Reddit Posts & Comments Scraper

Collect Reddit posts from public subreddits. The Actor tries Reddit's JSON endpoint, then a keyless Atom feed when JSON access is blocked. Search, user profiles, comments, and full engagement metrics depend on JSON access. Both sources can be restricted by Reddit.

Features

• Subreddit scraping — collect posts from any public subreddit (e.g. python, machinelearning, technology)
• Reddit search — global keyword search across all of Reddit
• User profile scraping — collect posts submitted by specific users
• Sort by hot / new / top / rising / controversial
• Time filter for top/controversial: hour / day / week / month / year / all time
• Top comments — optionally fetch the top N comments per post
• NSFW filtering — skip adult content by default
• Bulk input — pass multiple subreddits and users in one run
• Keyless subreddit fallback — public Atom feed when Reddit serves it; availability varies by network and rate limit

Output Fields

Field	Description
post_id	Reddit post ID (e.g. abc123)
title	Post title
subreddit	Subreddit name
author	Reddit username
score	Net upvotes
upvote_ratio	Fraction of upvotes (0–1)
num_comments	Total comments on post
flair	Post flair label
is_nsfw	Over-18 flag
url	External link URL (or reddit.com for text posts)
permalink	Full reddit.com URL to the post
created_utc	Post creation time (ISO 8601 UTC)
selftext_preview	First 500 chars of post body
thumbnail	Thumbnail image URL (if available)
domain	Link domain
awards	Number of Reddit awards
source_type	subreddit / search / user
source	Source identifier (e.g. r/python)
top_comments	Array of top comments (when enabled)

Example Input

{
  "subreddits": ["python", "machinelearning"],
  "sort": "top",
  "timeFilter": "week",
  "maxPostsPerSource": 100,
  "includeComments": true,
  "maxCommentsPerPost": 5,
  "skipNsfw": true
}

Scrape the top 100 posts from r/python and r/machinelearning this week, including top 5 comments per post.

Search example

{
  "searchQuery": "ChatGPT alternative",
  "sort": "new",
  "maxPostsPerSource": 200
}

User profile example

{
  "usernames": ["spez", "kn0thing"],
  "sort": "top",
  "timeFilter": "all",
  "maxPostsPerSource": 50
}

Pricing

Event	Price
Actor start	$0.005 (once)
Per post scraped	$0.003

Example: 1,000 posts = $3.005 total.

Rate Limits

Reddit may block or rate-limit anonymous JSON and Atom requests from datacenter IPs. A blocked source produces an explanatory log and an empty dataset without charging. Avoid frequent repeated requests.

No API Key Needed

Subreddit listings can use Reddit's public Atom feed without an API key when it is available. Atom records retain the output keys but do not contain scores, upvote ratios, comment counts, flair, NSFW flags, or comment bodies; numeric placeholders in those fields are not measured engagement, and skipNsfw cannot be guaranteed on this path. Reddit has announced the end of public RSS/Atom support on November 13, 2026, so this fallback is temporary.

Use Cases

• Sentiment analysis — collect posts about a product/brand/topic
• Research — gather data from niche communities
• Content monitoring — track trending discussions
• Lead generation — find relevant threads in business subreddits
• AI training data — collect community discussions at scale

Notes

• Deleted/removed posts are excluded automatically
• Reddit limits free API to ~1,000 posts per sort order per subreddit
• Private and quarantined subreddits are not accessible

Setup Requirements

For fuller JSON results when Reddit blocks direct requests from datacenter IP addresses, use one of these optional access methods:

Option A: Apify Proxy (Recommended)

Use the proxyConfiguration input field with "useApifyProxy": true. Apify Proxy routes requests through residential IPs that Reddit allows. Proxy costs are separate from actor usage costs.

{
  "subreddits": ["python"],
  "proxyConfiguration": {"useApifyProxy": true, "apifyProxyGroups": ["RESIDENTIAL"]}
}

Option B: Your Own Reddit App Credentials

Create a free Reddit app at reddit.com/prefs/apps (type: "script"). Then pass your client_id and client_secret via the redditClientId and redditClientSecret input fields.

{
  "subreddits": ["python"],
  "redditClientId": "your_client_id",
  "redditClientSecret": "your_client_secret"
}

A proxy or credentials do not guarantee access. If Reddit blocks JSON and Atom from the runtime IP, the Actor logs the restriction, returns no posts, and does not charge.

Keywords: Reddit scraper, subreddit, Reddit posts, comments, Reddit API, social media scraper, Reddit data, Reddit search

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Related actors

• Hacker News Scraper — Tech community discussion alongside Reddit for broader developer sentiment
• Google News Scraper — News headlines to contextualize Reddit discussion spikes around specific topics
• Token Social Metrics — Crypto social sentiment including Reddit activity for token research workflows

Feedback

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