💬 YouTube Comments Scraper

Extract comments from any YouTube video with author information, likes, timestamps, and nested replies - fast, reliable, and built for scale.

This powerful Apify actor provides professional-grade extraction of YouTube comments including author details, engagement metrics, timestamps, and nested replies. Perfect for sentiment analysis, market research, content analysis, and social listening.

🎬 Video Tutorial

-- Key Features --

💬 Complete Comment Extraction

• Top-level Comments with full text content
• Author Information including name, channel ID, avatar, and verification status
• Engagement Metrics - like counts and reply counts
• Timestamps - when comments were posted
• Nested Replies - optional extraction of comment replies with pagination support

⚡ Performance & Reliability

• Fast Extraction - Optimized for speed and efficiency with parallel processing
• Batch Operations - Smart buffering reduces API calls by up to 3x
• Pagination Support - Extract unlimited comments per video
• Sort Options - Get top comments or newest first
• Smart Token Handling - Automatic extraction of sort-specific continuation tokens
• Session Management - Advanced proxy rotation with health tracking
• Error Handling - Graceful handling of disabled comments or unavailable videos

🛠️ Developer-Friendly

• Clean JSON Output - Ready for any data pipeline or API integration
• Flexible Configuration - Control comment count, sorting, and reply depth
• Structured Data - Each comment includes parent/child relationships
• Performance Metrics - Real-time statistics on request rates and success
• Well-Documented - Clear examples and comprehensive documentation

---

Quick Start

Simple Example (Top Comments, No Replies)

{
  "youtubeUrls": [
    {
      "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOO31qFmi9A"
    }
  ],
  "maxComments": 100,
  "sortBy": "top",
  "maxRepliesPerComment": 0
}

Extract Newest Comments

{
  "youtubeUrls": [
    {
      "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOO31qFmi9A"
    }
  ],
  "maxComments": 100,
  "sortBy": "newest",
  "maxRepliesPerComment": 0
}

With Nested Replies

{
  "youtubeUrls": [
    {
      "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOO31qFmi9A"
    }
  ],
  "maxComments": 50,
  "sortBy": "top",
  "maxRepliesPerComment": 10
}

Multiple Videos with Maximum Replies

{
  "youtubeUrls": [
    {
      "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID_1"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID_2"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://youtu.be/VIDEO_ID_3"
    }
  ],
  "maxComments": 200,
  "sortBy": "newest",
  "maxRepliesPerComment": 50
}

---

📥 Input Configuration

Input Parameters

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
youtubeUrls	array	Required	Array of YouTube video URLs to extract comments from
maxComments	integer	10	Maximum number of top-level comments to extract per video (10-100,000)
sortBy	string	top	Sort method: top (most relevant) or newest (most recent)
maxRepliesPerComment	integer	0	Max replies per comment. Set to 0 to disable replies, or any number > 0 to enable (1-500)

⚡ NEW: Simplified Reply Configuration

The includeReplies parameter has been removed! Now it's simpler:

• maxRepliesPerComment: 0 → Replies are disabled (faster extraction)
• maxRepliesPerComment: 10 → Extract up to 10 replies per comment
• maxRepliesPerComment: 100 → Extract up to 100 replies per comment

This makes configuration more intuitive - you just set how many replies you want, or 0 for none!

Supported URL Formats

• ✅ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID
• ✅ https://youtu.be/VIDEO_ID
• ✅ https://www.youtube.com/shorts/VIDEO_ID
• ✅ https://www.youtube.com/live/VIDEO_ID
• ✅ Direct video ID: VIDEO_ID

Sort Options Explained

Top Comments (sortBy: "top")

• Sorted by YouTube's relevance algorithm
• Includes most liked and engaging comments
• Best for understanding popular opinion
• Default YouTube sorting method

Newest First (sortBy: "newest")

• Sorted by publication time (newest to oldest)
• Perfect for monitoring recent activity
• Track real-time engagement
• Requires an additional API call to extract the correct token

