# Reddit Scraper Lite (`scrapeai/reddit-scraper-lite`) Actor
Pay-per-result, unlimited Reddit web scraper that crawls posts, comments, communities, and users without requiring login. It allows limiting scraping by the number of posts or items and exports all extracted data into multiple dataset formats
- **URL**: https://apify.com/scrapeai/reddit-scraper-lite.md
- **Developed by:** [ScrapeAI](https://apify.com/scrapeai) (community)
- **Categories:** Social media, News, AI
- **Stats:** 7 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 1 bookmarks
- **User rating**: 5.00 out of 5 stars
## Pricing
$5.00/month + usage
To use this Actor, you pay a monthly rental fee to the developer. The rent is subtracted from your prepaid usage every month.You also pay for the Apify platform usage, which gets cheaper the higher Apify subscription plan you have.
Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#rental-actors
## What's an Apify Actor?
Actors are a software tools running on the Apify platform, for all kinds of web data extraction and automation use cases.
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.
Actors are written with capital "A".
## 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.
The best way to integrate Actors is as follows.
In JavaScript/TypeScript projects, use official [JavaScript/TypeScript client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js.md):
```bash
npm install apify-client
```
In Python projects, use official [Python client library](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python.md):
```bash
pip install apify-client
```
In shell scripts, use [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md):
````bash
# MacOS / Linux
curl -fsSL https://apify.com/install-cli.sh | bash
# Windows
irm https://apify.com/install-cli.ps1 | iex
```bash
In AI frameworks, you might use the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/mcp.md).
If your project is in a different language, use the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md).
For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below.
For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt).
# README
๐ง Reddit Scraper Lite
Pay Per Result, unlimited Reddit web scraper to crawl posts, comments, communities, and users without login. Limit web scraping by number of posts or items and extract all data in a dataset in multiple formats.
โ
Use Cases
๐ Scrape subreddits (communities) with top posts
๐ Scrape Reddit posts with title and text, username, number of comments, votes, media elements
๐ฌ Get Reddit comments, timestamps, points, usernames, post and comment URLs
๐ฅ Scrape user details, their most recent posts and comments
๐ Sort scraped data by categories of Relevance, Hot, Top, and New
๐ Scrape data using a specific URL or by keyword
๐ฅ Input Configuration
You can customize the actor using the following input fields:
```json
{
"startUrls": [
{
"url": "https://www.reddit.com/r/pasta/comments/vwi6jx/pasta_peperoni_and_ricotta_cheese_how_to_make/"
}
],
"skipComments": false,
"skipUserPosts": false,
"skipCommunity": false,
"ignoreStartUrls": false,
"searchPosts": true,
"searchComments": false,
"searchCommunities": false,
"searchUsers": false,
"sort": "new",
"includeNSFW": true,
"maxItems": 10,
"maxPostCount": 10,
"maxComments": 10,
"maxCommunitiesCount": 2,
"maxUserCount": 2,
"scrollTimeout": 40,
"subreddit": "news",
"proxy": {
"useApifyProxy": true,
"apifyProxyGroups": [
"RESIDENTIAL"
]
},
"debugMode": false
}
````
๐งพ Fields Explained
Field Type Description
startUrls array URLs of Reddit pages to scrape
skipComments boolean Skip scraping comments
skipUserPosts boolean Skip scraping user posts
skipCommunity boolean Skip scraping community info
searchPosts boolean Search for posts
searchComments boolean Search for comments
searchCommunities boolean Search for communities
searchUsers boolean Search for users
sort string Sort by Relevance, Hot, Top, New, Comments
includeNSFW boolean Include NSFW content
maxItems integer Maximum items to save
maxPostCount integer Maximum posts per page
maxComments integer Maximum comments per page
maxCommunitiesCount integer Maximum community pages
maxUserCount integer Maximum user pages
scrollTimeout integer Page scroll timeout in seconds
subreddit string Name of subreddit to scrape (without r/ prefix)
proxy object Proxy configuration
debugMode boolean Enable debug logs
๐ค Output
The actor returns a dataset containing Reddit posts, comments, communities, and user data.
