YouTube Channel & Comment Scraper – Videos, Comments, Transcripts Extract videos, comments & transcripts from any YouTube channel in minutes — no code. Scrape YouTube channel videos, comments, and transcripts with clean, structured output. Perfect for marketers, SEO analysts, and brand-intelligence teams who need YouTube data fast. Plug directly into Google Sheets, Zapier, Make, n8n, dashboards, or AI tools. --- ## 🚀 Getting Started (3 Steps) 1. Provide channel URL → Enter any YouTube channel URL (e.g., https://www.youtube.com/@Nike) 2. Set max videos/comments → Choose how many videos and comments to extract 3. Run & export → Get clean JSON/CSV data ready for Google Sheets, Zapier, Make, or dashboards Quick example: json { "channel": "https://www.youtube.com/@Nike", "max_videos": 50, "video_details": true, "comments_max": 100 } See detailed configuration examples below. --- ## ⭐ Why Choose This Scraper? Key differentiators vs. cheaper alternatives: - ✅ Transcripts included by default — no extra setup, no additional cost - ✅ Anti-block proxy built-in — handles large channels reliably without getting blocked - ✅ 100+ comments per video — extract unlimited comments with smart scrolling - ✅ Clean, normalized data — ready for Google Sheets, Zapier, Make, dashboards (no cleanup needed) - ✅ Comment filtering by user — find specific authors or brand mentions instantly Bottom line: Get production-ready data in minutes, not hours of manual cleanup. --- ## 📊 How We Compare: Business-Ready vs. Budget Scrapers | Feature | Budget Scrapers | This Scraper (Business-Ready) | |---------|----------------|------------------------------| | Transcripts | ❌ Not included | ✅ Included by default — no extra cost | | Comment Filtering | ❌ All or nothing | ✅ Filter by user/author — find brand mentions instantly | | Data Quality | ❌ Raw strings ("12K" stays "12K") | ✅ Normalized (12K → 12000, ISO dates) | | Proxy/Anti-block | ⚠️ May break on large channels | ✅ Built-in — handles large channels reliably | | Comments per Video | ⚠️ Limited | ✅ 100+ comments — unlimited with smart scrolling | | Automation Ready | ❌ Manual export | ✅ Zapier, Make, n8n — ready to integrate | | Export Formats | ⚠️ JSON only | ✅ JSON, CSV — Google Sheets ready | | Time Investment | ⏰ 2-3 hours cleanup per 1,000 videos | ✅ Zero — ready-to-use data | | Best For | Quick one-offs, basic extraction | ✅ Business intelligence, automation, reporting | ### 💰 Value Comparison Budget Scrapers: - Low upfront cost (~$0.50 per 1,000 videos) - Hidden cost: 2-3 hours manual cleanup per 1,000 videos - Missing critical features (transcripts, comment filtering) - May break on large channels This Scraper: - Usage-based pricing - Zero time investment — production-ready data - All features included (transcripts, filtering, normalization) - Built-in reliability for large channels ROI: If your time is worth more than $25/hour, this scraper pays for itself immediately. --- ## 👥 Who It's For Marketers, SEO analysts, and brand-intelligence teams who need clean YouTube data fast — without the technical headaches. Stop wrestling with broken scrapers or spending hours on manual data collection. Get structured, ready-to-use data that integrates seamlessly with your existing tools. --- ## ⚡ Key Highlights - Full video info → title, URL, views, duration, hashtags, description, links - Comments extraction → filter by author, extract user IDs, unlimited comments - Transcripts included → enabled by default, no extra configuration - Built-in proxy/anti-block → handles large channels reliably - Automation ready → works with Zapier, Make, n8n, Google Sheets, dashboards --- ## 🎯 Use Cases ### SEO Research Analyze titles, descriptions, hashtags, and engagement metrics to optimize content strategy. ### Brand Monitoring Detect brand mentions in comments, track reputation, and identify issues early. ### Content Strategy Identify top-performing videos and trending formats for data-driven decisions. ### Competitor Analysis Monitor competitor video strategy and performance metrics. --- ## 🔄 Automation Workflows ### Zapier Example 1. Trigger: New video published on YouTube channel 2. Action: Run this scraper to extract video data + comments 3. Action: Send data to Google Sheets for analysis 4. Action: Send alerts to Slack if brand mentions detected ### Make (Integromat) Example 1. Trigger: Scheduled run (daily/weekly) 2. Action: Scrape channel videos, comments, and