Reddit MCP Scraper (5-in-1)

Scrape Reddit without an API key, login, or rate limits. One actor covers five modes — subreddit posts, comment threads, user profiles, keyword search and curated community discovery — and returns clean, structured JSON with 55+ post fields, 35+ comment fields and full nested comment threads. No cookies, no OAuth setup: just pick a mode and go.

What this actor does

• Five modes in one actor: subreddit (posts from any community), comments (full nested comment threads for a post), profile (a user's karma, flags and post/comment history), search (keyword search across posts, comments, communities and users) and discover (Reddit's own curated community listings — popular/new/default, no keyword needed)
• Deep filtering: score range, comment-count range, upvote ratio, post type, date range, title/body/flair "contains" text match, domain, author allow/deny lists, distinguished (mod/admin) posts, awards, original-content-only, and exclusion toggles for stickied/removed/crossposted/spoiler/locked/archived/deleted-author posts
• Rich media & embeds: image/gallery URLs, video technical metadata (duration, resolution, bitrate), poll data, and external oEmbed metadata (provider, title, thumbnail, embed HTML) for link posts pointing at YouTube, Imgur, Twitch, Vimeo and similar sites
• Works with AI agents: every record carries a dataType field (post / comment / community / user_profile), so mixed datasets are easy for downstream tools — including LLM agents connected via the Apify MCP server — to filter and consume
• Empty fields are omitted — every record only contains the keys Reddit actually returned, so you never have to defend against stray null/empty values

Output: per-post (mode = subreddit / search / profile)

Emitted by subreddit mode, by search mode when "Search posts" is on, and by profile mode's posts/overview sections.

• Identity — post_id, post_name, subreddit, subreddit_prefixed, subreddit_id, subreddit_subscribers, subreddit_type
• Content — title, author (bare username), author_meta (lean author-identity object: username, id, flair + background/text color/css class/richtext/template id, is_premium, is_blocked, has_patreon_flair — built from data already on the post, no extra requests), content (self-post body, markdown), content_html, content_url, url / permalink, url_overridden_by_dest, domain, post_hint, is_self, post_type (self/link/image/video/gallery/poll)
• Engagement — score, ups, downs, upvote_ratio, num_comments, num_crossposts, num_duplicates, gilded, total_awards_received, awards[] (name, count, coin price, icon)
• Flair — link_flair (+ background/text color, css class, richtext, template id)
• Media — thumbnail_url/thumbnail_width/thumbnail_height, media_type, has_media, images[], gallery_images[], gallery_count, video_url, video_duration_seconds, video_width, video_height, video_has_audio, video_bitrate_kbps, poll_data (options, vote count, end time)
• External embeds — embed_provider, embed_type, embed_title, embed_author_name, embed_thumbnail_url, embed_html, embed_width, embed_height (YouTube/Imgur/Twitch/Vimeo etc. link posts)
• Flags — is_stickied, is_locked, is_archived, is_pinned, is_nsfw, is_spoiler, is_original_content, is_crosspost (+ crosspost_parent_id), is_crosspostable, is_meta, distinguished (moderator/admin/special), removed_by_category, content_categories, quarantine
• Timestamps & metadata — created_utc, created_at, edited, edited_at, crawled_at, source (json/dom), search_term (search mode only), dataType: "post"

Output: per-comment (mode = comments / search / profile)

Emitted by comments mode (full nested threads), by search mode when "Search comments" is on, and by profile mode's comments/overview sections.

• Identity & linkage — comment_id, comment_name, post_id, post_url, post_title, link_id, parent_id, parent_kind (post/comment), depth (0 = top-level), subreddit, subreddit_prefixed, subreddit_id, subreddit_type
• Content — body, body_html, author (bare username), author_meta (lean author-identity object: username, id, flair + colors/css class/richtext/template id, is_premium, is_blocked, has_patreon_flair — built from data already on the comment, no extra requests)
• Engagement — score, ups, downs, score_hidden, controversiality, gilded, total_awards_received, awards[]
• Flags — is_op (comment author = post author), is_stickied, is_locked, distinguished, archived, collapsed (+ collapsed_reason, collapsed_because_crowd_control, collapsed_reason_code), removed_by_category
• Timestamps & metadata — created_utc, created_at, edited, edited_at, permalink, crawled_at, source, search_term (search mode only), dataType: "comment"

Output: per-community (mode = subreddit with community info / search / discover)

Emitted by subreddit mode when "Include community info record" is on, by search mode when "Search communities" is on, and always by discover mode.

