Reddit Pain Finder

What does Reddit Pain Finder do?

Reddit Pain Finder is an Apify Actor that discovers and structures real user pain point discussions from Reddit—posts and optional comments—then classifies pain types using deterministic, rule-based logic (no LLM), deduplicates, scores, and stores results in an Apify Dataset.

You can run it with zero setup in public mode (RSS + public JSON), or use the official Reddit API (OAuth) for higher limits, better reliability, and long-running workflows.

TL;DR

Automatically find real user pain on Reddit, filter noise (promo / launch posts), and rank discussions by urgency — without LLMs, scraping hacks, or guesswork.

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Why use Reddit Pain Finder?

• Product & market research — Find where users complain about missing features, bugs, pricing, or workflow friction.
• Competitive intelligence — See which pain types (e.g. switching alternatives, integration needs) dominate specific subreddits.
• Prioritization — Every item includes a confidence score and a priority score (0–100) so you can focus on what matters most.
• Low friction — No API key required to start. Public mode works out of the box; add Reddit API credentials only when you need scale or reliability.
• Actionable output — Sort by priorityScore >= 20 to instantly surface the most relevant pain discussions.

Together with the Apify platform, you also get scheduling, monitoring, API access, webhooks, and integrations (Zapier, Make, n8n, etc.) for automated workflows.

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What can Reddit Pain Finder do?

Dual-mode data source

Mode	Data source
Public (default)	Reddit RSS feeds + public thread .json
API	Official Reddit OAuth API when credentials are provided

Automatic mode selection

• Chooses public or API mode at startup based on input.
• You can force a mode via forceMode.

Post type filtering (noise reduction)

Each post is classified as one of: pain_report, question, promo, case_study, other.

• By default, only pain_report and question are included.
• Promo posts (e.g. “I built”, “beta testers”, “roast my SaaS”) are excluded.

Why this matters: Most Reddit scrapers mix pain, promotion, and case studies. Reddit Pain Finder identifies intent first, so you don’t waste time on launch posts or self-promotion.

Pain classification

• Labels each post with a pain type (e.g. missing feature, pricing cost, workflow friction, integration need, switching alternative).
• Uses weighted phrase and pattern rules — no LLM.
• Confidence reflects:
  • evidence strength,
  • where signals appear (title > body > comments),
  • and separation from competing pain types.

Scoring and deduplication

Priority score (0–100) deterministically combines:

• confidence

• engagement (upvotes + comments)

• recency

• Works even for fresh posts with zero engagement (common in public RSS).

• High-confidence pain reports receive a small minimum floor so they surface early.

• Promo and case-study posts are downranked.

• Deduplicates by post ID within a run and optionally across runs (last 20k IDs stored).

Optional comments

• Fetch and analyze comments.
• Output includes:
  • comments — raw comment objects for the post (body, author, etc.); empty when comments are off or unavailable,
  • up to 5 comment samples,
  • pain phrases detected in comments,
  • count of comments containing pain signals.

Optional webhook

• Push result batches to a URL of your choice.
• Retries on failure; the run does not fail if the webhook fails.

Consistent output schema

• Same fields in both public and API modes.
• Each item includes sourceMode ("public" or "api").

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What data can Reddit Pain Finder extract?

Field	Description
subreddit	Subreddit name
postId	Reddit post ID
postUrl	URL to the post
title	Post title
bodyText	Post body text
author	Post author
createdUtc	Post creation time (ISO)
scoreUpvotes	Upvote count
numComments	Comment count
painType	Classified pain category
painSummary	Short summary from strongest signals
painSignals	Matched pain phrases
matchedKeywords	Matched keywords (compatibility field)
confidence	Classification confidence (0–1)
priorityScore	Priority score (0–100)
postType	Post intent (pain_report, question, promo, case_study, other)
postTypeSignals	Phrases that determined post type
commentSamples	Up to 5 comment samples
commentSignals	Pain phrases found in comments
commentPainMentions	Number of comments with pain signals
comments	Raw comment objects for the post (when includeComments: true); each item includes body, author, and other comment fields; empty array when comments are disabled or unavailable
includedByFilter	true if the post passed include/exclude post-type filters; false if it was filtered out (so you can still inspect it)
filterReason	When includedByFilter is false, short reason (e.g. postType excluded: promo or postType not in includePostTypes: other)
sourceMode	"public" or "api"

When debug: true, items also include: painScores, topCandidates, evidenceSummary, priorityDebug.