---

📤 Output Structure

Complete Output Example

{
  "videoId": "kOO31qFmi9A",
  "videoUrl": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOO31qFmi9A",
  "commentsDisabled": false,
  "sortBy": "top",
  "commentId": "UgxQe-6VK3h-LZaul6x4AaABAg",
  "authorName": "@petertenthije",
  "authorChannelId": "UCjRXzLWPELehRVijzUiX7iQ",
  "authorThumbnail": "https://yt3.ggpht.com/ytc/AIdro_mvTOxNFL9dMAEzBQAvVcn4JgDSYUQHFQTOydPLOY4=s88-c-k-c0x00ffffff-no-rj",
  "text": "30 years later, and nothing has changed:\n\nThe world still uses excel;\nThere is still one guy doing the work;\nThere are still three guys being clueless;\nThere is still one guy pushing to go faster, thinking the project is doomed… and taking the credit when everything works out.",
  "publishedTime": "3 years ago (edited)",
  "likeCount": "28K",
  "replyCount": 229,
  "isVerified": false,
  "isCreator": false,
  "isHearted": false,
  "isPinned": false,
  "replies": [
    {
      "commentId": "UgxQe-6VK3h-LZaul6x4AaABAg.9bBOqHCtsBY9bCzb1v1tt1",
      "authorName": "@arnaboceanatyahoo",
      "authorChannelId": "UCi7-fR2kGX18SCvKI_XV8rQ",
      "authorThumbnail": "https://yt3.ggpht.com/ytc/AIdro_ln6eho2LyWvvi4mCOpvOMntSiPC6DrhVb3fZyb9eY=s88-c-k-c0x00ffffff-no-rj",
      "text": "Hahaha",
      "publishedTime": "3 years ago",
      "likeCount": "78",
      "parentCommentId": "UgxQe-6VK3h-LZaul6x4AaABAg"
    }
  ],
  "scrapedAt": "2025-10-24T18:21:50.350Z"
}

Output Fields Explained

Video Information

• videoId - YouTube video identifier (11 characters)
• videoUrl - Full YouTube video URL
• commentsDisabled - Whether comments are disabled (boolean)
• sortBy - Sort method used: top or newest
• scrapedAt - ISO 8601 timestamp when data was scraped

Top-Level Comment Fields

• commentId - Unique comment identifier
• text - Full comment text content (preserves line breaks)
• authorName - Display name with @ prefix
• authorChannelId - YouTube channel ID (starts with UC)
• authorThumbnail - URL to author's profile picture (88x88px)
• publishedTime - Relative time (e.g., "3 years ago", "2 days ago (edited)")
• likeCount - Number of likes as displayed (e.g., "28K", "150")
• replyCount - Total number of replies to this comment
• isVerified - Whether author has a verified checkmark
• isCreator - Whether author is the video creator
• isHearted - Whether creator hearted this comment
• isPinned - Whether comment is pinned by creator
• replies - Array of reply objects (if maxRepliesPerComment > 0)

Reply Fields

• commentId - Unique reply identifier
• parentCommentId - ID of the parent comment
• text - Reply text content
• authorName - Reply author's name
• authorChannelId - Reply author's channel ID
• authorThumbnail - Reply author's avatar URL
• publishedTime - When the reply was posted
• likeCount - Number of likes on the reply
• isCreator - Whether the reply is from the video creator
• isHearted - Whether the reply was hearted by the creator
• isPinned - Whether the reply is pinned

---

🌐 Actor Standby

NEW in v3.0: The actor now supports Standby Mode for real-time comment extraction via HTTP API.

Overview

Standby Mode keeps the actor running as a persistent web service. Instead of starting a new actor run for each request, you make HTTP requests to a long-running instance. This provides:

• Instant responses without actor startup delays
• Real-time streaming of comments as they're extracted
• Ability to resume interrupted scrapes using continuation tokens
• NDJSON streaming format for progressive data delivery

How to Use

1. Start the Actor in Standby Mode

Enable Standby Mode when running the actor. The actor will start and provide a web server URL.

2. Get Your API Token

Get your Apify API token from: https://console.apify.com/account/integrations?fpr=smcx63

3. Make API Requests

Once running, you'll receive a standby URL like:

https://dz-omar--youtube-comments-scraper.apify.actor/

All requests must include your API token as a query parameter: ?token=apify_api_xxx

4. Send POST Requests

Basic Request (Single Video):

curl -X POST "https://dz-omar--youtube-comments-scraper.apify.actor/?token=apify_api_xxx" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "youtubeUrls": [
      {"url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOO31qFmi9A"}
    ],
    "maxComments": 50,
    "sortBy": "top",
    "maxRepliesPerComment": 0
  }'

