YouTube Comments Scraper

YouTube Comments Scraper: 100% Free Zero-API-Key Comments & Replies Extraction Engine

YouTube Comments Scraper is a high-speed professional automation tool that extracts top-level comments and nested reply threads from any YouTube video or Short—with zero Google Cloud API keys, no developer console setup, no daily quota limits, and native 2026 InnerTube dual-schema resilience.

Extract thousands of comments, creator hearts, Super Thanks tips, membership badges, verified checkmarks, and high-resolution avatars into clean spreadsheets, interactive visual cards, or downloadable Excel, CSV, and JSON formats. Features built-in heuristic spam & scam detection and GDPR-compliant author privacy modes.

📑 Quick Navigation Table of Contents

• ⚡ Why Choose This Scraper Over the Official API?
• 🎯 Who Is This For? (Popular Use Cases)
• 🚀 Top Features & What Data You Get
• 🛡️ 2026 InnerTube Protocol & Dual-Schema Engine
• 🔍 Multi-Signal Heuristic Spam & Scam Detection
• 🔒 GDPR Compliance & Author Privacy Modes
• ⚙️ How to Configure Your Job (Step-by-Step)
• 📥 Supported Link & Video Formats
• 📋 Complete 42-Field Data Contract
• 💡 Real Production Data Examples
• 🤝 Companion Tools & Ecosystem Pairing
• ❓ Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

⚡ Why Choose This Scraper Over the Official API?

🎯 Who Is This For? (Popular Use Cases)

• Audience Sentiment & Market Researchers: Track public reception on product unveilings, movie trailers, tech reviews, and brand announcements with automated sentiment scoring (positive, neutral, negative).
• Creator Community Managers & Channel Owners: Uncover valuable viewer feedback, identify top fans and channel members, audit pinned comment discussions, and purge automated crypto bots.
• AI & LLM Training Researchers: Build massive conversational datasets, instruction tuning pairs, and fine-tuning corpora from authentic multi-turn human discussions.
• Competitor Intelligence & Brand Monitoring: Analyze audience sentiment on competitor launches, feature releases, and viral controversies to identify common user pain points and desired features.
• Academic & Social Science Researchers: Study digital discourse, meme diffusion, sentiment velocity, and political reactions across millions of comments with full timestamp tracking.

🚀 Top Features & What Data You Get

1. 100% Free & Zero Google Cloud API Keys

Run out of the box with zero Google Cloud console configuration, zero OAuth setup, and zero quota restrictions. Connects directly to YouTube's modern InnerTube backend.

2. Full Nested Reply Threads (includeReplies)

Capture full conversations, not just disconnected top-level remarks. The scraper traverses nested reply trees with configurable maxRepliesPerComment thresholds to keep crawling fast and prevent infinite loops on viral mega-threads (5,000+ replies).

3. Dynamic Sort Switching (Top Comments vs. Newest First)

• relevance (Top Comments): High-engagement comments ranked by YouTube's engagement algorithms. Ideal for sentiment summaries and consensus opinions.
• time (Newest First): Real-time reverse chronological stream. Perfect for crisis monitoring, breaking news analysis, and brand campaign tracking. In time mode, the scraper utilizes early exit optimization when comments exceed publishedAfter.

4. Rich Monetization & Creator Interactions

• Super Thanks & Paid Chips: Captures viewer tips (e.g. $5.00, $10.00) via is_paid and paid_amount.
• Creator Hearts: Detects if the channel author loved a comment (is_creator_hearted: true).
• Sponsor & Membership Loyalty Badges: Extracts channel member status (is_member: true), loyalty badge icons, and tenure text (e.g. "Member (2 years)").
• Verified Creator Checkmarks: Flags official creator badges (author_is_verified: true).

5. Auto-Activating Visual Cards View with Image Lightbox

BrowserMesh's smart UI sniffer automatically detects author_avatar_url and activates an interactive visual Cards View! Hover over commenter profile pictures for instant zoom or click for full-screen lightbox modal inspection.

🛡️ 2026 InnerTube Protocol & Dual-Schema Engine

In late 2024 through 2026, YouTube transitioned desktop and mobile clients to a relational entity architecture (commentViewModel). Text content, author details, like counts, and published dates are stored in global frameworkUpdates.entityBatchUpdate.mutations[] dictionaries and referenced by relational keys (commentKey, toolbarStateKey, commentSurfaceKey).

