YouTube: scrapers and the official API, compared

Route map

Each line is one way to get YouTube data; each stop is a field you probably need. Green lines are catalogue Actors, ranked by the published formula.

Which route for which job

The catalogue Actors for YouTube return different records. "Only this route" lists the published fields no other Actor in this table returns, which is usually what decides the choice. Cost is the published per-result rate; start events and platform usage are extra.

Field matrix: who returns what

Every tool with a published output schema, against the 8 fields most YouTube jobs need. A dot means the field name appears in the schema; rows can still leave it empty.

Field dictionary: the exact keys

The same core field has a different key in each Actor's output. Map these before you merge datasets; a dash means the published schema has no matching key. Need a field that is not listed here, such as email? Search every YouTube Actor by field.

Download this comparison: CSV · JSON (every tool with a published schema, matching keys per core field, price and score).

All 25 tools, scored

Catalogue Actors link to their detail pages; the score (0 to 100) is the published formula, identical for every tool. Other Store tools follow in their own table, for reference. Price is the published primary-result rate per 1,000 (the Free-plan rate where the price is tiered; higher Apify plans pay less); start events and platform usage are excluded.

Other Store tools, for reference

Scored with the same published formula and listed for comparison only; this site does not link or recommend them.

What to check before you choose

Teams use YouTube data to build channel catalogs, monitor uploads, research search results and make spoken content searchable. Metadata collection and transcript extraction serve different parts of those workflows.

Choose the Data API for supported public metadata within its quota, channel tools for upload catalogs, and transcript tools when text is essential. Playlist and search tools add ordering and discovery context that a video detail record may not provide.

Checklist

• Check transcript provenance using transcript_source, is_auto_generated and was_translated where available. Caption extraction, generated transcription and translation need different review.
• Map identifiers and timestamps before joining datasets: video_id and videoId differ, as do publishedAt, publishDate and publishedTimeText.
• Match the source to the workflow. Channel feeds support upload monitoring, playlist records preserve position, and search results include type to distinguish returned entities.

Where the data is incomplete

The detailed records omit the leading ranked transcript tool. The listed caption extractor publishes success, transcript_available, accessStatus and errorCode.

Several tools list chapters, captions or transcripts among their supported entities without showing corresponding text fields in the published field lists. Inspect the output structure before treating an entity label as evidence that usable text will be returned.

Official API route

Terms and personal data

Use the API and public pages within YouTube's terms. Treat transcript extraction as separate from official public API access. This is general information, not legal advice.

Read YouTube's terms. Keep to public data, do not bypass logins or access controls, and check whether personal data is involved before you collect it. The can-I-scrape checklist walks through it.

How to start

1. Open the recommended YouTube tool and follow its accepted input format for a small selection of public videos.
2. Start the collection and inspect whether each result contains usable transcript text or an availability result.
3. Save the dataset with available video identifiers, language and source information, then review missing text before adding more videos.

Call YouTube Search Results & Entity Type Scraper from code

The example input uses the Actor's published defaults; set your own YouTube query before you run it. You need an Apify API token.

from apify_client import ApifyClient

client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN>")
run_input = {
    "searchQueries": [
        "apify"
    ],
    "maxResults": 3,
    "scrapeAllResults": False,
    "sortBy": "relevance",
    "type": "video",
    "features": [],
    "market": "US",
    "language": "auto",
    "includeVideoDetails": False
}

run = client.actor("vexaloom-labs/youtube-search-results-and-entity-type-scraper").call(run_input=run_input)
if run is None:
    raise RuntimeError("The Actor run was not found.")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

import { ApifyClient } from "apify-client";

const client = new ApifyClient({ token: "<YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN>" });
const input = {
    "searchQueries": [
        "apify"
    ],
    "maxResults": 3,
    "scrapeAllResults": false,
    "sortBy": "relevance",
    "type": "video",
    "features": [],
    "market": "US",
    "language": "auto",
    "includeVideoDetails": false
};

const run = await client.actor("vexaloom-labs/youtube-search-results-and-entity-type-scraper").call(input);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
console.log(items);

curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/vexaloom-labs~youtube-search-results-and-entity-type-scraper/run-sync-get-dataset-items"   -H "Authorization: Bearer $APIFY_TOKEN"   -H "Content-Type: application/json"   -d '{"searchQueries":["apify"],"maxResults":3,"scrapeAllResults":false,"sortBy":"relevance","type":"video","features":[],"market":"US","language":"auto","includeVideoDetails":false}'

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "apify": {
      "url": "https://mcp.apify.com?tools=vexaloom-labs/youtube-search-results-and-entity-type-scraper",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer <YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN>"
      }
    }
  }
}

Questions people ask

More on YouTube

• Ranked listBest YouTube scrapers on Apify: Actors ranked by fields and price
• Error fixYouTube transcript RequestBlocked: routes that work
• Topic groupSocial media data: every website compared
• ToolWhich YouTube route fits your job?
• ToolYouTube cost by Apify plan, rows and runs

Related websites

• TikTok17 Actors
• Instagram4 Actors
• Google Search4 Actors

Sources

• YouTube Search Results & Entity Type Scraper on Apify Store
• YouTube Shorts Metadata Extractor for Channels & Hashtags on Apify Store
• YouTube Channel Video Catalog & Profile Scraper on Apify Store
• YouTube Caption & Whisper AI Transcript Extractor on Apify Store
• YouTube Hashtag Video & Shorts Ranking Scraper on Apify Store
• YouTube Trending Feed Extractor by Category & Market on Apify Store
• YouTube Data API v3 documentation
• YouTube Data API v3 pricing
• YouTube terms