# Telegram Channel Scraper – Messages, Views & Reactions (`expensive_marquess/telegram-channel-scraper`) Actor

Scrape public Telegram channels without login or API keys. Get messages with views, reactions, media, links and forwards, search inside channels, filter by date, monitor only new posts, or get subscriber counts for lists of channels.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/expensive_marquess/telegram-channel-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Shaig](https://apify.com/expensive_marquess) (community)
- **Categories:** Social media, News, Automation
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 0.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $1.20 / 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.
Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have.

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, Reactions & Subscribers

![Telegram Channel Scraper](https://api.apify.com/v2/key-value-stores/zJcuVPqbUFf5yLBhI/records/banner-telegram-channel-scraper)

Scrape **public Telegram channels** without a Telegram account, phone number or API keys. Get every post with its **text, views, reactions, photos, videos, files, link previews, links, hashtags, mentions, forwards and replies** – or just the **channel info and subscriber count** for long lists of channels.

Fast (no browser), cheap, and built for monitoring: schedule it with **Only new messages** and each run returns just the posts published since the last one.

### Why this Telegram scraper?

- 🔓 **No login, no sessions** – uses Telegram's public web preview, so there are no account bans, "flood wait" errors or broken sessions, and parallel runs never clash.
- 🎯 **Filters before charging** – date range and keyword filters are applied before saving, so you only pay for messages you asked for.
- 📦 **Complete messages** – text, views, reactions (incl. paid Stars and custom emoji), photos, videos, files, link previews, forwards (`forwardedFrom`), replies, hashtags and mentions.
- 🔁 **Built for monitoring** – *Only new messages* returns just the posts since your last run.
- 💬 **Clear feedback** – if a channel has no public preview, the log tells you instead of silently returning nothing.

### What can you use it for?

- 📈 **Crypto & finance signals** – track announcement and signal channels, pull every post with view and reaction counts.
- 📰 **News & brand monitoring** – watch channels for mentions of your brand, product or competitors with the keyword filter.
- 🔎 **Research datasets** – export complete channel histories with dates for sentiment and trend analysis.
- 📣 **Influencer & ad buying** – compare channels by subscribers, views per post and engagement before buying a promo.
- 🤖 **AI agents & automations** – structured JSON for n8n, Make, Zapier, LangChain and the Apify MCP server.

### Engagement metrics included

Every message has **`viewRate`** (views ÷ subscribers – how much of the audience saw it) and **`reactionRate`** (reactions per 100 views). Use them to compare channels before buying a promo post.

### Input

| Field | What it does |
|---|---|
| **Channels** | Usernames or links: `durov`, `@durov`, `https://t.me/durov`, or a single message `https://t.me/durov/528` |
| **What to scrape** | *Messages*, or *Channel info only* (one row per channel – title, subscribers, description, last post date) |
| **Max messages per channel** | Newest first; 0 = whole history |
| **Keyword filter** | Only messages containing any of these words (you pay only for matches) |
| **Telegram search (quick)** | Telegram's built-in search – fast, but only ~20 top matches |
| **Messages from / until** | Date range |
| **Only new messages since the last run** | For scheduled monitoring |

```json
{
  "channels": ["durov", "https://t.me/cointelegraph"],
  "maxMessagesPerChannel": 200,
  "keywords": ["ETF", "solana"],
  "dateFrom": "2026-09-01",
  "onlyNewMessages": false
}
```

### Output

```json
{
  "messageId": 548,
  "url": "https://t.me/durov/548",
  "channel": "durov",
  "channelTitle": "Pavel Durov",
  "channelSubscribers": 10500000,
  "date": "2026-09-11T16:04:02+00:00",
  "text": "🤝 Telegram has become the sponsor of Codeforces — the largest competitive programming platform…",
  "views": 1970000,
  "reactions": [
    { "emoji": "⭐", "isPaid": true, "count": 21100 },
    { "emoji": null, "customEmojiId": "5265077361648368841", "count": 31200 }
  ],
  "totalReactions": 69930,
  "author": "Pavel Durov",
  "photos": [],
  "videos": [],
  "linkPreview": {
    "url": "https://codeforces.com/blog/entry/156620",
    "siteName": "Codeforces",
    "title": "Telegram Returns as Title Sponsor of Codeforces!"
  },
  "links": ["https://codeforces.com/blog/entry/156620"],
  "hashtags": [],
  "mentions": [],
  "forwardedFrom": null,
  "replyToUrl": null,
  "edited": false
}
```

**Channel info mode** returns: `channelTitle`, `channelUsername`, `channelVerified`, `channelDescription`, `subscribers`, `photosCount`, `videosCount`, `linksCount`, `channelAvatarUrl`, `lastMessageDate`, `channelUrl`.

