# How it works

https://aicommentexporter.com/how-it-works/

What we read on each platform, how much of a post's comments each one hands out, and how exports, AI reports and giveaway draws are made. Measured numbers have their test date.

## What each platform hands out

| Platform | How we read it | What you get | Tested |
|---|---|---|---|
| YouTube | YouTube's official Data API: 100 comments a call, replies included. | Every comment and reply the API returns. | November 13, 2026: a 1,915-comment video exported with replies to 1,915 rows in 16 seconds. |
| TikTok | Public comments, 50 a call; replies 20 a call. | About nine in ten top-level comments. TikTok says there are no more long before the end and repeats earlier pages; we keep reading past that and drop the repeats. | November 14, 2026: a video TikTok counted 4,565 comments on gave 3,449 comments and 974 replies, 97% of its count. |
| Instagram | Public comments, 15 a call; the replies of each thread. | Instagram repeats comments from the page before (up to 9 of 15 in our test); we drop the repeats. | November 14, 2026, on public posts and reels. |
| X | Replies, 36 a call, and the replies under each reply. | Fewer than X's reply count: X holds back replies it ranks low or hides, from everyone. | November 14, 2026: a post X counted 429 replies on gave 327, 76%. |
| Reddit | The whole thread, including the replies Reddit folds away behind "more replies". | Reddit's count includes removed and deleted comments, which nobody can read. | November 14, 2026: a post counted at 108 gave 76 readable comments. |

## How an export runs

1. **Price first**: The platform's own count sets the price before anything is spent: 300 points per 1,000 rows, held up front.
2. **Read in the background**: The export reads ten pages at a time and saves each batch, so you can close the page; a long export emails you when it's done.
3. **One row per comment**: A comment that turns up twice is kept once. Replies sit under their comment, with its id.
4. **Files**: Excel, CSV and JSON with the same columns. CSV is UTF-8 with a byte-order mark, so Excel shows emoji and accents. A cell that starts with =, +, - or @ gets a ' in front, so a spreadsheet never runs it as a formula.
5. **Pay for what came**: Points for rows the platform didn't hand out come back when the export ends. If points run out, it stops and keeps what it read.

## How the AI report is made

1. **Read**: Up to 5,000 comments, most relevant first (Instagram 1,500, X 2,000, Reddit 1,000 top-level).
2. **Sort**: An AI model reads them 400 at a time and lists the questions, complaints, buying signals, requests and praise it finds, each with the ids of the comments that make the point.
3. **Merge**: A last pass merges the same point found in different batches, drops near-duplicates and keeps up to 8 points a section, ordered by how many comments make them. Ids that don't exist are thrown away, so every quote is a real comment.
4. **Link**: Every point shows its comments with a link to each. YouTube reports are text only, without counts: YouTube's policies don't allow derived numbers from its data.
5. **Refund**: 1,000 points a report. If it fails, they come back.

Sample reports: https://aicommentexporter.com/samples/obsidian-announcement-x/ (X, 361 comments, 67 s); https://aicommentexporter.com/samples/stanley-holiday-tiktok/ (TikTok, 176 comments, 16 s); https://aicommentexporter.com/samples/standing-desk-reddit/ (Reddit, 84 comments, 39 s)

## How a giveaway draw is checked

- The list of entries is saved first, with your rules; then the server makes a random seed and works out the winners from it.
- The public result page shows the rules, every entry, the winners, the seed and a fingerprint of the list. Anyone can re-run the math in their browser and get the same winners.
- Every draw saved for the same post is listed on the page, so drawing again until a friend wins shows.

## What we keep

- Public posts and comments only. No platform login, no password, nothing private.
- Export files, draws and new-comment lists are deleted after 30 days (YouTube's policies allow 30 at most).
- Connector sign-ins (OAuth tokens) and private connector addresses are stored only as hashes. Deleting your account deletes your exports, reports and watched posts, and signs out every connected app.

## Limits

- No platform hands out every comment; the table above says how much each gave in our tests.
- Comments that are private, deleted or hidden by the platform can't be read by anyone.
- Facebook and Threads aren't supported.
- The AI can misread sarcasm or slang. That's why every point links to its comments.

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AI Comment Exporter (https://aicommentexporter.com/). Prices: https://aicommentexporter.com/pricing/. Every page: https://aicommentexporter.com/llms.txt. Not affiliated with YouTube, Google, TikTok, Instagram, Meta, X or Reddit.