# YouTube Comments Scraper (`gocreative.ai/youtube-comments-scraper`) Actor

Scrape YouTube comments from any list of videos. One row per comment with text, author, like count, reply count and publish time. Sort by top or newest.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/gocreative.ai/youtube-comments-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [GoCreative AI](https://apify.com/gocreative.ai) (community)
- **Categories:** Social media, Videos
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $0.95 / 1,000 comments

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/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

Actors are web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows.
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.

- **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use).
- **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`.
- **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`.
- **Python projects** — the official [Python client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): `pip install apify-client`.
- **Any other language** — 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 Comments Scraper

Paste a list of YouTube videos and get their comments back as a clean table — one row per
comment, with the text, who wrote it, how many likes and replies it drew, and when it was posted.
Accepts watch URLs, `youtu.be` share links, Shorts links and bare 11-character video IDs.

No API key. No YouTube Data API quota. No browser automation.

### Top comments or newest — your choice

Leave `sortByNewest` off and you get YouTube's own **Top comments** ranking: the ones with real
engagement behind them, which is what you want for sentiment and research.

Turn it on and you get the **most recent** comments instead — pulled through the same "Newest
first" switch the site itself uses, not a client-side re-sort of the top ones. That is the mode
for monitoring a video after launch.

### What you get

| Field | Example |
|---|---|
| `source_input` | `https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ` |
| `video_id` | `dQw4w9WgXcQ` |
| `comment_id` | `UgytxzyUgymSYxND1FZ4AaABAg` |
| `text` | *(full comment text)* |
| `author_name` | `@somebody` |
| `author_channel_id` | `UCuAXFkgsw1L7xaCfnd5JJOw` |
| `author_is_creator` | `false` |
| `like_count` | `1284` |
| `reply_count` | `37` |
| `published_text` | `2 weeks ago` |
| `fetched_at` | `2026-08-15T19:44:02+00:00` |

`like_count` and `reply_count` are real integers — sort and filter them directly.

`author_is_creator` flags replies from the channel owner, so you can separate creator responses
from audience comments in one filter.

### Input

```json
{
  "videoUrls": [
    "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ",
    "https://youtu.be/ix9cRaBkVe0",
    "8KCuHHeC_M0"
  ],
  "maxCommentsPerVideo": 100,
  "sortByNewest": false,
  "minLikes": 5
}
```

| Option | Default | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| `videoUrls` | *(required)* | Any mix of URL formats or bare IDs. |
| `maxCommentsPerVideo` | `50` | 1–500 top-level comments per video. |
| `sortByNewest` | `false` | Off = Top comments. On = most recent first. |
| `minLikes` | `0` | Drop low-engagement comments. |

### What people use it for

- **Audience research** — read what people actually say under the videos in your category,
  at volume, instead of scrolling one video at a time.
- **Product and content feedback** — pull comments on your own uploads and sort by `like_count`
  to find the objections and requests that resonate.
- **Launch monitoring** — `sortByNewest` on a schedule gives you a rolling feed of new reactions.
- **Creator response tracking** — filter `author_is_creator` to see how a channel engages.

### Export

Results land in a standard Apify dataset: CSV, JSON, Excel or XML download, or straight from the
API.

### Notes

- Top-level comments only. Reply threads are not expanded — `reply_count` tells you how many
  exist.
- Videos with comments disabled come back as rows with `ok: false` and a plain-English `error`,
  tagged with the URL you supplied, so nothing disappears silently.
- Comment text is returned as published, without translation or sentiment scoring.

# Actor input Schema

## `videoUrls` (type: `array`):

Any mix of watch URLs, youtu.be share links, Shorts links or bare 11-character video IDs.

## `maxCommentsPerVideo` (type: `integer`):

Top-level comments to pull from each video (1-500). Replies are not expanded.

## `sortByNewest` (type: `boolean`):

Pull the most recent comments instead of YouTube's 'Top comments' ranking. Use this for monitoring; leave off for the comments with the most engagement.

## `minLikes` (type: `integer`):

Drop comments below this like count. Set 0 to keep everything.

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

YouTube rate-limits cloud IPs, so runs go through Apify Proxy by default. Leave as-is unless you have a reason to change it.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "videoUrls": [
    "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ"
  ],
  "maxCommentsPerVideo": 50,
  "sortByNewest": false,
  "minLikes": 0,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true,
    "apifyProxyGroups": [
      "BUYPROXIES94952"
    ]
  }
}
```

# Actor output Schema

# 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 = {
    "videoUrls": [
        "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ"
    ],
    "proxyConfiguration": {
        "useApifyProxy": true,
        "apifyProxyGroups": [
            "BUYPROXIES94952"
        ]
    }
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("gocreative.ai/youtube-comments-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 = {
    "videoUrls": ["https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ"],
    "proxyConfiguration": {
        "useApifyProxy": True,
        "apifyProxyGroups": ["BUYPROXIES94952"],
    },
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("gocreative.ai/youtube-comments-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 '{
  "videoUrls": [
    "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ"
  ],
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true,
    "apifyProxyGroups": [
      "BUYPROXIES94952"
    ]
  }
}' |
apify call gocreative.ai/youtube-comments-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,gocreative.ai/youtube-comments-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/gl1rCoGUA1hgMWPAc/builds/hn87iKtpxteqOiXmP/openapi.json