Whatsapp Channel Directory

Search WhatsApp's channel directory by keyword and country. Returns channel metadata (name, description, subscribers, picture) plus the first N messages per channel.

What does WhatsApp Channel Directory do?

This Actor lets you explore WhatsApp's growing channel ecosystem. It queries the channel directory by keyword (e.g., "news", "tech", "sports") and country, then extracts channel metadata plus recent messages. Perfect for brand monitoring, competitor analysis, trend research, or channel discovery. All data is fetched in real time from WhatsApp's channel directory.

Why use WhatsApp Channel Directory?

• Brand & Competitor Intelligence — Track which brands have channels, how many subscribers, what they're broadcasting
• Trend Research — Discover trending channels and topics in your market
• Influencer Outreach — Find relevant channels to advertise or partner with
• Market Expansion — Identify audience clusters by country and keyword
• Content Strategy — Analyze competitor messaging and engagement patterns

How to use WhatsApp Channel Directory

1. Open the Actor on Apify or use the API.
2. Set search criteria:
   • query — Channel name filter (e.g., "news", "tech", "fitness")
   • countries — ISO codes (e.g., ["ID", "SG", "MY"])
   • limit — Max channels to return (default: 20, max: 200)
   • messageCount — Messages per channel (default: 10, max: 50)
3. Run the Actor and collect data into the default dataset.
4. Download results as JSON, CSV, HTML, or Excel.

Example Input

{
  "query": "news",
  "countries": ["ID"],
  "limit": 50,
  "messageCount": 15
}

Input

Field	Type	Required	Default	Description
query	string	—	—	Channel name filter (case-insensitive). Omit to list all.
countries	string[]	—	["ID"]	ISO country codes.
limit	integer	—	20	Max channels (max 200).
messageCount	integer	—	10	Messages per channel (max 50).

Output

One record per channel — raw response from WhatsApp's directory API, with a messages field appended containing recent messages from that channel:

{
  "id": "120363...@newsletter",
  "thread_metadata": {
    "name": {"text": "Berita Hari Ini"},
    "description": {"text": "Kanal berita terkini"},
    "subscribers_count": "12500",
    "invite": "ABCDEF",
    "picture": {"url": "https://..."},
    "preview": {"url": "https://..."}
  },
  "messages": [
    {
      "MessageServerID": 42,
      "Timestamp": "2026-07-06T10:00:00Z",
      "Type": "text",
      "Message": {"conversation": "Hello"}
    }
  ]
}

Data table

Field	Type	Description
id	string	Unique WhatsApp channel ID (ends in @newsletter)
thread_metadata	object	Raw channel metadata from WhatsApp (name, description, subscribers, picture, invite)
messages	array	Recent channel messages (raw, limited by messageCount)
messages[].MessageServerID	integer	Message ID
messages[].Timestamp	string	ISO 8601 timestamp
messages[].Type	string	Message type (text, media, etc.)
messages[].Message	object	Message content by type

Pricing / Cost estimation

Pay-per-event pricing:

• $0.05 per Actor start
• $0.05 per channel scraped ($50 per 1,000 channels)

Channels	Cost
20	$1.05
100	$5.05
1,000	$50.05

Tips & Advanced options

Optimize your runs

• Narrow the query — Specific keywords ("python" vs. "a") return fewer channels → lower cost
• Reduce message count — Set messageCount: 5 instead of 50 to cut API calls
• Batch by country — Run multiple times with different country codes for parallel processing
• Use limit wisely — Start with limit: 20 to test, then scale up

Known limitations

• Message history is limited to the most recent messages stored by WhatsApp
• Channel subscriber counts are approximate (not real-time)
• Some channels may have restricted message visibility

Troubleshooting

• No results? — Try a broader query or different countries
• Partial data? — Some channels restrict message preview; this is enforced by WhatsApp
• Rate limiting? — The Actor respects WhatsApp's rate limits automatically

FAQ & Support

Is this legal?
Yes. WhatsApp Channels are publicly accessible — no account required to browse the directory.

Can I scrape private channels?
No. This Actor accesses only public channels listed in the WhatsApp channel directory.

How fresh is the data?
Channel metadata and messages are fetched real-time from WhatsApp's servers.

What if a channel has thousands of messages?
Use messageCount to limit results. The Actor will fetch only the most recent N messages per channel.

Support & Feedback
Found a bug? Have a feature request? Check the Issues tab or contact the maintainer for a custom solution.

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