Facebook Comments Scraper

Facebook Comments Scraper

Collect accessible Facebook comments from a post URL and export them as JSON, CSV, or Excel. Start with a public page post; replies are optional and off by default. Facebook controls which comments are available to each session, so its displayed comment count may be higher than the returned rows.

Quick start

1. Open the Actor’s Input tab and paste the example below into the JSON editor.
2. Start with max_items: 10 and a small spending limit, such as $0.10, in the run options.
3. Run the Actor, then open Output to view or export the comments.

{
  "url": "https://www.facebook.com/natgeo/posts/pfbid02stjvzcsfWYcQ9EVhNuCdSRnFCKwmJdi5rE9RFPwMoLbpH4uj8mNUBTbS6QCH7eYDl",
  "max_items": 10,
  "sort_type": "all",
  "include_replies": false,
  "proxy": {
    "useApifyProxy": true,
    "apifyProxyGroups": ["RESIDENTIAL"],
    "apifyProxyCountry": "US"
  }
}

No Facebook cookies are needed for this public example. The post and its available comments can change over time.

Include replies

Turn on Include replies (sub-comments) in the form, or set "include_replies": true in the example. Replies are separate rows with parent_comment_id and root_comment_id; top-level comments have a null parent. Increase max_items if needed: comments and replies share that limit, so a small limit may be reached before replies appear. Each delivered reply costs the same as a comment.

Pricing

Pay per Actor start plus each row delivered to the default dataset. Platform compute and proxy usage are included. At the Actor’s current 1 GB memory setting:

Apify plan tier	Per start	Per 1,000 comments or replies	Example: one start + 10 rows
Free	$0.050	$1.20	$0.062
Bronze	$0.008	$0.80	$0.016
Silver	$0.006	$0.60	$0.012
Gold / Platinum / Diamond	$0.004	$0.40	$0.008

The start fee applies even if a run returns no comments or fails. There is no separate reply charge. Free-plan runs have a 100-row limit; “Free” describes the Apify plan, not a zero-priced run. max_items limits rows, while the run’s spending limit caps event charges. A run may stop before the requested row count when its budget is exhausted.

Prices verified October 17, 2026. The Store pricing panel and the effective prices shown for your run are authoritative.

Which URLs should I use?

Paste the permalink to one post or video, rather than a page profile or group homepage.

Post type	Current coverage
Public page post	Verified with the quick-start example and multi-page public-post tests.
Public page video	Verified on a public National Geographic video; other video layouts may differ.
Public group post	Verified with a public photography-group post. Available comments depend on Facebook’s session and access settings.
Private group or restricted post	Not verified. The session must have permission to view the post; cookies alone do not guarantee extraction.
Reels, live streams and other layouts	Not verified by the current checks.

Share the run through Apify’s debugging controls if you want us to inspect it; do not paste cookies into an issue or email.

What Does It Extract?

Get comprehensive details such as comment text, author information, timestamps, like counts, number of replies, and more.

Example Output Data

Here’s a sample of the structured output data you can expect:

{
  "id": "847615209483751_392847561234567",
  "created_at": 1729892140,
  "message": "We need to invest in renewable energy and sustainable infrastructure to create jobs and protect our environment for future generations. The time for action is now!",
  "url": "https://www.facebook.com/nytimes/posts/pfbid03KmLqPw8nVt5gXjDs9YrNmE4hF3vQ7RwBp4m2WSt8k9uLxMv86ZnTcPdhRxNzLt4xl?comment_id=392847561234567",
  "comment_count": 12,
  "reaction_count": "45",
  "attachments": [],
  "text_entities": [],
  "is_post_author": false,
  "author": {
    "id": "856923441",
    "is_verified": false,
    "name": "Sarah Chen",
    "gender": "FEMALE",
    "profile_url": "https://www.facebook.com/sarahchen2024",
    "profile_image_url": "https://scontent-atl3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-1/384756291_10162830467892345_2947583691234567891_n.jpg?stp=cp0_dst-jpg_s32x32&_nc_cat=104&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=50d2ac&_nc_ohc=Yx8nKpL2MYAQ7kPwrT9TCCg&_nc_ht=scontent-atl3-1.xx&_nc_gid=B-KWj4Ydz8f3H1XkwyZfsTU&oh=00_AYBMktsp1p4ZbcdqBUr2kwl9T5K8gH1vF82hdk22z48SQQ&oe=6721DF8C",
    "short_name": "Sarah",
    "work_info": null
  }
}

How to Use the Facebook Comments Scraper

To use the Facebook Comments Scraper, you need to provide the following inputs:

1. Facebook Post URL: Provide the URL of the post you want to scrape comments from.

   • Example: https://www.facebook.com/natgeo/posts/pfbid02stjvzcsfWYcQ9EVhNuCdSRnFCKwmJdi5rE9RFPwMoLbpH4uj8mNUBTbS6QCH7eYDl

2. Cookies (optional): Cookies may be needed for posts that require Facebook login or group membership; they do not guarantee access or complete results. To obtain cookies:

   • Install the Cookie-Editor Chrome extension.
   • Log in to your Facebook account, open the extension, and export the Facebook cookies in JSON format.

3. Maximum Number of Items: Set a limit on the number of comments to scrape. Leave it empty to request all accessible comments, subject to the spending limit, run timeout, and Free-plan cap.

4. Sort Type: Choose how the comments should be sorted (most relevant, newest, or all comments).

5. Min and Max Delay: Specify the minimum and maximum delay between requests to avoid getting blocked.

6. Proxy Configuration: Use a proxy that matches your Facebook account’s location to avoid detection.

7. Include replies (include_replies, default false): Optionally fetch sub-comments as separate rows. Existing inputs continue to return top-level comments only. With replies enabled, rows include parent_comment_id and root_comment_id; top-level rows have a null parent. The selected sort order applies to top-level comments, followed by each comment's accessible replies in Facebook's reply order.

max_items and the Free-plan 100-row limit count comments and replies together. Under pay-per-event pricing, every delivered reply is one default dataset item at the same price as a comment; there is no extra reply event. The Store pricing panel is authoritative.

The existing API-only output_mode: "raw" is retained. With replies enabled, relationship fields appear under _scraper alongside each original edge; with replies disabled, raw edges are unchanged.

Reliability and run outcomes

The Actor reuses its HTTP session, validates Facebook responses, limits transient retries, and avoids delivering the same comment twice within a run or resumed run. RUN_SUMMARY in the run's key-value store distinguishes completed, valid-empty, item-limited, budget-limited and failed/partial results. Facebook can restrict comments or replies even when a displayed count is higher; that count does not guarantee that all records are accessible.

Checkpointed runs resume their current post and sorting mode. Changing the post, sorting mode, output mode, cookies or reply setting requires a new run. If delivery is marked uncertain, reconcile the dataset and billing before restarting; the Actor will not automatically replay a potentially delivered batch.

Free Plan

Free-plan runs can return up to 100 comments. Paid users can control the result limit with the Maximum Number of Items input.