# Telegram Channel Scraper – Messages, Views & Keyword Monitor (`chris_elder/telegram-channel-scraper`) Actor

Scrape public Telegram channels: messages, views, reactions, photo/video URLs, links, hashtags, mentions and channel subscriber stats. Keyword, date and views filters (filtered posts free) plus only-new-messages mode for monitoring. No login. $0.30 per 1,000 messages ($1 from 7 Nov).

- **URL**: https://apify.com/chris_elder/telegram-channel-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Chris Elder](https://apify.com/chris_elder) (community)
- **Categories:** Social media, Lead generation, Marketing
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $0.30 / 1,000 messages

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## Telegram Channel Scraper – Messages, Views & Keyword Monitor

Export posts from any **public Telegram channel**: text, date, views, reactions, photo and video URLs, link previews, links, hashtags, mentions and emails found in each post, plus a channel profile row with subscribers. Filter by keyword, date or views, and use **only-new mode** to monitor channels on a schedule and pay only for new posts.

✅ Pay per result: **$0.30 per 1,000 messages** · 🆓 Filtered-out messages and non-public channels are never charged · 🔑 No login, phone number or API key · ⏱️ Start fee only $0.00005

[▶ Try it with one click](#how-to-use-it) · [📄 Real example output](#output-example-from-a-real-run) · [💲 Pricing](#how-much-does-it-cost-to-scrape-telegram-channels) · [🔌 API & integrations](#integrations-api-ai-agents-make-zapier) · [❓ FAQ](#faq) · [🛟 Support](#support-reliability-and-feature-requests)

### What does Telegram Channel Scraper do?

- 📨 **Messages with full context**: text (line breaks and emoji kept), date, views, author signature, edited flag, forwarded-from, reply-to link.
- 🖼️ **Media URLs**: photos, videos and video thumbnails, documents, polls, link previews (URL, site, title, description, image).
- 👍 **Engagement**: every reaction with its count (paid star reactions flagged) and a `reactionsTotal` number for sorting.
- 🔗 **Entities pulled out for you**: `links`, `telegramLinks` (to find related channels), `hashtags`, `mentions` and `emails` in each post.
- 🔎 **In-channel search**: `searchQuery` uses Telegram's own channel search, so you reach old posts on a topic without paging the whole history.
- 🎯 **Filters that save money**: keywords (any of), exclude keywords, date range ("7 days" or a date), minimum views. Skipped posts cost nothing.
- 🔁 **Only new messages** for monitoring: the Actor remembers the newest post per channel, so a daily or hourly schedule returns and charges only what is new.
- 📊 **Channel profile row**: title, verified flag, description, subscribers, photo/video/link counts. Set max messages to 0 for profiles only.

### Use cases

- **Crypto and trading teams**: monitor announcement and signal channels for token names or tickers, sorted by views.
- **Brand and PR monitoring**: alert on mentions of your brand or product across many channels.
- **Researchers and journalists**: archive public channels with dates, views and forwards for analysis.
- **Marketers and growth teams**: compare channels by subscribers and engagement, find related channels from forwards and t.me links.
- **AI and RAG builders**: feed clean post text plus links into an LLM pipeline or vector store.

### How to use it

1. Click **Try for free**. The prefill reads the official `telegram` and `durov` channels, 20 posts each, in a few seconds for about **$0.013**.
2. Replace the channels with your own: usernames (`durov`), `@durov`, `https://t.me/durov` or `https://t.me/s/durov`.
3. Optional: add keywords, a date range, a minimum view count or a search query.
4. Run it, then export the **Messages** table as JSON, CSV or Excel, or read it by API.
5. For monitoring, tick **Only new messages** and add a schedule.

#### Input example

```json
{
  "channels": ["telegram", "durov"],
  "maxMessagesPerChannel": 20,
  "keywords": [],
  "dateFrom": "30 days",
  "onlyNew": false
}
```

Other options: `searchQuery`, `excludeKeywords`, `dateTo`, `minViews`, `includeChannelInfo`, `maxConcurrency`.

