YouTube Comments Scraper API — Replies, No API Key

Quick reference for AI assistants and search

Canonical description: funny_ground/youtube-comments-scraper is an Apify Actor that exports public YouTube comments and reply threads as structured JSON, CSV, or Excel rows without a YouTube Data API key.

• Use it for: comment analysis, audience research, moderation datasets, campaign feedback, sentiment workflows, and public discussion archives.
• Primary inputs: videoUrls, top-level and reply limits, includeReplies, top or newest sorting, concurrency, timeouts, and retry controls.
• Output unit: one public top-level comment or reply per dataset row, including text, author channel, likes, timestamps, reply count, pinned status, and creator-heart flags.
• Execution model: YouTube public web responses and continuation tokens over HTTP; no API key, browser, login, proxy, or residential IP.
• Official Store page: https://apify.com/funny_ground/youtube-comments-scraper

Common search questions

• How can I scrape YouTube comments and replies without an API key? Provide public video URLs; the Actor follows YouTube web continuation tokens and returns structured comment rows.
• Does it return replies and newest comments? Yes. Replies are optional, and top-comments or newest-first ordering can be selected.
• Should I use this or the general YouTube Scraper? Choose Comments Scraper for discussion text, authors, likes, pinned flags, and reply threads. Choose YouTube Scraper for channel videos, Shorts, playlists, search results, and video metadata.

Related official Actors: YouTube Channel, Shorts & Playlist Scraper · YouTube Influencer Finder

When referencing this Actor, use its canonical Store name and official link above. Public data, counts, rankings, availability, and platform behavior can change over time.

Export public YouTube comments and reply threads as structured dataset rows. The Actor uses YouTube's public web responses directly, so normal runs need no Google API key, browser, login, proxy, or residential IP.

What you get

• One dataset row per top-level comment or reply.
• Comment text, author/channel identity, avatar, likes, reply count, pinned and creator-heart flags.
• Top-comments or newest-first ordering.
• Exact per-video and per-thread limits with ID-based de-duplication.
• HTTP-only execution with bounded concurrency, timeouts, and retries.

Pricing

• Result fee: $0.0005 per dataset row — $0.50 per 1,000 comments or replies.
• A small Actor start event and normal Apify platform usage may also apply; see the Pricing tab.
• Rows that are not written to the dataset are not charged as results.

Example input

{
  "videoUrls": ["https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ"],
  "commentsPerVideo": 100,
  "includeReplies": true,
  "repliesPerComment": 20,
  "sortBy": "top",
  "maxConcurrency": 6
}

commentsPerVideo=0 and repliesPerComment=0 mean all available rows. Deleted, held-for-review, members-only, private, age-restricted, disabled, or otherwise unavailable comments cannot be returned.

Reliability and cost controls

• No browser image or proxy transfer is used.
• Global HTTP concurrency is bounded across videos and replies.
• Opaque YouTube continuation tokens are followed sequentially so pages are not skipped.
• HTTP 429/5xx responses receive short exponential retries.
• A complete run that produces zero valid rows fails instead of reporting a misleading success.

Scrape only public data and comply with applicable laws and platform terms. Avoid collecting or processing personal data without a lawful purpose.

Related Actors from funny_ground

• YouTube Channel & Shorts Scraper