The sheer volume of content available on YouTube is staggering, with over 500 hours of video uploaded every minute. For businesses, researchers, and content creators alike, navigating this sea of data can be a daunting task.
The YouTube Data API, while relatively powerful and extensive, has severe limitations. The API has a quota system that can limit the amount of data you can retrieve. As a result, high-volume users may find themselves running out of quota, particularly if they’re performing more complex operations.
It can also be somewhat complex for those not familiar with APIs and programming.
Another limitation of the YouTube Data API is that it only provides a snapshot of the current state of data.
This means that dynamic or historical data – such as how video views or channel subscribers have changed over time – cannot be retrieved directly through the API. Users are limited to the current data at the time of their request, reducing the ability to analyze trends or track changes over a specific period.
It is in such scenarios where third-party YouTube scraping tools come into play as they allow for more extensive data extraction without the restrictions of API quotas.
In this article, we will present the top YouTube information crawlers available in 2024 and discuss how they can supercharge your video analytics and marketing strategy. If you need even more insights from YouTube, we also wrote an article about the best YouTube Analytics tools.
Top 9 YouTube Channel Finders to Extract Data from Youtube
1. VidIQ: the best all-encompassing tool for YouTube creators
- Pricing: Basic free version available, Pro starts at $7.5/month
- Type of data: channel rankings per country or category, subscriber count evolution, views per hour, estimated earnings…
- Data output format: Charts, Excel files, CSV
- Type of platform: website and Chrome extension
VidIQ offers a suite of tools designed to enhance YouTube analytics and aid in video optimization.
The platform provides content trends, in-depth examinations of subscriber count evolution, average view counts, engagement rate, among other detailed metrics.
The vidIQ Competitors Tool also provides insights from other content creators who are active in your niche on YouTube.
It allows you to understand the types of content that are successful for them and the reasons behind it. This tool is great for identifying potential strategies that you could adopt or areas where your content could be enhanced.
2. Favoree: the best solution for bespoke and ready-use data and insights
- Pricing: Bespoke pricing and help, free quotation
- Type of data: channel lists (per country, language, category, topic…), channel email addresses, channel comparisons, list of similar channels, subscriber and view count evolution, trending topics on YouTube…
- Data output format: CSV, Charts, Excel files, JSON and more
- Type of platform: website
Favoree has mastered the art of using YouTube’s API with its platform that helps users find and review YouTube channels.
There are millions of channels on YouTube. Favoree can send you a list of YouTube channels with all the necessary metrics based on your needs (channel name, email address, country and language, creation date, category, subscriber count, video views, video count…).
YouTube also doesn’t share any historical data from competitors, Favoree helps you gather this information and improve your analytics power.
Just ask what you need here, they’ll get back to you within minutes!
3. Social Blade: the historical solution
- Pricing: Free plan for basic use and premium monthly subscription from $4 to $99
- Type of data: channel rankings per country and category, subscriber count evolution, real-time live sub counts, estimated earnings, future projections…
- Data output format: Charts, Excel files or JSON on REST API
- Type of platform: website and Chrome extension
SocialBlade is a veteran YouTube crawler that continues to maintain its appeal through its real-time YouTube statistics and channel comparisons. The platform offers deep dives into subscriber growth trends, average views, future projections, and much more.
It’s a great tool for keeping tabs on the competition and monitoring your own channel’s progress.
4. HypeAuditor: find relevant creators from YouTube and other platforms
- Pricing: Basic free version available, Pro version pricing depends on your needs
- Type of data: channel rankings per country or category, subscriber count, average views, comments and likes per video, price range for sponsorship, similar YouTubers…
- Data output format: Charts, Excel files, CSV
- Type of platform: website
HypeAuditor offers a robust influencer discovery tool that allows brands to find the perfect influencer match across a massive database of millions of profiles on YouTube but also other platforms like Instagram, LinkedIn, or TikTok.
HypeAuditor goes beyond generic searches. It helps brands and agencies track influencers who already engage with their products or identify niche influencers through keywords and hashtags. This feature is particularly beneficial for brands looking to tap into trending topics or specialized markets.
