WeChat Official Account 公众号 Scraper - Articles & Read Counts

WeChat Official Account Scraper extracts public data from WeChat (微信, also called Weixin) Official Accounts (公众号) and returns clean, flat JSON. As a WeChat scraper it can search WeChat articles by keyword, list the articles of any account, get the full text of an article with the publishing account's public profile (avatar, IP location, bio), pull read, like and share counts, read the comments under articles, search WeChat Channels (视频号) videos, get a Channels account's videos, profile and collections and a video's details and comments, search WeChat mini programs (小程序) by keyword with the company behind each, and look up the registered company (主体) behind any Official Account. It is made for market researchers, brand and media analysts, and data teams who follow Chinese content. No proxies, cookies, login or Chinese phone number needed.

What is a WeChat Official Account?

WeChat (微信, Weixin) is a Chinese messaging app. Official Accounts (公众号) are publishing pages run by media outlets, brands, organisations and individuals; they post articles that followers read inside WeChat. WeChat Channels (视频号) is the short-video feature of the same app. This Actor is an independent tool and is not affiliated with WeChat.

What data can you get?

The Actor has thirteen modes. Each mode returns one record type, marked in the type field.

Mode	Give it	You get
search	a keyword (optional: sort, time range)	articles (type: article): title, summary, account name, publish time, cover, link, read count
account	account IDs (gh_...), custom WeChat IDs, or any article link of the account	the account's published articles, newest first (type: article): title, link, publish time, cover, read and "looking" counts as shown in the list
article	article links	the full article (type: articleDetail): text, images, title, account name, account ID, WeChat ID, account bio, avatar, IP location, publish time, cover
stats	article links	reads, likes, "looking" (在看), shares, saves and comment count of each article (type: articleStats)
videoSearch	a keyword (optional: sort, time range)	WeChat Channels videos (type: channelVideo): title, author name and avatar, duration, likes, favorites, publish time, cover, export ID
articleComments	article links	the comments under each article (type: articleComment): text, time, likes, reply count, commenter name, ID, avatar, IP location. With includeReplies, the replies of comments that have 3 or more replies follow (commentId, parentCommentId, articleId, text, createdAt, likeCount, author fields and ipLocation; no replyCount or isTop)
channelVideos	Channels usernames (v2_...@finder) or any video share link of the channel (optional: a keyword to search inside the channel)	the channel's videos (type: channelVideo): description, duration, likes, comments, favorites, forwards, publish time, cover, IP location
channelProfile	Channels usernames or video share links	the channel's public profile (type: channelProfile): name, avatar, bio, IP location, region, original-video count, live count and hours, shop flag
channelCollections	Channels usernames or video share links	the channel's collections (type: channelCollection): name, description, video count, update time, cover. The videos inside a collection are not listed.
channelVideoDetails	video share links, export IDs or object IDs	one record per video (type: channelVideoDetail): the same fields as channelVideos, plus the author's username and avatar
channelComments	video share links, export IDs or object IDs	the top-level comments of each video (type: channelComment): text, time, likes, reply count, commenter name, ID, avatar, IP location
miniProgram	one or more keywords	mini programs found by WeChat search (type: miniProgram): name, description, the company behind it, verification and assured-buy flags, usage tag, app ID, icon, rank. About 25 per keyword.
principal	account IDs (gh_...), custom WeChat IDs, or any article link of the account	the registered subject behind each Official Account (type: principal): company name, registration (credit) code when WeChat shows one, verification status and type, verification date, country, province, third-party authorizations, name-change history. Personal accounts are charged like company accounts but carry no company name, registration code or province.

