# YouTube Comments Scraper - $0.30/1000 Comments (`scrapeunblocker/youtube-comments-scraper`) Actor

Scrape YouTube video comments as JSON: author, channel id, thumbnail, text, like count, published time, reply count and the pinned / hearted / verified / uploader flags. Sort by top or newest, with automatic pagination. No YouTube API. Powered by ScrapeUnblocker.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/scrapeunblocker/youtube-comments-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Scrapeunblocker](https://apify.com/scrapeunblocker) (community)
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $0.30 / 1,000 comments

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/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
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.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## 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.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## YouTube Comments Scraper

Scrape **YouTube video comments** as clean, structured JSON - author, channel id, thumbnail, text, like count, published time, reply count and the pinned / hearted / verified / uploader flags. Sort by top or newest, with automatic pagination. No YouTube API key.

Powered by [ScrapeUnblocker](https://scrapeunblocker.com)'s anti-bot bypass - no proxies or CAPTCHA setup.

### What you get per comment

- **author**, **authorChannelId** and **authorThumbnail**
- **text** - the full comment
- **likeCount** (parsed number) + `likeCountText`
- **publishedTimeText** (e.g. "1 year ago")
- **replyCount**
- **isPinned**, **isHearted** (creator heart), **isAuthorVerified**, **isUploader**
- **commentId** - stable id for dedup / threading

Plus the video's `title` and total `commentCount`.

### Features

- **Automatic pagination** - set `max_results` and the scraper pages through YouTube's comment continuation until it collects that many (~20 per page).
- **Sort** - `top` (default) or `newest`.
- **Rich flags** - pinned, creator-hearted, verified author and channel-owner (uploader) are all surfaced.
- **Numbers as numbers** - like and reply counts are parsed, not just text.

### Input

| Field | Type | Default | Description |
|-------|------|---------|-------------|
| `video` | string | **required** | Watch URL, `youtu.be` / `shorts` link, or 11-char video id. |
| `sort` | select | Top | `top` or `newest`. |
| `max_results` | integer | 100 | How many comments to collect (~20 per page). |
| `proxy_country` | string | - | Exit-IP country (ISO-2). Blank = a US exit. |

### Example output (one dataset item)

```json
{
  "commentId": "Ugzge340dBgB75hWBm54AaABAg",
  "author": "@YouTube",
  "authorChannelId": "UCBR8-60-B28hp2BmDPdntcQ",
  "authorThumbnail": "https://yt3.ggpht.com/...=s88",
  "text": "can confirm: he never gave us up",
  "likeCount": 313000,
  "likeCountText": "313K",
  "publishedTimeText": "1 year ago",
  "replyCount": 963,
  "isPinned": true,
  "isHearted": true,
  "isAuthorVerified": true,
  "isUploader": false
}
```

### Use cases

- **Sentiment analysis** - measure how an audience reacts to a video or creator.
- **Audience research** - surface questions, feedback and recurring themes at scale.
- **Moderation** - pull comments for spam, abuse or policy review.
- **Creator & brand monitoring** - track engagement and top comments across videos.

### Pricing

$2 per 1,000 comments - one comment = one collected comment.

***

Built on [ScrapeUnblocker](https://scrapeunblocker.com). Questions? [docs.scrapeunblocker.com](https://docs.scrapeunblocker.com)

# Actor input Schema

## `video` (type: `string`):

The YouTube video to scrape comments from - a watch URL, a youtu.be / shorts link, or an 11-character video id.

## `sort` (type: `string`):

Comment order.

## `max_results` (type: `integer`):

How many comments to collect across pages (~20 per page).

## `proxy_country` (type: `string`):

Exit-IP country (ISO-2) for the watch page. Leave blank for a US exit (recommended for YouTube).

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "video": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ",
  "sort": "top",
  "max_results": 100
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `comments` (type: `string`):

Collected comments

# 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 = {
    "video": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ"
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("scrapeunblocker/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 = { "video": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ" }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("scrapeunblocker/youtube-comments-scraper").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "video": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ"
}' |
apify call scrapeunblocker/youtube-comments-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,scrapeunblocker/youtube-comments-scraper"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/EMB8DlSEDezyDWq13/builds/bxmZKzlJX1yQOqYi5/openapi.json