Our plugin implements a battle-tested dual-schema engine:

1. Modern Entity Batch Engine: Indexes all mutations in memory, resolves commentEntityPayload, engagementToolbarStateEntityPayload, and commentSurfaceEntityPayload.
2. Legacy Schema Fallback: Seamlessly falls back to direct commentRenderer JSON paths if older payloads are returned during YouTube A/B tests.
3. SDUI Chip Continuation Trap Immunity: Server-Driven UI (SDUI) horizontal topic chips (chipCloudRenderer) carry continuation tokens that can trap naive scrapers in infinite loops. Our engine isolates primary pagination continuation tokens (comments-section) and ignores filter chip tokens.
4. Multi-Client Waterfall Engine: If datacenter IP addresses encounter LOGIN_REQUIRED challenges on desktop web (WEB), the scraper automatically cascades to Tier 1b Android App context (clientName: 'ANDROID', clientVersion: '20.42.38'), bypassing bot challenges cleanly.

🔍 Multi-Signal Heuristic Spam & Scam Detection

Spam bots have evolved beyond simple keyword filters by using Cyrillic homoglyphs, zero-width spaces, and fake verification characters. When filterSpam: true is enabled, every comment is scored across multiple heuristics:

1. Cyrillic-to-Latin Homoglyph Mapping: Replaces visually identical Cyrillic characters (e.g. а, е, о, р, с, у, х ➔ a, e, o, p, c, y, x) and Greek homoglyphs before pattern inspection.
2. Zero-Width Code Point Stripping: Removes invisible obfuscation characters (\u200B zero-width space, \u200C, \u200D, \uFEFF, soft hyphens) used to disguise words like t\u200Be\u200Bl\u200Be\u200Bg\u200Br\u200Ba\u200Bm.
3. Leetspeak Deobfuscation: Resolves selective number/symbol substitutions (@ ➔ a, 3 ➔ e, 0 ➔ o, $ ➔ s) embedded between alphabetical characters.
4. Impersonator & Fake Checkmark Detection: Scans usernames for spoofed badge glyphs (✓, ✔, ✅, ☑, 🔵, 🔘).
5. Legitimacy Bonuses: Comments that include timestamps (03:15), thoughtful length, or specific video references receive score deductions to prevent false positives.
6. Detailed Diagnostic Outputs: Yields is_spam: boolean, spam_score: number (0.00 to 1.00), spam_category (crypto_scam, whatsapp_telegram, impersonation, promotional), and human-readable spam_reason.

🔒 GDPR Compliance & Author Privacy Modes

Ensure full compliance with European GDPR, California CCPA, and enterprise privacy regulations using the authorMode configuration parameter:

• include (Default): Full author visibility including display name, handle, channel URL, and avatar thumbnail URL.
• hash (Pseudonymous SHA-256): Replaces author channel ID with a cryptographic SHA-256 hash (e.g. User-61714224), blanks avatar and handle. Preserves conversation graph modeling and repeat commenter frequency analysis without exposing PII.
• omit (Strict Anonymization): Completely blanks author channel ID, handle, and avatar URL, and sets author name to [REDACTED].

⚙️ How to Configure Your Job (Step-by-Step)

1. Enter Video URL(s): Paste one or multiple YouTube video URLs, shorts URLs, or 11-character video IDs into the input box (separated by commas or newlines).
2. Set Comments Limit (maxComments): Choose how many comments to collect per video (e.g. 100), or enter -1 for unlimited scraping.
3. Select Sort Order (sortBy): Choose relevance (Top Comments) or time (Newest First).
4. Configure Replies (includeReplies): Toggle nested sub-threads and set maxRepliesPerComment.
5. Select Privacy & Filters: Choose your GDPR authorMode (include, hash, omit), enable filterSpam, set minLikes, or add a searchQuery filter.
6. Run & Export: Click "Start Scrape" to watch live streaming results populate your data grid, then download your dataset in Excel, CSV, or JSON.

Configuration Settings Reference

📥 Supported Link & Video Formats

The scraper automatically normalizes all YouTube video URL patterns:

• Standard Watch URLs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ
• Shortened Share URLs: https://youtu.be/dQw4w9WgXcQ
• YouTube Shorts URLs: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/3i_V9_1kZ0s
• Embedded Player URLs: https://www.youtube.com/embed/dQw4w9WgXcQ
• Live Stream URLs: https://www.youtube.com/live/dQw4w9WgXcQ
• Bare 11-Character Video IDs: dQw4w9WgXcQ
• Multi-Line Batches: Paste 50+ video URLs separated by newlines for batch extraction.

📋 Complete 42-Field Data Contract

Every record is a flat JavaScript object matching the following specification:

💡 Real Production Data Examples

Top-Level Comment Record

{
  "comment_id": "UgyyEqaBXOKgoi4cf7l4AaABAg",
  "video_id": "dQw4w9WgXcQ",
  "video_title": "Rick Astley - Never Gonna Give You Up (Official Video) (4K Remaster)",
  "video_channel": "Rick Astley",
  "video_url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ",
  "author_name": "@JetpackGamer456",
  "author_handle": "@JetpackGamer456",
  "author_channel_id": "UC9_example_channel_id_1",
  "author_channel_url": "https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9_example_channel_id_1",
  "author_avatar_url": "https://yt3.ggpht.com/ytc/AIdro_nyhrpC59MDbvwlTlkeHmG6xvzXfJ=s88-c-k-c0x00ffffff-no-rj",
  "author_is_verified": false,
  "comment_text": "Ok let's be honest here Rick rolling is the one meme that will never die",
  "comment_markdown": "Ok let's be honest here Rick rolling is the one meme that will never die",
  "published_time": "6 years ago (edited)",
  "published_date": "2020-10-27T06:48:29.000Z",
  "is_edited": true,
  "like_count": 427000,
  "reply_count": 740,
  "is_reply": false,
  "parent_comment_id": null,
  "reply_to_author": "",
  "reply_level": 0,
  "is_pinned": false,
  "is_creator": false,
  "is_creator_hearted": false,
  "is_member": false,
  "member_badge_url": "",
  "member_level_text": "",
  "is_paid": false,
  "paid_amount": "",
  "is_spam": false,
  "spam_score": 0,
  "spam_category": "clean",
  "spam_reason": "Legitimate comment",
  "sentiment": "neutral",
  "character_count": 72,
  "word_count": 15,
  "has_timestamps": false,
  "has_links": false,
  "available_topics": ["Soundtrack", "Lyrics"],
  "status": "ok"
}

Nested Child Reply Record

{
  "comment_id": "UgyyEqaBXOKgoi4cf7l4AaABAg.91gIx12DL8691ga5pynzTR",
  "video_id": "dQw4w9WgXcQ",
  "video_title": "Rick Astley - Never Gonna Give You Up (Official Video) (4K Remaster)",
  "video_channel": "Rick Astley",
  "video_url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ",
  "author_name": "@kigotenergy",
  "author_handle": "@kigotenergy",
  "author_channel_id": "UC9_example_channel_id_2",
  "author_channel_url": "https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9_example_channel_id_2",
  "author_avatar_url": "https://yt3.ggpht.com/2OKOzmxbnj7VhpS3__qLAPrUNleJtR0mpIq4-S=s88-c-k-c0x00ffffff-no-rj",
  "author_is_verified": false,
  "comment_text": "*rick",
  "comment_markdown": "**rick**",
  "published_time": "6 years ago",
  "published_date": "2020-10-27T06:48:30.000Z",
  "is_edited": false,
  "like_count": 5400,
  "reply_count": 0,
  "is_reply": true,
  "parent_comment_id": "UgyyEqaBXOKgoi4cf7l4AaABAg",
  "reply_to_author": "",
  "reply_level": 1,
  "is_pinned": false,
  "is_creator": false,
  "is_creator_hearted": false,
  "is_member": false,
  "member_badge_url": "",
  "member_level_text": "",
  "is_paid": false,
  "paid_amount": "",
  "is_spam": false,
  "spam_score": 0,
  "spam_category": "clean",
  "spam_reason": "Legitimate comment",
  "sentiment": "neutral",
  "character_count": 5,
  "word_count": 1,
  "has_timestamps": false,
  "has_links": false,
  "available_topics": ["Soundtrack", "Lyrics"],
  "status": "ok"
}