๐งฉ Sample Outputs
๐ Reddit Post
```json
{
"id": "t3_144w7sn",
"parsedId": "144w7sn",
"url": "https://www.reddit.com/r/HonkaiStarRail/comments/144w7sn/my_luckiest_10x_pull_yet/",
"username": "YourKingLives",
"title": "My Luckiest 10x Pull Yet",
"communityName": "r/HonkaiStarRail",
"parsedCommunityName": "HonkaiStarRail",
"body": "URL: https://i.redd.it/yod3okjkgx4b1.jpg\nThumbnail: https://b.thumbs.redditmedia.com/lm9KxS4laQWgx4uOoioM3N7-tBK3GLPrxb9da2hGtjs.jpg\nImages:\n\thttps://preview.redd.it/yod3okjkgx4b1.jpg?auto=webp&v=enabled&s=be5faf0250e19138b82c7bbe5e7406fa46da4e73\n",
"html": null,
"numberOfComments": 0,
"upVotes": 1,
"isVideo": false,
"isAd": false,
"over18": false,
"createdAt": "2023-06-09T05:23:15.000Z",
"scrapedAt": "2023-06-09T05:23:28.409Z",
"dataType": "post"
}
```
๐ฌ Reddit Comment
```json
{
"id": "t1_jnhqrgg",
"parsedId": "jnhqrgg",
"url": "https://www.reddit.com/r/NewsWithJingjing/comments/144v5c3/theres_no_flag_large_enough/jnhqrgg/",
"parentId": "t3_144v5c3",
"username": "smokecat20",
"category": "NewsWithJingjing",
"communityName": "r/NewsWithJingjing",
"body": "A true patriot.",
"createdAt": "2023-06-09T05:00:00.000Z",
"scrapedAt": "2023-06-09T05:23:32.025Z",
"upVotes": 3,
"numberOfreplies": 0,
"html": "",
"dataType": "comment"
}
```
๐ฅ Reddit Community
```json
{
"id": "2qlhq",
"name": "t5_2qlhq",
"title": "Pizza",
"headerImage": "https://b.thumbs.redditmedia.com/jq9ytPEOecwd5bmGIvNQzjTPE9hdd0kB9XGa--wq55A.png",
"description": "The home of pizza on reddit. An educational community devoted to the art of pizza making.",
"over18": false,
"createdAt": "2008-08-26T00:03:48.000Z",
"scrapedAt": "2023-06-09T05:16:55.443Z",
"numberOfMembers": 569724,
"url": "https://www.reddit.com/r/Pizza/",
"dataType": "community"
}
```
๐ค Reddit User
```json
{
"id": "c3h2qmv",
"url": "https://www.reddit.com/user/jancurn/",
"username": "jancurn",
"userIcon": "https://www.redditstatic.com/avatars/defaults/v2/avatar_default_7.png",
"postKarma": 4,
"commentKarma": 10,
"description": "",
"over18": false,
"createdAt": "2018-09-10T15:13:39.000Z",
"scrapedAt": "2023-06-09T05:21:14.409Z",
"dataType": "user"
}
```
๐ Proxy Configuration
This actor uses Apify Proxy automatically to:
Avoid IP-based rate limiting or bans
Access Reddit data reliably
Ensure stable scraping at scale
Default proxy settings use:
```json
{
"useApifyProxy": true,
"apifyProxyGroups": ["RESIDENTIAL"]
}
```
๐ How to Use
Open the actor in Apify Console
Click "Try actor" or create a new task
Enter your desired Reddit URLs or search terms
Configure scraping options
Run the actor
Download your Reddit data in JSON, CSV, or Excel format
โ๏ธ Advanced Input Example
```json
{
"startUrls": [
{
"url": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/"
}
],
"skipComments": false,
"searchPosts": true,
"sort": "hot",
"includeNSFW": false,
"maxItems": 100,
"maxComments": 50,
"proxy": {
"useApifyProxy": true,
"apifyProxyGroups": ["RESIDENTIAL"]
},
"debugMode": false
}
```
๐ ๏ธ Tech Stack
๐งฉ Apify SDK โ for actor and data handling
๐ท๏ธ Crawlee โ for robust crawling and scraping
๐ Puppeteer โ for browser automation and rendering dynamic content
โ๏ธ Node.js โ fast, scalable backend environment
# Actor input Schema
## `startUrls` (type: `array`):
If you already have URL(s) of page(s) you wish to scrape, you can set them here. If you want to use the search field below, remove all startUrls here.
