# Youtube Search Scraper (`kawsar/youtube-search-scraper`) Actor YouTube Search Scraper for Apify that extracts video data from YouTube search results without an API key. Collect video IDs, titles, channels, views, durations, thumbnails, and metadata for any keyword. Perfect for market research, competitor analysis, trend tracking, and content discovery. - **URL**: https://apify.com/kawsar/youtube-search-scraper.md - **Developed by:** [Kawsar](https://apify.com/kawsar) (community) - **Categories:** Social media - **Stats:** 9 total users, 2 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 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/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-event ## What's an Apify Actor? Actors are a software tools running on the Apify platform, for all kinds of web data extraction and automation use cases. 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. In JavaScript/TypeScript projects, use official [JavaScript/TypeScript client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js.md): ```bash npm install apify-client ``` In Python projects, use official [Python client library](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python.md): ```bash pip install apify-client ``` In shell scripts, use [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): ````bash # MacOS / Linux curl -fsSL https://apify.com/install-cli.sh | bash # Windows irm https://apify.com/install-cli.ps1 | iex ```bash In AI frameworks, you might use the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/mcp.md). If your project is in a different language, use 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 ## YouTube Search Scraper: Extract Video Data Without an API Key This YouTube search scraper lets you extract video data from any search query without needing an official YouTube API key or a Google account. It runs efficiently on 128MB of memory to keep costs low. ### Use cases - **Market research**: track emerging trends by seeing which videos rank for your industry keywords - **Competitor analysis**: monitor what your competitors are publishing and how many views they get - **Content strategy**: find popular topics and titles to inspire your next videos - **Influencer discovery**: find channels creating content in your niche ### Input | Parameter | Type | Default | Description | |-----------|------|---------|-------------| | `searchQuery` | string | `Apify Complete Tutorial For Beginners` | The keyword phrase you want to search for on YouTube. | | `maxResults` | integer | `100` | Maximum number of YouTube search results to extract. | | `proxyConfiguration` | object | Datacenter (Anywhere) | Proxy type and location to use for requests. Helps avoid IP blocks. Supports Datacenter, Residential, and Custom proxies. Optional. | #### Example input ```json { "searchQuery": "apify web scraping", "maxResults": 50, "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": true } } ```` ### Output The actor stores results in a dataset. Each entry contains: ```json { "kind": "youtube#searchResult", "videoId": "yMl16hkeQow", "videoUrl": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMl16hkeQow", "videoTitle": "Apify Complete Tutorial For Beginners", "channelId": "UC9mrd19dfBDZzY7M0w8GanA", "channelUrl": "https://www.youtube.com/@reviewcentral69", "channelTitle": "Review Central", "channelHandle": "@reviewcentral69", "timestamp": "1 year ago", "duration": 637, "views": 7234, "thumbnails": [ { "url": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/yMl16hkeQow/hq720.jpg", "width": 360, "height": 202 } ], "channelThumbnails": [ { "url": "https://yt3.ggpht.com/wHHKcxHTzgCiA79QVJUtrAq0pyZRaNoQQUpY90Js750XKYb1Z3obPQjKUsLsu33yQv6o5Rsj=s68-c-k-c0x00ffffff-no-rj", "width": 68, "height": 68 } ], "detailedMetadataSnippet": [], "chapters": [] } ``` | Field | Type | Description | |-------|------|-------------| | `videoId` | string | The unique identifier of the YouTube video | | `videoUrl` | string | The URL of the video | | `videoTitle` | string | The title of the video | | `channelId` | string | The ID of the channel | | `channelUrl` | string | The URL of the channel | | `channelTitle` | string | The name of the channel | | `channelHandle` | string | The handle of the channel | | `timestamp` | string | When the video was published | | `duration` | integer | Duration of the video in seconds | | `views` | integer | Number of views | ### FAQ **Do I need a YouTube API key to use this?** No. This scraper fetches data directly from the public YouTube search page. You don't need a Google account, API key, or OAuth setup. **How many results can I scrape at once?** You can usually get up to 500 to 700 results per search query. YouTube eventually stops loading more results on a single search page. **Can I run this on the lowest Apify plan?