WeChat articles: search results and article details (article and articleDetail)

Field	Description
title	Article title
url	Article link
articleId	Article ID
accountName	Name of the publishing account; empty in account mode when the input is an account ID or WeChat ID
accountId	Account ID (gh_...); not returned in search results
publishedAt	Publish time
summary	Article summary
coverUrl	Cover image link
readCount	Read count as WeChat shows it (account lists and search results; "10万+" is returned as 100000, so it is a lower bound)
lookCount	"Looking" (在看) count as shown in the account list; not returned in search results
position	Position value of the article in the list; not returned in search results
text	Full article text (articleDetail only)
imageUrls	Links to the images in the article (articleDetail only)
author	Author byline of the article (articleDetail only)
wechatId	Custom WeChat ID of the account, when it has one (articleDetail only)
accountBio	Public bio of the account (articleDetail only)
accountAvatar	Avatar image URL of the publishing account (articleDetail only)
accountIpLocation	IP location (IP属地) of the publishing account as shown on the article: province, else country (articleDetail only)
sourceLink	Original-source link of the article; empty when there is none (articleDetail only)

WeChat article read, like and share counts (articleStats)

Field	Description
readCount	Number of reads
likeCount	Number of likes
lookCount	"Looking" (在看) count
shareCount	Number of shares
collectCount	Number of saves
commentCount	Number of comments
articleId	Article ID
url	Article link

WeChat Channels (视频号) videos (channelVideo)

Field	Description
title	Video title
authorName	Name of the video author
likeCount	Number of likes
durationSeconds	Video length in seconds
publishedAt	Publish time
coverUrl	Cover image link
channelVideoId	Video ID. In videoSearch and in-channel search results it is the search ID, not the object ID: use exportId to look the video up. In all other modes it is the numeric object ID.
exportId	Export ID of the video (export/...); it expires after a while, so use it soon
width	Video width
height	Video height
authorUsername	Channel username (v2_...@finder), usable as a channel input (not in videoSearch results)
commentCount, favoriteCount, forwardCount	Comments, favorites and forwards. Search results (videoSearch and in-channel search) carry only favoriteCount, and like WeChat they round large counts (1.3万 = 13000; 10万+ is returned as 100000, a lower bound)
ipLocation	IP location WeChat shows for the video (not in search results)

Search results (videoSearch and in-channel search) and channelVideoDetail records also carry authorAvatar (the channel's avatar).

Mini program and account principal fields

Type	Fields
miniProgram	miniProgramId, name, description, companyName, isCompanyVerified, isAssuredBuy, usage (e.g. "10万+人最近使用"), appId (empty for some results), originalId, iconUrl, searchKeyword, position (rank for the keyword, from 1)
principal	input (the account as you gave it), accountId, wechatId, accountName, description, companyName, registeredId (registration or credit code, empty when WeChat shows none), registeredCountry, province, isOverseas, customerType, verifyStatus, verifyType, verifiedAt, registeredAt, thirdPartyAuthorizations, nameChanges

The subject is what WeChat publishes on the account page. For personal (个人) accounts nothing about the person is returned: companyName, registeredId and province are empty. nameChanges lists only the old name, the new name and the date of each change.

Channel profile, collection and comment fields

Type	Fields
channelProfile	userId (channel username), nickname, avatar, bio, ipLocation, profileRegion, originalVideoCount, liveCount, liveHours, hasShop. Follower counts are not returned: WeChat does not publish them.
channelCollection	collectionId, name, description, videoCount, updatedAt, coverUrl, authorUsername
channelComment	commentId, channelVideoId, text, createdAt, likeCount, replyCount, authorName, authorId, authorAvatar, ipLocation
articleComment	commentId, articleId, text, createdAt, likeCount, replyCount, authorName, authorId, authorAvatar, ipLocation, isTop; replies (with includeReplies) carry parentCommentId instead of replyCount and isTop

Replies to comments are counted (replyCount); they are listed only with includeReplies. Article comments are the selected comments WeChat shows under the article.

How to use WeChat Official Account Scraper

1. Open the Actor on Apify and click Try for free or Start.
2. Choose a Mode, for example search articles, an account's articles, article full text, article counts or comments, Channels video search, a Channels account's videos, mini program search, or an account's registered company.
3. Fill in the input for that mode: a keyword (or a list of keywords for mini programs), account IDs, article links, Channels usernames or video links. Set Max results.
4. Click Start and wait for the run to finish.
5. Open the Output tab and export the dataset as JSON, CSV, Excel or another format.

