# Telegram Scraper: Channel Posts, Views, Reactions (`fernandosord/telegram-channel-scraper`) Actor

Scrape posts from public Telegram channels without logging in: text, date, views, reactions, photos, videos, links, hashtags and forwards, plus the channel title and subscriber count. Search inside a channel or stop at a date. Export to JSON, CSV or Excel.

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

## Pricing

from $1.00 / 1,000 posts

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

This Telegram scraper exports posts from any public Telegram channel: text, date, views, reactions, photos, videos, link previews and forwards. No Telegram account, phone number or API key needed.

- **Paste a channel, get its posts.** Usernames, `@names` and `t.me` links all work. Newest posts come first.
- **Stop where you want.** Set a post limit per channel, a date like `2026-01-31`, or a period like `30 days`.
- **Search inside channels** with Telegram's own search to pull only the posts that mention a word or phrase.

### What Telegram data you get

| Field | What it holds |
|---|---|
| `text` | Full post text with line breaks kept |
| `date`, `url`, `postId` | When it was posted and a direct link |
| `views` | View count as a number (5.85M becomes 5850000) |
| `reactions`, `totalReactions` | Each reaction with its count, including paid Star reactions |
| `photos`, `videos` | Image URLs, video URLs, thumbnails and durations |
| `linkPreview` | URL, site name, title and description of shared links |
| `links`, `hashtags`, `mentions` | Everything linked or tagged in the text |
| `forwardedFrom`, `replyToPostId` | Where a forward came from and which post it answers |
| `channelTitle`, `channelSubscribers` | Channel name and subscriber count on every row |

### How to scrape a Telegram channel

1. Add one or more public channels, for example `durov` or `https://t.me/telegram`.
2. Set **Max posts per channel**.
3. Optional: add **Only posts newer than** and a **Search** phrase.
4. Run it and export to JSON, CSV or Excel, or call it from the API, Make, Zapier, n8n or an AI agent through the Apify MCP server.

#### Example input

```json
{
  "channels": ["durov", "https://t.me/telegram"],
  "maxPostsPerChannel": 50,
  "onlyPostsNewerThan": "90 days"
}
```

#### Example output (one post, shortened)

```json
{
  "channel": "durov",
  "channelTitle": "Pavel Durov",
  "channelSubscribers": 10200000,
  "postId": 551,
  "url": "https://t.me/durov/551",
  "date": "2026-10-10T14:22:43+00:00",
  "text": "💸 If your wallet doesn’t look like this, don’t even bother sending me money for my birthday! 🎂",
  "views": 1770000,
  "reactions": [
    { "emoji": "stars", "count": 60200 },
    { "emoji": "custom:5936157098181135162", "count": 37000 }
  ],
  "totalReactions": 119450,
  "videos": [{ "url": "https://cdn4.telesco.pe/file/f4b10a0c75.mp4?token=...", "thumbnail": "https://cdn4.telesco.pe/file/pkoIVWp1...", "duration": null }],
  "forwardedFrom": null
}
```

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

You pay per post saved: $0.001 per post, plus $0.0005 once per run. 1,000 posts cost about $1.00, and Apify's free plan credit of $5 a month covers about 5,000 posts. Channels that fail (private, deleted or not a channel) cost nothing and are listed in the `PROBLEMS` record of the run's key-value store.

### Telegram scraper use cases

- **Crypto, finance and news monitoring:** track announcements the minute they are posted, on a schedule.
- **Brand and competitor tracking:** search channels for your brand or product names.
- **Research and journalism:** archive a channel's public history with dates, views and reactions.
- **Engagement analysis:** compare views and reactions across posts and channels.

### FAQ

**Which channels work?**
Any public channel that shows a web preview at `t.me/s/<name>`. Private channels, groups and bots do not have one, so they are skipped with a clear message.

**Why do some reactions say `custom:` with a number?**
Those are custom emoji. Telegram's public page only shows their ID, not the picture. Paid reactions show as `stars`.

**Why does `forwardedFrom` sometimes have no name?**
The original sender hides their identity when forwarding, so Telegram does not show it.

**Do I need a Telegram account?**
No. The Actor reads the same public web preview anyone can open in a browser.

**Is this legal?**
It only reads information channels publish publicly. You are responsible for how you use the data, especially any personal data under laws like GDPR.

### Other Actors by this developer

- [Google Trends API](https://apify.com/fernandosord/google-trends-reliable): interest over time, by region and related queries for any keyword.
- [Google Trending Now](https://apify.com/fernandosord/google-trending-now): today's trending searches for any list of countries, with the news behind them.
- [Website Change Detection](https://apify.com/fernandosord/website-change-monitor): get the exact lines that changed on any page you watch.
- [Website Tech Stack Detector](https://apify.com/fernandosord/website-tech-stack-detector): the CMS, frameworks and analytics behind a list of sites.

# Actor input Schema

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

Public channel usernames or links, for example durov, @telegram or https://t.me/telegram.

## `maxPostsPerChannel` (type: `integer`):

Newest posts first. The Actor stops at this number for each channel.

## `onlyPostsNewerThan` (type: `string`):

Optional. A date (2026-01-31) or a relative period (7 days, 3 months). Older posts are skipped.

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

Optional. Only return posts matching this word or phrase, using Telegram's own channel search.

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

Proxy settings. The default Apify proxy works for public channels.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "channels": [
    "telegram"
  ],
  "maxPostsPerChannel": 20,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true
  }
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

One item per post, newest first.

# 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"
    ],
    "maxPostsPerChannel": 20,
    "proxyConfiguration": {
        "useApifyProxy": true
    }
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("fernandosord/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"],
    "maxPostsPerChannel": 20,
    "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": True },
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("fernandosord/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"
  ],
  "maxPostsPerChannel": 20,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true
  }
}' |
apify call fernandosord/telegram-channel-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,fernandosord/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/ZpnwfnlDNWRof2DDc/builds/TXPCBNqz6Z7AiZSAo/openapi.json