Best YouTube Channel Scrapers: Tested on 100 Channels (2026)

⚡ 30-Second Summary

1. Same 100 tech channels through every tool on paid plans, scored on 6 criteria for 4 jobs: channel data alone or with recent content, every video, influencer emails
2. lobstr.io ranks 1st: best overall and best for channel data (8.13/10). All 7 data types, and 100 channels in 1 min 20 s for $0.20. Pick it for channel data, with or without recent content. Trade-off: 30 items per type, public emails only
3. Apify's Fast YouTube Channel Scraper ranks 2nd: best for every video and Short (7.07/10). 100 videos + 100 Shorts per channel on the 4 channels I pushed to 100. Pick it for back catalogues. Trade-off: $6.47 per 100 channels, no emails
4. Apify's Youtube Channel Email Scraper ranks 3rd: best for influencer emails (6.76/10). 80 emails on 100 channels. Pick it for outreach. Trade-off: $0.12 per email, cached stats
5. Phantombuster ranks 4th and isn't the best pick for any job (4.75/10). Stats on 99 of 100 channels. Pick it for none of these jobs. Trade-off: 8x slower than lobstr.io, hourly billing, no content
6. Didn't make the cut: Outscraper. Reasons at the end

This was a difficult one for me 😂.

Too many garbage tools, each solving a different slice of the job... at one point I felt like I was comparing apples to oranges.

But guess what... I managed to do it. This list solves 3 use cases:

1. Channel data: description, links, subscribers, views, video count
2. Content: every video, Short, stream and playlist
3. Influencer emails, for outreach

Each one sounds easy until you try it.

YouTube's official API leaves out emails and links, and runs on a daily quota.

2 out of 4 ranked tools return no videos at all; even the winner stops at the latest 30 per type, and one I cut returned every count empty.

No wonder Reddit keeps asking for every video on a channel.

Do that for a list and you hit a wall.

This is the other half... which tool you should actually use.

Most "best YouTube channel scraper" lists are recycled marketing. Nobody runs the same job through every tool and counts what comes back.

So I did: same 100 channels, every tool, same day, paid plans. 🧪

Just tell me which one

Channel data comes in 2 sizes, alone or with the latest posts, so those 3 use cases make 4 jobs.

Everything I measured:

Is it legal to scrape YouTube channels?

YouTube says no. US courts have been kinder to public, logged-off data.

That's a contract, not a criminal statute.

A later ruling in the same case found LinkedIn's User Agreement "unambiguously prohibits hiQ's scraping".

The bigger risk is what you do next.

1. ✅ Scrape public channel pages while logged off
2. ✅ Tell EU creators you collected their data by your first email (GDPR Art. 14)
3. ❌ Don't email without an opt-out and a physical address, or ignore opt-outs past 10 business days

Does YouTube have an official API for channel data?

Yes, the YouTube Data API v3.

It returns a channel's description, country and counts, with subscribers "rounded down to three significant figures".

But there's no email field and no links field, though creators can add up to 14 links. And search by channel stops at 500 videos.

So for emails and links, you need a scraper.

How I chose the best YouTube channel scrapers

I started where the complaints live (Reddit, review sites, each tool's docs), tried various tools, and ranked 4, plus 1 I cut.

The test. 100 well-known tech channels went to every tool, 1 run each, on paid plans I bought.

The weights. Each criterion scores 0 to 10, and its weight (in brackets) sets how much it counts, from what you buy on to what you hit later:

1. Data (2.2): fill rates and cross-tool agreement per type. Data is 70% quality (the average of the types returned) and 30% coverage (the types returned, scaled to 10)
2. Cost (2.2): the 100-channel job at entry and scale, plus the 100K anchor job
3. Usability (1.8): inputs, steps, controls, exports, integrations
4. Speed (1.8): wall-clock time per 100 channels
5. Scalability (1.0): the 100K job, caps, maintenance
6. Support (1.0): published response stats and reviews, actor-scoped for Apify, since no identical ticket was sent

The bands. 9.0+ is best-in-class, 7.5-8.9 strong, 6.0-7.4 usable with caveats, and under 6.0 not recommended at scale.

