Reddit Real-Time Data — The Fastest Reddit Scraper on Apify

Blazing-fast, incredibly light, and packed with rich data. This Actor delivers live posts, comments, users, subreddits, search, trending, and keyword matches as clean, deeply-structured JSON — with zero Reddit API keys, no browser, and built-in residential proxy support.

Stop fighting Reddit blocks and rate limits. Turn on only the features you need, click Start, and export or pipe results to Slack, Sheets, Zapier, or your own API in seconds.

⚡ Built for speed & cost. No Chromium. No Playwright. A lightweight, optimized data engine — so it runs in milliseconds per request, uses as little as 256–512 MB RAM, and costs a fraction of browser-based scrapers.

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⚡ Incredibly fast — here's why

Most Reddit scrapers spin up a full headless browser (Chromium) for every page. That's slow, memory-hungry, and expensive. This Actor doesn't. It uses a lightweight, purpose-built data engine instead.

Metric	This Actor	Typical browser-based scraper
Per-request latency	~50–150 ms	2–8 seconds (browser boot + render)
Engine	Lightweight, no browser	Playwright + Chromium
Default memory	512 MB (runs on 256 MB)	2–4 GB
Startup overhead	Near-zero	Heavy (launch browser per page)
Cost per 1,000 items	Pennies	Multiples higher
Pagination	Bulk fetch — many items per request	1 page per browser render

Real numbers: it fetches posts and comments in efficient bulk batches and auto-paginates for you, so pulling thousands of fully-detailed records takes just a handful of requests — often finishing a run in under a few seconds. Set any target you want; the Actor keeps paging until it's done. Schedule it every minute for true real-time monitoring without burning compute.

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Why teams choose this Actor

• ⚡ Extremely fast — lightweight engine, ~50–150 ms/request, efficient bulk fetching with auto-pagination
• 🪶 Ultra-light & cheap — 512 MB default, no browser, lowest possible Apify cost
• 📊 Very rich data points — ~45 post fields, nested comment trees, full karma breakdowns, awards, media, galleries, flair, subreddit rules & moderators
• 🧰 Eight tools in one — subreddit posts, post threads, search, user profiles, subreddit info, trending, URL scraper, keyword monitor
• ✅ No API key required — works out of the box with zero Reddit developer setup
• ☑️ Checkbox UX — enable only what you need; pay only for what you scrape
• 🤖 MCP-friendly — documented input/output schemas and copy-paste JSON for Apify MCP & LLM agents
• 🔌 Apify-native — schedule runs, webhooks, REST API, CSV/Excel/JSON export out of the box

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Who is this for?

You are…	You get…
Brand / social monitoring team	Keyword alerts across subreddits on a schedule
Market researcher	Voice-of-customer threads, sentiment corpora, trend feeds
Data scientist	Clean JSON posts + comments for NLP and topic modeling
Finance / crypto analyst	Real-time subreddit pulse (e.g. ticker mentions)
Content marketer	Trend discovery and subreddit targeting
Developer / integrator	A practical Reddit data API alternative without developer onboarding

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Rich data points — not just headlines

Every record is deep and analysis-ready. We surface a curated, well-named set of 100+ available data points per post so you get everything useful without the noise — and you can flip on includeRaw to get the complete raw object too.

Per post (~45 fields): id, fullname, title, selftext, selftextHtml, url, permalink, subreddit, subredditId, subredditSubscribers, author, authorFullname, authorFlairText, authorPremium, createdUtc, createdAtISO, edited, score, upvoteRatio, ups, numComments, numCrossposts, nsfw, spoiler, locked, stickied, pinned, archived, distinguished, isOriginalContent, isSelf, isVideo, postHint, domain, linkFlairText, thumbnail, media (video URL + duration + dimensions), previewImages[] (multi-resolution), gallery[] (album images), pollData, totalAwardsReceived, awards[], crosspostParentId, removedByCategory, contestMode, suggestedSort.

Per comment (~22 fields): full body + HTML, score, depth, parentId, postId, isSubmitter (OP flag), distinguished, stickied, controversiality, permalink, awards, and nested replies when you want the whole tree.