Input

Field	Type	Required	What it does	Default
mode	string	required	search, account, article, stats, videoSearch, articleComments, channelVideos, channelProfile, channelCollections, channelVideoDetails, channelComments, miniProgram or principal	search
keyword	string	optional	Search keyword for search and videoSearch. Chinese keywords work best, e.g. "美食".	美食
sort	string	optional	For search and videoSearch: default (relevance), latest (newest first) or hot (most liked first)	default
publishTime	string	optional	For search and videoSearch: only items published within all (any time), day, week or half_year	all
keywords	array of strings	optional	For miniProgram: one or more search keywords. Each keyword is one search page (about 25 mini programs) and pays its own run-start fees (see pricing).	none
accounts	array of strings	optional	For account and principal: account IDs (gh_...), custom WeChat IDs, or the link of any article the account published. In account mode a link costs one extra lookup per account; principal looks up the account directly.	none
articles	array of strings	optional	For article, stats and articleComments: article links, either https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/... or the long form https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s?__biz=...&mid=...&idx=...&sn=...	none
channels	array of strings	optional	For channelVideos, channelProfile and channelCollections: channel usernames (v2_...@finder), or the share link (https://weixin.qq.com/sph/...) of any video of the channel. A share link costs one extra lookup per account. Channel IDs (sph...) are not accepted.	none
includeReplies	boolean	optional	For articleComments: also list the replies (first page) under comments that have 3 or more replies. They count toward maxResults and are billed as comment. Replies are looked up only while the run earnings cover the extra lookups, so a small run may list none.	false
channelKeyword	string	optional	For channelVideos: only list the channel's videos that match this keyword; leave empty to list all videos	none
videos	array of strings	optional	For channelVideoDetails and channelComments: share links, export IDs (export/...) or numeric object IDs. For comments, a share link or export ID costs one extra lookup per video.	none
maxResults	integer	optional	Maximum number of items to return in total for this run (1 to 5,000). You are charged per item returned.	20

An empty input {} searches articles for "美食" (food), so you can try the Actor in seconds.

Input examples

Search the newest articles of the last 7 days:

{
  "mode": "search",
  "keyword": "新能源汽车",
  "sort": "latest",
  "publishTime": "week",
  "maxResults": 50
}

List an account's articles:

{
  "mode": "account",
  "accounts": ["gh_acda8e6b88ca"],
  "maxResults": 30
}

Get the full text of an article:

{
  "mode": "article",
  "articles": ["https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/TSNQKkRpN1qbKsT7BvzqIw"]
}

Get the counts of an article:

{
  "mode": "stats",
  "articles": ["https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/TSNQKkRpN1qbKsT7BvzqIw"]
}

Search WeChat Channels videos, most liked first:

{
  "mode": "videoSearch",
  "keyword": "美食",
  "sort": "hot",
  "publishTime": "half_year",
  "maxResults": 20
}

Get the comments under an article:

{
  "mode": "articleComments",
  "articles": ["https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/TSNQKkRpN1qbKsT7BvzqIw"],
  "maxResults": 50
}

List a Channels account's videos that mention a keyword:

{
  "mode": "channelVideos",
  "channels": ["v2_0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef@finder"],
  "channelKeyword": "鸡",
  "maxResults": 30
}

Search mini programs for two keywords:

{
  "mode": "miniProgram",
  "keywords": ["咖啡", "奶茶"],
  "maxResults": 50
}

Find the company behind an Official Account:

{
  "mode": "principal",
  "accounts": ["gh_05f192fce051"]
}

How do I find a Channels username?

Give any mode that takes a channel the share link of one of its videos instead (https://weixin.qq.com/sph/...); that costs one extra lookup per account. channelVideoDetails returns the channel's username in authorUsername, and you can use it as a channel input afterwards.

How do I find an account ID?