The setups I scored:

1. lobstr.io with every toggle on (channel-only would earn 9.5 on Cost and 9.0 on Speed, but return no content)
2. Apify's channel actor at 30 per type, plus its depth run
3. Apify's email actor with Force Fresh off
4. Phantombuster at its default

The math, with lobstr.io as the example:

1. Data and Cost, x 2.2: (7.95 + 9.0) x 2.2 = 37.29
2. Usability and Speed, x 1.8: (8.0 + 7.0) x 1.8 = 27.00
3. Scalability and Support, x 1.0: 9.0 + 8.0 = 17.00
4. Overall: (37.29 + 27.00 + 17.00) / 10 = 8.13

❌ means not returned.

lobstr.io wins 4 pillars and ties Support: the most data for the least money.

The 8.13 hides 2 losses: past 30 per type to Apify's channel actor (8.5 vs 7.0), and emails behind YouTube's button to Apify's email actor (9.0 vs 5.0), which also wins Speed.

What I left out and why: chained add-on scrapers (comments, transcripts), since each tool is scored alone.

On Apify, I ran the channel actor Apify maintains, plus an email actor, since the channel actor doesn't extract emails.

The best YouTube channel scrapers, ranked

1. lobstr.io YouTube Channel Scraper

1. User rating: 5.0/5 from 34 reviews on Capterra
2. Type: No-code cloud scraper + API + MCP
3. Pricing: Free plan (100 credits a month), then $0.20 to $0.05 per 100 channels
4. Strongest at: all 7 data types in one run, at the lowest price per channel
5. Raw data: public test Sheet

Data

lobstr.io returns all 100 channels, with core fields 97-100% filled.

Its subscribers, views and video counts are identical to Apify's channel actor and Phantombuster wherever all 3 have one.

On content, lobstr.io matched Apify's channel actor on the same 2,957 videos.

lobstr.io is also the only tool that returns playlists (2,132) and comments (25,192 incl. replies, 20 each on up to 5 videos per channel).

Where YouTube hides a view count, lobstr.io leaves it empty instead of inventing one.

lobstr.io's catch: content stops at the latest 30 per type per run, with no way to go deeper.

Verdict. lobstr.io returns the widest data here, capped at 30 per type and public emails (7.95/10).

Usability

lobstr.io launches in 1 paste + 5 clicks, from any channel URL format or a file upload.

Verdict. lobstr.io launches in 6 actions, with MCP and 5 delivery targets to get data out (8.0/10).

Speed

lobstr.io's channel data takes under 90 seconds: 100 channels in 1 min 20 s on 1 Slot.

With everything on, lobstr.io took 18 min 27 s, vs 18 min 48 s for Apify's channel actor with less data.

Verdict. lobstr.io has the fastest channel-data run of the ranked tools, scored on the slower everything-on run (7.0/10).

Cost

A toggle that finds nothing costs 0, like streams on the 36 channels with no Live tab.

From Starter ($20 for 10K) to Team ($500 for 1M), 100 channels cost $0.20 to $0.05, or $2.83 to $0.71 with everything on.

Verdict. lobstr.io is the cheapest per channel, and empty tabs are free (9.0/10).

Scalability

On the 1 Slot I tested, lobstr.io needs 22.2 h for 100K channels ($200 to $50), or 12.8 days ($2,828 to $707) with everything on.

At 20 Slots, that's about 1.1 h or 15.4 h (computed, linear, not tested).

lobstr.io's failed runs pause and resume once fixed, and results stay 28 days on paid plans.

Verdict. lobstr.io shrinks big jobs as you add Slots (9.0/10).

Support

lobstr.io's support runs on live chat and email, and the reviews back it up.

Verdict. lobstr.io ties Apify's email actor for the best support score (8.0/10).

Pair it with other lobstr.io scrapers (other platforms sell companions too):

1. YouTube Comments for more than 20 comments on 5 videos
2. YouTube Transcript
3. YouTube Search to find channels
4. Contact Details for their websites

Best for: anyone who needs channel data, alone or with recent posts and public emails, in one cheap run.