Per user (~20 fields): linkKarma, commentKarma, totalKarma, awarderKarma, awardeeKarma, accountAgeDays, isGold, isMod, isEmployee, verified, hasVerifiedEmail, avatar images, and profile description.

Per subreddit (~25 fields): subscribers, activeUserCount, publicDescription, full description, over18, lang, icons/banners, primaryColor, submissionType, rules[], and moderators[].

Every row is tagged with featureType and scrapedAt. Filter by featureType, download CSV/Excel/JSON, or hit the dataset API — the same clean workflow for every feature.

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Eight features — use one or all

🔥 Subreddit Posts (on by default)

Posts from any subreddit by hot, new, top, rising, or controversial with pagination.

Example: technology + programming, hot sort, 50 posts each.

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💬 Post & Comments

Full post + nested comment thread with depth control and "load more" expansion.

Example: Paste a viral thread URL → post row + hundreds of comment rows.

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🔎 Search

Keyword search site-wide or scoped to subreddits; filter by time and sort.

Example: "openai" across all Reddit, top posts this week.

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👤 User Profile

User about page + submitted posts + comments with karma breakdown.

Example: Track a power user's recent activity and account age.

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🏷️ Subreddit Info

Subreddit about page, rules, optional moderators, subscriber counts.

Example: Due diligence on a community before a campaign.

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📈 Trending / Popular

r/popular, r/all, or Reddit's trending subreddits list.

Example: Morning pulse of what's rising across Reddit.

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🔗 Scrape By URL

Paste any Reddit URL — auto-detect post, subreddit, user, or search page.

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🧵 Keyword Monitor

Scan recent posts/comments in subreddits for keyword matches — perfect for scheduled real-time alerts.

Example: Monitor technology + startups for "your brand" every 5 minutes via webhook.

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How to run

1. Click Start on this Actor page.
2. Check the features you need — uncheck Subreddit Posts if you only want search, comments, or monitoring.
3. Fill in subreddits, URLs, queries, or keywords for enabled features.
4. Keep Proxy → Residential US (recommended).
5. Run — download results or connect a webhook / schedule.

Pro tip: Schedule the Keyword Monitor every few minutes and webhook matches to Slack for real-time brand alerts.

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Example inputs (API, MCP, and automation)

Use these JSON payloads with the Apify API, Apify MCP (call-actor), or scheduled runs.

Important: Subreddit Posts is on by default. When running a single feature via API or MCP, set "enableSubredditPosts": false and enable only what you need.

Subreddit Posts only

{
  "enableSubredditPosts": true,
  "subreddits": ["technology", "programming"],
  "postSort": "hot",
  "postsPerSubreddit": 25
}

Post & Comments only

{
  "enableSubredditPosts": false,
  "enablePostComments": true,
  "postUrls": ["https://www.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/example/"],
  "maxCommentsPerPost": 200,
  "commentTreeFormat": "flat"
}

Search only

{
  "enableSubredditPosts": false,
  "enableSearch": true,
  "searchQueries": ["machine learning"],
  "searchSort": "top",
  "searchTime": "week",
  "resultsPerQuery": 50
}

User Profile only

{
  "enableSubredditPosts": false,
  "enableUserProfile": true,
  "usernames": ["spez"],
  "userContent": "all",
  "itemsPerUser": 25
}

Subreddit Info only

{
  "enableSubredditPosts": false,
  "enableSubredditInfo": true,
  "infoSubreddits": ["technology"],
  "includeRules": true,
  "includeModerators": true
}

Trending only

{
  "enableSubredditPosts": false,
  "enableTrending": true,
  "trendingSource": "popular",
  "trendingSort": "hot",
  "trendingLimit": 50
}

Keyword Monitor only

{
  "enableSubredditPosts": false,
  "enableCommentMonitor": true,
  "monitorSubreddits": ["technology", "startups"],
  "monitorKeywords": ["openai", "your brand"],
  "monitorStream": "both",
  "monitorLookback": 200
}

Scrape By URL only

{
  "enableSubredditPosts": false,
  "enableScrapeByUrl": true,
  "scrapeUrls": ["https://www.reddit.com/r/technology/"]
}

Filter output rows by featureType. Dataset views: overview, posts, comments, users, subreddits, search, monitor.