The platform also offers a unique ‘similar creator search’ feature.
5. Channel Crawler: great for extracting channel lists
- Pricing: Free plan for basic use and premium monthly subscription from $29 to $195
- Type of data: channel rankings per country, language and category, sub count and total view filters, Shorts data, subscribers growth rate, channel email addresses…
- Data output format: CSV or JSON, API access in beta for enterprises
- Type of platform: website
Channel Crawler is a particularly useful tool for those seeking out new YouTube channels based on specific criteria. Whether you’re looking for channels in a particular niche, with a certain number of subscribers, or from a specific country, Channel Crawler can handle the job.
Its precise filtering options make it an efficient tool for marketers looking to discover new content creators, partnership opportunities, or even competitor channels.
6. Channel Crawl: a good alternative to Channel Crawler
- Pricing: Free plan for basic use and premium monthly subscription from $15 to $75
- Type of data: channel rankings per country, category, topic, subscriber count, channel age and total view filters…
- Data output format: CSV
- Type of platform: website
Rather than focusing on analytics, it’s a channel finder designed to help you find lists of new creators. Enter a category, and Channel Crawl will present you with an array of channels you may never have found otherwise that you can sort by different metrics.
For individuals and businesses wanting to broaden their YouTube horizons, Channel Crawl offers a straightforward and user-friendly solution.
7. Playboard: find out what’s trending
- Pricing: Free plan for basic use and premium monthly subscription from $29 to $599
- Type of data: video and channel rankings per country, category, topic, subscriber count, channel age, views, likes, number of videos posted…
- Data output format: CSV
- Type of platform: website
Playboard is perfect for anyone wanting to track the performance of online creators, trends, and viral content. The homepage features a real-time trending videos and channels section, showcasing the most viewed and fastest growing ones across platforms. Alongside this, you can also see a list of the top creators, giving a glimpse into the most influential content makers in the digital world.
One of the most potent features of Playboard is its extensive category and ranking system in the “Charts” section. Visitors can view rankings based on the category, country or even see the overall global tops.
For those interested in specifics, the site also offers a detailed breakdown of individual creators. This includes data such as total views, subscribers or followers, the total number of videos or posts, the growth rate and even estimated earnings. The ‘Similar Channels’ feature is another handy tool that allows users to compare multiple channels, which is useful for competitive analysis and benchmarking.
8. YouTubers.me: simple and free
- Pricing: Free
- Type of data: video and channel rankings per country and category, limited to the top 1000 channels
- Data output format: on the website
- Type of platform: website
YouTubers.me is dedicated to providing in-depth statistics and analytics of YouTube channels for free. Each channel’s analysis provides a range of key metrics, including subscriber count, total views, average daily views, and estimated earnings. The website visually presents this data in easy-to-understand charts and graphs, making the analysis accessible even for those less familiar with data interpretation.
This platform also ranks channels across various categories, such as the most subscribed channels, the most viewed, the top earners, and more. This ranking system provides a quick overview of the top players in the YouTube world and helps identify trending content and successful strategies. The only limitation is that the website ranks only the first 1000 channels for each result.
In addition, YouTubers.me also gives users an estimate of how much any given channel could potentially earn. This feature is especially beneficial for marketers and businesses looking to invest in advertising or sponsorships on YouTube.
9. xByte YouTube Scraper: the power of web scraping
- Pricing: Not defined, you have to request a quote
- Type of data: channel email, channel data, likes, comments and captions…
- Data output format: CSV, Excel or JSON
- Type of platform: downloads on the website or data sent to your Dropbox account
xByte YouTube Scraper is a robust web scraping tool designed to extract valuable data from YouTube. What sets this platform apart is its ability to handle high-volume data extraction tasks without compromising speed or accuracy. The tool is built to work around common web scraping hurdles such as CAPTCHA and IP blocks, ensuring seamless and uninterrupted data retrieval.
xByte’s YouTube Scraper provides an API that allows users to integrate the data scraping tool into their own applications, further extending its functionality and ease of use. This tool also has no limitations on the number of requests you can send.
FAQs About YouTube Channel Crawlers
What is a YouTube Crawler?
