# YouTube Comment Scraper (`fluxcurulin/youtube-comments`) Actor Extract YouTube comments, authors, likes, timestamps, and reply counts from any video. Supports pagination, sort order, and batch video URLs. Perfect for brand monitoring, creator analytics, and audience research. - **URL**: https://apify.com/fluxcurulin/youtube-comments.md - **Developed by:** [Josh Pinkerton](https://apify.com/fluxcurulin) (community) - **Categories:** AI - **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 0.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks - **User rating**: No ratings yet ## Pricing Pay per usage This Actor is paid per platform usage. The Actor is free to use, and you only pay for the Apify platform usage, which gets cheaper the higher subscription plan you have. Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-usage ## What's an Apify Actor? Actors are a software tools running on the Apify platform, for all kinds of web data extraction and automation use cases. 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. Actors are written with capital "A". ## 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. The best way to integrate Actors is as follows. In JavaScript/TypeScript projects, use official [JavaScript/TypeScript client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js.md): ```bash npm install apify-client ``` In Python projects, use official [Python client library](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python.md): ```bash pip install apify-client ``` In shell scripts, use [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): ````bash # MacOS / Linux curl -fsSL https://apify.com/install-cli.sh | bash # Windows irm https://apify.com/install-cli.ps1 | iex ```bash In AI frameworks, you might use the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/mcp.md). If your project is in a different language, use the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md). For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below. For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt). # README ### YouTube Comment Scraper Extract comments, authors, likes, timestamps, and reply counts from YouTube videos without quota limits or API keys. ### Why use this scraper? - Get comments that the YouTube Data API rate-limits or hides - Export comment threads with reply metadata for sentiment analysis - Batch-process multiple videos in one run - No Google Cloud project or API key required ### How to use 1. Open the YouTube Comment Scraper in Apify Console 2. Paste one or more YouTube video URLs into `startUrls` 3. Set `maxComments` and `sortBy` (`top` or `newest`) 4. Click Run. When finished, export the dataset to JSON, CSV, or Excel. ### Input | Field | Type | Description | Default | |-------|------|-------------|---------| | `startUrls` | array | YouTube video URLs | none | | `maxComments` | integer | Max comments to extract per video | `200` | | `sortBy` | enum | Comment sort order | `top` | ### Output ```json { "video_id": "dQw4w9WgXcQ", "comment_id": "UgzYz1234", "author": "commenter_name", "text": "This video changed my life", "likes": 42, "timestamp": "2026-06-01T14:22:00Z", "reply_count": 3 } ```` ### Pricing Pay-per-event: **$0.005 per comment extracted**. A 1,000-comment run costs about $5.00. ### Tips - Use `sortBy: newest` for real-time monitoring - Lower `maxComments` for faster iteration during development - Combine with an NLP or sentiment pipeline for brand monitoring ### FAQ **Does this use the YouTube Data API?** No. It extracts public page data directly, so you bypass quotas entirely. **Can I scrape private or unlisted videos?** No. Only publicly accessible videos can be scraped. # Actor input Schema ## `start_urls` (type: `array`): No description ## `max_comments` (type: `integer`): No description ## `sort_by` (type: `string`): No description ## Actor input object example ```json { "start_urls": [ { "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ" } ], "max_comments": 200, "sort_by": "top" } ``` # Actor output Schema ## `results` (type: `string`): No description # API You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup. ## JavaScript example ```javascript import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client'; // Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token // Replace the '' with your token const client = new ApifyClient({ token: '', }); // Prepare Actor input const input = { "start_urls": [ { "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ" } ] }; // Run the Actor and wait for it to finish const run = await client.actor("fluxcurulin/youtube-comments").call(input); // Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any) console.log('Results from dataset'); console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${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 '' with your token. client = ApifyClient("") # Prepare the Actor input run_input = { "start_urls": [{ "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ" }] } # Run the Actor and wait for it to finish run = client.actor("fluxcurulin/youtube-comments").call(run_input=run_input) # Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any) print("💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/" + run["defaultDatasetId"]) for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items(): print(item) # 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start ``` ## CLI example ```bash echo '{ "start_urls": [ { "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ" } ] }' | apify call fluxcurulin/youtube-comments --silent --output-dataset ``` ## MCP server setup ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "command": "npx", "args": [ "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fluxcurulin/youtube-comments", "--header", "Authorization: Bearer " ] } } } ``` ## OpenAPI specification ```json { "openapi": "3.0.1", "info": { "title": "YouTube Comment Scraper", "description": "Extract YouTube comments, authors, likes, timestamps, and reply counts from any video. Supports pagination, sort order, and batch video URLs. Perfect for brand monitoring, creator analytics, and audience research.", "version": "0.1", "x-build-id": "wJdQzdOB8DIIkxcEf" }, "servers": [ { "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2" } ], "paths": { "/acts/fluxcurulin~youtube-comments/run-sync-get-dataset-items": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-fluxcurulin-youtube-comments", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for its completion, and returns Actor's dataset items in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } }, "/acts/fluxcurulin~youtube-comments/runs": { "post": { "operationId": "runs-sync-fluxcurulin-youtube-comments", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK", "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema" } } } } } } }, "/acts/fluxcurulin~youtube-comments/run-sync": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-fluxcurulin-youtube-comments", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } } }, "components": { "schemas": { "inputSchema": { "type": "object", "required": [ "start_urls" ], "properties": { "start_urls": { "title": "Video URLs", "type": "array", "description": "", "items": { "type": "object", "required": [ "url" ], "properties": { "url": { "type": "string", "title": "URL of a web page", "format": "uri" } } } }, "max_comments": { "title": "Max Comments", "type": "integer", "description": "", "default": 200 }, "sort_by": { "title": "Sort By", "enum": [ "top", "newest" ], "type": "string", "description": "", "default": "top" } } }, "runsResponseSchema": { "type": "object", "properties": { "data": { "type": "object", "properties": { "id": { "type": "string" }, "actId": { "type": "string" }, "userId": { "type": "string" }, "startedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "finishedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "status": { "type": "string", "example": "READY" }, "meta": { "type": "object", "properties": { "origin": { "type": "string", "example": "API" }, "userAgent": { "type": "string" } } }, "stats": { "type": "object", "properties": { "inputBodyLen": { "type": "integer", "example": 2000 }, "rebootCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "restartCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "resurrectCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "computeUnits": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "options": { "type": "object", "properties": { "build": { "type": "string", "example": "latest" }, "timeoutSecs": { "type": "integer", "example": 300 }, "memoryMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 1024 }, "diskMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 2048 } } }, "buildId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultKeyValueStoreId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultDatasetId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultRequestQueueId": { "type": "string" }, "buildNumber": { "type": "string", "example": "1.0.0" }, "containerUrl": { "type": "string" }, "usage": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 1 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "usageTotalUsd": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "usageUsd": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } } } } } } } } } ```