Reddit Search — Posts, Subreddits & Users

Search Reddit and get back fully-structured results. Three result types — posts, subreddits, or users — with sort, time-window, and subreddit-scope filters. No Reddit account or proxy required.

Pick what you want to find, type your query, hit Start.

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What you can fetch

This actor mirrors Reddit's native search across three result types. Choose the type, type your query, optionally narrow with filters.

1. Posts

Reddit posts matching the query. Supports sort, time window, and subreddit scope.

Inputs

Field	Meaning
search_query	Full-text search string. Reddit search syntax is supported: wordpress (keyword), "exact phrase" (exact match), wordpress -plugin (exclude term), flair:"Help needed" (by flair), author:username (by author), selftext:typescript (match in post body).
search_subreddit (optional)	Subreddit name without the r/ prefix. Scopes the search to one community.
search_sort	relevance (default) / hot / top / new / comments (most-discussed).
search_time_filter (optional)	hour / day / week / month / year / all. Leave blank for Reddit's default window.
search_limit	1 to 250 (default 25).

Returns per post: Reddit ID, fullname, title, body / selftext, author, subreddit, score, ups / downs / upvote ratio, comment count, crosspost count, created + edited timestamps, permalink, external URL, domain, post-type flags (is_self, is_video, over_18, spoiler, locked, stickied, pinned, archived), distinguished status, removal category, link & author flair, thumbnail, media (images / video / gallery), awards.

Use it when: brand monitoring (mentions of your product), trend discovery (top over week / month), competitor research, content discovery for a niche.

Example

Input

{
  "search_type": "posts",
  "search_query": "wordpress",
  "search_sort": "relevance",
  "search_time_filter": "week",
  "search_limit": 25
}

Output (one dataset record — selftext truncated for readability)

{
  "result_kind": "post",
  "id": "1tbitiv",
  "name": "t3_1tbitiv",
  "title": "A story about Newton",
  "author": "HopDavid",
  "subreddit": "HistoryMemes",
  "subreddit_name_prefixed": "r/HistoryMemes",
  "score": 11934,
  "ups": 11934,
  "upvote_ratio": 0.96,
  "num_comments": 442,
  "created_utc": 1778629629.0,
  "permalink": "https://reddit.com/r/HistoryMemes/comments/1tbitiv/a_story_about_newton/",
  "url": "https://i.redd.it/ui0xs090ms0h1.jpeg",
  "over_18": false,
  "link_flair_text": null,
  "selftext": "Isaac Newton was undoubtedly one of the greats. However some myths have grown around Newton's memory over time…",
  "total_awards_received": 0
}

2. Subreddits

Subreddit communities matching the query.

Inputs

Field	Meaning
search_query	Search string (matched against subreddit names + descriptions).
search_limit	1 to 250 (default 25).

Returns per subreddit: ID, fullname, display name (raw + prefixed), title, subscriber count, active user count, public + full description, created timestamp, language, type (public / private / restricted), NSFW flag, URL, header / icon / banner images, primary + key colors, submit text, allowed submission types (videos / images / polls / galleries).

Use it when: discovering communities for a topic before you post, building niche directories, finding the right place to advertise.

Note: Sort, time filter, and subreddit scope are ignored for this type — Reddit returns subreddit results in its own default order.

Example

Input

{
  "search_type": "subreddits",
  "search_query": "wordpress",
  "search_limit": 25
}

Output (one dataset record)

{
  "result_kind": "subreddit",
  "id": "2qhjq",
  "name": "t5_2qhjq",
  "display_name": "Wordpress",
  "display_name_prefixed": "r/Wordpress",
  "title": "WordPress",
  "subscribers": 303179,
  "public_description": "The place for news, articles and discussion regarding WordPress, the open source software.",
  "created_utc": 1205874670.0,
  "lang": "en",
  "subreddit_type": "public",
  "over18": false,
  "url": "/r/Wordpress/",
  "header_img": "https://a.thumbs.redditmedia.com/0kVhB7E5deeOgVbr.png",
  "primary_color": "#00749a",
  "allow_videos": false,
  "allow_images": true,
  "allow_polls": true,
  "allow_galleries": true
}

3. Users

Reddit user accounts matching the query.

Inputs

Field	Meaning
search_query	Search string (matched against usernames + profiles).
search_subreddit (optional)	Only return users active in that subreddit.
search_limit	1 to 250 (default 25).

Returns per user: ID, name, total karma split into post / comment / award / awardee karma, account creation timestamp, employee / mod / Reddit-Gold / verified / verified-email flags, profile icon, snoovatar image, mini subreddit info, accept-followers flag.

Use it when: finding influencers in a niche, brand accounts, lead generation, mapping who's active in a community.

Note: Sort and time filter are ignored for this type.

