Facebook Comments Scraper

Export visible public Facebook post comments to a structured dataset for social listening, moderation review, campaign reporting, and research. Facebook Comments Scraper accepts post URLs and returns comment text, author names, displayed dates, and available engagement details for CSV, JSON, Excel, or API export.

The Actor runs logged out. Facebook may hide comments or require login even on a public post, so results can be partial or empty. A requested limit is not a completeness guarantee.

Quick start

1. Paste a public Facebook post URL into Public Facebook post URLs.
2. Start with maxCommentsPerPost: 20, then select Save & Start.
3. Open the dataset to review or download the results. If it is empty, inspect the run's RUN-SUMMARY key-value record for warnings.

{
  "startUrls": [{ "url": "https://www.facebook.com/humansofnewyork/posts/pfbid0BbKbkisExKGSKuhee9a7i86RwRuMKFC8NSkKStB7CsM3uXJuAAfZLrkcJMXxhH4Yl" }],
  "maxCommentsPerPost": 20
}

Prefer a video guide? This short Apify walkthrough shows you how to set up and run an Actor. It uses a different Actor, but the setup steps are the same.

Ready-to-run examples

Choose a public example to see its settings before starting a run:

• Compare Facebook Comments Across Public Posts
• Facebook Comments API Example
• Scrape Facebook Comments from a Public Post

What you get

• Primary job: Export Facebook comments data from public post URLs.
• Input: One or more public Facebook post URLs plus a per-post comment limit.
• Output: One dataset row per saved comment with author name, comment text, relative date, likes, source post URL, raw visible text, and scrape timestamp.
• Best for: Social listening, engagement analysis, moderation triage, creator intelligence, dashboards, alerts, and research exports.

What data can you extract?

Field	Description
commentId	Facebook comment ID when available. Otherwise a derived identifier that can change when the displayed text or date changes.
sourcePostUrl	Facebook post URL that produced the comment.
postTitle	Visible post/page label or title captured from the public page.
authorName	Publicly visible comment author name.
authorUrl	Public author/profile URL when Facebook exposes it in the logged-out view.
commentText	Cleaned visible comment text.
relativeDate	Visible Facebook relative date label, such as 2w or 1y.
likeCount	Visible comment-like count when present.
replyDiagnostics	Visible reply count/label when present.
commentPermalink	Comment permalink when Facebook exposes it publicly.
rawText	Raw visible row text used for audit and parser diagnostics.
scrapedAt	ISO timestamp when the row was saved.

Who is it for?

• Social listening teams tracking public reactions to brand, creator, media or campaign posts.
• Moderation and community teams reviewing visible comment text, authors and source URLs in downstream tools.
• Analysts and researchers preparing Facebook comment exports for their own reports or archives.

How you can use the data

• Review reactions to a known campaign post. Supply its public post URL with a small per-post cap. Keep commentText, sourcePostUrl, relativeDate and scrapedAt together before comparing themes in your own reporting.
• Prepare a moderation-review sheet. Export visible comment text, author names and source links to your own review queue. Treat each row as material for human review rather than an automated moderation decision.
• Research a creator's visible audience responses. Inspect comment text and available likes or reply labels from a supplied public post. Reply labels do not provide the full nested reply tree, and sentiment analysis belongs in a separate downstream step.
• Compare separate post exports carefully. Retain source post URLs and capture times alongside IDs. A derived comment ID can change when Facebook changes displayed text or date labels, and the Actor does not track new comments between runs.

Input settings

Setting	JSON key	Use it for	Example
Public Facebook post URLs	startUrls	Required post URLs. Unavailable or login-gated views may produce no rows. Inspect the run summary.	[{"url":"https://www.facebook.com/humansofnewyork/posts/..."}]
Maximum comments per post	maxCommentsPerPost	Cap saved comments per post and control spend.	20
Legacy alias	maxItems	Backward-compatible alias for older integrations. Prefer maxCommentsPerPost.	20

Example inputs

Use the Quick start input as a small first run. Adjust the fields described above for your own data.

Output data

Illustrative shape only, not an observed comment or a promise of available data:

{
  "commentId": "derived_example",
  "sourcePostUrl": "https://www.facebook.com/humansofnewyork/posts/pfbid0BbKbkisExKGSKuhee9a7i86RwRuMKFC8NSkKStB7CsM3uXJuAAfZLrkcJMXxhH4Yl",
  "postTitle": "Humans of New York",
  "authorName": "Example author",
  "authorUrl": null,
  "commentText": "Example comment text.",
  "relativeDate": "2w",
  "likeCount": 12,
  "replyDiagnostics": "1 reply",
  "commentPermalink": null,
  "rawText": "Example author Example comment text. 2w 12 1 reply",
  "scrapedAt": "2026-07-31T18:42:04.000Z"
}

Download your results

Open your run's dataset, choose Export and select JSON, CSV or Excel. JSON keeps nested fields together. CSV and Excel are useful when you want to review the records in a spreadsheet.