Every article result from article mode carries accountId (gh_...) and, when the account has one, its wechatId. You can also give account mode the link of any article the account published; that costs one extra lookup per account (it is billed as an additional run-start fee).

Output example

The values below are illustrative samples.

Full article (article mode):

{
  "type": "articleDetail",
  "articleId": "MzA5MDAwMDAwMA==_2650000001_1",
  "url": "https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s?__biz=MzA5MDAwMDAwMA==&mid=2650000001&idx=1&sn=0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef",
  "title": "秋天必吃的5道家常菜",
  "summary": "天气转凉，这几道菜做法简单……",
  "accountName": "示例美食号",
  "accountId": "gh_0123456789ab",
  "wechatId": "sample_food",
  "accountBio": "分享家常菜做法和本地美食。",
  "accountAvatar": "http://wx.qlogo.cn/mmhead/example/0",
  "accountIpLocation": "广东",
  "author": "小编",
  "publishedAt": "2026-10-08T06:19:19Z",
  "coverUrl": "https://mmbiz.qpic.cn/mmbiz_jpg/example/0",
  "sourceLink": null,
  "text": "今天给大家推荐几道简单的家常菜……",
  "imageUrls": ["https://mmbiz.qpic.cn/mmbiz_jpg/example/640"]
}

Article from an account list (account mode, account ID input):

{
  "type": "article",
  "articleId": "MzA5MDAwMDAwMA==_2650000001_1",
  "url": "https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s?__biz=MzA5MDAwMDAwMA==&mid=2650000001&idx=1&sn=0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef",
  "title": "秋天必吃的5道家常菜",
  "summary": "天气转凉，这几道菜做法简单……",
  "accountName": null,
  "accountId": "gh_0123456789ab",
  "publishedAt": "2026-10-08T06:19:19Z",
  "position": 1,
  "coverUrl": "https://mmbiz.qpic.cn/mmbiz_jpg/example/0",
  "readCount": 12500,
  "lookCount": 86
}

Article counts (stats mode):

{
  "type": "articleStats",
  "articleId": "MzA5MDAwMDAwMA==_2650000001_1",
  "url": "https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s?__biz=MzA5MDAwMDAwMA==&mid=2650000001&idx=1&sn=0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef",
  "readCount": 12500,
  "likeCount": 340,
  "lookCount": 86,
  "shareCount": 120,
  "collectCount": 95,
  "commentCount": 42
}

WeChat Channels video (videoSearch mode):

{
  "type": "channelVideo",
  "channelVideoId": "example_0123456789",
  "exportId": "export/example0123456789",
  "title": "三分钟学会番茄炒蛋",
  "authorName": "示例厨房",
  "authorAvatar": "https://example.com/avatar.jpg",
  "durationSeconds": 185,
  "likeCount": 2300,
  "favoriteCount": 2800,
  "publishedAt": "2026-10-10T12:00:00Z",
  "coverUrl": "https://example.com/cover.jpg",
  "width": 1080,
  "height": 1920
}

How much does it cost?

The Actor uses pay-per-event pricing: a small fee for each run start, a fee per article, video or comment returned in a list, and a higher fee for each full article, each counts lookup, each Channels profile and each Channels video detail, because each needs its own lookup, and separate fees for mini programs, comments and account subjects.