### Pricing

Pay per message (or per channel in channel info mode) – see the **Pricing** tab. Set **Maximum cost per run** to cap spending.

### Tips & limits

- Works for **public channels** with web preview enabled. Private channels, invite links (`t.me/+...`) and groups are not supported – they need a logged-in account.
- **Monitoring:** schedule the scraper (e.g. hourly) with *Only new messages* on. The first run returns the latest messages; later runs only new ones.
- Custom (premium) emoji reactions have `emoji: null` and a `customEmojiId`.
- Media URLs come from Telegram's CDN and may expire after some time – download files soon after the run.

### FAQ

**Do I need a Telegram account or API key?** No.

**Something missing or broken?** Open an issue in the **Issues** tab – I usually reply within a day.

⭐ **If this scraper saved you time, please [leave a review](https://apify.com/expensive_marquess/telegram-channel-scraper/reviews) – it really helps!**

### More tools from this developer

- [YouTube Channel Email Finder – creator emails & socials by niche](https://apify.com/expensive_marquess/youtube-channel-email-finder)
- [Google Ads Transparency Scraper – every Google ad of any advertiser](https://apify.com/expensive_marquess/google-ads-transparency-scraper)
- [TikTok Ads Library Scraper – ads with targeting & impressions](https://apify.com/expensive_marquess/tiktok-ads-library-scraper)
- [LinkedIn Ad Library Scraper – B2B ads, payers & targeting](https://apify.com/expensive_marquess/linkedin-ad-library-scraper)
- [Ad Library All-in-One – Google + TikTok + LinkedIn ads in one format](https://apify.com/expensive_marquess/ad-library-all-in-one)

# Actor input Schema

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

Public channel usernames or links: durov, @durov, https://t.me/durov, or a message link like https://t.me/durov/528.

## `mode` (type: `string`):

Channel info mode returns one row per channel – fast and cheap for checking long lists of channels.

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

Newest messages first. 0 = the whole channel history.

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

Only return messages containing at least one of these words or phrases (case-insensitive). Reads through the channel history, so combine with a date range or message limit. You only pay for matching messages.

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

Use Telegram's built-in channel search. Fast, but Telegram returns only about 20 of the most relevant matches – use the Keyword filter for complete results.

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

Only messages posted on or after this date.

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

Only messages posted on or before this date.

## `onlyNewMessages` (type: `boolean`):

For scheduled monitoring: each run returns only messages posted since the previous run of this scraper on your account (stored per channel). The first run behaves normally.

## `proxyConfiguration` (type: `object`):

Datacenter proxies work fine.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "channels": [
    "durov",
    "@telegram",
    "https://t.me/cointelegraph"
  ],
  "mode": "messages",
  "maxMessagesPerChannel": 50,
  "onlyNewMessages": false,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true
  }
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `messages` (type: `string`):

No description

## `channels` (type: `string`):

No description

## `allResults` (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": [
        "durov",
        "https://t.me/telegram"
    ],
    "maxMessagesPerChannel": 50,
    "proxyConfiguration": {
        "useApifyProxy": true
    }
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("expensive_marquess/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": [
        "durov",
        "https://t.me/telegram",
    ],
    "maxMessagesPerChannel": 50,
    "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": True },
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("expensive_marquess/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": [
    "durov",
    "https://t.me/telegram"
  ],
  "maxMessagesPerChannel": 50,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true
  }
}' |
apify call expensive_marquess/telegram-channel-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,expensive_marquess/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/JAWhWq60mMJO1ZP2H/builds/o3e85rVfXBnZ53lrp/openapi.json