Multiple Videos:

curl -X POST "https://dz-omar--youtube-comments-scraper.apify.actor/?token=apify_api_xxx" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "youtubeUrls": [
      {"url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_1"},
      {"url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_2"}
    ],
    "maxComments": 100,
    "sortBy": "newest",
    "maxRepliesPerComment": 10
  }'

Resume from Continuation Token:

If your request was interrupted, you can resume using the continuation token:

curl -X POST "https://dz-omar--youtube-comments-scraper.apify.actor/?token=apify_api_xxx" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "youtubeUrls": [
      {"url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOO31qFmi9A"}
    ],
    "maxComments": 100,
    "sortBy": "top",
    "maxRepliesPerComment": 5,
    "continuationToken": "Eg0SC2h6OXRTdjNDUDZr...",
    "alreadyFetched": 50
  }'

5. GET Request (Default Behavior)

You can also make a simple GET request to test the service:

$curl "https://dz-omar--youtube-comments-scraper.apify.actor/?token=apify_api_xxx"

This will run with default settings and stream results back.

Response Format

The API returns NDJSON (Newline Delimited JSON) format, where each line is a separate JSON object. This allows you to process data as it arrives.

Response Types:

Log Messages:

{"type": "log", "message": "Fetching comments...", "timestamp": "2025-11-12T..."}

Comment Batches:

{
  "type": "batch",
  "sessionId": "vid_kOO31qFmi9A_123456",
  "videoId": "kOO31qFmi9A",
  "videoUrl": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOO31qFmi9A",
  "batchSize": 10,
  "commentsSentSoFar": 10,
  "totalSent": 10,
  "continuationToken": "Eg0SC2h6OXRTdjNDUDZr...",
  "completed": false,
  "comments": [
    {
      "videoId": "kOO31qFmi9A",
      "commentId": "UgxQe-6VK3h...",
      "authorName": "@username",
      "text": "Great video!",
      "likeCount": "150",
      "replies": []
    }
  ],
  "timestamp": "2025-11-12T..."
}

Video Complete:

{"type": "video_complete", "videoUrl": "...", "timestamp": "2025-11-12T..."}

All Videos Complete:

{"type": "complete", "timestamp": "2025-11-12T..."}

Errors:

{
  "type": "error",
  "videoUrl": "...",
  "error": "Error message",
  "errorType": "RateLimitError",
  "isRetryable": true,
  "statusCode": 429,
  "timestamp": "2025-11-12T..."
}

Resuming Interrupted Requests

If your connection is interrupted or the server migrates, you'll receive:

{
  "type": "migrating",
  "message": "Server is migrating, please reconnect with last token",
  "continuationToken": "Eg0SC2h6OXRTdjNDUDZr...",
  "commentsSentSoFar": 50,
  "timestamp": "2025-11-12T..."
}

Use the continuationToken and commentsSentSoFar values to resume:

curl -X POST "https://dz-omar--youtube-comments-scraper.apify.actor/?token=apify_api_xxx" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "youtubeUrls": [{"url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOO31qFmi9A"}],
    "maxComments": 100,
    "continuationToken": "Eg0SC2h6OXRTdjNDUDZr...",
    "alreadyFetched": 50
  }'

Processing NDJSON Responses

With jq (command line):

curl -X POST "https://dz-omar--youtube-comments-scraper.apify.actor/?token=apify_api_xxx" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"youtubeUrls": [{"url": "..."}], "maxComments": 50}' | \
  jq -c 'select(.type == "batch") | .comments[]'

With Python:

import requests
import json

response = requests.post(
    'https://dz-omar--youtube-comments-scraper.apify.actor/?token=apify_api_xxx',
    json={
        'youtubeUrls': [{'url': 'https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOO31qFmi9A'}],
        'maxComments': 50,
        'sortBy': 'top'
    },
    stream=True
)

for line in response.iter_lines():
    if line:
        data = json.loads(line)
        if data['type'] == 'batch':
            for comment in data['comments']:
                print(f"{comment['authorName']}: {comment['text']}")

With Node.js:

const response = await fetch('https://dz-omar--youtube-comments-scraper.apify.actor/?token=apify_api_xxx', {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    youtubeUrls: [{ url: 'https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOO31qFmi9A' }],
    maxComments: 50,
    sortBy: 'top'
  })
});

const reader = response.body.getReader();
const decoder = new TextDecoder();

while (true) {
  const { done, value } = await reader.read();
  if (done) break;
  
  const lines = decoder.decode(value).split('\n');
  for (const line of lines) {
    if (line.trim()) {
      const data = JSON.parse(line);
      if (data.type === 'batch') {
        data.comments.forEach(comment => {
          console.log(`${comment.authorName}: ${comment.text}`);
        });
      }
    }
  }
}