Example

Input

{
  "search_type": "users",
  "search_query": "python",
  "search_limit": 25
}

Output (one dataset record)

{
  "result_kind": "user",
  "id": "32tit",
  "name": "python",
  "total_karma": 1,
  "link_karma": 1,
  "comment_karma": 0,
  "created_utc": 1201533046.0,
  "is_employee": false,
  "is_mod": false,
  "is_gold": false,
  "verified": true,
  "has_verified_email": false,
  "icon_img": "https://www.redditstatic.com/avatars/defaults/v2/avatar_default_5.png",
  "snoovatar_img": "",
  "accept_followers": true
}

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How to run

1. Pick the search type — Posts, Subreddits, or Users.
2. Enter your query.
3. Optionally narrow with subreddit scope (Posts / Users), sort + time (Posts only), or limit.
4. Click Start.

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Output

Results are pushed to the actor's default dataset, one record per result. View as a table or download as JSON / CSV / Excel / XML.

Every record is tagged with a result_kind field (post, subreddit, or user) so you can tell them apart at a glance and route them downstream. The most useful columns are placed first (id, title / name, score / subscribers / karma, created date, etc.) so the dataset Table view is readable without scrolling.

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Common edge cases

• Safe Search is always ON. NSFW results are filtered out at the source — there is no toggle. If you need NSFW search results, use Reddit Search V2 which has a safe_search toggle.
• Hard cap of ~250 results. Reddit's search index returns at most ~250 unique items per query, regardless of how high you set limit.
• One run = one search. For multiple queries, kick off separate runs (or use the Apify scheduler / API).
• Private subreddits / quarantined content — not searchable from anonymous calls.
• Empty results — return zero records. The actor reports an empty result rather than failing.
• Sort + time filter on non-Post types — silently ignored. Reddit ranks subreddit / user results in its own order.

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Why this actor is fast

• Speed — 1–3 seconds per call, end-to-end. Pure HTTP to Reddit's API. No browser to boot, no Playwright / Selenium / Puppeteer overhead. Competing browser-based scrapers typically take 15–60 seconds per call.
• Reliability — zero browser flakiness. No headless-Chromium crashes. No JS-render timeouts. No captcha pages. No surprise mid-run failures from a browser quirk.
• Footprint — under 100 MB RAM per run. Most browser-based scrapers need 1–4 GB. Built for reliability behind the scenes — just paste your inputs and run.

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Status & error reference

Run status (Apify-side, shown on the run page)

Status	Apify message	Meaning	What to do
	"Actor succeeded with N results in the dataset"	Run finished. Some or zero records pushed.	Open the dataset to view results.
	"The Actor process failed…"	Validation error or upstream Reddit fault.	Check the run log. You are NOT charged for failed runs.
	"The Actor timed out. You can resurrect it with a longer timeout to continue where you left off."	Run exceeded its timeout.	Re-run with a smaller limit or fewer inputs.
	"The Actor process was aborted. You can resurrect it to continue where you left off."	You stopped the run manually.	No charge for unpushed results.

Common in-run conditions (visible in run log)

Condition	Cause	Result
Empty result set	Query returned no results from Reddit.	Run SUCCEEDED, 0 records, no charge.
Query too short / blocked	Reddit rejects very short or banned query strings.	Run SUCCEEDED, 0 records.
Private / quarantined subreddit filter	Filter target is hidden from anonymous reads.	Run SUCCEEDED, those rows skipped.
Validation error: missing search_query	Required input not provided.	Run FAILED immediately, no charge.

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Pricing

Pay-per-result. You're only charged for records actually pushed to the dataset — failed runs, validation errors, and empty results cost nothing.

Event	Trigger	Price (per 1,000)
result	Each post / subreddit / user record pushed to the dataset	$1.99

A 250-result Posts run = 250 rows. A 50-result Users run = 50 rows. An empty query = 0 rows, 0 charge.

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Need a different shape of data?

• Reddit Search V2 — adds comment / media / topic search, NSFW toggle, comment search
• Reddit Scraper V2 — 15 single & bulk reads for posts, comments, profiles, communities
• Reddit Scraper — pull a subreddit's feed, a post's comments, or a single post / comment by URL
• Reddit Bulk Scrape — paste up to 10000 IDs / names / URLs in a single run
• Reddit Users / Reddit Users V2 — single-user lookups with profile + trophies + posts + comments
• Reddit Subreddits — about / rules / sidebar / popular-feed / autocomplete
• Reddit Posts — front-page feed, crosspost duplicates, pinned posts
• Reddit Wiki, Emojis & Widgets — wiki pages, custom emojis, sidebar widgets

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Support and feedback

Found a bug, want a feature, or hit a Reddit error code we don't translate clearly? Open an issue via the actor's Apify Console feedback link, or reach out at the RedCrawler support channel.

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Reddit Search — Posts, Subreddits & Users is part of the RedCrawler family of Reddit actors. RedCrawler is independent — not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Reddit, Inc. Use it within Reddit's API terms.