# YouTube Comments Scraper: Top Comments, Likes & Replies (`vncntlabs/youtube-comments-scraper`) Actor

Get YouTube comments from video links or IDs: comment text, likes, reply count and date in YouTube's top order, up to 700 per video and 200 videos per run. Commenter names optional. Licensed data, no YouTube login.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/vncntlabs/youtube-comments-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [VNCNT Labs](https://apify.com/vncntlabs) (community)
- **Categories:** Videos, Social media, MCP servers
- **Security:** Limited permissions
- **Stats:** 1 total users, 0 monthly users, 0.0% 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: Top Comments, Likes & Replies

Reading comments by hand is slow, and the good ones are buried. Comments are where viewers say what they want next,
what confused them and what they would pay for. Paste video links or IDs and get the top comments as clean rows:
text, likes, reply count and date, in YouTube's own top order. Up to 700 comments per video.

Missing or private videos get a clear status row and are **never charged**.

### Who it's for

- **Creators and small channels:** see what people ask for under a competitor's video before you script your next one.
- **POD, merch and Etsy sellers:** find the phrases and inside jokes fans repeat, then test them as designs or titles.
- **Marketers and researchers:** pull comments into a sheet for sentiment, FAQ ideas or product feedback.

### What you get

- One **comment** row per comment: `text`, `likes`, `replyCount`, `publishedAgo`, `publishedAt` (estimated), `position`
- One **video** row per video: `status`, `videoTitle`, `commentsCount` (YouTube's total), `commentsDelivered`, `topCommentLikes`
- Commenter name, channel link and avatar **only if you turn on** `includeCommenterNames`
- A `status` on every video row: `ok`, `no_comments`, `not_found`, `error` or `invalid_input`

### Input

| Field | What it does |
| --- | --- |
| `videos` | YouTube links (watch, youtu.be, Shorts, embed, live) or 11-character video IDs (up to 200) |
| `maxCommentsPerVideo` | Top comments per video (default 100, max 700). Free Apify plans: 100 |
| `includeCommenterNames` | Add commenter name, link and avatar (default off) |
| `country` | Country edition (name or 2-letter code). Defaults to United States |
| `language` | Language code (e.g. `en`, `de`). Defaults to the country's main language |
| `maxVideos` | Hard cap for this run (default 100, max 200). Free Apify plans: 5 |

```json
{
  "videos": ["https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ", "jNQXAC9IVRw"],
  "maxCommentsPerVideo": 20
}
```

### Output

A comment row (real result, Nov 7 2026):

```json
{
  "type": "comment", "videoId": "dQw4w9WgXcQ", "position": 1,
  "text": "Gonna flag this for nudity so I can rick roll the YouTube staff",
  "likes": 570000, "replyCount": 729, "publishedAgo": "6 years ago",
  "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ", "charged": true
}
```

A video summary row:

```json
{
  "type": "video", "status": "ok", "videoId": "dQw4w9WgXcQ",
  "videoTitle": "Rick Astley - Never Gonna Give You Up (Official Video) (4K Remaster)",
  "commentsCount": 2461417, "commentsDelivered": 20, "topCommentLikes": 570000, "charged": true
}
```

### Pricing

- **$0.0003 per comment delivered** (event `comment`), so 1,000 comments cost $0.30.
- **$0.001 per video looked up** (event `video-comments`), also when the video has comments turned off.
- **$0.005 per run** start fee (`apify-actor-start`).
- **Not charged:** missing or private videos, provider errors, invalid inputs, duplicates.
- Example: 10 videos at 100 comments each = $0.005 + $0.01 + $0.30 = **$0.315**.
- Set a maximum charge per run and the Actor stops there.

### Use from AI agents (MCP)

AI assistants such as Claude, ChatGPT and Cursor can run this Actor through [Apify's MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/mcp) (`https://mcp.apify.com`). Runs use your own Apify account and are charged at the prices on this page.

- **Actor name:** `vncntlabs/youtube-comments-scraper`
- **Server URL with only this tool:** `https://mcp.apify.com?tools=vncntlabs/youtube-comments-scraper`

```json
{ "mcpServers": { "apify": { "url": "https://mcp.apify.com?tools=vncntlabs/youtube-comments-scraper" } } }
```

Example prompt: *"Use vncntlabs/youtube-comments-scraper to get the top 50 comments on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ and list what viewers ask for most."*

### FAQ

**Do I need a YouTube login or API key?** No. Comments come from a licensed SERP data API.

**Can I get every comment on a big video?** No. You get the top comments YouTube shows first, up to 700 per video. That is usually the part worth reading. If you need every single reply, this isn't the right tool.

**Are replies included?** You get each top comment's reply count, not the reply threads.

**Why are commenter names off by default?** Most people want the words, not the people. Leaving names out keeps your dataset lighter on personal data. Turn them on if you need them.

**How fast is it?** A few videos usually take one to two minutes. Slow provider queues get a priority retry after 60 seconds.

**Can I search YouTube first?** Use [YouTube Search Scraper](https://apify.com/vncntlabs/youtube-search-scraper) to find videos by keyword, then paste the links here. For views, likes and subscriber counts use [YouTube Video Details](https://apify.com/vncntlabs/youtube-video-details).

Public YouTube comments delivered through a licensed SERP data API. Comment texts belong to their authors.
Not affiliated with or endorsed by YouTube or Google. Questions: hello@vncntlabs.com

# Actor input Schema

## `videos` (type: `array`):

Watch, youtu.be, Shorts, embed or live links, or bare 11-character video IDs. Up to 200 per run.

## `maxCommentsPerVideo` (type: `integer`):

How many top comments to get for each video, in YouTube's own top order. Max 700. Free Apify plans are limited to 100.

## `includeCommenterNames` (type: `boolean`):

Off by default. Turn on to add each commenter's display name, channel link and avatar.

## `country` (type: `string`):

YouTube country edition. Examples: United States, United Kingdom, Germany, India.

## `language` (type: `string`):

Optional language code (en, de, es, pt-BR...). Defaults to the country's main language.

## `maxVideos` (type: `integer`):

Hard cap for this run after de-duplication. Free Apify plans are limited to 5 videos.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "videos": [
    "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ",
    "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNQXAC9IVRw"
  ],
  "maxCommentsPerVideo": 20,
  "includeCommenterNames": false,
  "country": "United States",
  "maxVideos": 100
}
```

# Actor output Schema

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

No description

## `videos` (type: `string`):

No description

## `all` (type: `string`):

No description

## `summary` (type: `string`):

No description

# 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 = {
    "videos": [
        "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ",
        "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNQXAC9IVRw"
    ],
    "maxCommentsPerVideo": 20
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("vncntlabs/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 = {
    "videos": [
        "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ",
        "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNQXAC9IVRw",
    ],
    "maxCommentsPerVideo": 20,
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("vncntlabs/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 '{
  "videos": [
    "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ",
    "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNQXAC9IVRw"
  ],
  "maxCommentsPerVideo": 20
}' |
apify call vncntlabs/youtube-comments-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,vncntlabs/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/BfOGEW3S5MT98UcyM/builds/araqEz88LsTMhUhoy/openapi.json