• Identity — subreddit, subreddit_prefixed, subreddit_id, url, title
• Description — description, description_html, public_description, public_description_html, submit_text, submit_text_html, submit_text_label, submit_link_label
• Size & activity — subscribers, active_user_count, created_utc, created_at
• Type & rules — subreddit_type (public/restricted/private/user), submission_type, restrict_posting, restrict_commenting, over18, quarantine, wiki_enabled, lang, advertiser_category, rules[] (name, description, violation reason, priority — only when "Include subreddit rules" is on)
• Appearance — community_icon, icon_img (+ width/height), banner_img (+ width/height), banner_background_image, banner_background_color, mobile_banner_image, header_img (+ width/height), header_title, primary_color, key_color
• Content permissions — allow_images, allow_videos, allow_videogifs, allow_galleries, allow_polls, allowed_media_in_comments, spoilers_enabled, original_content_tag_enabled, all_original_content
• Flair configuration — link_flair_enabled (+ position), user_flair_enabled_in_sr (+ position, type, text, richtext, template id, colors)
• Metadata — crawled_at, source, search_term (search mode only), dataType: "community"

Output: per-user_profile (mode = profile / search)

Emitted by profile mode, and by search mode when "Search users" is on (accounts whose username matches the keyword).

• Identity — username, user_id, profile_url, icon_img (avatar), snoovatar_img (+ snoovatar_size)
• Karma breakdown — post_karma, comment_karma, total_karma, awardee_karma (received from awards), awarder_karma (given as awards)
• Account flags — is_gold (Reddit Premium), is_mod, is_employee, has_verified_email, verified, accept_followers, hide_from_robots
• Profile subreddit — user_subreddit object: display name, title, subscriber count, icon, banner, bio (public_description), NSFW flag, type, URL
• Optional enrichment — trophies[] (name + icon URL, when "Include trophies" is on), moderated_subreddits[] (subreddit, subscribers, type, mod permissions — when "Include moderated subreddits" is on)
• Timestamps & metadata — created_utc, created_at (account creation), crawled_at, source, search_term (search mode only), dataType: "user_profile"

Input

Field	Type	Default	Description
mode	string	subreddit	subreddit / comments / profile / search / discover
subreddits	array	["python"]	Subreddits to scrape (mode=subreddit). Accepts names, r/ names or full URLs
maxPosts	int	25	Max posts per subreddit/user/keyword (mode=subreddit/profile/search)
maxItems	int	100000	Global safety cap on total records across the whole run (all modes)
sort	string	hot	Post/result sort — hot/new/top/rising/controversial/best (subreddit, profile), relevance/hot/top/new/comments (search)
timeFilter	string	day	Time range for top/controversial sort (subreddit, profile) or search results (search) — hour/day/week/month/year/all
postUrls	array	–	Post URLs, comment URLs, share links or IDs to scrape (mode=comments)
maxComments	int	100	Max comments per post (comments), per keyword (search), or per user's comment history (profile)
commentSort	string	confidence	Comment sort — confidence/top/new/controversial/old/qa (mode=comments)
includePost	bool	true	Emit the parent post record before its comment thread (mode=comments)
usernames	array	–	Reddit usernames to scrape — names, u/ names or profile URLs (mode=profile)
includeProfileInfo	bool	true	Emit a user_profile record with karma/flags/account age (mode=profile)
includeTrophies	bool	false	Also fetch the user's trophy case (mode=profile)
includeModeratedSubreddits	bool	false	Also fetch the communities the user moderates (mode=profile)
sections	array	["posts"]	Which history sections to scrape — overview/posts/comments (mode=profile)
restrictSubreddits	array	–	Only keep history from these subreddits (mode=profile)
keyword	string	–	Substring match on title/content/body (mode=profile)
keywords	array	–	Keywords to search for; supports "exact phrase", AND, -exclude, author:, flair:, subreddit:, site: syntax (mode=search)
searchPosts	bool	true	Include posts in search results (mode=search)
searchComments	bool	false	Include comments in search results (mode=search)
searchCommunities	bool	false	Include subreddits in search results (mode=search)
searchUsers	bool	false	Include matching Reddit accounts in search results (mode=search)
withinCommunity	string	–	Restrict post/comment search to one subreddit (mode=search)
maxCommunities	int	10	Max subreddits per keyword (search) or total (discover)
maxUsers	int	25	Max accounts per keyword — Reddit caps at ~100 regardless (mode=search)
discoverListing	string	popular	popular/new/default curated listing (mode=discover)
includeNSFW	bool	false	Include NSFW posts, or NSFW communities in discover mode
onlyWithFlair	bool	false	Drop posts without a flair tag (subreddit, profile)
fullSubreddit	bool	false	Walk "New" posts as deep as Reddit allows (~1,000) instead of the first pages (mode=subreddit)
includeSubredditInfo	bool	false	Emit one community record per subreddit before its posts (mode=subreddit)
includeSubredditRules	bool	false	Attach posting rules to the community record — requires includeSubredditInfo (mode=subreddit)
titleContains / contentContains / flairContains / authorFlairContains	string	–	Keep only posts whose title/body/flair/author-flair contains this text (subreddit, profile, search)
domain	string	–	Keep only posts whose link domain contains this text (subreddit, profile, search)
distinguished	string	–	moderator/admin/special/none (subreddit, profile, search)
minAwards	int	–	Keep only posts with at least this many total awards (subreddit, profile, search)
onlyOriginalContent	bool	false	Keep only posts tagged as original content (subreddit, profile, search)
excludeStickied / excludeRemoved / excludeCrossposts / excludeSpoilers / excludeLocked / excludeDeletedAuthor / excludeArchived	bool	false	Drop stickied/removed/crossposted/spoiler/locked/deleted-author/archived posts (subreddit, profile, search)
excludeKeywords	array	–	Drop posts whose title/body/flair contains any of these terms (subreddit, profile, search)
minContentLength / maxContentLength	int	–	Keep only self posts whose body length (characters) is in this range (subreddit, profile, search)
authors / excludeAuthors	array	–	Keep/drop posts by these usernames (subreddit, search)
postType	string	–	Keep only posts of this type — self/link/image/video/gallery/poll (subreddit, profile, search)
minPostComments / maxPostComments	int	–	Keep only posts with a comment count in this range (subreddit, profile, search)
minUpvoteRatio	number	–	Keep only posts with an upvote ratio at or above this value, 0-1 (subreddit, profile, search)
minScore / maxScore	int	–	Keep only posts/comments with a score in this range (subreddit, comments, profile, search)
minCommunitySubscribers / maxCommunitySubscribers	int	–	Keep only communities with a subscriber count in this range (search with searchCommunities, discover)
minUserKarma / maxUserKarma	int	–	Keep only accounts with a total karma in this range (search with searchUsers)
postedAfter / postedBefore	string (date)	–	Keep only posts/comments created on/after or on/before this UTC date, YYYY-MM-DD (all modes)