Past 30 per type or behind the login wall, look elsewhere.

2. Apify Fast YouTube Channel Scraper

1. User rating: 4.63/5 from 40 reviews on the Apify Store
2. Type: Apify actor, "Maintained by Apify"
3. Pricing: $1.00 to $0.50 per 1,000 videos (Starter to Business)
4. Strongest at: a channel's full back catalogue
5. Raw data: test Sheet

Data

For a whole back catalogue, Apify's channel actor is the one.

On the 4 channels I pushed to 100 per type, Apify's channel actor returned 100 videos and 100 Shorts each, and its limits go up to 999,999 per type.

For playlists, lobstr.io's latest 30 is the only option here.

Apify's catch is views: 236 are wrong. It shows 0 views on 88 collab videos and, where YouTube hides the count, takes the number from the date text.

Verdict. Apify's channel actor has the deepest video lists, no emails, and views to double-check (7.58/10).

Usability

Apify's 543 integrations include Apify MCP, Make, n8n and Zapier, plus 7 export formats.

Verdict. Apify's channel actor has excellent plumbing around a form with traps (7.5/10).

Speed

Apify's channel actor took 18 min 48 s for 100 channels at 30 per type, on the default 1,024 MB.

Verdict. Apify's channel actor sits mid-pack on speed (6.5/10).

Cost

Apify's channel actor prices each video fairly, but my run billed $6.471 for 6,471 items, 50 of them "no content" notes.

Per 100 channels, Apify's actor costs $6.47 to $3.24, 2.3x lobstr.io's everything-on price.

Verdict. Apify's channel actor is fair per video, pricey per channel, and bills for "nothing here" (6.5/10).

Scalability

Apify's channel actor is "Maintained by Apify", with 99.7% of runs succeeding.

At 30 per type, 100K channels take Apify's actor 13.1 days and $6,471 to $3,236 (computed), past the default 7-day timeout.

Verdict. Apify's channel actor is reliable, but big jobs get long and costly (7.5/10).

Support

Apify's channel actor lists a 2.6-day response time on its own Issues tab, and Apify adds chat support from its Starter plan.

Verdict. Apify's channel actor answers, but after days (7.0/10).

Best for: researchers and archivists who need every video, Short and stream, and can pay more per channel.

Emails need a second tool.

3. Apify Youtube Channel Email Scraper

1. User rating: 4.40/5 from 30 reviews on the Apify Store
2. Type: Apify actor, "Maintained by Community"
3. Pricing: $0.12 per email found ($0.40 with Force Fresh)
4. Strongest at: the emails behind YouTube's login wall
5. Raw data: test Sheet

Data

Beyond emails, Apify's actor is thin: no description or links.

The email actor's total views sat below the live figure on 79 of 80 channels (Hardware Haven: 69.4M vs 69.9M), which fits its readme's "We cache every email we extract".

Verdict. Apify's email actor is unbeatable on emails, weak on everything else (5.41/10).

Usability

Apify's email actor has the simplest setup of the ranked tools: 2 clicks + a paste.

Its exports, integrations and MCP are the same as the channel actor's, on the same Apify platform.

Verdict. Apify's email actor is the quickest launch, if you check the log (7.5/10).

Speed

Apify's email actor took 3 min 15 s for 100 channels on the default 128 MB.

The email actor returned 79 emails almost at once: the cache at work, since my run left Force Fresh off.

Verdict. Apify's email actor had the fastest scored run, cache-assisted (8.0/10).

Cost

Apify's email actor charges $0.12 per email found on every plan, nothing otherwise; Force Fresh adds $0.28.

My email actor run cost $9.60, or $32.00 with Force Fresh.

Verdict. Apify's email actor is the priciest per channel, but you only pay for emails you get (6.5/10).

Scalability

Apify's email actor is community-maintained and takes up to 1,000 channels per run, so 100K channels means 100 runs: 2.3 days and $9,600 at the same 80% hit rate (computed).

In the last 30 days, 6% of the email actor's runs timed out.

Verdict. Apify's email actor is fine for campaigns, fiddly at volume (5.5/10).