** Yes. The scraper is optimized to run on just 128MB of memory, which makes it extremely cost-effective. ### Integrations Connect YouTube Search Scraper with other apps and services using [Apify integrations](https://apify.com/integrations). You can integrate with Make, Zapier, Slack, Airbyte, GitHub, Google Sheets, Google Drive, and many more. You can also use [webhooks](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/webhooks) to trigger actions whenever results are available. # Actor input Schema ## `searchQuery` (type: `string`): The keyword phrase you want to search for on YouTube. ## `maxResults` (type: `integer`): Maximum number of YouTube search results to extract. ## `proxyConfiguration` (type: `object`): Select proxies to use for requests. Helps avoid IP blocking and rate limits. Datacenter proxies are fastest; Residential proxies are harder to detect. ## Actor input object example ```json { "searchQuery": "Apify Complete Tutorial For Beginners", "maxResults": 100, "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": true } } ``` # 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 '' with your token const client = new ApifyClient({ token: '', }); // Prepare Actor input const input = { "searchQuery": "Apify Complete Tutorial For Beginners", "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": true } }; // Run the Actor and wait for it to finish const run = await client.actor("kawsar/youtube-search-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 '' with your token. client = ApifyClient("") # Prepare the Actor input run_input = { "searchQuery": "Apify Complete Tutorial For Beginners", "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": True }, } # Run the Actor and wait for it to finish run = client.actor("kawsar/youtube-search-scraper").call(run_input=run_input) # Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any) print("💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/" + run["defaultDatasetId"]) for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items(): print(item) # 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start ``` ## CLI example ```bash echo '{ "searchQuery": "Apify Complete Tutorial For Beginners", "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": true } }' | apify call kawsar/youtube-search-scraper --silent --output-dataset ``` ## MCP server setup ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "command": "npx", "args": [ "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=kawsar/youtube-search-scraper", "--header", "Authorization: Bearer " ] } } } ``` ## OpenAPI specification ```json { "openapi": "3.0.1", "info": { "title": "Youtube Search Scraper", "description": "YouTube Search Scraper for Apify that extracts video data from YouTube search results without an API key. Collect video IDs, titles, channels, views, durations, thumbnails, and metadata for any keyword. Perfect for market research, competitor analysis, trend tracking, and content discovery.", "version": "0.0", "x-build-id": "wuGCmpve1OXvH5J4k" }, "servers": [ { "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2" } ], "paths": { "/acts/kawsar~youtube-search-scraper/run-sync-get-dataset-items": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-kawsar-youtube-search-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for its completion, and returns Actor's dataset items in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } }, "/acts/kawsar~youtube-search-scraper/runs": { "post": { "operationId": "runs-sync-kawsar-youtube-search-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK", "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema" } } } } } } }, "/acts/kawsar~youtube-search-scraper/run-sync": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-kawsar-youtube-search-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } } }, "components": { "schemas": { "inputSchema": { "type": "object", "required": [ "searchQuery" ], "properties": { "searchQuery": { "title": "Search Query", "type": "string", "description": "The keyword phrase you want to search for on YouTube." }, "maxResults": { "title": "Max Results", "type": "integer", "description": "Maximum number of YouTube search results to extract.", "default": 100 }, "proxyConfiguration": { "title": "Proxy configuration", "type": "object", "description": "Select proxies to use for requests. Helps avoid IP blocking and rate limits. Datacenter proxies are fastest; Residential proxies are harder to detect." } } }, "runsResponseSchema": { "type": "object", "properties": { "data": { "type": "object", "properties": { "id": { "type": "string" }, "actId": { "type": "string" }, "userId": { "type": "string" }, "startedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "finishedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "status": { "type": "string", "example": "READY" }, "meta": { "type": "object", "properties": { "origin": { "type": "string", "example": "API" }, "userAgent": { "type": "string" } } }, "stats": { "type": "object", "properties": { "inputBodyLen": { "type": "integer", "example": 2000 }, "rebootCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "restartCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "resurrectCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "computeUnits": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "options": { "type": "object", "properties": { "build": { "type": "string", "example": "latest" }, "timeoutSecs": { "type": "integer", "example": 300 }, "memoryMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 1024 }, "diskMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 2048 } } }, "buildId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultKeyValueStoreId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultDatasetId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultRequestQueueId": { "type": "string" }, "buildNumber": { "type": "string", "example": "1.0.0" }, "containerUrl": { "type": "string" }, "usage": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 1 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "usageTotalUsd": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "usageUsd": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } } } } } } } } } ```