API

How I Built a One-Person API Business That Extracts Structured Data from Every Social Platform

@adrian_horning_
4 mins read
social media extraction process

From YouTube transcripts to competitor ads—here's how one tool simplifies social media data extraction

The internet is drowning in public data, but accessing it in a structured, usable format? That's where things get complicated.

Browser automation breaks constantly. Rate limits kill your scripts. APIs change without warning. And don't even get me started on parsing HTML that shifts every few weeks.

So I built something different: Scrape Creators is a tool that gives you instant access to structured public data from every major social media platform.

Yes, the name might sound intimidating, but here's the thing: it's all public data that anyone can access. I just made it fast, reliable, and structured.

What Scrape Creators Actually Does

Think of it as a universal translator for social media data. Instead of wrestling with different APIs, browser automation, or parsing messy HTML, you get clean JSON responses in 2-4 seconds.

YouTube & TikTok Transcripts

Need the full transcript from a video? Whether it's for content repurposing, analysis, or building searchable archives, you get the complete text instantly. No more manually transcribing or dealing with broken subtitle files.

Comprehensive Ad Intelligence

Competitive research just got easier. The tool searches across:

  • Meta Ad Library - Every Facebook and Instagram ad
  • Google Ads Transparency Center - Search and display campaigns
  • LinkedIn Ads Library - Professional advertising insights

Want to see every ad your competitor is running? Now you can, in seconds.

Social Media Data Extraction

Access public data from any major platform:

  • Twitter tweets, bios, and engagement metrics
  • YouTube comments and channel information
  • Reddit posts and discussions
  • Public profiles and posts across social networks

All delivered as clean, structured JSON—no browser automation required.

The Real-World Applications

For Founders Building Social Tools

Stop reinventing the wheel. Whether you're building analytics dashboards, content management tools, or social listening platforms, you need reliable data infrastructure. Scrape Creators becomes your data layer.

For Marketers Running Campaigns

Trend analysis, competitor monitoring, and content inspiration all require data. Instead of spending hours manually collecting information, get structured insights that fuel your strategy.

For Researchers and Agencies

Academic research, market analysis, and client reporting demand accurate, comprehensive data. Access historical posts, engagement patterns, and content trends without technical headaches.

Why I Built This as a Solo Developer

This is exactly the type of "boring" but essential tool that works perfectly for a one-person business. Here's why:

  1. High Value, Low Complexity: Everyone needs social media data, but most solutions are either expensive enterprise tools or unreliable scripts. There's a sweet spot in the middle.
  2. Sticky Use Case: Once you integrate data extraction into your workflow, you don't switch providers unless something breaks. It becomes infrastructure.
  3. Recurring Revenue: Data needs are ongoing. A research project might need thousands of requests over months. A marketing team needs daily competitive insights.

The Technical Reality

Building this wasn't about creating something revolutionary—it was about solving a real, everyday problem reliably.

No browser automation that breaks when sites update. No rate limit headaches. No parsing HTML that changes every week. Just fast, consistent access to public data in the format you actually need.

Who This Actually Helps

The customers aren't always who you'd expect:

  • Content creators repurposing video transcripts across platforms
  • Marketing agencies monitoring competitor campaigns at scale
  • Academic researchers analyzing social media trends
  • SaaS founders building social features without data infrastructure headaches
  • Growth teams identifying viral content patterns

Getting Started

Want to test it out? I've made it simple:

  • 100 free requests to explore what's possible
  • 30% off your first purchase with code TWITTER30
  • Direct email support (I answer everything quickly)

The Solo Developer Advantage

Running this as a one-person business means I can:

  • Respond to feature requests in days, not months
  • Provide actual human support instead of chatbots
  • Keep pricing fair since I don't have massive overhead
  • Focus on reliability over fancy features

Why "Boring" Businesses Work

Scrape Creators isn't trying to be the next unicorn. It's solving a specific problem for people willing to pay for a solution.

No venture capital. No growth hacking. No viral marketing campaigns. Just a useful tool that works reliably and generates steady revenue.

That's the beauty of API businesses—they don't need to be exciting to be profitable.

Ready to stop fighting with data extraction? Check out Scrape Creators and see how structured social media data can simplify your workflow.

Try it with 100 free requests →

Frequently Asked Questions

Scrape Creators provides instant access to structured public data from major social media platforms through a simple API. Instead of dealing with browser automation or parsing HTML, you get clean JSON responses in 2-4 seconds for things like YouTube transcripts, TikTok content, Twitter posts, Reddit discussions, and ad library data.
Yes, it's completely legal. We only access publicly available data that anyone can see without logging in—the same information you'd find by visiting these platforms in your browser. "Scraping" in our name refers to the technical process, but we're not accessing private accounts, DMs, or restricted content.
Official APIs are often limited, expensive, or don't exist for the data you need. Twitter's API costs thousands per month for basic access, YouTube's API doesn't provide transcripts, and many platforms don't offer APIs for ad libraries. We provide unified access to data that's otherwise difficult or impossible to get programmatically.
We support all major social platforms including YouTube, TikTok, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Reddit, and various ad libraries (Meta, Google, LinkedIn). We're constantly adding new platforms based on customer requests.
This is the core technical challenge. We use a combination of rotating proxies, distributed infrastructure, rate limiting, and sophisticated request patterns that mimic human behavior. We also monitor platform changes and adapt quickly when detection methods evolve.
Everything returns as clean, structured JSON. For example, a YouTube transcript includes timestamps, text segments, and metadata. Ad library results include creative content, targeting info, and performance metrics when available. We handle all the parsing so you get consistent, usable data.

Try the ScrapeCreators API

Get 100 free API requests

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Start building with real-time social media data in minutes. Join thousands of developers and businesses using ScrapeCreators.