Reddit Comments Scraper

Extract Reddit post comments into a clean dataset with author, scoring, threading, flair, moderation, and post context fields. It is designed for research, monitoring, moderation analysis, and discussion intelligence on public Reddit threads.

Features

• Thread-wide comment capture — Collect top-level comments and nested replies from public Reddit posts
• Rich comment context — Save author, score, timestamps, thread depth, flair, moderation flags, and post metadata
• Duplicate-safe output — Merge repeated comment records so each comment ID appears once in the final dataset
• Cleaned missing values — Handle deleted authors, removed bodies, and sparse Reddit fields gracefully
• Configurable collection size — Stop after the number of comments defined by results_wanted

Use Cases

Community Research

Study how people respond to prompts, news, or product discussions. Build datasets for qualitative analysis or trend tracking.

Moderation Analysis

Review stickied comments, locked discussions, controversial replies, and other moderation-related signals in one place.

NLP and Sentiment Work

Collect structured discussion text with reply depth, timestamps, and score data for downstream language analysis.

Competitive Monitoring

Track how Reddit communities talk about brands, topics, launches, or public events over time.

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Input Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
startUrl	String	Yes	—	Reddit thread URL to collect comments from
results_wanted	Integer	No	20	Maximum number of unique comments to save
proxyConfiguration	Object	No	Apify Residential Proxy	Proxy settings for more reliable collection

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Output Data

Each dataset item contains comment content plus thread and author context.

Field	Type	Description
id	String	Reddit comment ID
comment_fullname	String	Full Reddit thing name for the comment
author	String	Comment author or [deleted] when unavailable
author_fullname	String	Reddit fullname for the author when available
body	String	Comment text or [removed] when unavailable
body_html	String	Comment body in Reddit HTML format when available
score	Number	Comment score
ups	Number	Upvote count reported by Reddit
downs	Number	Downvote count reported by Reddit
created_utc	Number	Unix timestamp from Reddit
created_at	String	ISO timestamp derived from created_utc
edited	Boolean or Number	Edit flag or edit timestamp
depth	Number	Reply depth within the thread
parent_id	String	Parent thing ID
parent_comment_id	String	Parent comment ID when the parent is another comment
parent_type	String	Parent Reddit thing type such as t1 or t3
link_id	String	Fullname of the parent post
permalink	String	Absolute Reddit URL for the comment
subreddit	String	Subreddit name
subreddit_id	String	Subreddit ID
subreddit_name_prefixed	String	Prefixed subreddit name such as r/AskReddit
subreddit_type	String	Subreddit visibility type
post_id	String	Parent post ID
post_title	String	Parent post title
post_author	String	Parent post author
post_permalink	String	Parent post URL
is_submitter	Boolean	Whether the comment author created the post
distinguished	String	Moderator or admin distinction when present
stickied	Boolean	Whether the comment is stickied
locked	Boolean	Whether the comment is locked
archived	Boolean	Whether the comment is archived
collapsed	Boolean	Whether the comment is collapsed
controversiality	Number	Reddit controversiality score
score_hidden	Boolean	Whether Reddit hides the score
gilded	Number	Legacy gild count
total_awards_received	Number	Total awards on the comment
all_awardings_count	Number	Number of award entries present
author_premium	Boolean	Reddit premium flag for the author
author_is_blocked	Boolean	Whether the author is blocked
author_flair_text	String	Author flair text
author_flair_type	String	Flair type
author_flair_text_color	String	Flair text color
author_flair_background_color	String	Flair background color
comment_type	String	Comment classification when provided
treatment_tags	Array	Reddit treatment tags when present
retrieval_source	String	Whether the record came from the main listing or deferred expansion
source_url	String	Final verified thread URL used for collection

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Usage Examples

Basic Thread Extraction

{
    "startUrl": "https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/1pqgcx9/whats_the_most_unexpected_way_someone_you_know/",
    "results_wanted": 20
}

Larger Collection

{
    "startUrl": "https://www.reddit.com/r/webscraping/comments/1qs66k0/couldnt_find_proxy_directory_with_filters_so/",
    "results_wanted": 100
}

With Proxy Configuration

{
    "startUrl": "https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/1pqgcx9/whats_the_most_unexpected_way_someone_you_know/",
    "results_wanted": 50,
    "proxyConfiguration": {
        "useApifyProxy": true,
        "apifyProxyGroups": ["RESIDENTIAL"]
    }
}

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Sample Output

{
    "id": "nuuw9it",
    "comment_fullname": "t1_nuuw9it",
    "author": "Agua_Frecuentemente",
    "author_fullname": "t2_mobpn32j",
    "body": "The guy who invented Smartfood (popcorn) lives in my town and we have some mutual friends.",
    "score": 2851,
    "ups": 2851,
    "downs": 0,
    "created_utc": 1766150326,
    "created_at": "2025-12-19T18:25:26.000Z",
    "depth": 0,
    "parent_id": "t3_1pqgcx9",
    "parent_type": "t3",
    "link_id": "t3_1pqgcx9",
    "permalink": "https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/1pqgcx9/whats_the_most_unexpected_way_someone_you_know/nuuw9it/",
    "subreddit": "AskReddit",
    "subreddit_id": "t5_2qh1i",
    "subreddit_name_prefixed": "r/AskReddit",
    "post_id": "1pqgcx9",
    "post_title": "What’s the most unexpected way someone you know became wealthy?",
    "post_author": "xFaith",
    "post_permalink": "https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/1pqgcx9/whats_the_most_unexpected_way_someone_you_know/",
    "is_submitter": false,
    "stickied": false,
    "locked": false,
    "archived": false,
    "collapsed": false,
    "controversiality": 0,
    "score_hidden": false,
    "gilded": 0,
    "total_awards_received": 0,
    "author_premium": false,
    "author_is_blocked": false,
    "author_flair_type": "text",
    "retrieval_source": "listing",
    "source_url": "https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/1pqgcx9/whats_the_most_unexpected_way_someone_you_know/?solution=..."
}

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Tips for Best Results

Use Working Reddit Thread URLs

• Use direct thread URLs rather than subreddit feeds or search pages
• Prefer public threads with active discussions

Start Small

• Begin with results_wanted: 20 for quick validation
• Increase the limit after confirming the thread loads correctly

Use Proxies for Reliability

• Residential proxies can help maintain stable runs
• If a thread is region-sensitive or intermittently blocked, rerun with proxy support enabled

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Integrations

Connect your dataset with:

• Google Sheets — Review discussion metrics in spreadsheets
• Airtable — Build searchable discussion databases
• Slack — Send comment updates into team workflows
• Make — Automate processing pipelines
• Zapier — Trigger downstream business actions

Export Formats

• JSON — For application workflows and data pipelines
• CSV — For spreadsheets and quick reviews
• Excel — For business reporting
• XML — For system integrations

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Frequently Asked Questions

How many comments can I collect?

You can collect up to the number defined by results_wanted, as long as the thread contains that many unique comments.

Are nested replies included?

Yes. Replies are collected along with top-level comments, and their position in the thread is preserved through depth and parent fields.

Are duplicate comments removed?

Yes. Records are keyed by comment ID, and duplicate appearances are merged into one final dataset item.

What happens when a field is missing?

Sparse Reddit fields are handled gracefully. Deleted authors and removed bodies are normalized so the dataset stays usable.

Does this work on private communities?

No. The actor is intended for public Reddit threads only.

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Legal Notice

Use this actor only for legitimate data collection and analysis. You are responsible for complying with Reddit terms, rate limits, and applicable laws in your jurisdiction.