Hipages Scraper: Australian Tradie & Home-Services Data

Scrape hipages.com.au, Australia's largest home-services marketplace, and export tradie business profiles with trade categories, service areas, phone, email, website, ABN, licences, ratings and quote links as clean structured JSON. Individual review texts go to a separate, separately priced reviews dataset. It reads hipages' own turbo-stream JSON endpoints, so there is no browser and no Cloudflare challenge.

Built for Australian home-services lead generation, franchise-expansion research, tradie-competitor intelligence, and review-monitoring teams.

Main use cases

• Lead generation australia: build targeted lists of tradies by trade, state and suburb, with phone, email and quote links.
• Tradie competitor intelligence: compare ratings, recommendation counts, hired counts and service areas across trades.
• Franchise and market-expansion research: measure how many businesses of a trade operate in each state or capital city.
• Review monitoring: track hipages and Google review volume and sentiment by category over time (separate reviews dataset).
• Vendor and procurement sourcing: shortlist licensed, insured tradies with verified licence and insurance data.
• Home-improvement market datasets: assemble structured Australian home-services records for analytics.

How it works

hipages.com.au is a React Router 7 (Remix-style) app. Every route exposes its server loader data as a turbo-stream .data payload: structured JSON with no HTML, no cookies and no Cloudflare challenge. This actor queries those internal endpoints directly with plain HTTP (CheerioCrawler, no browser):

Surface	Endpoint	Returns
Listing (search results)	https://hipages.com.au/find/<category>/<state>/<suburb>.data	{ businesses: [{ key, name, ... }], ... }
Business profile	https://hipages.com.au/connect/<profile-key>.data	{ site, page, hipagesReviews, reviewsSummary, insurances, ... }
Reviews pagination	https://hipages.com.au/api/profile-reviews.data?slug=<key>&source=<hipages|google>&page=<n>&pageSize=<n>&sort=recent_desc	{ ok, items: [review...], page: { index, size, total, hasMore } } (pageSize <= 50)

The payload is a turbo-stream flat array (objects whose keys look like _<n> reference chunk n; negative indexes are undefined/null sentinels), decoded by a dependency-free decoder and mapped into flat dataset rows. Because the .data endpoints return the exact loader JSON the site renders from, every field (ratings, all review texts, licences, service-area links, phones) is available without executing JavaScript, solving CAPTCHAs, or paying for an anti-bot service.

Extract Australian Tradie Leads For Lead Generation

For every business found on a listing page, the actor returns a full profile row: business name, profile key and URL, request-a-quote URL, primary category plus all categories, service areas (suburb/state/postcode), phone, mobile, email, website, ABN, address, suburb and state, hipages star rating and rating count, hired count, recommendation counts (yes/no/total), Google rating and count, licence details (authority, number, verification URL), review count, insurance data, description, headline, join date and image URL.

Build A Tradie Directory Without A hipages API

No public or open hipages API is documented; the site is JavaScript-driven and its listing data is not present in the served HTML. This actor sidesteps that by reading hipages' own internal .data loader endpoints, which return structured JSON directly. The reverse-engineering order considered was: embedded JSON blob (not applicable, the data is not in the HTML) then third-party search backend (none found, no Algolia/Meilisearch/Elasticsearch in the page JS) then the internal .data JSON API (used) then static HTML then Playwright (not needed).

If hipages ever changes its format, the first place to look is the site's JS bundle for the single-fetch route modules (routes/_connect.connect.$profile, routes/_banner.find.*) and the .data suffix convention.

Cost notes

• Cheerio/JSON actor, 256 MB memory, no browser and no paid anti-bot API needed.
• Requests are capped (maxRequestsPerCrawl, concurrency 20, 3 retries) so runs stay fast and cheap; the .data endpoints are lightweight JSON.
• Set includeReviews to false or maxReviewsPerBusiness to 0 to skip reviews entirely.

Input Parameters

Field	Type	Required	Default	Notes
category	string	No	plumbers	hipages trade category key, e.g. plumbers, electricians, painters, concretors, tilers, builders, handyman, pest_control, cleaning_services, air_conditioning.
location	string	No	-	state/suburb (e.g. nsw/sydney, vic/melbourne) or a state key (nsw, vic, qld, wa, sa, tas, act, nt). Leave empty to scrape the major capital cities.
startUrls	array (requestListSources)	No	[]	Explicit hipages listing pages (https://hipages.com.au/find/plumbers/nsw/sydney) or business profiles (https://hipages.com.au/connect/<key>). Overrides category/location.
maxBusinesses	integer	No	100	Maximum number of business profiles to output.
includeReviews	boolean	No	true	Collect the individual review texts embedded in each profile into the separate reviews dataset.
maxReviewsPerBusiness	integer	No	10	Maximum reviews per business written to the reviews dataset. Higher values page through hipages' reviews API (up to 50 per page). 0 skips reviews entirely.
proxy	object (proxy)	No	useApifyProxy: false	Standard Apify proxy picker. Off by default; enable (residential) if hipages adds bot protection later.

Output Fields

Default dataset: one row per business

The default overview view shows Business, Trade, Suburb, State, Rating, Reviews, Phone and Website.