Parameters

All standard input parameters work in Standby Mode:

Parameter	Type	Description
youtubeUrls	array	YouTube video URLs to scrape
maxComments	integer	Maximum comments per video (10-100,000)
sortBy	string	"top" or "newest"
maxRepliesPerComment	integer	Max replies per comment (0 to disable)
continuationToken	string	Resume token from previous request (optional)
alreadyFetched	integer	Number of comments already fetched (optional)

Health Check

Check if the service is running:

$curl "https://dz-omar--youtube-comments-scraper.apify.actor//heartbeat?token=apify_api_xxx"

Response:

{
  "status": "alive",
  "activeConnections": 0,
  "timestamp": "2025-11-12T..."
}

Pricing in Standby Mode

When running in Standby Mode, you're charged for:

• Compute time (while the actor is running)
• Per-result pricing (parent comments and replies) as configured

The actor automatically charges for extracted data using the pricing model defined in your actor configuration.

🛡️ Legal & Compliance

This actor extracts publicly available comment data from YouTube. All data is accessible through normal YouTube viewing.

Important Legal Considerations

Compliance Requirements:

• ✅ YouTube's Terms of Service
• ✅ Applicable copyright laws
• ✅ Data protection regulations (GDPR, CCPA, etc.)
• ✅ Your jurisdiction's specific laws

Recommended Practices:

• ✅ Use for research, analysis, or legitimate business purposes
• ✅ Respect user privacy and anonymize data when sharing
• ✅ Do not use for harassment, spam, or malicious purposes
• ✅ Comply with data retention and deletion requirements
• ✅ Provide opt-out mechanisms if republishing data
• ✅ Credit sources appropriately

Prohibited Uses:

• ❌ Harassment or targeted attacks on users
• ❌ Building spam or bot networks
• ❌ Circumventing YouTube's security measures
• ❌ Selling or redistributing raw user data
• ❌ Creating deepfakes or manipulated content

Data Privacy

Personal Information Handling:

• Comments include publicly visible usernames and profile pictures
• Channel IDs are public identifiers
• No private or non-public data is extracted
• Consider anonymization before sharing datasets

GDPR Compliance:

• Users have the right to request data deletion
• Implement data retention policies
• Document data processing purposes
• Provide transparency about data usage

---

🛠️ Troubleshooting

No Comments Found

Symptoms:

• Empty dataset
• Message: "No comments section found or comments are disabled"

Solutions:

• ✅ Verify comments are enabled on the video (check YouTube page)
• ✅ Ensure the video URL is correct and complete
• ✅ Try with a different video to confirm actor functionality
• ✅ Check if video is age-restricted or private

---

Missing or Incomplete Data

Symptoms:

• Some fields are null or missing
• Truncated comment text

Solutions:

• ✅ Normal behavior - not all fields exist for all comments
• ✅ authorChannelId may be null for deleted accounts
• ✅ likeCount may be null if likes are hidden
• ✅ Check frameworkUpdates merging for enhanced data

---

Slow Performance

Symptoms:

• Actor runs longer than expected
• Timeouts or incomplete results

Solutions:

• ✅ Reduce maxComments for faster runs
• ✅ Set maxRepliesPerComment: 0 if not needed (major speedup)
• ✅ Lower maxRepliesPerComment to reduce reply fetching time
• ✅ Process multiple videos in separate runs
• ✅ Check Apify platform limits and usage

---

Rate Limiting Errors

Symptoms:

• HTTP 429 errors
• "Too many requests" messages
• Sudden failures mid-scrape

Solutions:

• ✅ Automatic proxy rotation is enabled by default
• ✅ Reduce request frequency (handled automatically)
• ✅ Split large jobs into multiple smaller runs
• ✅ Add delay between consecutive runs
• ✅ Contact support if persistent issues

---

Best Practices

For Optimal Performance

1. Start Small, Scale Up

   • Test with 50-100 comments first
   • Verify output format meets your needs
   • Then scale to larger extractions

2. Choose Appropriate Settings

   • Use sortBy: "top" for popular opinion
   • Use sortBy: "newest" for real-time monitoring
   • Set maxRepliesPerComment: 0 when replies aren't needed (10x faster!)
   • Enable replies only when needed (significant performance impact)