See Apify's download and export guide for the available formats and field options.

Pricing

The start event is charged once after valid post input is accepted, including runs that later save no comments. The comment event is charged once per saved comment row. Warnings and diagnostic records are not comment rows.

Current rates and account-tier discounts are shown on the live Apify Pricing tab. Check it before collecting larger batches.

Tips for best results

• Choose posts visible without login. Public status alone does not guarantee that Facebook exposes comments in a logged-out view.
• Start with a small per-post cap. Inspect the visible fields before increasing later exports.
• Split large post lists into smaller batches. A blocked or unavailable target should not dominate your review of unrelated posts.
• Keep source links and capture times in downstream records. Relative dates and derived IDs can change between exports.
• Inspect warnings after an empty export. Read RUN-SUMMARY and any diagnostic record before interpreting unavailable comments.

Limits and caveats

• The Actor does not offer sorting or date filters. It uses Facebook's displayed order, not a guaranteed newest-first or exhaustive order.

• Reply labels are not a complete nested reply tree. Sentiment analysis, alerts, and cross-run comparisons require downstream tools.

• An empty extraction records warnings in RUN-SUMMARY and a diagnostics-N record. A target navigation failure is recorded separately in the summary. Inaccessibility alone does not establish whether a post is private or deleted.

• The Actor runs against public, visible Facebook post pages. It does not log in, bypass privacy settings, or return private comments.

• Facebook can hide, reorder, or limit comments in public views. The dataset reflects what was visible during the run.

• Some optional fields, especially author URLs and comment permalinks, are only saved when Facebook exposes them publicly.

• Relative dates are captured as displayed by Facebook. Use scrapedAt with relativeDate for freshness analysis.

Automation and integrations

Save your settings for next time

Once you have an input that works for you, save it as an Apify task. This keeps your settings together so you can use them again without filling in the form from scratch.

Run on a schedule

Need fresh results regularly? You can schedule the Actor or a saved task to run at a time that suits you.

Each scheduled run collects the data again. If you want to compare results or highlight changes, add that step in your own workflow.

Send results to your other tools

Use n8n, Make or Zapier to connect this scraper to the rest of your workflow. For example, you could pass its results to an AI assistant or add records to a spreadsheet. Follow the Apify integration guides for your chosen tool.

For a custom connection, an Apify webhook can notify your app when a run finishes or fails. Your app can then fetch the results or handle the failure.

API usage

Want to collect this data from your own app or automation? The examples below send input to the scraper and show how to collect its results.

The Node.js and Python examples wait for the run to finish before reading its results. The cURL example starts the run and returns its details. Wait for that run to finish, then use its defaultDatasetId to fetch the results.

For setup instructions, see Apify's JavaScript client guide, Python client guide and Actor runs API reference.

cURL

curl -X POST 'https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/fetch_cat~facebook-comments-scraper/runs' \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $APIFY_TOKEN" \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  --data @- <<'JSON'
{
  "startUrls": [
    {
      "url": "https://www.facebook.com/humansofnewyork/posts/pfbid0BbKbkisExKGSKuhee9a7i86RwRuMKFC8NSkKStB7CsM3uXJuAAfZLrkcJMXxhH4Yl"
    }
  ],
  "maxCommentsPerPost": 20
}
JSON

Node.js

import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

const client = new ApifyClient({ token: process.env.APIFY_TOKEN });
const run = await client.actor('fetch_cat/facebook-comments-scraper').call({
  "startUrls": [
    {
      "url": "https://www.facebook.com/humansofnewyork/posts/pfbid0BbKbkisExKGSKuhee9a7i86RwRuMKFC8NSkKStB7CsM3uXJuAAfZLrkcJMXxhH4Yl"
    }
  ],
  "maxCommentsPerPost": 20
});
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
console.log(items);

Python

import os
from apify_client import ApifyClient

client = ApifyClient(os.environ['APIFY_TOKEN'])
run = client.actor('fetch_cat/facebook-comments-scraper').call(run_input={'startUrls': [{'url': 'https://www.facebook.com/humansofnewyork/posts/pfbid0BbKbkisExKGSKuhee9a7i86RwRuMKFC8NSkKStB7CsM3uXJuAAfZLrkcJMXxhH4Yl'}], 'maxCommentsPerPost': 20})
print(client.dataset(run['defaultDatasetId']).list_items().items)

MCP and AI agents

You can ask your AI assistant to collect data with Facebook Comments Scraper and help you work with the results. The scraper returns the data, and your assistant can then summarize it, compare records or prepare notes.

Connect your assistant through the Apify MCP server. MCP gives your assistant a way to find this scraper, run it and read the results. Follow the official setup and sign-in guide for your app.

Easier setup with an Apify plugin

If you use a supported coding assistant, the official Apify plugin can set up the connection for you. It connects your assistant to Apify and includes instructions for common tasks. Follow the guide for your particular app.

Use Apify AI in Console

Prefer to keep everything in Apify? Open Apify AI in Console and ask it to find Fetch Cat's Facebook Comments Scraper. You can describe the data you want and ask questions about the results.

