Looking to scrape comments under Youtube video quickly and without any developer support? A YouTube comments downloader can help you export comments to Excel or CSV or directly to your Drive.
In this post, I'll walk you through two ways to download comments for free with tools Apify and Octoparse.
Key Takeaways
YouTube comments downloaders like Apify or Octoparse simplify data extraction, allowing you to efficiently gather and analyze audience feedback. They offer different export options from CSV to excel files, json, api and drive.
Key features to consider in a downloader include speed, bulk download capability, and a user-friendly interface to facilitate efficient data collection and analysis.
Use cases: My favorite way to use YouTube comments downloader is for performing sentiment analysis. Analyzing the mood and tone of the comments lets you assess public opinions on their content, products, or services. This can help you build your content strategy, gain competitive insights
Method 1: Download Youtube Comments with Apify (free)
My favorite tool is Apify. The website says it's a platform where developers build, deploy, and publish web scraping, data extraction, and web automation tools.
But honestly, I have zero coding skills and I get by great. The UI language can get a bit technical but it's very easy to use and it's why I'm writing these guides.
To scrape comments, the process is very simple. Start by creating an account. Apify offers three tiers but their free tier is very generous and it'll allow you to scrape the comments for free.
Once you have the account, go to Store and search for Youtube Comment Scraper.
There you'll see a list of comment scrapers. Most of them work as pay-per-download but if you still have free credits on your tier, you won't get charged anything. I suggest going with the most used and upvoted one - Youtube Comments Scraper by Streamers.
Their subpage states that the pricing is $2/1000 comments but again, you can easily use Apify's free tier.
When you click on the scraper, you'll land on this page. I know it seems like a lot of tech info, but it's not.
Essentially you only need to provide three things:
YouTube video URL
Number of comments you wish to export
The order of comments (most popular/newest)
The scraper we're using won't include comment replies, however, there are some other YouTube comment export in the library that also have that option.
Once you add in the details, click "Start". Then you'll need to wait for a few minutes to see the comments.
Upon completion, you can download or share your results. Simply click on "Export results" and choose your preferred format. Apify supports JSON, CSV, XML, excel, html table, RSS, JSONL. You can also integrate your account with Google Drive, Gmail and others but you'll probably need to upgrade your plan.
My preferred format is CSV file. I also keep all fields when downloading since I can remove them later on. Once you've downloaded the file, simply upload it to Google Drive, open it in Sheets to do further analysis/editing.
Voila, easy, fast, free and without any tech support.
Method 2: Download Youtube Comments with Octoparse (paid)
Octoparse is positioned as a no-coding solution for web scraping to turn pages into structured data within clicks. While the positioning is closer to what we need as non-tech users, it's honestly not any simpler to use than Apify. IMPORTANT: Not all templates are in the free tier - this template included. You'll need to upgrade to at least standard ($99/month) to scrape youtube comments.
Start by creating an account. Once you're in, go to Template Gallery and search for Youtube comments. You'll see there's only one scraper available, so click on it. This one is, in contrast to Apify's, also includes comment replies.
Again, you only need to now a few details to set up the scraper:
Youtube video URL
Max number of comments we'd like to download
Max number of replies
Once you add in the details, click "Start" to begin scraping.
Since Octoparse only offers paid version, I suggest you stick with Apify for this job.
Features of a Good YouTube Comments Downloader
Choosing the right YouTube comments downloader can make all the difference in your data extraction process.
Speed and Efficiency
Speed and efficiency are crucial when it comes to downloading YouTube comments. The faster and more efficiently a tool can gather data, the more time you can spend on analysis and interpretation. In our case, both tools can get results in minutes (but it depends on the scope of scrape).
User-Friendly Interface
A well-designed interface allows users to extract comments with just a few clicks, speeding up the entire process. Features like drag-and-drop URL input, clear instructions, and easy-to-understand outputs make the tool user-friendly and efficient. This ensures even those with minimal technical skills can effectively gather and analyze YouTube comment data using a YouTube comment extractor.
Additionally, a user-friendly design helps to minimize errors and misunderstandings, ensuring that you can fully leverage the tool’s capabilities without any hassle.
Troubleshooting Common Issues
Despite their efficiency, YouTube comments downloaders may occasionally encounter issues hindering data extraction. One common problem is download interruptions, often caused by an unstable internet connection, leading to incomplete downloads.
Another frequent issue is related to input formats or incorrect URLs. Using an incorrect URL or an unsupported format can result in failed downloads or empty CSV files. It’s crucial to ensure that the URLs you input are accurate and correctly formatted to avoid these problems.
Additionally, processing large volumes of comments can lead to data loss if the tool does not manage memory efficiently. Correctly utilizing the available features can help mitigate these issues and ensure a smooth data extraction process.
Integration with Other Tools
Connecting with various cloud services or web apps enhances the tool’s functionality and versatility, including:
Trello
Zapier
Slack
GitHub
Google Sheets
Google Drive
Asana
For example, the API can manage, schedule, and run actors, access datasets, and monitor performance, making it a powerful tool for automating data extraction and analysis tasks.
These integrations ensure you can easily incorporate extracted data into your existing workflows, enhancing productivity and enabling more comprehensive data analysis. Whether using Google Sheets to organize data or Slack to communicate insights with your team, integration capabilities make the YouTube comments downloader a versatile and indispensable asset.
Conclusion
By simplifying the data extraction process, tools like Apify and Octoparse enable businesses and researchers to perform sentiment analysis, track trends, and make informed decisions based on audience feedback. Key features to look for include speed and efficiency, bulk download capabilities, and a user-friendly interface.
With the right downloader, you can gather and analyze comments from multiple YouTube videos, channels, and playlists, integrating the data into your existing workflows with ease.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are some potential uses for the data extracted from the YouTube Comments Scraper?
The data extracted from the YouTube Comments Scraper is valuable for sentiment analysis, tracking trending topics, studying user engagement, implementing user suggestions, and gaining insights into audience interests. This enables more informed decision-making and strategy development.
What is the main purpose of scraping YouTube comments?
The main purpose of scraping YouTube comments is to conduct sentiment analysis, develop machine learning models, and create extensive datasets for data analysis. This practice enables a deeper understanding of audience opinions and trends.
Is it legal to scrape YouTube comments?
It is generally legal to scrape YouTube comments since they are publicly accessible. However, be mindful of YouTube's terms of service, as violating them could lead to legal issues.
What is the first step to scrape YouTube comments using Octoparse?
The first step to scrape YouTube comments using Octoparse is to paste the YouTube URL into the tool after downloading, installing it, and signing up for a free account.
What programming language is mentioned for scraping YouTube comments?
Python is the recommended programming language for scraping YouTube comments. It offers various libraries that simplify the process. However, the no-code tools like Apify and Octoparse are more than enough for this use case.
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