Youtube Comments Scraper

A powerful Apify Actor that scrapes comments from YouTube videos with support for bulk processing, automatic proxy fallback, and comprehensive comment data extraction.

Why Choose Us?

• Reliable Scraping: Automatically handles YouTube's anti-bot measures with intelligent proxy fallback
• Bulk Processing: Scrape comments from multiple videos in a single run
• Comprehensive Data: Extract all comment details including replies, likes, author info, and more
• Flexible Configuration: Customize sort order and comment limits
• Production Ready: Built with error handling, retry logic, and detailed logging
• Smart Proxy Management: Automatic fallback from no proxy → datacenter → residential proxy with retry logic

Key Features

• ✅ Scrape comments from YouTube videos by URL or video ID
• ✅ Support for both "top" and "newest" sort orders
• ✅ Automatic proxy fallback (no proxy → datacenter → residential with 3 retries)
• ✅ Extract reply comments with parent-child relationships
• ✅ Get comprehensive comment metadata (likes, replies, author info, etc.)
• ✅ Bulk processing of multiple videos
• ✅ Configurable comment limits
• ✅ Detailed logging for monitoring progress
• ✅ Handles string list input format for easy URL entry

Input

JSON Example

{
  "startUrls": [
    "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrLj6nc516A",
    "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ"
  ],
  "maxComments": 50,
  "sortOrder": "top",
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": false
  }
}

Input Fields

• startUrls (required): Array of YouTube video URLs or video IDs to scrape

  • Can be full URLs: "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID"
  • Or just video IDs: "VIDEO_ID"
  • Supports multiple videos for bulk processing
  • Format: Simple string array (e.g., ["url1", "url2"])

• maxComments (optional, default: 50): Maximum number of comments to scrape per video

  • Set to 0 to scrape all available comments
  • Integer value
  • Default is 50 comments per video

• sortOrder (optional, default: "top"): How to sort comments

  • Options: "top" for top comments or "newest" for newest first
  • Default: "top"

• proxyConfiguration (optional): Proxy settings

  • By default, no proxy is used (useApifyProxy: false)
  • If YouTube blocks requests, the actor automatically falls back to datacenter proxy, then residential proxy
  • The actor will retry up to 3 times with residential proxy if needed
  • Set useApifyProxy: true to use Apify proxy from the start
  • Once fallback occurs, the actor sticks with the working proxy for all remaining requests

Note: Language and region settings are automatically configured for optimal performance. The actor uses default settings (en-GB language, US region) that work well for most use cases.

Output

JSON Example

{
  "cid": "Ugzxs4_5UJwAI1xrNF14AaABAg",
  "type": "comment",
  "publishedTimeText": "2 years ago",
  "comment": "Subscribe to be in one of my upcoming videos (it's going to be huge!)",
  "author": "@MrBeast",
  "avatar": "https://yt3.ggpht.com/nxYrc_1_2f77DoBadyxMTmv7ZpRZapHR5jbuYe7PlPd5cIRJxtNNEYyOC0ZsxaDyJJzXrnJiuDE=s88-c-k-c0x00ffffff-no-rj",
  "authorIsChannelOwner": true,
  "isVerified": true,
  "voteCount": 189000,
  "hasCreatorHeart": true,
  "replyCount": 763,
  "replyToCid": null,
  "videoId": "KrLj6nc516A",
  "pageUrl": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrLj6nc516A",
  "title": "$1 vs $100,000,000 Car!",
  "commentsCount": 155000
}

Output Fields

• cid: Unique comment ID
• type: Always "comment"
• publishedTimeText: Relative time string (e.g., "2 years ago", "3 weeks ago")
• comment: The comment text content
• author: Author username with @ prefix (e.g., "@MrBeast")
• avatar: URL to author's profile picture
• authorIsChannelOwner: Boolean indicating if author owns the channel
• isVerified: Boolean indicating if author is verified
• voteCount: Number of likes/upvotes
• hasCreatorHeart: Boolean indicating if creator hearted this comment
• replyCount: Number of replies to this comment
• replyToCid: Parent comment ID (null for top-level comments, contains parent CID for replies)
• videoId: YouTube video ID
• pageUrl: Full YouTube video URL
• title: Video title
• commentsCount: Total number of comments on the video

🚀 How to Use the Actor (via Apify Console)

1. Log in at https://console.apify.com and go to Actors
2. Find your actor (youtube-comments-scraper) and click it
3. Configure inputs:
   • Add YouTube video URLs or IDs in the startUrls field (as a simple list of strings)
   • Set maxComments (0 for all comments, or any number like 50, 100, etc.)
   • Choose sortOrder ("top" or "newest")
   • Configure proxy settings if needed (optional)
4. Click Start to run the actor
5. Monitor logs in real time to see progress, including proxy fallback events
6. Access results in the OUTPUT tab when scraping completes
7. Export results to JSON or CSV format

Best Use Cases

• Content Analysis: Analyze audience engagement and sentiment from video comments
• Market Research: Gather feedback on products or services mentioned in videos
• Social Media Monitoring: Track discussions about brands or topics
• Academic Research: Collect data for social media studies and analysis
• Competitor Analysis: Monitor competitor video engagement and audience feedback
• Influencer Research: Analyze comment patterns and audience interaction
• Trend Analysis: Track what viewers are saying about trending videos

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How many comments can I scrape?
A: You can scrape all available comments by setting maxComments to 0, or limit it to a specific number. The default is 50 comments per video.

Q: Does the actor handle rate limiting?
A: Yes, the actor includes automatic retry logic and intelligent proxy fallback to handle rate limits and blocks. It will automatically switch from no proxy → datacenter → residential proxy if needed.

Q: Can I scrape comments from private videos?
A: No, the actor only works with publicly available videos. Private or age-restricted videos cannot be accessed.

Q: How long does scraping take?
A: It depends on the number of comments and videos. Typically, 50 comments take about 30-60 seconds per video. Larger batches may take longer.

Q: What happens if YouTube blocks the request?
A: The actor automatically falls back to datacenter proxy, then residential proxy if needed, with up to 3 retry attempts. All proxy events are logged clearly so you can monitor the process.

Q: Can I use just video IDs instead of full URLs?
A: Yes! You can provide either full YouTube URLs or just the video ID (11 characters). The actor will handle both formats automatically.

Q: Does the actor scrape reply comments?
A: Yes, the actor extracts both top-level comments and their replies, maintaining parent-child relationships through the replyToCid field.

Q: What format should I use for startUrls?
A: Use a simple array of strings. For example: ["https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID", "VIDEO_ID"] - both formats work!

Support and Feedback

For issues, questions, custom solutions, or feature requests, please contact us at:

📧 Email: dev.scraperengine@gmail.com

We're here to help and always open to suggestions for improving the actor!

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Cautions

• Data is collected only from publicly available sources
• No data is taken from private accounts or password-protected content
• The end user is responsible for ensuring legal compliance (spam laws, privacy, data protection, etc.)
• Respect YouTube's Terms of Service and rate limits
• Use the actor responsibly and in accordance with YouTube's usage policies
• The actor includes automatic proxy fallback to minimize blocking, but excessive use may still result in temporary restrictions