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How to use Reddit Pain Finder

1. Open the Actor in Apify (Store or Console).
2. Enter subreddits (e.g. SaaS, startups). This is the only required input.
3. Choose sort and filters (new, top, time filter, limits).
4. (Optional) Enable comments with includeComments: true.
5. (Optional) Add Reddit API credentials for higher limits.
6. Run the Actor — results are written to the dataset.

Public mode vs Reddit API mode

Mode	When to use	Data source
Public (default)	Quick runs, no credentials	RSS + public thread JSON
API	Reliable body text & comments, higher limits	Official Reddit OAuth API

Short version: Public mode is great for trying the Actor quickly. For consistent body text and comments at scale, API mode is recommended.

Reliability notes (important)

• Reddit often returns 403 for thread JSON when requests come from cloud/datacenter IPs.
• In public mode, the Actor uses impit (browser-impersonation HTTP). This helps, but is not guaranteed.
• For best reliability:
  • Use API mode, or
  • Enable Use Apify Proxy (residential IPs).

Post type filtering and quality controls

• includePostTypes (default: ["pain_report","question"])
• excludePostTypes (default: ["promo"])
• promoDownrankFactor (default: 0.25)
• minAgeMinutes (default: 0)
• debug (default: false)
• enablePriorityFloor (default: true) — tiered minimum priority for 0-engagement pain posts.

These controls let you tune noise vs freshness without changing logic.

Recommended subreddit packs & best practices

• SaaS / startups: SaaS, startups, Entrepreneur, SideProject
• Technical: webdev, devops, selfhosted
• Best first run: 2–3 subreddits, sort: "new", limitPerSubreddit: 25. Filter results with priorityScore >= 20.

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Input examples

Minimal (public mode):

{
  "subreddits": ["SaaS", "startups"],
  "sort": "new",
  "limitPerSubreddit": 25
}

API mode:

{
  "forceMode": "api",
  "redditClientId": "YOUR_CLIENT_ID",
  "redditClientSecret": "YOUR_CLIENT_SECRET",
  "redditRefreshToken": "YOUR_REFRESH_TOKEN",
  "subreddits": ["SaaS", "startups"],
  "sort": "top",
  "timeFilter": "week"
}

Public mode with Apify Proxy:

{
  "subreddits": ["SaaS", "startups"],
  "includeComments": true,
  "useApifyProxy": true
}

Store credentials in Apify secrets. Apify Proxy requires an Apify Proxy subscription (billed separately).

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Output example

Included item (passed post-type filter):

{
  "subreddit": "SaaS",
  "postId": "abc123",
  "title": "I'm tired of switching between apps just to write one thing",
  "createdUtc": "2025-02-14T12:00:00.000Z",
  "painType": "switching_alternative",
  "confidence": 0.72,
  "priorityScore": 35,
  "postType": "pain_report",
  "includedByFilter": true,
  "sourceMode": "public"
}

Filtered-out item (still in dataset for inspection):

{
  "subreddit": "SaaS",
  "postId": "xyz789",
  "title": "I built a tool to validate your idea – beta testers wanted",
  "painType": "unknown",
  "postType": "promo",
  "includedByFilter": false,
  "filterReason": "postType excluded: promo",
  "sourceMode": "public"
}

You can download the full dataset as JSON, CSV, Excel, or HTML from the Actor run’s dataset in Apify Console.

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Example usage scenarios

Below are practical ways to interpret and use the output of Reddit Pain Finder once a run finishes. These examples are designed for product, SaaS, and market research workflows.

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Example 1: Find the strongest pain reports (recommended first step)

Goal: Surface explicit, high-value user pain quickly.