transcripts 3. Action: Transform data and push to Airtable 4. Action: Generate report and email to team Ready to automate? Export data as JSON/CSV and connect via Zapier, Make, or n8n webhooks. --- ## 🚀 Quick Start Required: Provide either channel, search_query, or both. Transcripts extracted by default with video_details: true. ### Channel Only json { "channel": "https://www.youtube.com/@Nike", "max_videos": 50, "video_details": true } ### Search Only (Global) json { "search_query": "apple watch review", "max_videos": 50, "video_details": true, "comments_max": 100 } ### Channel + Search json { "channel": "https://www.youtube.com/@Nike", "search_query": "air max", "max_videos": 50, "video_details": true } ### SEO Research Example (with Transcripts) json { "channel": "https://www.youtube.com/@Nike", "search_query": "air max", "max_videos": 50, "video_details": true, "comments_max": 50, "extract_transcript": true } ### Brand Monitoring Example json { "channel": "https://www.youtube.com/@Nike", "max_videos": 100, "video_details": true, "comments_max": 200, "comments_user_search": "nike_fan" } --- ## 📥 Input Parameters | Parameter | Type | Default | Description | |-----------|------|---------|-------------| | channel | string | - | Optional. YouTube channel URL. Omit for global search with search_query. | | search_query | string | "" | Optional. Search term (global or within channel). | | max_videos | integer | 30 | Maximum number of videos to scrape | | video_details | boolean | false | Extract full video descriptions, comments, and transcripts | | comments_max | integer | 100 | Maximum comments to extract per video | | comments_user_search | string | "" | Filter comments by author name | | extract_transcript | boolean | true | Enabled by default. Extract video transcript (if available) | | timeout | integer | 900 | Timeout in seconds (900s = 15min recommended for 10-20 videos with comments) | | useApifyProxy | boolean | true | Enabled by default. Use Apify Proxy for reliable scraping. Recommended for large channels to avoid rate limits and blocks. Built-in anti-block protection. | | proxyConfiguration | object | {} | Configure proxy settings: no proxy, Apify Proxy (recommended), or custom proxy URLs. Apify Proxy includes automatic IP rotation. | Requirements: At least one of channel or search_query must be provided. Transcripts enabled by default. ### 🔒 Proxy Configuration Why Use Proxies? - Avoid rate limits — YouTube may block requests from the same IP - Handle large channels — Enterprise-scale scraping requires IP rotation - Reliability — Built-in anti-block protection ensures consistent results Recommended Settings: - For most users: Keep useApifyProxy: true (default) - For large channels (100+ videos): Use Apify Proxy with default settings - For enterprise use: Configure custom proxy groups in proxyConfiguration Example Configuration: json { "channel": "https://www.youtube.com/@Nike", "max_videos": 100, "video_details": true, "useApifyProxy": true, "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": true, "apifyProxyGroups": [] } } Note: Apify Proxy is included with your Apify account. No additional setup required when using default settings. --- ## ⚡ Performance Guide ### Processing Time - Without video_details: ~1-2 seconds per video (100 videos = 3-5 minutes) - With video_details: ~30-60 seconds per video (10 videos = 5-10 minutes) ### Configuration Examples Quick Overview (100 videos, no comments): timeout: 300 Brand Monitoring (20 videos with comments): timeout: 900 Deep Analysis (10 videos, 200 comments each): timeout: 1800 Pro Tip: Use video_details: false first to get all video URLs quickly, then scrape specific videos with video_details: true for detailed analysis. --- ## 📤 Output Format Visual examples: - Dataset JSON output — structured data ready for analysis - Google Sheets — export CSV and import directly (columns: title, views, comments, transcript, etc.) - Dashboards — connect JSON output to Tableau, Power BI, or custom dashboards See sample output below: ### Video Object Structure json { "id": "dQw4w9WgXcQ", "title": "Nike Air Max 2024 - Official Release", "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ", "thumbnail": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/dQw4w9WgXcQ/hqdefault.jpg", "views": 1234567, "published": "2 days ago", "published_date": "2024-05-09", "duration": "10:30", "type": "video", "description": "Check