YouTube Comment Downloader — Export Comments to CSV & Excel
Paste a YouTube video URL and download every comment, reply, and creator response in seconds. No Google sign-in, no YouTube Data API key, no quota headaches.
4,200+ creators · All public videos · Pinned & creator replies included
By the ExportComments Team ·
How to download YouTube comments (free)
Three steps. The whole flow takes under a minute for a typical video and a few minutes for the largest viral uploads.
- 1
Paste the YouTube URL
Standard youtube.com/watch?v=…, short youtu.be/…, or embed URLs all work. We auto-resolve them. No Google account or API key required.
- 2
Choose your format
CSV is free. Starter and above unlock Excel (.xlsx) and JSON. Every row includes comment text, author, timestamp, likes, replies, is_pinned, and is_creator.
- 3
Download & analyze
Your YouTube comment download is ready in seconds. Open in Excel or send through AI sentiment analysis to surface topics and spam without reading every line.
Doing it from your browser? Install the Chrome extension for one-click exports — it adds an Export button directly under any YouTube video.
What's included — comment text, author, likes, replies, pinned status
YouTube exposes more comment metadata than most platforms — pinned status, creator hearts, and a per-channel ID. The export captures all of it. One row per comment, with replies linked back to their parent.
Fields included in every row
comment_idparent_id (for replies)author_nameauthor_channel_idcomment_textcreated_at (ISO 8601)like_countreply_countis_pinnedis_creatoris_creator_heartedvideo_url
Sample row (CSV)
Here's what one comment row looks like after export:
Filter is_pinned = true for the pinned comment, is_creator = true for everything the channel owner wrote, and is_creator_hearted = true for comments the creator hearted.
Pinned comment flag
The single comment a creator pins at the top of the thread carries unusual weight — often a clarification, a contest entry rule, or a follow-up link. The is_pinned column lets you isolate and analyze it in one filter.
Creator replies, separated
When the channel owner replies, is_creator = true. That makes it trivial to measure how often the creator engages directly and which audience comments they respond to.
Export formats compared
Same data, three flavors. Pick the one that matches what you'll do next.
CSV (free)
Universal. Opens in Excel, Google Sheets, Numbers, Notion, pandas, or R. Best when you want to export YouTube comments to a spreadsheet and analyze by hand.
Excel (.xlsx)
Preserves emoji, non-Latin scripts, and very long comment text cleanly. Best for client reports and shared analyses where formatting needs to survive a round-trip.
JSON
Nested structure with replies grouped under each parent. Best for piping comments into code — sentiment models, custom dashboards, BigQuery ingestion.
Re-exporting the same video in a different format never burns a fresh credit. Switch freely.
YouTube comment sentiment analysis with AI
A spreadsheet of 4,000 YouTube comments is data, not insight. ExportComments runs every export through an AI pipeline that does the reading for you — and then some.
- Per-comment sentiment label (positive / negative / neutral)
- Per-video sentiment score (–1 to +1)
- Auto-extracted trending topics
- Spam, bot, and crypto-scam reply detection
- Executive summary of overall audience reaction
- Sentiment delta vs. previous exports of the same video
The crypto-scam-reply detector is especially useful on finance and tech channels — those comment sections are flooded with fake-reply phishing comments that look like real engagement until you read them. Filtering them out before sentiment analysis is the difference between a useful score and a garbage one.
Ready to download your first video? Try it free — 25 exports/month, no credit card (or grab the $3 Starter pass for 3 days of unlimited downloads).
How creators & agencies use YouTube comment exports
Four patterns we see most often from real users:
Audience sentiment on a long-form video
A 22-minute essay or review can earn 4,000+ comments. Export them and run sentiment analysis to see what landed and what fell flat.
Subscriber giveaway draws
Pull every comment, dedupe by channel, and pick a winner with a verifiable seed. Useful for sponsored giveaways where transparency matters.
Content research from competitor channels
Export comments from top videos in your niche to find the exact questions and objections viewers are asking — script your next video around them.
Brand monitoring on ad campaigns
When your brand sponsors a creator, export the video's comments to see real audience reaction beyond the like-to-dislike ratio.
Pick a random YouTube comment for a giveaway
Running a subscriber giveaway on a video? Export the comments, then run them through the random comment picker. The picker dedupes by channel, applies giveaway rules (must contain a keyword, must be a top-level comment, exclude spam), and draws a verifiable winner with a public, seed-based proof URL anyone in your audience can audit.
Bulk export & API access
The free tool handles one video at a time. For analysts and agencies pulling comments across dozens or hundreds of videos, paid plans unlock the pieces you actually need.
REST API (Agency plan)
Programmatic access at up to 500 req/min. Trigger YouTube exports from Make, Zapier, n8n, or your own backend — useful for nightly research pulls feeding a dashboard.
10 team seats & white-label reports
Onboard analysts without sharing credentials. White-label exports with your agency's logo, ready to drop into client decks.
Continuous video monitoring
Pin specific YouTube videos and the platform re-pulls comments on a schedule — track how sentiment shifts after a launch, ad campaign, or controversy. Creator monitors 3 videos, Pro 20, Agency unlimited.
Up to 200,000 comments per export
Agency plan exports cap at 200,000 comments per video — enough for the largest viral uploads. Pro covers 50,000, which is enough for ~99% of YouTube videos.
Limits & pricing
No surprises. Here's exactly what each plan unlocks.
| Plan | Price | Downloads | Comments / export | Formats | AI analyses |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 25 / month | 1,000 | CSV | 3 / month |
| Starter 3-day pass | $3 one-time | Unlimited (3 days) | 2,000 | CSV, Excel, JSON | 50 |
| Creator | $9 / month | Unlimited | 5,000 | CSV, Excel, JSON | 50 / month |
| Pro | $19 / month | Unlimited | 50,000 | All + Google Sheets | Unlimited |
| Agency | $49 / month | Unlimited | 200,000 | All + API + 10 seats | Unlimited |
Starter ($3 one-time) unlocks 3 days of unlimited downloads — useful for a single project without committing to a subscription. Full breakdown on the pricing page. Yearly billing on paid plans saves 25%.