Support

Apify's email actor lists a 0.51-hour response time on its Issues tab, the fastest published figure in the test.

Verdict. Apify's email actor answers within the hour, tied with lobstr.io for best (8.0/10).

Best for: influencer and sponsorship teams who need the email behind YouTube's button, paid per email found.

4. Phantombuster YouTube Channel Scraper

1. User rating: 4.4/5 from 138 reviews on G2
2. Type: No-code cloud automation (a "Phantom")
3. Pricing: execution hours, $69/month for 20 h (Start) to $439 for 300 h (Scale)
4. Strongest at: scheduling and chaining
5. Raw data: test Sheet

Data

Phantombuster returned stats on 99 of 100 channels (SnazzyLabs: "Couldn't access About page").

Phantombuster's shape is the problem: 1 column per link made 248 columns for 100 channels.

Verdict. Phantombuster gets the numbers right, in a wide table you'll have to clean (4.71/10).

Usability

Phantombuster's input is 1 field (a Google Sheet, a public CSV URL or 1 channel URL), with no upload or paste box.

Verdict. Phantombuster is great at automation, clumsy at input and output (5.5/10).

Speed

Phantombuster took 10 min 50 s for 100 channels on the default launch, 8x lobstr.io's 1 min 20 s.

Verdict. Phantombuster had the slowest channel-data run of the ranked tools (4.0/10).

Cost

Phantombuster bills execution time ($3.45/h on Start, $1.46/h on Scale), and the console shows only the hours left, never a cost per run.

Based on this run, Phantombuster costs $0.62 to $0.26 per 100 channels plus the plan, so you also pay for its delays.

Verdict. Phantombuster looks cheap until you add the plan and the clock (5.0/10).

Scalability

Phantombuster's execution hours cap the month (computed): about 11,077 channels on Start, 44,308 on Grow, 166,154 on Scale.

For 100K channels, Phantombuster needs 180.6 hours and $623 to $264, more than Start or Grow allow.

Verdict. Phantombuster has the lowest ceiling in the test (3.5/10).

Support

Phantombuster has an in-app support widget and publishes no response times.

One Trustpilot review of Phantombuster is blunter: "takes days to respond".

Verdict. Phantombuster has the lowest support score here, with no numbers and a slow-response review (5.5/10).

Best for: none of the 4 jobs in this test.

For channel data, lobstr.io is faster and cheaper ($0.20 vs $0.62 per 100 channels); for emails, Apify's email actor finds more.

The scrapers that didn't make the list

This one isn't a bad tool. It lost on the core that matters here: the channel numbers.

Outscraper

Why it didn't make the list. Outscraper returned names, descriptions and IDs, but every channel number was empty on all 3 lists I ran.

The fastest run on the page (56 s for $0.50) came back empty, and a low price doesn't fix that.

Who it's right for: anyone who only needs channel names, descriptions and IDs, fast and cheaply, from a one-box form.

FAQ

What's the cheapest YouTube channel scraper?

Phantombuster costs $0.62 to $0.26 in execution time, plus a plan.

What's the best tool for YouTube influencer emails?

Apify's Youtube Channel Email Scraper, with 80 emails on 100 channels, vs 19 for lobstr.io and 17 for Phantombuster, at $0.12 per email found.

Is it legal to scrape YouTube channel data?

Generally yes for public, logged-off data, per hiQ v. LinkedIn and Meta v. Bright Data, though YouTube's Terms forbid it and emails fall under the GDPR.

Can I run these scrapers from Claude or ChatGPT?

Yes, via MCP on both lobstr.io and Apify.

Is there a free YouTube channel scraper?

Apify's email actor gives 10 lifetime emails free, and Phantombuster a 2-hour trial.

Can I verify these numbers?

Final thoughts

That's a wrap on the best YouTube channel scrapers:

1. lobstr.io owns channel data, alone or with recent content, from $0.20 per 100 channels (try the YouTube Channel Scraper)
2. Apify's channel actor owns depth: every video and Short
3. Apify's email actor owns influencer emails: 80 of 100
4. Phantombuster wins none of the 4 jobs

I'll keep this list current as these tools ship updates.