# Telegram Channel Scraper: Posts, Views, Media & Channel Info (`openclawai/telegram-scraper`) Actor

Telegram channel scraper, no login, phone number or bot token: Telegram channel posts (full history), Telegram views and reactions, photo and video links, Telegram posts by link, and Telegram channel info with subscribers. Date filter for monitoring. $0.50 per 1,000 posts.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/openclawai/telegram-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Pika Choo](https://apify.com/openclawai) (community)
- **Categories:** Social media, News, AI
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $0.50 / 1,000 telegram posts

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
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.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## 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.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## 📢 Telegram Channel Scraper: Posts, Views, Media & Channel Info

Telegram channel scraper, no login, phone number or bot token: Telegram channel posts (full history), Telegram views and reactions, photo and video links, Telegram posts by link, and Telegram channel info with subscribers. Date filter for monitoring. **$0.50 per 1,000 posts**.

### 📋 Table of contents

- [What does it do?](#what-does-it-do)
- [Features](#features)
- [Pricing](#pricing)
- [Input](#input)
- [Output](#output)
- [Troubleshooting](#troubleshooting)
- [Who uses this Telegram Scraper?](#who-uses-this-telegram-scraper)
- [Use cases](#use-cases)
- [FAQ](#faq)
- [API, Python, JavaScript and MCP](#api-python-javascript-and-mcp)

### What does it do?

Telegram Scraper collects posts from public Telegram channels and returns clean rows. Give it channel links, @usernames or post links and it returns the channel's posts, newest first, back through its whole history: text, publish time, views, reactions, forwarded-from info, link previews and photo and video links. It also returns channel info (title, description, subscribers, verified badge, photo and video counts) and single posts by link. Set a date and it only returns posts newer than that, which makes hourly or daily monitoring cheap. Your own Telegram account, phone number or bot is never used.

### Features

#### 🎬 What you can scrape on Telegram

| Mode | What you give it | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| `channel_posts` | channel link / @username | Channel posts — full history, newest first |
| `channel_info` | channel link / @username | Channel info — subscribers, description, verified |
| `post_detail` | post link (t.me/name/123) | Post details — one post per link |

#### ✨ Smart features

- Full channel history, 100 posts per request
- Only posts newer than a date or "7 days": the run stops at the first older post
- t.me/name, t.me/s/name, @name and post links all work
- Views and total reactions on every post, each reaction in `raw`
- Photo, album and video links, link previews and forwarded-from info
- Many channels in one run
- Duplicates are removed automatically
- 🔓 No login, no cookies, no proxy setup
- 💸 Pay only for results: hint and error rows are free

#### 🧭 More scrapers from us

- [Twitter Scraper (X)](https://apify.com/openclawai/twitter-scraper)
- [Threads Scraper](https://apify.com/openclawai/threads-scraper)
- [Instagram Scraper](https://apify.com/openclawai/instagram-scraper)
- [YouTube Scraper](https://apify.com/openclawai/youtube-video-scraper)

### Pricing

You pay per result. No compute or proxy charges on top, and hint and error rows are free.

| What you get | Price per 1,000 |
|---|---|
| 📢 Posts from a channel's history | **$0.50** |
| 🔍 Single lookups: one post by link or one channel's info | **$2.00** |

#### How much does it cost to scrape Telegram data?

| Job | Cost |
|---|---|
| 1,000 Telegram posts | $0.50 |
| 10,000 Telegram posts | $5 |
| 100,000 Telegram posts | $50 |
| Info for 100 channels | $0.20 |

Set **Max cost per run** in the run options and the actor stops cleanly at that amount.

#### 🆓 Free plan

On the free Apify plan each run returns up to 10 results, so you can check the data before you buy. All three modes work on the free plan. Any paid Apify plan removes the limit.

#### ⚡ Speed

Each request returns up to 100 posts and takes a few seconds, so 1,000 posts take about 2 minutes and 10,000 posts about 15 minutes.