Event	When it is charged	Paid plans
run-start	Once per run, when the first request succeeds, even if that request returns nothing (a page from the search's fallback is charged even when it brings nothing or times out, see below). It is not charged when the run fails from the start or rejects the IDs, or when the spending limit cannot cover it. In account, articleComments, channelVideos, channelCollections and channelComments modes, also once for each account, article, channel or video after the first, charged before its first request and kept even if it then fails or returns nothing. An article link given instead of an account ID, or a share link or export ID given instead of a channel username or video object ID, adds one more start fee, charged when it is reached. channelProfile pays no start fee per channel (each profile's detail fee covers its request); only a share link's lookup adds one start fee for each channel after the first. miniProgram charges 10 run-starts (10 × $0.015 = $0.15) for each keyword, in advance, because every keyword is a whole search page; the first keyword's ten are charged at the start of the run. principal charges one run-start per run, not per account.	$0.015
result	Each article, video, collection or video comment returned in a list (search, account, videoSearch, channelVideos, channelCollections, channelComments)	$0.005
comment	Each article comment (articleComments mode)	$0.003
miniprogram	Each mini program returned (miniProgram mode)	$0.014
principal	Each account whose subject record is returned (principal mode), personal accounts included. Accounts that are not found are not charged.	$0.45
detail	Each full article (article mode), each Channels profile (channelProfile) and each Channels video detail (channelVideoDetails)	Bronze $0.0184, Silver $0.0166, Gold, Platinum and Diamond $0.015
stats	Each article counts lookup (stats mode)	Bronze $0.0184, Silver $0.0166, Gold, Platinum and Diamond $0.015

Worked examples:

• 100 search results on a paid plan: $0.015 + 100 × $0.005 = $0.515.
• 100 full articles on the Bronze plan: $0.015 + 100 × $0.0184 = $1.855. On Gold: $0.015 + 100 × $0.015 = $1.515.
• 100 comments of one video: $0.015 + 100 × $0.005 = $0.515.
• 100 comments under one article: $0.015 + 100 × $0.003 = $0.315.
• One keyword, 25 mini programs: 10 × $0.015 + 25 × $0.014 = $0.50. A second keyword adds another $0.15 plus $0.014 per result.
• 3 accounts' registered companies: $0.015 + 3 × $0.45 = $1.365.
• One Channels profile on a paid plan (not Bronze): $0.015 + $0.015 = $0.03. Each further profile adds only $0.015.
• 3 accounts, 30 articles in total: 3 × $0.015 + 30 × $0.005 = $0.195, if all three accounts are reached.

Nothing is charged once maxResults is reached, and you never pay for more than maxResults items.

When article search uses its fallback

If the usual article search cannot answer before any result is delivered, search mode switches to a fallback search on its own, page by page until maxResults is reached or no more results come (up to about 40 articles per page). The fallback is billed for every page it answers, whatever is on it, so every fallback page you get costs at least about $0.16. The extra start fees are worked out from the prices of your own run, so the page total stays about the same if the run-start price changes (at a lower start price, more start fees make up the same amount). At today's prices:

Articles you take from a fallback page	You pay for that page
0 (nothing found, or the page request failed after it was sent, e.g. timed out)	$0.165 (11 start fees)
1 to about 30	$0.16 to $0.17: the result fees plus extra run-start fees that make up the difference
about 30 or more	only the result fees ($0.005 each); the first page also pays the run's own start fee

For example, maxResults 20 costs $0.015 + 3 × $0.015 + 20 × $0.005 = $0.16 instead of $0.115. A fallback page is only requested when your spending limit can pay for its dearest outcome (the message gives the amount); if it cannot, the run stops with a message saying so and nothing charged. If the usual search was billed for failed attempts first, the first fallback page also covers those, with a few more start fees (up to about $0.06). A second page is only requested after a full first page, and the search stops at the first page with no new article. The fallback has no time filter: with publishTime set it returns the newest articles and drops the older ones, and only the articles kept count as results. Fallback results may lack readCount. The run log says when the fallback was used. When the usual search works, the fallback is never used.

On the free Apify plan, every run returns a sample dataset: a real result of this Actor's prefilled input, captured on the date shown in the run status, so you can see exactly what the output looks like. Your own input is not used and nothing is charged. To run your own searches, use any paid Apify plan.

Use cases

• Content and trend research: find what Chinese media and brands publish about a topic, and how it performs.
• Competitor and brand monitoring: follow an account's publishing and compare reach across articles.
• Influencer and KOL research: rank accounts by the reads and likes of their recent articles before a partnership.
• AI and data projects: full-text Chinese articles with clean metadata for models, translation, summaries and dashboards.
• Industry intelligence: track policy, finance, technology and consumer topics where WeChat is the primary channel.
• Short-video research: find WeChat Channels (视频号) videos on a topic and compare their likes and duration.

