpr=vmoqkp)

### YouTube Scraper

**Scrape YouTube videos, channels, and transcripts from any search, playlist, or URL, up to a million per run.** Every video comes with its title, description, view count, likes, channel profile, and full transcript. No API key or quota. Export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML.

YouTube's official Data API requires a Google Cloud project, OAuth setup, and daily quotas that run out fast. This scraper reads public YouTube pages directly, so you get video metadata, channel info, and captions without any registration. Each result is a flat row with all the fields you need for analysis.

| Who uses it | What they scrape YouTube for |
|---|---|
| Content researchers | Track which topics and creators are trending in a niche over time. |
| SEO analysts | Gather video titles, descriptions, and tags to reverse-engineer ranking strategies. |
| Market intelligence teams | Monitor competitor channels and their most viewed uploads. |
| Data scientists | Build training datasets from YouTube transcripts and metadata. |

### What it does

This Actor collects YouTube videos by search query, playlist URL, or direct video/channel link, and returns each one with its metadata, channel profile, and transcript as a single flat row.

- 🔍 **Search queries:** Enter any term, video URL, or channel handle (@channelname) and the actor auto-detects the type, then enriches each video with full channel profile.
- 📋 **Playlist scraping:** Provide one or more playlist URLs and every video in the playlist is collected up to your max limit.
- 📊 **Computed signals:** Each video includes view count, like count, comment count, duration, upload date, and channel subscriber count.

Results export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML, or straight from the API.

### What you can do with YouTube data

**📈 Track trending topics.**

A content strategist runs daily searches for keywords in their niche and exports the top videos to see what formats and titles are gaining traction.

**🔍 Audit competitor channels.**

A marketing analyst feeds competitor channel handles into the actor and collects every video's metadata to compare upload frequency, engagement, and topic focus.

**🎓 Build a transcript dataset.**

A researcher scrapes videos from educational playlists and downloads the transcripts to train a natural language model on lecture content.

**📊 Monitor brand mentions.**

A brand manager searches for their product name weekly and collects video titles, descriptions, and comments to gauge public sentiment.

### Why choose this scraper

|  | What you get |
|---|---|
| **Video metadata** | Title, description, URL, thumbnail, duration, upload date, view count, like count, comment count. |
| **Channel profile** | Channel name, URL, subscriber count, total videos, channel description, and avatar. |
| **Transcript** | Full captions text when available, with timestamps. |
| **Search filters** | Sort by relevance, upload date, view count, or rating. Filter by upload date, duration, type, and features. |

### How it compares

Compared to other YouTube scrapers on Apify, this actor uniquely includes full channel profiles and transcripts in every result, with no extra steps.

| Feature | ParseForge | YouTube Scraper |
|---|---|---|
| Full video metadata | Yes | Yes |
| Channel profile (subs, total videos) | Yes | Not listed |
| Transcripts | Yes | Not listed |
| Playlist scraping | Yes | Not listed |
| Search filters (date, duration, type) | Yes | Not listed |
| No API key required | Yes | Yes |

### Configure the run

Drive the Actor from search queries, playlist URLs, or direct video/channel links, alone or together. Filters for upload date, video duration, video type, and features (HD, subtitles, 4K, live, HDR, VR180) run as each video is read so only matches reach your dataset. The Input tab lists every parameter.

A first run with the defaults:

```json
{
  "playlistUrls": [
    "https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrAXtmErZgOeiKm4sgNOknc9TTnkwVnCH"
  ],
  "searchQueries": [
    "python tutorial",
    "web scraping"
  ],
  "maxItems": 10
}
```

A larger pull:

```json
{
  "playlistUrls": [
    "https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrAXtmErZgOeiKm4sgNOknc9TTnkwVnCH"
  ],
  "searchQueries": [
    "python tutorial",
    "web scraping"
  ],
  "maxItems": 200
}
```

### Pricing

Pay-per-result: **$0.08 per result** collected. You pay only for the results written to your dataset.

| Results collected | Approximate cost |
|---|---|
| 100 results | $8.00 |
| 1,000 results | $80.00 |
| 10,000 results | $800.00 |

New Apify accounts start with $5 in free credit.

### Free users

Free-plan runs return up to 10 results as a preview. [Upgrade your Apify plan](https://console.apify.com/sign-up?fpr=vmoqkp) to collect up to 1,000,000 results per run.

### Run it

1. [Create a free Apify account with $5 in credit](https://console.apify.com/sign-up?fpr=vmoqkp).
2. Open the [YouTube Scraper](https://apify.com/parseforge/youtube-scraper?fpr=vmoqkp).
3. Set your inputs and any filters, then click **Start**.
4. Export the results as CSV, Excel, JSON, or XML from the **Dataset** tab.

Run it programmatically through the [Apify API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2) (`run-sync-get-dataset-items`) or the [ApifyClient](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js) for JavaScript and Python.