### Input

| Field | What it does |
|---|---|
| `mode` | Links, @usernames or IDs: channel_posts, channel_info, post_detail. |
| `urls` | One per line: channel links (t.me/name or t.me/s/name), @usernames or channel names, post links (t.me/name/123). |
| `onlyPostsNewerThan` | Channel posts mode: stop at the first post older than this, so you only pay for new posts. A date (2026-10-01) or a relative time (7 days, 2 weeks, 3 months). Leave empty for the full history. |
| `maxItems` | Stop after this many rows per link or keyword (comments include their replies). |

#### 🧪 Example inputs

**Full history of a channel**

```json
{"mode": "channel_posts", "urls": ["https://t.me/durov"], "maxItems": 1000}
```

**Only the last 7 days from several channels**

```json
{"mode": "channel_posts", "urls": ["@bloomberg", "@cointelegraph", "https://t.me/s/binance_announcements"], "onlyPostsNewerThan": "7 days", "maxItems": 500}
```

**Channel info for a list of channels**

```json
{"mode": "channel_info", "urls": ["durov", "toncoin", "bloomberg"]}
```

**One post by its link**

```json
{"mode": "post_detail", "urls": ["https://t.me/durov/551"]}
```

### Output

Every row uses the same fields. Export as JSON, CSV, Excel, XML or HTML.

#### 📦 Example output

```json
{
  "platform": "telegram",
  "item_type": "post",
  "item_id": "durov/540",
  "url": "https://t.me/durov/540",
  "title": "🇺🇿 The 2026 International Olympiad in Informatics starts today in Tashkent.",
  "description": "🇺🇿 The 2026 International Olympiad in Informatics starts today in Tashkent.\n\n🏆 The IOI is …",
  "author_id": "durov",
  "author_name": "Pavel Durov",
  "author_username": "durov",
  "cover_url": "https://cdn4.telesco.pe/file/enH1xuSMrtOh9Ad9CUEXuuadQt0Bgk4q-t-Zb-R1d…",
  "created_at": "2026-08-10T09:29:58+00:00",
  "play_count": 4630000,
  "like_count": 77410,
  "mode": "channel_posts",
  "source_input": "https://t.me/durov",
  "raw": {
    "…": "full original record"
  },
  "scraped_at": "2026-10-11T11:26:14.749236+00:00"
}
```

#### 📤 Main fields

| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| `platform`, `item_type`, `mode`, `source_input` | Where the row came from and what it is (`video`, `user`, `comment`, `hint`, `error`…) |
| `item_id`, `url` | Native ID and a link back to the item |
| `title`, `description`, `hashtags`, `created_at` | Text and publish time (ISO 8601) |
| `author_id`, `author_name`, `author_username` | Creator or account |
| `play_count`, `like_count`, `comment_count`, `share_count`, `collect_count` | Engagement counts |
| `raw` | The full original record, every field the platform returned |
| `error_message` | Explanation on free `hint` / `error` rows |

### Troubleshooting

#### A channel returns nothing?

Only public channels work, and some owners turn off Telegram's public web preview. If t.me/s/name doesn't show posts in your browser, that channel can't be read without a login.

#### Can I get comments, members or private groups?

No. Those need a logged-in Telegram account, and this actor never uses one.

#### Why are views rounded (745K)?

That's how Telegram's public preview shows them. The exact number isn't public.

#### Getting no results?

Check that the link or username is public and typed correctly. Private accounts, deleted posts and hidden lists return a free `hint` row that says why. Keyword modes need the **Keywords** field, link modes need **Links**.

#### Getting fewer results than `maxItems`?

The platform ran out of items for that input (a small profile, a niche keyword), or the run reached its **Max cost per run** limit. The log says which one.

#### Some fields are empty?

Platforms don't return every field for every item. Everything the platform did return is kept in `raw`.

#### Video or image links stopped working?

Media URLs from these platforms expire after a few hours. Download files right after the run.

#### The run failed or shows an error row?

Retry once: the platforms sometimes refuse a request for a few minutes. If it keeps failing, open an issue with the run link and we'll fix it fast.

### Who uses this Telegram Scraper?

#### 📰 Journalists and OSINT researchers

Archive and search what public channels post.

#### 💹 Crypto and finance traders

Monitor news and signal channels as posts come in.

#### 📣 Marketers and brands

Track competitors' channels, how often they post and how many views they get.

#### 🛡️ Trust and safety teams

Watch channels for scams, leaks and brand abuse.

#### 📊 Researchers and analysts

Follow narratives across many channels over time.

#### 🤖 AI and data teams

Collect channel posts as training or RAG data.

### Use cases

#### Channel monitoring

Schedule a run every hour with Only posts newer than set to 1 day and get just the new posts.

#### Full archive

Pull a channel's complete history once, then keep it fresh with the date filter.

#### Ad buying

Compare subscribers and average views per post before you pay a channel for an ad.

### FAQ

#### Can I scrape Telegram without an account?

Yes. No Telegram login, phone number, bot token or API ID.

#### Can I scrape a channel's full history?

Yes. Channel posts pages back through the whole history, newest first, 100 posts per request.

#### Can I get only new posts?

Yes. Set Only posts newer than to a date or a time like 7 days. The run stops at the first older post, so you only pay for new ones.

#### Does it get views and reactions?

Yes: views as Telegram shows them (rounded), the total reaction count in `like_count`, and every reaction with its count in `raw`.

#### Can I download Telegram photos and videos?

Each post has its image (`cover_url`) and video file link (`video_url_nowm`); every album photo is in `raw`. Links expire, so download right after the run.

#### Can I scrape Telegram groups or private channels?

No. Only public channels with Telegram's public web preview turned on.

#### Can I scrape Telegram comments or members?

No, those need a logged-in account.

#### How much does it cost to scrape 10,000 Telegram posts?

About $5, at $0.50 per 1,000 posts.

#### Is there a free tier?

Yes. On the free Apify plan each run returns up to 10 results.

#### Can I use it from Python, JavaScript or an AI agent?

Yes, through the Apify API, the client libraries, or MCP.

### API, Python, JavaScript and MCP

**Python**

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

client = ApifyClient("YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN")
run = client.actor("openclawai/telegram-scraper").call(run_input={"mode": "channel_posts", "urls": ["https://t.me/durov"], "maxItems": 1000})
for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items():
    print(item)
```

**JavaScript**

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from "apify-client";

const client = new ApifyClient({ token: "YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN" });
const run = await client.actor("openclawai/telegram-scraper").call({"mode": "channel_posts", "urls": ["https://t.me/durov"], "maxItems": 1000});
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
```

**MCP** (Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor and other MCP clients): `https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=openclawai/telegram-scraper`

Works with Zapier, Make, n8n, Google Sheets, Slack, webhooks and scheduled runs.

### 🛡️ Legal

Collects **public** data only. You are responsible for complying with Telegram's terms and with privacy laws such as GDPR, CCPA and PIPL when you store personal data.

### ⭐ Support

Something not working? Check the `hint` / `error` rows, then open an issue with the run link. We reply fast.

# Actor input Schema

## `mode` (type: `string`):

Links, @usernames or IDs: channel_posts, channel_info, post_detail.

## `urls` (type: `array`):

One per line: channel links (t.me/name or t.me/s/name), @usernames or channel names, post links (t.me/name/123).

## `onlyPostsNewerThan` (type: `string`):

Channel posts mode: stop at the first post older than this, so you only pay for new posts. A date (2026-10-01) or a relative time (7 days, 2 weeks, 3 months). Leave empty for the full history.

## `maxItems` (type: `integer`):

Stop after this many rows per link or keyword (comments include their replies).

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "mode": "channel_posts",
  "urls": [
    "https://t.me/durov"
  ],
  "maxItems": 20
}
```

# 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 '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "mode": "channel_posts",
    "urls": [
        "https://t.me/durov"
    ],
    "maxItems": 20
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("openclawai/telegram-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 = {
    "mode": "channel_posts",
    "urls": ["https://t.me/durov"],
    "maxItems": 20,
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("openclawai/telegram-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 '{
  "mode": "channel_posts",
  "urls": [
    "https://t.me/durov"
  ],
  "maxItems": 20
}' |
apify call openclawai/telegram-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,openclawai/telegram-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/DPbiuIG1y5xsfLDGl/builds/IdtGwCnlZxDehPxPT/openapi.json