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Output schema (key post fields)

Field	Type	Description
id	string	Reddit base36 ID
fullname	string	e.g. t3_abc123
title	string	Post title
selftext	string	Self-post body
url	string	Link URL
permalink	string	Reddit permalink
subreddit	string	Community name
author	string	Username
score	number	Net upvotes
upvoteRatio	number	0–1 ratio
numComments	number	Comment count
createdAtISO	string	Post creation time
nsfw	boolean	Over-18 flag
media	object	Video metadata when present
previewImages	array	Multi-resolution preview URLs
gallery	array	Gallery image URLs
awards	array	Award names and counts
linkFlairText	string	Post flair
isVideo	boolean	Native Reddit video
stickied	boolean	Pinned post

Comment rows add: body, depth, parentId, isSubmitter, controversiality.

User rows add: linkKarma, commentKarma, totalKarma, accountAgeDays, isGold, isMod.

Subreddit rows add: subscribers, activeUserCount, rules[], moderators[].

Set "includeRaw": true to attach the complete raw data object under raw.

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Example workflows

Brand monitoring — Keyword Monitor on your subreddit list → schedule every 5 min → Slack webhook on matches.

VOC research — Post & Comments on product mention threads → CSV export for sentiment analysis.

Trend report — Trending + Subreddit Posts on niche communities → weekly rank snapshot.

Lead gen / community research — Subreddit Info + Search → find active communities and top posts.

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Integrations

Works with the full Apify ecosystem:

• Webhooks on run success
• REST API for dataset items
• Apify MCP for LLM/agent automation
• Slack, Google Sheets, Zapier, Make, Airbyte, custom ETL
• Scheduled runs for hands-off monitoring

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This Actor vs alternatives

Approach	Problem	This Actor
Manual copy-paste	Slow, doesn't scale	Automated & repeatable
Reddit developer API	Paid / restricted / setup friction	Zero-config — no API key needed
DIY Playwright scraper	Heavy, slow (2–8 s/page), 2–4 GB RAM, expensive	Lightweight — ~50–150 ms/request, 512 MB
Generic scrapers	Thin fields, no comment trees	Rich curated fields + nested comments

You pay for the scrape you need — enable only the checkboxes that matter. Because it's lightweight and fetches records in efficient bulk batches, you'll typically pay a fraction of what a browser-based Reddit scraper costs for the same data.

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FAQ

Do I need a Reddit API key?
No. The Actor authenticates automatically. Optionally provide redditClientId / redditClientSecret for dedicated quota.

Which proxy should I use?
Apify Proxy → Residential US (default). Match proxy country to your target audience.

Can I run multiple features in one run?
Yes. Each record is tagged with featureType for easy filtering downstream.

How fast is it, really?
Very. It uses a lightweight data engine — no browser to boot — so each request lands in roughly 50–150 ms and pulls fully-detailed records in efficient bulk batches. Most runs finish in seconds, making it ideal for minute-by-minute real-time monitoring.

Why is it so cheap to run?
No Chromium means a tiny image and as little as 256–512 MB RAM, versus 2–4 GB for browser-based scrapers. Less compute + efficient bulk fetching = a fraction of the cost.

How do incremental monitor runs work?
Pass sinceId with the newest fullname from your last run — only newer items are returned.

Does Subreddit Posts run by default?
Yes. Uncheck it if you only want comments, search, monitoring, etc.

What memory should I use?
512 MB (default) works for most runs. Increase for large multi-feature batches.

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Get started now

1. Click Try for free or Start.
2. Pick your features and inputs.
3. Use Residential proxy.
4. Run — then schedule or integrate.

Blazing-fast Reddit data. Rich structured JSON. Zero API keys. Lowest cost.

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Contact me

Need something built beyond this Actor? I take on custom projects — from high-volume scraping actors and data pipelines to full web applications of any kind.

Email	dubem115@gmail.com
GitHub	github.com/DrunkCodes

Reach out with your use case, timeline, and budget — whether it’s a one-off scraper, an Apify actor like this one, or a production web app. I’m happy to discuss scope and quote before we start.