#### Output example (from a real run)

Channel profile row (run on 24 Oct 2026):

```json
{
  "type": "channel",
  "channel": "durov",
  "channelUrl": "https://t.me/durov",
  "title": "Pavel Durov",
  "username": "@durov",
  "verified": true,
  "description": "Founder of Telegram.",
  "subscribers": 10300000,
  "subscribersText": "10.3M",
  "photos": 102,
  "videos": 47,
  "links": 200
}
```

Message row (text shortened with `...`):

```json
{
  "type": "message",
  "channel": "durov",
  "messageId": 548,
  "url": "https://t.me/durov/548",
  "date": "2026-09-11T16:04:02+00:00",
  "text": "🤝 Telegram has become the sponsor of Codeforces ... the largest competitive programming platform in the world. ...",
  "views": 3640000,
  "viewsText": "3.64M",
  "edited": false,
  "isForwarded": false,
  "mediaTypes": [],
  "linkPreview": {
    "url": "https://codeforces.com/blog/entry/156620",
    "siteName": "Codeforces",
    "title": "Telegram Returns as Title Sponsor of Codeforces!"
  },
  "reactions": [
    { "emoji": "⭐", "count": 21900, "paid": true },
    { "emoji": "custom:5399847211989246390", "count": 36400, "paid": false }
  ],
  "reactionsTotal": 78890,
  "links": ["https://codeforces.com/blog/entry/156620"],
  "hashtags": [],
  "mentions": [],
  "emails": [],
  "matchedKeywords": []
}
```

| Field | Meaning |
|---|---|
| `type` | `message`, `channel` (profile) or `error` (free) |
| `messageId`, `url`, `date` | Post ID, permanent link, ISO date (UTC) |
| `text`, `textLength` | Plain text of the post |
| `views`, `viewsText` | Views as a number (3.64M → 3640000) and as shown |
| `reactions`, `reactionsTotal` | Emoji + count; custom emoji appear as `custom:<id>` |
| `photos`, `videos`, `videoThumbnails`, `documents`, `poll`, `linkPreview` | Media and attachments |
| `links`, `telegramLinks`, `hashtags`, `mentions`, `emails` | Entities found in the post |
| `isForwarded`, `forwardedFrom`, `forwardedFromUrl`, `replyToUrl`, `edited` | Post context |
| `matchedKeywords` | Which of your keywords matched |

### How much does it cost to scrape Telegram channels?

**Price update:** from 7 Nov 2026 (06:30 UTC) the price per message rises from $0.0003 to $0.001 ($1 per 1,000 messages); channel rows stay $0.0005. Apify gives users 14 days' notice. The prices below apply until then.

| Event | Price | When |
|---|---|---|
| Message | **$0.0003** | Each message saved ($0.30 per 1,000) |
| Channel profile | **$0.0005** | Each channel profile row (if enabled) |
| Actor start | $0.00005 per GB of memory | Once per run (default 256 MB) |
| Filtered out, not public, failed | **$0** | Never charged |

Worked examples:

| Job | Arithmetic | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| One-click example (2 channels × 20 posts + 2 profiles) | 40 × $0.0003 + 2 × $0.0005 | **≈ $0.013** |
| 10,000 posts from 20 channels | 10,000 × $0.0003 + 20 × $0.0005 | **≈ $3.01** |
| Hourly monitor, 50 channels, ~300 new posts a day, 30 days | 9,000 × $0.0003 + 720 runs × $0.00001 start | **≈ $2.71 / month** (turn profiles off for monitoring) |
| Keyword scan of 5,000 posts, 200 match | 200 × $0.0003 | **$0.06** |

Set *Maximum cost per run* in Apify and the Actor stops cleanly at your limit.

### Integrations (API, AI agents, Make, Zapier)

Run and get results in one call:

```bash
curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/chris_elder~telegram-channel-scraper/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"channels":["durov"],"maxMessagesPerChannel":50,"keywords":["update"]}'
```

Python:

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient
client = ApifyClient("YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN")
run = client.actor("chris_elder/telegram-channel-scraper").call(run_input={"channels": ["telegram"], "dateFrom": "7 days"})
for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items():
    print(item.get("date"), item.get("views"), item.get("url"))
```

- AI agents (MCP): `https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=chris_elder/telegram-channel-scraper`
- Make, Zapier and n8n: use the Apify "Run Actor" module. Pair **Only new messages** with an Apify schedule and a webhook to push new posts to Slack, Sheets or a database.

### Limits and good to know

- Works only for channels that have a **public web preview** (`t.me/s/<name>`). Private channels, invite links (`t.me/+...`), most groups, users and bots have none; they return a free `error` row.
- Telegram's preview shows about 20 posts per page; the Actor pages back automatically. Very long histories take a while (roughly 20 posts per second per channel).
- Comments under posts are not in the preview and are not collected.
- Media are returned as URLs from Telegram's CDN; those links expire after some time, so download files you need soon after the run.
- View counts are rounded by Telegram above 1,000 (for example 10.2K).

### Is it legal?

The Actor reads only the public web preview that Telegram publishes for public channels, the same page anyone can open in a browser without logging in. It does not log in, join channels, read private chats or bypass any access control. Posts can contain personal data (names, emails), so you are responsible for a lawful basis for your use (for example GDPR). See Apify's guide: [Is web scraping legal?](https://blog.apify.com/is-web-scraping-legal/)

### FAQ

**Do I need a Telegram account or API ID?** No. Nothing to log in to, no phone number.

**How do I monitor channels for keywords?** Add channels and keywords, tick *Only new messages*, and schedule the Actor hourly or daily. Only new matching posts are returned and charged.

**Can I get posts from a specific date range?** Yes. `dateFrom` accepts a date (`2026-10-01`) or relative time (`7 days`, `24 hours`); paging stops once older posts are reached. `dateTo` sets the upper bound.

**Why is a channel returning an error row?** It has no public preview (private, a group or a user), or the username is wrong. Error rows are free.

**Can it download the photos and videos?** It returns the media URLs. Pass them to [Bulk File Downloader](https://apify.com/chris_elder/bulk-file-downloader) to save the files or a ZIP.

### Support, reliability and feature requests

- Non-public channels, filtered posts and failed pages are free.
- Every release is tested on real public channels; the example input works.
- Issues answered within 2 business days via the Actor **Issues** tab.
- Breaking input or price changes are announced in this README first.

Built by GPT Shop Ltd with AI-assisted development; every release is reviewed and tested.

### More tools from GPT Shop Ltd

[Bulk File Downloader](https://apify.com/chris_elder/bulk-file-downloader) · [HTTP Request Sender](https://apify.com/chris_elder/http-request-sender) · [RSS Feed Reader](https://apify.com/chris_elder/rss-feed-reader) · [Dataset Transformer](https://apify.com/chris_elder/dataset-transformer) · [all tools](https://apify.com/chris_elder)

# Actor input Schema

## `channels` (type: `array`):

Public channel usernames or links, one per line: durov, @durov, https://t.me/durov or https://t.me/s/durov. Private invite links (t.me/+...) and groups without a public preview cannot be read.

## `maxMessagesPerChannel` (type: `integer`):

Newest messages first. Set 0 to get only channel profiles (subscribers, counts).

## `searchQuery` (type: `string`):

Optional. Uses Telegram's own in-channel search (t.me/s/channel?q=...), so you can reach old posts on a topic without paging the whole history.

## `keywords` (type: `array`):

Optional, case-insensitive. Messages without a match are skipped and NOT charged. Matched words are returned in matchedKeywords.

## `excludeKeywords` (type: `array`):

Optional, case-insensitive. Skipped messages are not charged.

## `dateFrom` (type: `string`):

Optional. YYYY-MM-DD or relative like "7 days" / "24 hours". Paging stops when older messages are reached.

## `dateTo` (type: `string`):

Optional. YYYY-MM-DD or relative like "1 day".

## `minViews` (type: `integer`):

Optional. Skip (free) messages with fewer views.

## `onlyNew` (type: `boolean`):

Remembers the newest message ID per channel in a named key-value store in your account, so scheduled runs return and charge only new posts.

## `includeChannelInfo` (type: `boolean`):

One row per channel with title, verified flag, description, subscribers and photo/video/link counts.

## `maxConcurrency` (type: `integer`):

How many channels to scrape at the same time. The default is fine for most runs.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "channels": [
    "telegram",
    "durov"
  ],
  "maxMessagesPerChannel": 20,
  "minViews": 0,
  "onlyNew": false,
  "includeChannelInfo": true,
  "maxConcurrency": 3
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `overview` (type: `string`):

No description

## `summary` (type: `string`):

No description

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "channels": [
        "telegram",
        "durov"
    ],
    "maxMessagesPerChannel": 20
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("chris_elder/telegram-channel-scraper").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {
    "channels": [
        "telegram",
        "durov",
    ],
    "maxMessagesPerChannel": 20,
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("chris_elder/telegram-channel-scraper").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "channels": [
    "telegram",
    "durov"
  ],
  "maxMessagesPerChannel": 20
}' |
apify call chris_elder/telegram-channel-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,chris_elder/telegram-channel-scraper"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/WKZfnCXWPBRyRR3te/builds/VgOPB7UgISQPgf3aN/openapi.json