How:

• Sort results by priorityScore (descending)

• Focus on items where:

  • priorityScore >= 25
  • postType = "pain_report"

Why this works: These posts contain direct frustration language ("tired of", "killing us", "breaking") and are ranked high even when engagement is still zero (e.g. fresh posts from public RSS).

Best for: Product discovery, SaaS idea validation, feature prioritization

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Example 2: Discover pricing and cost-related pain

Goal: Identify recurring subscription, pricing, or cost issues.

How: Filter results where:

• painType = "pricing_cost"
• priorityScore >= 20

Optional:

• Group by subreddit
• Track frequency over time

Why this works: Pricing pain often appears first as questions before turning into complaints. Reddit Pain Finder surfaces these early signals deterministically.

Best for: Pricing strategy, cost-control tools, SaaS finance products

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Example 3: Detect switching and alternative-seeking behavior

Goal: Find users actively considering alternatives to existing tools.

How: Filter by:

• painType = "switching_alternative"
• confidence >= 0.6

Then review:

• painSummary
• matchedKeywords

Why this works: Switching pain strongly correlates with churn, dissatisfaction, and buying intent.

Best for: Competitive research, positioning, outbound targeting

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Example 4: Separate real pain from general discussion

Goal: Avoid spending time on low-signal Reddit threads.

How: Ignore items where:

• painType = "unknown"
• priorityScore < 10

These typically represent:

• General discussion
• Opinion polls
• Exploratory questions without frustration

Why this matters: Most Reddit scrapers mix noise and signal. Reddit Pain Finder lets you explicitly ignore noise.

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Example 5: Use questions as early pain indicators

Goal: Identify pain before it escalates into frustration.

How: Filter by:

• postType = "question"
• priorityScore between 15 and 25
• painType != "unknown"

Why this works: Questions with pain signals often precede:

• Tool switching
• Feature demand
• Churn events

Best for: Roadmap planning, early market entry

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Example 6: Recommended first run configuration

If this is your first time using the Actor, start with:

{
  "subreddits": ["SaaS", "startups"],
  "sort": "new",
  "limitPerSubreddit": 25,
  "includeComments": false
}

After the run:

• Sort results by priorityScore DESC
• Review only the top 5–10 items

You'll immediately see whether the niche contains actionable pain.

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Example 7: Automation-ready workflow

Goal: Continuously monitor Reddit for emerging pain.

How:

• Schedule the Actor daily or weekly

• Set a webhook (n8n, Make, Zapier, custom API)

• Trigger downstream actions when:

  • priorityScore >= 25
  • painType != "unknown"

Typical automations:

• Slack or email alerts
• Append rows to Airtable / Notion
• Feed internal research dashboards

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How to interpret priorityScore

Priority score	Meaning
35+	Strong, explicit pain — investigate immediately
25–34	Clear pain or high-value question
15–24	Early signal, worth monitoring
<10	Noise or weak signal

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Legal, limitations, and disclaimers

• Public content only — No private or non-public data.
• No LLM — Classification is rule-based; results may vary by subreddit and language.
• Rate limits apply — Respect Reddit’s terms and API policies.
• No guarantees — Reddit may change behavior or block access.

Always ensure your usage complies with Reddit’s terms of service, API terms, and applicable laws (e.g. GDPR).

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Support & feedback

• Use the Issues tab on the Actor page for bugs or feature requests.
• Feedback is welcome — especially new pain patterns or subreddit suggestions.

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Integrations

You can run Reddit Pain Finder and use its results from n8n, Make, Zapier, and OpenClaw, or any tool that can call HTTP APIs or receive webhooks.

• n8n — Use the Apify node or the .actor/integrations/n8n-reddit-pain-finder-example.json.
• Make — Use the Apify module.
• Zapier — Use the Apify app.
• Webhook — Set webhookUrl in the Actor input to receive POST batches of results.

For step-by-step setup and webhook payload format, see INTEGRATIONS.md.

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Final note

All classification and scoring is deterministic, explainable, and stable.
Reddit Pain Finder is designed to surface signal, not hype.