### Use with AI agents (MCP)

Give an AI agent live access to YouTube through the Model Context Protocol. Add the Actor to Claude, Cursor, or any MCP client:

```bash
claude mcp add --transport http apify "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=parseforge/youtube-scraper"
```

Then prompt it in plain language to run the scraper and read back the results.

### Troubleshooting

**Why am I getting no results?**

Check that your search query or playlist URL is correct and publicly accessible. Some channels or videos may be private or region-restricted. Also verify that maxItems is set high enough.

**The transcript field is empty.**

Not all videos have captions enabled. The actor only returns transcripts when they are publicly available. Try a different video or check if the video has auto-generated captions.

**The actor is running slowly.**

Large playlists or broad search queries can take time. Reduce maxItems or narrow your search with filters like upload date or video duration to speed things up.

**I see an error about rate limiting.**

YouTube may temporarily block rapid requests. The actor handles retries automatically, but if you hit limits, try reducing concurrency or spreading runs over time.

### FAQ

| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Do I need a YouTube API key? | No. This scraper reads public YouTube pages directly, so you don't need any API key or Google Cloud project. |
| Can I scrape an entire channel? | Yes. Enter the channel's handle (e.g., @channelname) or a channel URL as a search query, and the actor will collect all videos from that channel up to your maxItems limit. |
| Does it get video transcripts? | Yes. When a video has captions available, the actor extracts the full transcript text and includes it in the output. |
| What is the maximum number of videos I can scrape? | You can set maxItems up to 1,000,000 per input. The actual number depends on your Apify plan and memory limits. |
| Can I filter by upload date? | Yes. You can filter search results by last hour, today, this week, this month, this year, or any time. |
| Does it scrape comments? | No. This actor focuses on video metadata, channel profiles, and transcripts. Comments are not included. |
| Can I scrape playlists? | Yes. Provide one or more playlist URLs and the actor will scrape every video in each playlist up to your maxItems limit. |
| What export formats are supported? | You can export the dataset as CSV, JSON, Excel, XML, or HTML directly from the Apify platform. |

### Related actors

Browse the full [ParseForge collection](https://apify.com/parseforge?fpr=vmoqkp) for more scrapers.

🆘 **Need help?** Email parseforge@protonmail.com with your run ID, your input, and what you expected.

⚠️ **Disclaimer.** This Actor is unofficial and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Google LLC. It collects only publicly available data. You are responsible for using the collected data in compliance with the source's terms of service and applicable data-protection laws, including GDPR, CCPA, and PIPL. Do not use it to collect personal data unlawfully.

# Actor input Schema

## `playlistUrls` (type: `array`):

YouTube playlist URLs (e.g., https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrAXtmErZgOeiKm4sgNOknc9TTnkwVnCH). Each playlist will be fully scraped up to maxItems.

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

Enter search terms, video URLs, or channel handles (@channelname). The actor auto-detects the type and enriches each video with full channel profile.

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

How many videos to collect per input.

## `sortBy` (type: `string`):

How to sort search results (applies to search queries only, not playlists)

## `uploadDate` (type: `string`):

Filter search results by upload date

## `videoDuration` (type: `string`):

Filter search results by video length

## `videoType` (type: `string`):

Filter search results by video type

## `features` (type: `array`):

Filter search results by video features (select multiple)

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "playlistUrls": [
    "https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrAXtmErZgOeiKm4sgNOknc9TTnkwVnCH"
  ],
  "searchQueries": [
    "python tutorial",
    "web scraping"
  ],
  "maxItems": 10,
  "sortBy": "relevance",
  "uploadDate": "any",
  "videoDuration": "any",
  "videoType": "video"
}
```

# Actor output Schema

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

Complete dataset with all scraped YouTube videos

## `overview` (type: `string`):

Overview view with key fields displayed in a table format

# 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 = {
    "playlistUrls": [
        "https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrAXtmErZgOeiKm4sgNOknc9TTnkwVnCH"
    ],
    "searchQueries": [
        "python tutorial",
        "web scraping"
    ],
    "maxItems": 10
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("parseforge/youtube-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 = {
    "playlistUrls": ["https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrAXtmErZgOeiKm4sgNOknc9TTnkwVnCH"],
    "searchQueries": [
        "python tutorial",
        "web scraping",
    ],
    "maxItems": 10,
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("parseforge/youtube-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 '{
  "playlistUrls": [
    "https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrAXtmErZgOeiKm4sgNOknc9TTnkwVnCH"
  ],
  "searchQueries": [
    "python tutorial",
    "web scraping"
  ],
  "maxItems": 10
}' |
apify call parseforge/youtube-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,parseforge/youtube-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/uS5SBVUT5JRjE5iQn/builds/NuYpQQ4OkJXA7GwrH/openapi.json