## `skipComments` (type: `boolean`):
This will skip scrapping comments when going through posts
## `skipUserPosts` (type: `boolean`):
This will skip scrapping user posts when going through user activity
## `skipCommunity` (type: `boolean`):
This will skip scrapping community info but will still get community posts if they were not skipped.
## `ignoreStartUrls` (type: `boolean`):
Mainly used as a fix for ignoring starUrl on Zapier
## `searchPosts` (type: `boolean`):
Will search for posts with the provided search
## `searchComments` (type: `boolean`):
Will search for comments with the provided search
## `searchCommunities` (type: `boolean`):
Will search for communities with the provided search
## `searchUsers` (type: `boolean`):
Will search for users with the provided search
## `sort` (type: `string`):
Sort search by Relevance, Hot, Top, New or Comments
## `includeNSFW` (type: `boolean`):
You can choose to include or exclude NSFW content from your search
## `maxItems` (type: `integer`):
The maximum number of items that will be saved in the dataset. If you are scrapping for Communities\&Users, remember to consider that each category inside a community is saved as a separated item.
## `maxPostCount` (type: `integer`):
The maximum number of posts that will be scraped for each Posts Page or Communities\&Users URL
## `maxComments` (type: `integer`):
The maximum number of comments that will be scraped for each Comments Page. If you don't want to scrape comments you can set this to zero.
## `maxCommunitiesCount` (type: `integer`):
The maximum number of Communities's pages that will be scraped if your search or startUrl is a Communities type.
## `maxUserCount` (type: `integer`):
The maximum number of Users's pages that will be scraped.
## `scrollTimeout` (type: `integer`):
Set the timeout in seconds in which the page will stop scrolling down to load new items
## `proxy` (type: `object`):
Either use Apify proxy, or provide your own proxy servers.
## `subreddit` (type: `string`):
Name of the subreddit to scrape (without r/ prefix). Defaults to 'news'
## `debugMode` (type: `boolean`):
Activate to see detailed logs
## Actor input object example
```json
{
"skipComments": false,
"skipUserPosts": false,
"skipCommunity": false,
"ignoreStartUrls": false,
"searchPosts": true,
"searchComments": false,
"searchCommunities": false,
"searchUsers": false,
"sort": "new",
"includeNSFW": true,
"maxItems": 10,
"maxPostCount": 10,
"maxComments": 10,
"maxCommunitiesCount": 2,
"maxUserCount": 2,
"scrollTimeout": 40,
"proxy": {
"useApifyProxy": true,
"apifyProxyGroups": [
"RESIDENTIAL"
]
},
"subreddit": "news",
"debugMode": false
}
```
# 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 '' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
token: '',
});
// Prepare Actor input
const input = {};
// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("scrapeai/reddit-scraper-lite").call(input);
// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`๐พ 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);
});
// ๐ Want to learn more ๐? Go to โ 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 '' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("")
# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {}
# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("scrapeai/reddit-scraper-lite").call(run_input=run_input)
# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print("๐พ Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/" + run["defaultDatasetId"])
for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items():
print(item)
# ๐ Want to learn more ๐? Go to โ https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start
```
## CLI example
```bash
echo '{}' |
apify call scrapeai/reddit-scraper-lite --silent --output-dataset
```
## MCP server setup
```json
{
"mcpServers": {
"apify": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"mcp-remote",
"https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=scrapeai/reddit-scraper-lite",
"--header",
"Authorization: Bearer "
]
}
}
}
```
## OpenAPI specification
```json
{
"openapi": "3.0.1",
"info": {
"title": "Reddit Scraper Lite",
"description": "Pay-per-result, unlimited Reddit web scraper that crawls posts, comments, communities, and users without requiring login. It allows limiting scraping by the number of posts or items and exports all extracted data into multiple dataset formats",
"version": "1.0",
"x-build-id": "oa7SsGiNvEiaJBqsY"
},
"servers": [
{
"url": "https://api.apify.com/v2"
}
],
"paths": {
"/acts/scrapeai~reddit-scraper-lite/run-sync-get-dataset-items": {
"post": {
"operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-scrapeai-reddit-scraper-lite",
"x-openai-isConsequential": false,
"summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for its completion, and returns Actor's dataset items in response.",
"tags": [
"Run Actor"
],
"requestBody": {
"required": true,
"content": {
"application/json": {
"schema": {
"$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema"
}
}
}
},
"parameters": [
{
"name": "token",
"in": "query",
"required": true,
"schema": {
"type": "string"
},
"description": "Enter your Apify token here"
}
],
"responses": {
"200": {
"description": "OK"
}
}
}
},
"/acts/scrapeai~reddit-scraper-lite/runs": {
"post": {
"operationId": "runs-sync-scrapeai-reddit-scraper-lite",
"x-openai-isConsequential": false,
"summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.",
"tags": [
"Run Actor"
],
"requestBody": {
"required": true,
"content": {
"application/json": {
"schema": {
"$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema"
}
}
}
},
"parameters": [
{
"name": "token",
"in": "query",
"required": true,
"schema": {
"type": "string"
},
"description": "Enter your Apify token here"
}
],
"responses": {
"200": {
"description": "OK",
"content": {
"application/json": {
"schema": {
"$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema"
}
}
}
}
}
}
},
"/acts/scrapeai~reddit-scraper-lite/run-sync": {
"post": {
"operationId": "run-sync-scrapeai-reddit-scraper-lite",
"x-openai-isConsequential": false,
"summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.",
"tags": [
"Run Actor"
],
"requestBody": {
"required": true,
"content": {
"application/json": {
"schema": {
"$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema"
}
}
}
},
"parameters": [
{
"name": "token",
"in": "query",
"required": true,
"schema": {
"type": "string"
},
"description": "Enter your Apify token here"
}
],
"responses": {
"200": {
"description": "OK"
}
}
}
}
},
"components": {
"schemas": {
"inputSchema": {
"type": "object",
"required": [
"proxy"
],
"properties": {
"startUrls": {
"title": "Start URLs",
"type": "array",
"description": "If you already have URL(s) of page(s) you wish to scrape, you can set them here. If you want to use the search field below, remove all startUrls here.",
"items": {
"type": "object",
"properties": {
"url": {
"type": "string",
"title": "URL",
"description": "Reddit URL to scrape"
}
}
}
},
"skipComments": {
"title": "Skip comments",
"type": "boolean",
"description": "This will skip scrapping comments when going through posts",
"default": false
},
"skipUserPosts": {
"title": "Skip user posts",
"type": "boolean",
"description": "This will skip scrapping user posts when going through user activity",
"default": false
},
"skipCommunity": {
"title": "Skip community",
"type": "boolean",
"description": "This will skip scrapping community info but will still get community posts if they were not skipped.",
"default": false
},
"ignoreStartUrls": {
"title": "Ignore start URLs",
"type": "boolean",
"description": "Mainly used as a fix for ignoring starUrl on Zapier",
"default": false
},
"searchPosts": {
"title": "Search for posts",
"type": "boolean",
"description": "Will search for posts with the provided search",
"default": true
},
"searchComments": {
"title": "Search for comments",
"type": "boolean",
"description": "Will search for comments with the provided search",
"default": false
},
"searchCommunities": {
"title": "Search for communities",
"type": "boolean",
"description": "Will search for communities with the provided search",
"default": false
},
"searchUsers": {
"title": "Search for users",
"type": "boolean",
"description": "Will search for users with the provided search",
"default": false
},
"sort": {
"title": "Sort search",
"enum": [
"relevance",
"hot",
"top",
"new",
"rising",
"comments"
],
"type": "string",
"description": "Sort search by Relevance, Hot, Top, New or Comments",
"default": "new"
},
"includeNSFW": {
"title": "Include NSFW content",
"type": "boolean",
"description": "You can choose to include or exclude NSFW content from your search",
"default": true
},
"maxItems": {
"title": "Maximum number of items to be saved",
"type": "integer",
"description": "The maximum number of items that will be saved in the dataset. If you are scrapping for Communities&Users, remember to consider that each category inside a community is saved as a separated item.",
"default": 10
},
"maxPostCount": {
"title": "Limit of posts scraped inside a single page",
"type": "integer",
"description": "The maximum number of posts that will be scraped for each Posts Page or Communities&Users URL",
"default": 10
},
"maxComments": {
"title": "Limit of comments scraped inside a single page",
"type": "integer",
"description": "The maximum number of comments that will be scraped for each Comments Page. If you don't want to scrape comments you can set this to zero.",
"default": 10
},
"maxCommunitiesCount": {
"title": "Limit of `Communities`'s pages scraped",