Pinned Creator Comment Record

{
  "comment_id": "UgyyEqaBXOKgoi4cf7l4AaABAg.91gIx12DL8691ga5pynzTS",
  "video_id": "dQw4w9WgXcQ",
  "video_title": "Rick Astley - Never Gonna Give You Up (Official Video) (4K Remaster)",
  "video_channel": "Rick Astley",
  "video_url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ",
  "author_name": "Rick Astley",
  "author_handle": "@RickAstleyYT",
  "author_channel_id": "UCuAXFkgsw1L7xaCfnd5JJOw",
  "author_channel_url": "https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuAXFkgsw1L7xaCfnd5JJOw",
  "author_avatar_url": "https://yt3.ggpht.com/ytc/AIdro_lzBD5cR39YQnN-2jF9Lz2g5mZ24Uu8H-rj=s88-c-k-c0x00ffffff-no-rj",
  "author_is_verified": true,
  "comment_text": "35 years and still rolling! Thank you so much for the love everyone ❤️",
  "comment_markdown": "35 years and still rolling! Thank you so much for the love everyone ❤️",
  "published_time": "3 years ago",
  "published_date": "2023-07-28T12:00:00.000Z",
  "is_edited": false,
  "like_count": 890000,
  "reply_count": 4200,
  "is_reply": false,
  "parent_comment_id": null,
  "reply_to_author": "",
  "reply_level": 0,
  "is_pinned": true,
  "is_creator": true,
  "is_creator_hearted": true,
  "is_member": false,
  "member_badge_url": "",
  "member_level_text": "",
  "is_paid": false,
  "paid_amount": "",
  "is_spam": false,
  "spam_score": 0,
  "spam_category": "clean",
  "spam_reason": "Legitimate comment",
  "sentiment": "positive",
  "character_count": 69,
  "word_count": 12,
  "has_timestamps": false,
  "has_links": false,
  "available_topics": ["Soundtrack", "Lyrics"],
  "status": "ok"
}

🤝 Companion Tools & Ecosystem Pairing

Pair this scraper with other BrowserMesh YouTube intelligence plugins for a complete end-to-end media intelligence pipeline:

• YouTube Video Details Scraper (youtube-video-details-scraper) (Docs): Extract 4K thumbnails, chapters, video descriptions, exact view counts, and video tags.
• YouTube Channel Scraper (youtube-channel-scraper) (Docs): Audit creator profiles, lifetime view totals, exact subscriber counts, and full video back catalogs.
• YouTube Transcript Scraper (youtube-transcript-scraper) (Docs): Extract multi-language closed captions, automated subtitles, and timestamped transcripts.
• All-in-One YouTube Downloader (all-in-one-youtube-downloader) (Docs): Download 1080p/4K video files, MP3 audio, and subtitle tracks directly to your local device.
• YouTube Search Results Scraper (youtube-search-results-scraper) (Docs): Mine keyword search results, discover trending videos, and feed video URLs into comments extraction.

❓ Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

1. Do I need a Google Cloud API key or billing account?

No! This plugin operates 100% free with zero API keys and zero developer console setup. It communicates directly with YouTube's public web and mobile InnerTube endpoints.

2. Can I scrape comments from YouTube Shorts?

Yes! YouTube Shorts (https://www.youtube.com/shorts/...) use the identical comment backend as standard videos. The scraper automatically canonicalizes Shorts URLs and extracts all comments and replies.

3. How does the scraper handle videos with disabled comments?

If comments are turned off by the creator, the scraper catches the status gracefully and yields a structured record with status: 'comments_disabled' and error_message: 'Comments are turned off for this video.' without crashing your batch job.

4. What happens if a video has thousands of replies under one comment?

Viral comments can sometimes attract 10,000+ replies. To prevent the crawler from getting trapped on a single comment thread, configure maxRepliesPerComment (default: 20). Once the cap is reached, the scraper proceeds to the next top-level thread.

5. How does the GDPR privacy mode work?

Selecting authorMode: 'hash' hashes each commenter's channel ID with SHA-256 (e.g. User-61714224), allowing you to analyze commenter frequency and conversation networks without storing personal identifiable information (PII). Selecting authorMode: 'omit' completely removes author fields.

6. Can I filter comments by keyword or minimum like count?

Yes! Use minLikes to filter out low-engagement comments, and searchQuery to extract only comments matching specific keywords or brand terms.