Apify AI is currently in beta. It asks for confirmation before starting an Actor, and normal run charges apply.

Choose your assistant

• Claude and Claude Code (Anthropic): Apify setup guide.
• ChatGPT and Codex (OpenAI): Apify setup guides.
• Grok Bot (xAI): Apify plugin guide.
• Gemini CLI (Google): MCP server setup guide. Use the server URL below with the HTTP configuration supported by Gemini CLI.

Connect just this scraper

To keep your setup focused on this scraper, add this server configuration to a compatible MCP client:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "apify": {
      "url": "https://mcp.apify.com?tools=fetch_cat/facebook-comments-scraper"
    }
  }
}

Sign in to Apify when your client asks. If your client uses a Bearer token instead, follow its setup guide and keep the token in its secure configuration. Configuration formats vary by app, so use the linked guide if your client needs a different format.

Use Apify's general server

Already connected to the general Apify MCP server at https://mcp.apify.com? You can use it to find this scraper without adding another server. Ask your assistant to use Facebook Comments Scraper by Fetch Cat, or give it the identifier fetch_cat/facebook-comments-scraper.

Your assistant can check the available settings and retrieve the results from the returned run. If the run is still working, it should follow that run rather than start it again. Both connection options use Apify's hosted service.

Example requests

• “Use Fetch Cat’s Facebook Comments Scraper to collect up to 5 visible comments from the public post URL I provide. Show comment text, source post links and displayed dates with collection times for manual campaign review.”
• “Collect at most 3 comments per post from these 2 public Facebook post URLs. Include visible author names and available likes so I can prepare a human moderation-review sheet.”
• “Retrieve up to 5 visible comments from my supplied creator post. Keep reply labels separate from comment text, and explain any partial or empty outcome without claiming a full reply tree or newest-first order.”

Normal Apify charges apply. Check the live Pricing tab before asking your assistant to run a larger batch.

Pay with x402

If your AI agent has a funded wallet, it can pay for Apify usage through x402. This experimental option lets an agent use Apify without a conventional account.

Apify AGI provides a prepaid API token with a spending cap after payment. Your agent can use that token to run this scraper through the Apify API or an authenticated MCP connection.

Some MCP setups also support paying for each request directly. That is a different payment option, so check the official guide for its availability.

Follow the official guide for wallet setup, supported payment options and current terms. Apify handles the payments. Keep wallet keys and payment tokens in your agent's secure configuration.

Other ways for agents to pay

Apify also supports MPP for prepaid access through AGI and Skyfire for eligible Actors. If your agent already uses one of these, see the agentic payment guide to choose the right setup.

FAQ

What data can I export with Facebook Comments Scraper?

You can export visible public comment text, author names, source post URLs, relative dates, likes when shown, reply labels when shown, raw visible text, and scrape timestamps.

Can I run Facebook Comments Scraper through an API, schedule, or MCP client?

Yes. Use the Apify API, webhooks, or the official Apify MCP Server. Repeated execution and comparison are external workflow features, not built-in monitoring or new-comment detection.

How much does it cost to use Facebook Comments Scraper?

The Actor charges a startup event and a per-comment event for each saved dataset row. Check the live Apify Pricing tab for current tier prices before running large jobs.

How do I export Facebook comments data to CSV or Excel?

Run the Actor with public post URLs, open the default dataset, and choose CSV, Excel, JSON, XML, RSS, or API export from Apify.

Why are some author URLs or comment links empty?

Facebook does not always expose profile links or comment permalinks in logged-out public views. The Actor leaves unavailable optional fields empty instead of guessing.

Can it scrape private groups or comments behind login?

No. The first version is limited to visible public post comments and does not use user accounts or private permissions.

Related Actors

More Facebook scrapers

• Facebook Ads Library Scraper — Collect public Meta ad copy, advertiser details and available creative links for advertising research.
• Facebook Events Scraper — Collect public event dates, venues, hosts and ticket links from event or organizer targets.
• Facebook Marketplace Scraper — Collect visible public listing titles, prices, locations and a primary image for local inventory research.
• Facebook Pages Scraper — Collect public Page profile and contact fields, visible audience counts and optional post links.
• Facebook Reels Scraper — Collect public Reel URLs, IDs and available owner and play-count metadata from known Reels or profile tabs.

Support and feedback

For custom additions or integrations, email hello@fetchcat.dev.

Found an error or have a feature request? Open an issue with the run URL, a non-sensitive input example and what you expected.

Need help sharing it? See Apify’s guide to sharing a run when reporting an issue. Sharing a run can give the developer access to its input, logs and results, so use a run that contains no sensitive data. Please leave out API tokens, passwords, cookies, private documents and personal data. Use a public sample URL or a redacted example instead.

Tried this scraper? We'd love to hear how it worked for you. Leave a review to help others choose the right tool and help us improve it. Your feedback means a lot to us.

Made with care for curious people, AI agents and the possibilities in data. ♥