# YouTube Comments Scraper (`powerai/youtube-comments-scraper`) Actor

Extract YouTube comments from one or more videos. Get comment text, author, likes, replies, creator hearts, and video metadata in structured JSON.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/powerai/youtube-comments-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [PowerAI](https://apify.com/powerai) (community)
- **Categories:** Social media, Lead generation, Other
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 1 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $4.99 / 1,000 results

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/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

Extract comments from one or more YouTube videos. Collect comment text, author handles, likes, reply counts, creator hearts, and related video metadata in clean structured JSON.

### ✨ Key Features

- 💬 Scrape comments from **one or multiple video URLs**
- ✍️ Full comment text and author handle
- ❤️ Likes, reply counts, and creator hearts
- 🎬 Video ID, title, URL, and total comment count
- 🔀 Sort by **newest** or **top**
- 📅 Optional **posted-after** date / relative filter
- 📋 Structured JSON output, streamed while the run is in progress

### 💪 Why Choose This Actor?

- **Focused**: Built specifically for YouTube comment extraction
- **Flexible**: Multiple videos in one run
- **Structured**: Renamed, integration-friendly field names
- **Practical**: Useful for sentiment, brand monitoring, and community research

### 🎯 Perfect For

- 🕵️ Brand mention and competitor monitoring
- 📈 Sentiment and trend analysis
- 🛡️ Harmful / spam comment review
- 🤖 LLM / automation pipelines

### 📝 Input Requirements

- `videoUrls` (required): YouTube video URLs
- `maxCommentsPerVideo` (optional): Max comments per video (default `100`)
- `sortBy` (optional): `newest` (default) or `top`
- `postedAfter` (optional): Only comments newer than a date or relative value

#### Input Example

```json
{
  "videoUrls": [
    "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ"
  ],
  "maxCommentsPerVideo": 100,
  "sortBy": "newest"
}
```

#### Output Example

```json
{
  "commentId": "UgxRn0_LUxzRP2MybPR4AaABAg",
  "text": "This is up there with their best songs.",
  "authorHandle": "@Nonie_Jay",
  "likes": 2,
  "replies": 0,
  "hasCreatorHeart": false,
  "isChannelOwner": false,
  "videoId": "bJTjJtRPqYE",
  "videoUrl": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJTjJtRPqYE",
  "videoTitle": "Halestorm - Unapologetic [Official Audio]",
  "scrapedAt": "2026-08-04T07:00:00.000Z"
}
```

### 🚀 How to Use

1. Add one or more YouTube video URLs
2. Optionally set `maxCommentsPerVideo`, `sortBy`, and `postedAfter`
3. Click **Start**
4. Download results as JSON, CSV, Excel, or HTML

### 📌 Notes

- If a video is unavailable or has no comments, an error row may appear (`isError: true`) instead of failing the whole run
- Setting `postedAfter` forces newest-first sorting upstream
- Replies may appear as separate rows when returned by the source

# Actor input Schema

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

One or more YouTube video URLs to scrape comments from, e.g. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ

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

Maximum number of comments to collect for each video.

## `sortBy` (type: `string`):

YouTube comment sorting. If postedAfter is set, sorting is forced to newest first upstream.

## `postedAfter` (type: `string`):

Only include comments published on or after this date. Use YYYY-MM-DD / ISO, or a relative value (e.g. 1 day, 2 weeks, 3 months). When set, sort is forced to newest first upstream.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "videoUrls": [
    "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ"
  ],
  "maxCommentsPerVideo": 10,
  "sortBy": "newest"
}
```

# 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"
    ],
    "maxCommentsPerVideo": 10,
    "sortBy": "newest"
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("powerai/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"],
    "maxCommentsPerVideo": 10,
    "sortBy": "newest",
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("powerai/youtube-comments-scraper").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 '{
  "videoUrls": [
    "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ"
  ],
  "maxCommentsPerVideo": 10,
  "sortBy": "newest"
}' |
apify call powerai/youtube-comments-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "mcp-remote",
                "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=powerai/youtube-comments-scraper",
                "--header",
                "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR_API_TOKEN>"
            ]
        }
    }
}

```

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/b3tRWeZ7ujN5T3lTo/builds/9TyJJf3LQrL9mldW0/openapi.json