"type": "integer",
"description": "The maximum number of Communities's pages that will be scraped if your search or startUrl is a Communities type.",
"default": 2
},
"maxUserCount": {
"title": "Limit of `Users`'s pages scraped",
"type": "integer",
"description": "The maximum number of Users's pages that will be scraped.",
"default": 2
},
"scrollTimeout": {
"title": "Page scroll timeout (seconds)",
"type": "integer",
"description": "Set the timeout in seconds in which the page will stop scrolling down to load new items",
"default": 40
},
"proxy": {
"title": "Proxy configuration",
"type": "object",
"description": "Either use Apify proxy, or provide your own proxy servers.",
"default": {
"useApifyProxy": true,
"apifyProxyGroups": [
"RESIDENTIAL"
]
}
},
"subreddit": {
"title": "Subreddit to scrape",
"type": "string",
"description": "Name of the subreddit to scrape (without r/ prefix). Defaults to 'news'",
"default": "news"
},
"debugMode": {
"title": "Debug Mode",
"type": "boolean",
"description": "Activate to see detailed logs",
"default": false
}
}
},
"runsResponseSchema": {
"type": "object",
"properties": {
"data": {
"type": "object",
"properties": {
"id": {
"type": "string"
},
"actId": {
"type": "string"
},
"userId": {
"type": "string"
},
"startedAt": {
"type": "string",
"format": "date-time",
"example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z"
},
"finishedAt": {
"type": "string",
"format": "date-time",
"example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z"
},
"status": {
"type": "string",
"example": "READY"
},
"meta": {
"type": "object",
"properties": {
"origin": {
"type": "string",
"example": "API"
},
"userAgent": {
"type": "string"
}
}
},
"stats": {
"type": "object",
"properties": {
"inputBodyLen": {
"type": "integer",
"example": 2000
},
"rebootCount": {
"type": "integer",
"example": 0
},
"restartCount": {
"type": "integer",
"example": 0
},
"resurrectCount": {
"type": "integer",
"example": 0
},
"computeUnits": {
"type": "integer",
"example": 0
}
}
},
"options": {
"type": "object",
"properties": {
"build": {
"type": "string",
"example": "latest"
},
"timeoutSecs": {
"type": "integer",
"example": 300
},
"memoryMbytes": {
"type": "integer",
"example": 1024
},
"diskMbytes": {
"type": "integer",
"example": 2048
}
}
},
"buildId": {
"type": "string"
},
"defaultKeyValueStoreId": {
"type": "string"
},
"defaultDatasetId": {
"type": "string"
},
"defaultRequestQueueId": {
"type": "string"
},
"buildNumber": {
"type": "string",
"example": "1.0.0"
},
"containerUrl": {
"type": "string"
},
"usage": {
"type": "object",
"properties": {
"ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": {
"type": "integer",
"example": 0
},
"DATASET_READS": {
"type": "integer",
"example": 0
},
"DATASET_WRITES": {
"type": "integer",
"example": 0
},
"KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": {
"type": "integer",
"example": 0
},
"KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": {
"type": "integer",
"example": 1
},
"KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": {
"type": "integer",
"example": 0
},
"REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": {
"type": "integer",
"example": 0
},
"REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": {
"type": "integer",
"example": 0
},
"DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": {
"type": "integer",
"example": 0
},
"DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": {
"type": "integer",
"example": 0
},
"PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": {
"type": "integer",
"example": 0
},
"PROXY_SERPS": {
"type": "integer",
"example": 0
}
}
},
"usageTotalUsd": {
"type": "number",
"example": 0.00005
},
"usageUsd": {
"type": "object",
"properties": {
"ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": {
"type": "integer",
"example": 0
},
"DATASET_READS": {
"type": "integer",
"example": 0
},
"DATASET_WRITES": {
"type": "integer",
"example": 0
},
"KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": {
"type": "integer",
"example": 0
},
"KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": {
"type": "number",
"example": 0.00005
},
"KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": {
"type": "integer",
"example": 0
},
"REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": {
"type": "integer",
"example": 0
},
"REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": {
"type": "integer",
"example": 0
},
"DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": {
"type": "integer",
"example": 0
},
"DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": {
"type": "integer",
"example": 0
},
"PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": {
"type": "integer",
"example": 0
},
"PROXY_SERPS": {
"type": "integer",
"example": 0
}
}
}
}
}
}
}
}
}
}
```