Example: subreddit posts

{
  "mode": "subreddit",
  "subreddits": ["python", "r/programming"],
  "sort": "top",
  "timeFilter": "week",
  "maxPosts": 50,
  "includeSubredditInfo": true
}

Example: comment thread

{
  "mode": "comments",
  "postUrls": ["https://www.reddit.com/r/programming/comments/1vqukkf/"],
  "commentSort": "top",
  "maxComments": 200
}

Example: user profile

{
  "mode": "profile",
  "usernames": ["spez"],
  "sections": ["posts", "comments"],
  "includeTrophies": true,
  "maxPosts": 25,
  "maxComments": 25
}

Example: keyword search

{
  "mode": "search",
  "keywords": ["machine learning"],
  "searchPosts": true,
  "searchCommunities": true,
  "timeFilter": "month"
}

Example: discover trending communities

{
  "mode": "discover",
  "discoverListing": "popular",
  "maxCommunities": 25,
  "minCommunitySubscribers": 100000
}

Use cases

• Market research & brand monitoring — track mentions of a product, brand or competitor across subreddits on a schedule
• Lead generation — find high-intent posts and comments matching your keywords via search mode
• AI/ML training data — build clean, structured Reddit corpora (posts + comments + profiles) for fine-tuning or RAG
• Community intelligence — discover and profile the subreddits that matter for any topic or niche
• User research & credibility checks — analyze an account's karma, activity history and moderator status
• Trend discovery — use discover mode to see what's trending on Reddit right now without knowing a keyword in advance

FAQ

Do I need a Reddit API key or login? No. The actor reads Reddit's public web data — no API key, OAuth app or cookies required.

Why is a residential proxy required? Reddit blocks requests from datacenter IPs (both no-proxy and Apify's free Auto proxy group return HTTP 403 on Reddit's endpoints). The actor automatically routes every request through Apify's residential proxy group — this happens transparently and isn't a setting you need to configure.

Why five modes in one actor? One actor means one tool, one pricing model and datasets that compose — the dataType field on every record tells you whether it's a post, comment, community or user profile, so you can mix modes and still filter downstream easily.

How is discover mode different from search mode's community search? Search mode finds communities matching a keyword you supply. Discover mode browses Reddit's own curated listings (popular / new / default) with no keyword at all — useful for "what's trending on Reddit right now" queries.

Can I find Reddit users by keyword? Yes — enable "Search users" in search mode to get accounts whose username matches the keyword, with the same karma breakdown and verification/mod/gold flags as profile mode. Reddit's account search always searches globally (subreddit scoping doesn't apply) and returns up to ~100 accounts per keyword.

Why are some fields missing from a record? Reddit simply doesn't return every field for every post/comment/community — for example, num_duplicates is only present on link posts, and video_url only appears on Reddit-hosted videos. Rather than fill in null, the actor omits fields Reddit didn't return.

How fresh is the data? Every record is scraped in real time when the actor run starts — there is no caching layer. Each record's crawled_at field is the exact scrape timestamp.

Are follower counts or full moderator lists included? No — Reddit does not expose subreddit follower counts or full moderator lists as public data, so they aren't in the output.

Is this affiliated with Reddit? No. This is an independent, third-party actor that reads Reddit's publicly accessible web data. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Reddit, Inc.

Can AI agents use this actor? Yes — every record's dataType field and consistent schema make output easy to consume programmatically, and the actor is compatible with the Apify MCP server for use as a tool by AI agents, alongside the standard REST API, and JSON/CSV/Excel/XML/HTML export.

What are the practical limits? Subreddit listings cap around 1,000 posts; keyword search caps lower (roughly 200-250 results per query) — these are Reddit platform limits, not actor restrictions. Comment search (search mode with searchComments) is slower than post/community search since it reads the search results page directly.