3. Monitor Resource Usage

   • Check Apify platform usage regularly
   • Optimize maxComments and maxRepliesPerComment
   • Balance speed vs. completeness

4. Batch Processing

   • Process videos in groups of 5-10
   • Use separate runs for very large videos
   • Schedule regular runs for ongoing monitoring

For Data Quality

1. Validate Input URLs

   • Test URLs in browser first
   • Ensure videos have comments enabled
   • Check video is public and accessible

2. Handle Missing Data

   • Implement null checks in your code
   • Some fields may legitimately be empty
   • Don't assume all fields always exist

3. Verify Sort Order

   • Compare first few results with YouTube
   • Check console logs for sort token extraction
   • Newest sort requires extra API call

4. Clean and Process Data

   • Remove duplicates (rare but possible)
   • Parse likeCount strings to numbers if needed
   • Convert relative timestamps to dates if required

For Compliance

1. Respect User Privacy

   • Anonymize data when sharing publicly
   • Remove personally identifiable information
   • Don't republish offensive or harmful content

2. Document Usage

   • Keep records of data sources
   • Document purpose of data collection
   • Maintain data processing logs

3. Implement Retention Policies

   • Delete old data per your policy
   • Honor user deletion requests
   • Don't hoard unnecessary data

4. Stay Updated

   • Review YouTube's ToS regularly
   • Monitor changes in data structure
   • Update actor when API changes

---

📊 Output Examples

Example 1: Single Comment (No Replies)

{
  "videoId": "kOO31qFmi9A",
  "videoUrl": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOO31qFmi9A",
  "commentsDisabled": false,
  "sortBy": "top",
  "commentId": "UgxQe-6VK3h-LZaul6x4AaABAg",
  "authorName": "@petertenthije",
  "authorChannelId": "UCjRXzLWPELehRVijzUiX7iQ",
  "authorThumbnail": "https://yt3.ggpht.com/ytc/AIdro_mvTOxNFL9dMAEzBQAvVcn4JgDSYUQHFQTOydPLOY4=s88-c-k-c0x00ffffff-no-rj",
  "text": "30 years later, and nothing has changed",
  "publishedTime": "3 years ago (edited)",
  "likeCount": "28K",
  "replyCount": 229,
  "isVerified": false,
  "isCreator": false,
  "isHearted": false,
  "isPinned": false,
  "replies": [],
  "scrapedAt": "2025-10-24T18:21:50.350Z"
}

Example 2: Comment with Replies (maxRepliesPerComment: 2)

{
  "videoId": "kOO31qFmi9A",
  "videoUrl": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOO31qFmi9A",
  "commentsDisabled": false,
  "sortBy": "top",
  "commentId": "UgxQe-6VK3h-LZaul6x4AaABAg",
  "authorName": "@petertenthije",
  "text": "Great video!",
  "replyCount": 3,
  "replies": [
    {
      "commentId": "UgxQe-6VK3h-LZaul6x4AaABAg.9bBOqHCtsBY9bCzb1v1tt1",
      "parentCommentId": "UgxQe-6VK3h-LZaul6x4AaABAg",
      "authorName": "@user1",
      "text": "I agree!",
      "likeCount": "78"
    },
    {
      "commentId": "UgxQe-6VK3h-LZaul6x4AaABAg.9bBOqHCtsBY9bDP_Iw25XS",
      "parentCommentId": "UgxQe-6VK3h-LZaul6x4AaABAg",
      "authorName": "@user2",
      "text": "Thanks for sharing!",
      "likeCount": "520"
    }
  ],
  "scrapedAt": "2025-10-24T18:21:50.350Z"
}

Example 3: Comments Disabled

{
  "videoId": "ABC123",
  "videoUrl": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABC123",
  "commentsDisabled": true,
  "totalCommentsFetched": 0,
  "scrapedAt": "2025-10-24T18:21:50.350Z"
}

---

🤝 Support & Resources

Getting Help

• 🌐 Website: flowextractapi.com
• 📧 Email: flowextractapi@outlook.com
• 🙋 Apify Profile: FlowExtract API
• 💬 GitHub Issues: FlowExtractAPI

Social Media

• 💼 LinkedIn: flowextract-api
• 🐦 Twitter: @FlowExtractAPI
• 📱 Facebook: flowextractapi

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