out the new Nike Air Max...", "descriptionLinks": [ { "text": "Shop Now", "url": "https://nike.com/airmax" } ], "transcript": "Hey everyone, welcome back...", "likes": 12000, "commentCount": 523, "subscriberCount": 2500000, "channelInfo": { "name": "Nike", "url": "https://www.youtube.com/@Nike" }, "videoCount": 1234, "isMonetized": true, "comments": [ { "author": "nike_fan", "text": "Amazing product!", "likes": "123", "time": "2 days ago", "time_date": "2024-05-09" } ] } ### Output Features - Normalized views: 1.2M → 1200000 - ISO dates: All dates converted to YYYY-MM-DD - Video types: Automatically detected (video, short, live) - Structured comments: Author, text, likes, timestamps --- ## 🛡️ Brand Safety & Comment Filtering Use comments_user_search to monitor specific users or keywords: - Track engagement: Find all comments from specific users - Detect brand mentions: Monitor your brand or competitor names - Identify risks: Find problematic content for moderation - AI analysis: Export data for sentiment analysis with ChatGPT/Claude ### Example: Brand Monitoring json { "channel": "https://www.youtube.com/@YourBrand", "video_details": true, "comments_max": 500, "comments_user_search": "competitor_name" } --- ## 🔧 Technical Details ### Performance Optimizations - Resource blocking (images, stylesheets, fonts) → 3x faster - Smart scrolling with efficient wait mechanisms - Incremental dataset pushes - Configurable timeouts & retry logic ### Data Processing - Automatic mobile URL conversion - View count parsing (K, M, B formats) - Relative → absolute date conversion - Comment pagination via YouTube's API ### Proxy Support - Full Apify Proxy integration — enabled by default (useApifyProxy: true) - Custom proxy configuration — configure via proxyConfiguration parameter - Automatic IP rotation — avoids rate limits and blocks - Enterprise-ready — handles large channels reliably See Proxy Configuration section above for detailed setup. --- ## 💡 Pro Tips 1. Start small: Test with max_videos: 10 first 2. Use proxies: Enable Apify Proxy for reliable scraping 3. Filter strategically: Use search_query for relevant videos 4. Monitor incrementally: Run regular scrapes to track changes 5. Combine with AI: Export & analyze with ChatGPT/Claude --- ## 🔧 Technical Features - Comprehensive video data → title, URL, views, duration, thumbnail, video type, publish date, likes, subscribers, channel info - Advanced comment extraction → auto-scroll to extract 100+ comments + filter by author - Description links → extract all links with text & URLs - Monetization detection → detect if video has ads (isMonetized) - Global & channel search → search YouTube globally or within channels - Normalized metrics → all counts as integers (12K → 12000) - Optimized performance → resource blocking, incremental pushes, smart scrolling - SEO-friendly output → structured JSON with normalized data - Scalable & reliable → works on large channels with retry & proxy support --- ## ⚠️ Responsible Usage This scraper is designed for legitimate business purposes: - Market research & competitive analysis - Brand reputation monitoring - Content strategy optimization - Academic research Please respect YouTube's Terms of Service: - Do not use for spam or harassment - Respect privacy regulations (GDPR, CCPA) - Use proxies to avoid overwhelming servers - Implement rate limiting for large operations This tool is provided for research and business intelligence. Users are responsible for ensuring compliance with all applicable laws and platform policies. --- ## 📈 Get Started Today Deploy this scraper to Apify and start extracting actionable insights from YouTube data in minutes. Perfect for: - Marketers tracking campaign performance and competitor content - SEO analysts researching keywords, titles, and engagement patterns - Content strategists identifying top-performing formats and topics - Brand intelligence teams monitoring mentions and reputation Ready to scrape? Use the Quick Start examples above to configure your first run. Export to Google Sheets, connect via Zapier/Make/n8n, or feed directly into your dashboards and AI tools. --- ## 🤝 Need Help? - Report issues through the Apify Console - Contact support via Apify's help channels - Check out our comprehensive documentation Your feedback helps improve this scraper for everyone! --- Start scraping YouTube today — get clean, structured data that works with your tools.