Integrations and API

You can use this Actor as a WeChat article API: start runs through the Apify API, schedule them to run daily or weekly, and send the results to other tools with Apify integrations and webhooks. Results land in an Apify dataset that you can read through the API or download as JSON, CSV or Excel.

Example with the Python apify-client package:

from apify_client import ApifyClient

client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN>")
run = client.actor("clover_folktale/wechat-scraper").call(run_input={
    "mode": "search",
    "keyword": "新能源汽车",
    "sort": "latest",
    "publishTime": "week",
    "maxResults": 50,
})
for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items():
    print(item)

Tips and limits

• Mini program search returns the first search page of each keyword, about 25 results, not more. Your spending limit must cover the ten run-starts of a keyword plus one result, or the run stops before that keyword at no charge.
• principal takes one account at a time; the first account that WeChat cannot find stops the run (nothing is charged for it), so check IDs first. Some accounts publish no registration code.
• Search pages hold about 20-36 articles, account list pages about 10 posts (a post can carry several articles), Channels search pages about 10 videos.
• In account lists, readCount and lookCount are the numbers WeChat shows next to each article ("looking", 在看). Use stats mode for likes, shares and saves.
• In search results and account lists, readCount is read from the label WeChat shows, so "10万+" comes back as 100000 (a lower bound).
• Some accounts hide their counts; hidden counts come back as null.
• WeChat is slow: a single article or counts lookup can take up to 20 seconds.
• Image and cover links are WeChat CDN links and may expire; download what you need soon after the run.
• Channels videos have no public web link, so results carry the title, author, duration, likes and cover only. A Channels username is long (v2_...@finder); the easiest way to get one is a video share link or channelVideoDetails.
• Channel video lists hold about 15 videos per page, in-channel search about 16, comment pages about 25.
• Links or IDs in the wrong format stop the run with an input error before anything is scraped. Correctly formatted links or IDs that return nothing are skipped.
• Numbers such as reads and likes are what WeChat shows at the time of the run.
• Empty fields: search results have no accountId, lookCount or position; Weixin search doesn't return them. In account mode, accountName is empty when the input is an account ID or WeChat ID; it is filled only when the input is an article link. In article mode, sourceLink is empty when the article has no original-source link.
• Free plan. Every run on the free Apify plan returns a stored sample dataset (a real result of the prefilled input); your own input is not used and nothing is charged. Use any paid Apify plan to run your own searches.
• Privacy: only public data is returned. The publishing account's public profile is included: account ID, WeChat ID, avatar, IP location and bio. Commenters are returned with the public details WeChat shows (name, ID, avatar, IP location). Account bios are returned as published, including any business contact info the account put there.

FAQ

Do I need a WeChat account, login or cookies?

No. You don't need a login, cookies, proxies or a Chinese phone number.

Is it legal to scrape WeChat Official Accounts?

The Actor returns only public data: published articles, their public counts, the publishing account's public profile, public comments and public Channels video information. It does not read private data such as messages. You are responsible for how you use the data and for following the laws that apply to you.

How fresh is the data?

The data is collected live during each run. Numbers such as reads and likes are what WeChat shows at the time of the run.

Why are some fields empty?

Some fields are not available in every mode. Search results have no accountId, lookCount or position. In account mode, accountName is empty when you give an account ID or WeChat ID. sourceLink is empty when an article has no original-source link. Some accounts hide their counts, which then come back as null.

How many results can I get?

Set maxResults from 1 to 5,000 items per run.

Can I get comments?

Yes. articleComments returns the selected comments under an article (billed as comment events) and channelComments the top-level comments of a Channels video. Replies are counted (replyCount); set includeReplies to list them too (see the input table). stats mode returns the comment count (commentCount) of each article.

Can I schedule runs and export the data?

Yes. You can schedule runs on Apify, start them through the API, and export each dataset as JSON, CSV, Excel and other formats.

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