Reddit Scraper Pro — API-Based, Never Breaks on Redesigns

The most reliable Reddit scraper on Apify. Uses Reddit's native JSON API instead of HTML parsing — so it never breaks when Reddit updates their UI.

Why This Scraper?

Most Reddit scrapers use HTML/CSS selectors that break every time Reddit changes their design. This scraper uses Reddit's official JSON endpoint (/r/subreddit.json) — the same data format Reddit's own apps use. This means:

• ✅ Never breaks on redesigns — JSON API is separate from the UI
• ✅ Complete data — 20+ fields per post, full comment trees
• ✅ Structured output — clean JSON, no HTML parsing artifacts
• ✅ No login required — public data, no credentials needed
• ✅ Built-in rate limiting — respects Reddit's API limits, won't get you banned

Features

• 20+ data fields per post — title, author, score, upvote ratio, comment count, flair, awards, URL, self text, link URL, domain, NSFW flag, stickied status, and more
• Full comment threads — nested comments with author, score, depth level, and creation date
• Multiple subreddits — scrape r/programming, r/datascience, r/Entrepreneur in one run
• Cross-Reddit search — find posts by keyword across all of Reddit
• Flexible sorting — hot, new, top, rising with time filters (hour/day/week/month/year)
• Automatic pagination — follows Reddit's cursor-based pagination for 500+ posts
• Proxy support — uses Apify Proxy (residential) for reliable access

Output Data (20+ fields)

{
 "id": "1b2c3d4",
 "title": "What tools do you use for market research?",
 "author": "startup_founder",
 "subreddit": "Entrepreneur",
 "score": 847,
 "upvoteRatio": 0.94,
 "numComments": 234,
 "createdUtc": "2026-03-17T15:30:00.000Z",
 "url": "https://reddit.com/r/Entrepreneur/comments/.",
 "selfText": "I've been looking for affordable tools.",
 "linkUrl": "https://example.com/article",
 "flair": "Discussion",
 "awards": 3,
 "isNSFW": false,
 "isStickied": false,
 "domain": "self.Entrepreneur",
 "thumbnail": "https://.",
 "comments": [
 {
 "id": "abc123",
 "author": "data_analyst",
 "body": "I use a combination of.",
 "score": 156,
 "createdUtc": "2026-03-17T16:00:00.000Z",
 "depth": 0
 }
 ]
}

Use Cases

• Market research — discover what people say about your product, brand, or industry
• Sentiment analysis — collect posts and comments for NLP models
• AI training data — build datasets from Reddit discussions for LLM fine-tuning
• Trend monitoring — track emerging topics and viral content in real-time
• Competitive intelligence — monitor competitor mentions and complaints
• Content research — find top questions and topics your audience cares about
• Lead generation — identify users asking for your type of product/service
• Academic research — gather social media data for papers and studies

Input Parameters

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
subreddits	Array	[]	Subreddit names (e.g., ["technology", "startups"])
searchQueries	Array	[]	Search terms across all of Reddit
maxPostsPerSource	Number	50	Max posts per subreddit/query (1-500)
includeComments	Boolean	true	Extract comment threads
maxCommentsPerPost	Number	20	Max comments per post
sortBy	String	"hot"	Sort: hot, new, top, rising
timeFilter	String	"week"	Time filter: hour, day, week, month, year

Technical Details

• Method: Reddit JSON API (/r/subreddit.json, /search.json)
• Proxy: Apify residential proxy for reliable access
• Rate limiting: Built-in delays between requests (2-3 seconds)
• Pagination: Cursor-based (Reddit's after parameter)
• Error handling: Graceful handling of 403/429 errors with retry logic

Cost Estimation

• ~$0.50 per 100 posts without comments
• ~$1.00 per 100 posts with full comment threads
• Free tier available with Apify free plan

Important: Proxy Requirements

Reddit blocks most datacenter IP addresses. For reliable operation on Apify Cloud:

• Apify Proxy (Residential) — recommended, works reliably
• Apify Proxy (Datacenter) — may get 403 errors on some subreddits
• No proxy (local) — works fine when running locally

If you're on the Apify Free plan (datacenter-only proxy), some subreddits may return empty results. Upgrading to a paid plan with residential proxy access solves this.

Step-by-Step Tutorial

1. Open Reddit Scraper on Apify

Go to Reddit Scraper Pro and click "Try for free."

2. Enter Subreddits

Add subreddit names without the r/ prefix:

{
 "subreddits": ["startups", "SaaS", "Entrepreneur"],
 "maxPostsPerSource": 50,
 "sortBy": "top",
 "timeFilter": "month"
}

3. Or Search Across All of Reddit

{
 "searchQueries": ["best CRM tools", "project management software"],
 "maxPostsPerSource": 25
}

4. Run and Download

Results are available as JSON, CSV, or Excel. Each post includes 20+ fields.

Integration Examples

Python

import requests
response = requests.get(
 "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/knotless_cadence~reddit-scraper-pro/runs/last/dataset/items",
 params={"token": "YOUR_TOKEN"}
)
posts = response.json()
for post in posts:
 print(f"[{post['score']}] {post['title']}")

JavaScript

const response = await fetch(
 `https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/knotless_cadence~reddit-scraper-pro/runs/last/dataset/items?token=YOUR_TOKEN`
);
const posts = await response.json();
posts.forEach(p => console.log(`[${p.score}] ${p.title}`));

n8n Workflow

1. HTTP Request node → POST https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/knotless_cadence~reddit-scraper-pro/runs
2. Wait node → 30 seconds
3. HTTP Request node → GET ./runs/last/dataset/items
4. Send to Slack/Sheets/CRM

Pricing

Volume	Estimated Cost
100 posts (no comments)	~$0.50
100 posts + comments	~$1.00
500 posts + comments	~$3.00

Free tier available on Apify's free plan (with datacenter proxy limitations).

FAQ

Q: Why JSON API instead of HTML scraping? A: HTML scrapers break every time Reddit updates their design. The JSON API returns structured data in a format that hasn't changed in years. It's the same API Reddit's mobile app uses.

Q: Can I scrape private subreddits? A: No — only publicly accessible subreddits. This scraper uses public endpoints.

Q: Does it need my Reddit credentials? A: No. All data is fetched from public JSON endpoints.

Q: How many posts can I get per run? A: Up to 500 posts per subreddit with pagination. Multiple subreddits can be scraped in one run.

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Need a custom Reddit variant?

Common asks I've delivered for paying clients:

• Sentiment dashboard — daily sentiment scoring on a list of subreddits, fed into Looker/Metabase
• Keyword alerts — webhook fires the moment a brand/term appears in target subreddits
• Competitor tracking — pull all mentions of competitor names, summarize weekly
• Comment-thread expansion — recursive comment graph for any post, exportable as edge list
• Cross-source merge — Reddit + HackerNews + Bluesky into one normalized feed for one query

Typical turnaround 2–4 days, scoped before any payment. Email spinov001@gmail.com.

More from me

• Technical write-ups + case studies: blog.spinov.online
• 78+ more scrapers: apify.com/knotless_cadence
• Daily scraping/AI tips: t.me/scraping_ai

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