A YouTube crawler, also known as a YouTube scraper, is an advanced software tool that uses algorithms to crawl and extract useful information from YouTube. It can pull data about video titles, descriptions, view counts, subscribers, likes, comments, and more.
Understanding and analyzing this data can yield actionable insights, helping you track trends, monitor competitors, or even refine your own content strategy.
Is it legal to scrape YouTube data?
The legality of web scraping, including YouTube data scraping, can be a bit of a gray area and often depends on a number of factors, including the jurisdiction you’re operating in, the nature of the data you’re scraping, and the terms of service of the website being scraped.
YouTube’s Terms of Service don’t allow scraping. That said, it’s important to note that the interpretation and enforcement of these terms can vary widely.
While most legal rulings have been in favor of web scraping as long as infrastructures or operations of these platforms are not damaged, others have upheld the website’s terms of service prohibiting it. It’s recommended to consider ethical considerations, such as respecting user privacy and not overloading the website’s servers.
Moreover, using APIs provided by the platform, like the YouTube Data API, is often a more acceptable and legal way of accessing data, although this comes with its own limitations such as data quotas and lack of historical data, as previously discussed.
Laws and terms of service can change. Always consult with a legal professional to get the most accurate and up-to-date advice.
What data can I get from YouTube API?
The YouTube Data API provides access to a vast amount of YouTube’s public data, which can be used for various purposes. Here are some of the main types of data you can retrieve using the API:
- Video Details: You can retrieve details about specific videos, such as the video’s title, description, duration, views count, likes count, comment count, and more.
- Channel Information: The API allows you to access details about YouTube channels. This includes the channel’s title, description, subscriber count, total views, and total videos uploaded. It also allows access to the list of videos uploaded by a particular channel.
- Playlist Details: You can access data about a playlist, including its title, description, and the videos it contains.
- Comments: You can fetch comments made on videos and their replies. This includes the text content of the comment, the author’s channel URL, likes count, and more.
- Search: The API provides a way to search for videos, channels, or playlists that match specific keywords.
- Captions: You can retrieve a list of caption tracks that are associated with a specified video.
- Video Categories: You can retrieve details about the categories that YouTube uses to categorize videos.
What Insights Can Be Gained from Crawling YouTube Channels?
Crawling YouTube channels can provide valuable statistics and data for a variety of purposes. Here are some key reasons why individuals, businesses, and organizations might want to crawl YouTube channels:
- Content Analysis: Crawling can provide information about what type of content is being produced, how often it is being posted, and how it is received by viewers (like/views ratio, views, comments). This can help content creators and marketers understand what works and what doesn’t in their niche.
- Competitor Analysis: Businesses can crawl the YouTube channels of their competitors to understand their content strategy, audience engagement, and growth trends. This can help businesses to strategize and stay competitive.
- Influencer Identification: Brands looking for influencers to partner with for promotions or sponsorships can use data from YouTube crawling to identify potential candidates based on their audience size, engagement rate, and content type.
- Trend Discovery: By analyzing the data from multiple YouTube channels, you can identify trending topics, popular content types, and emerging influencers. This can be particularly useful for marketers and advertisers.
- SEO Analysis: YouTube is the second largest search engine after Google. By crawling YouTube channels, SEO professionals can better understand the keywords and video optimization strategies that lead to higher visibility and ranking on YouTube.
- Data Science and Research: Researchers and data scientists can use YouTube data for a variety of studies related to media, culture, social behavior, communication, and more.
- Sentiment Analysis: By analyzing comments on videos, businesses can gauge viewer sentiment towards their brand, products, or services.
Conclusion
A YouTube crawler is a powerful tool that can provide critical insights for content creators, marketers, data scientists, and researchers alike.
In the constantly evolving digital landscape of 2024, tools like Channel Crawler, Playboard and SocialBlade lead the pack in offering comprehensive and actionable YouTube analytics. You can also use this other list of tools to discover new channels, especially to find similar ones.
But remember, the best YouTube finder for you depends on your specific needs and goals. So, take the time to explore each tool and identify which one offers the features that align best with your video analytics strategy.