ExportComments vs other YouTube comment tools
The two real alternatives are rolling your own with the YouTube Data API or grabbing a free browser scraper. Here's what each gives you.
| Capability | ExportComments | YouTube Data API v3 (DIY) | Most browser scrapers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Formats | CSV, Excel, JSON, Sheets | JSON (raw) | CSV only |
| API key required | Not required | Required (10k units/day cap) | Not required |
| Replies included | Yes (with parent_id) | Sometimes | |
| Creator/pinned flags | |||
| AI sentiment analysis | Built-in | ||
| Random comment picker |
Rolling your own with the YouTube Data API works if you're a developer and can stay under the 10,000-units-per-day free quota — but a single export of a moderately popular video can burn through that in one shot. Browser scrapers are quick to install and free, but rarely surface pinned status, creator flags, or threaded replies, and they're fragile when YouTube changes their HTML.
More from ExportComments
Instagram comment picker
Verifiable random winner from any Instagram post — accepts CSV input from any platform.
Export TikTok comments
Same flow, for TikTok videos and Reels.
Export Instagram comments
Posts, Reels, and carousels — full thread with replies.
Export tweet replies
Replies and quote-tweets from any X post.
Related deep-dives: how to export YouTube comments for analysis and every method for exporting YouTube comments compared. More on the ExportComments blog.
Frequently asked questions
The questions creators and analysts ask before their first YouTube comment download.
How do I download YouTube comments to Excel?
+
How do I download YouTube comments to Excel?
+Paste any public YouTube video URL into ExportComments and choose Excel (.xlsx) as the format. The full comment thread — top-level comments, replies, pinned comments, and creator-heart flags — is ready to download in under a minute. Excel preserves emoji and non-Latin scripts cleanly, which is why we recommend it over CSV when you'll share the file with non-technical stakeholders.
Does the export include replies?
+
Does the export include replies?
+Yes. Each reply is its own row with a parent_id pointing back to the top-level comment, so you can either flatten the data for a quick pivot or rebuild the thread tree with a single self-join.
Can I export pinned and creator comments separately?
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Can I export pinned and creator comments separately?
+Yes. Every row includes an is_pinned flag (true for the comment the creator pinned to the top) and an is_creator flag (true when the channel owner wrote or replied to that comment). Filter on those columns to slice creator engagement vs. audience reaction.
How many comments can I download?
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How many comments can I download?
+Free: 1,000 comments per export. Starter ($3 for 3 days): 2,000. Creator: 5,000. Pro: 50,000. Agency: 200,000. Most YouTube videos have under 5,000 comments — even mid-tier viral videos rarely exceed 50,000 — so the Creator plan covers the vast majority of real-world analyses.
Can I export from a private or unlisted video?
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Can I export from a private or unlisted video?
+Private videos: no — we only access publicly visible content. Unlisted videos: yes, if you have the URL. Unlisted means YouTube doesn't surface the video in search or the recommendation feed, but anyone with the link can still view the comments, and the export reflects that.
What about live stream chat?
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What about live stream chat?
+Live chat is a separate data stream from comments and isn't covered by this tool. Once a live stream ends and is published as a regular video, the standard comment section underneath the video is fully exportable.
Do I need the YouTube API key?
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Do I need the YouTube API key?
+No. You don't need a Google Cloud project, an API key, or to deal with YouTube Data API quotas (which cap at 10,000 units/day for free — too low for serious analysis). Just paste the video URL.
Can I analyze sentiment on YouTube comments?
+
Can I analyze sentiment on YouTube comments?
+Yes. Every export can be sent through our AI sentiment pipeline, which labels each comment positive / negative / neutral, extracts trending topics, flags spam and bot replies, and generates an executive summary. Free includes 3 AI analyses per month; Starter and Creator include 50; Pro and Agency are unlimited.
How do I pick a random YouTube giveaway winner?
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How do I pick a random YouTube giveaway winner?
+Export the comments, then run them through our giveaway picker. The picker dedupes by username, applies filters (must contain a keyword, must reply, exclude spam), and draws a verifiable winner with a public proof URL. A dedicated YouTube picker UI is in development — in the meantime, the Instagram comment picker accepts CSV input from any platform.
How fast is the download?
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How fast is the download?
+Most videos finish in 30–60 seconds. Larger videos (50,000+ comments) take 2–5 minutes — they run in the background and you get an email when the export is ready. Pro and Agency plans get a priority queue.
Free vs paid limits?
+
Free vs paid limits?
+The free plan gives you 25 exports per month, 1,000 comments per export, CSV format, and 3 AI analyses. The $3 Starter pass unlocks 3 days of unlimited exports with all formats. From Creator ($9/mo) upward, exports are unlimited — the per-export comment ceiling is what scales (5K → 50K → 200K).
Is this allowed by YouTube's TOS?
+
Is this allowed by YouTube's TOS?
+Exporting publicly visible comments for analysis is generally accepted practice. YouTube's Terms restrict scraping in ways that interfere with the service or bypass technical protections — neither applies here. We don't bypass logins, we don't scrape private content, and we respect rate limits. As with any platform, you're responsible for handling personal data lawfully under GDPR / CCPA when you store or process exports.
Start downloading YouTube comments today
25 free downloads per month. CSV included. No credit card, no API key. Save your first export in under a minute.
Also export comments from TikTok · Instagram · X / Twitter