Field	Type	Description
businessName	string	Business / tradie name.
profileKey	string	hipages profile key (slug).
profileUrl	string	hipages profile URL.
quoteUrl	string	URL of the request-a-quote page.
primaryCategory	string	Primary trade category.
categories	array	All trade categories / services.
serviceAreas	array	Suburbs/postcodes served ({suburb, state, postcode}).
phone	string	Business phone.
mobile	string	Mobile number.
email	string	Business email.
website	string	Business website.
abn	string	Australian Business Number.
address	string	Business address.
suburb	string	Suburb.
state	string	State.
rating	number	Average hipages star rating.
ratingCount	integer	Number of ratings.
hiredCount	integer	Number of jobs hired through hipages.
recommendYes	integer	Positive recommendations.
recommendNo	integer	Negative recommendations.
totalRecommendations	integer	Total recommendations.
googleRating	number	Google rating.
googleRatingCount	integer	Google rating count.
licenses	array	Licence authority, number and verification URL.
reviewCount	integer	Review count.
insurance	object	Insurance details.
description	string	Business description.
headline	string	Business headline.
joinedDate	string	Date the business joined hipages.
imageUrl	string	Profile image URL.
scrapedAt	string	ISO timestamp.

reviews dataset: one row per review

reviewId, source (hipages/google), reviewerName, rating, comment, date, location, category, hired, verified, reply ({comment, author, date}), plus the owning business's profileKey, profileUrl, businessName, primaryCategory and scrapedAt, so each review row is self-contained and joinable back to the business.

Example Input And Output

Input

{
  "category": "plumbers",
  "location": "nsw/sydney",
  "maxBusinesses": 100,
  "includeReviews": true,
  "maxReviewsPerBusiness": 10
}

Output (default dataset, one row)

{
  "businessName": "Hoppy's Plumbing",
  "profileKey": "hoppysplumbing",
  "profileUrl": "https://hipages.com.au/connect/hoppysplumbing",
  "quoteUrl": "https://hipages.com.au/connect/hoppysplumbing",
  "primaryCategory": "Plumbers",
  "categories": ["Plumbers", "Gas Fitters"],
  "serviceAreas": [{ "suburb": "Sydney", "state": "NSW", "postcode": "2000" }],
  "phone": "02 9000 0000",
  "mobile": "0400 000 000",
  "email": "info@hoppysplumbing.com.au",
  "website": "https://hoppysplumbing.com.au",
  "abn": "12 345 678 901",
  "address": "1 Example St, Sydney NSW 2000",
  "suburb": "Sydney",
  "state": "NSW",
  "rating": 4.9,
  "ratingCount": 128,
  "hiredCount": 96,
  "recommendYes": 120,
  "recommendNo": 3,
  "totalRecommendations": 123,
  "googleRating": 4.8,
  "googleRatingCount": 64,
  "licenses": [{ "authority": "NSW Fair Trading", "number": "123456C", "verified": true, "verifyUrl": "https://..." }],
  "reviewCount": 128,
  "insurance": { "publicLiability": true },
  "description": "Licensed plumber serving Sydney ...",
  "headline": "24/7 emergency plumbing",
  "joinedDate": "2018-05-01",
  "imageUrl": "https://.../logo.png",
  "scrapedAt": "2026-10-11T09:00:00.000Z"
}

Output (reviews dataset, one row)

{
  "reviewId": "abc123",
  "source": "hipages",
  "reviewerName": "Sarah M.",
  "rating": 5,
  "comment": "Fast, tidy and well priced.",
  "date": "2026-08-20",
  "location": "Sydney",
  "category": "Plumbers",
  "hired": true,
  "verified": true,
  "reply": { "comment": "Thanks Sarah!", "author": "Hoppy's Plumbing", "date": "2026-08-21" },
  "profileKey": "hoppysplumbing",
  "profileUrl": "https://hipages.com.au/connect/hoppysplumbing",
  "businessName": "Hoppy's Plumbing",
  "primaryCategory": "Plumbers",
  "scrapedAt": "2026-10-11T09:00:00.000Z"
}

Integrations & Automation

Every Apify actor is reachable through the Apify API, and this one plugs into webhooks, Zapier and Make so results can flow into a Google Sheet, Airtable base, CRM or data warehouse. For lead generation and review monitoring, run it on a schedule: a weekly snapshot of your target trades and cities keeps your lead list fresh and tracks rating and review changes, and recurring runs also improve the actor's Store recommendation signals.

Related Actors

• hipages-lead-extractor: the largest hipages lead actor; a reference point for the topic cluster.
• hipages-business-scraper: another hipages business scraper.
• taskrabbit-scraper: task and services marketplace data to widen coverage of the services cluster.
• starofservice-scraper: local-services marketplace data for multi-platform lead datasets.
• checkatrade-scraper: UK verified-trades directory, a companion home-services source.

FAQ

Is there an official hipages API?

No public or open hipages API is documented; the site is JavaScript-driven with a React Router 7 turbo-stream backend. This actor reads hipages' own internal .data loader endpoints, which return the same structured JSON the site's frontend renders from, so you get tradie data without an API key, a browser or an anti-bot service.

What are the alternatives to this actor / this data source?

For Australian home-services data you can combine this with Airtasker, ServiceSeeking or Yellow Pages Australia scrapers. hipages is the largest dedicated tradie marketplace, so it is worth having alongside general directory sources to widen coverage of trade businesses, licences and reviews.

How do I build a tradie lead list by trade and location?

Set category to the trade (e.g. electricians) and location to a state or state/suburb (e.g. vic/melbourne), then set maxBusinesses. The actor returns one row per tradie with phone, mobile, email, website, ABN, service areas and rating, ready for a spreadsheet or CRM.

Where do the review texts go?

Review texts are written to a separate reviews dataset, one row per review, so you can export them independently. Business rows in the default dataset and review rows are charged separately.

Why are some businesses missing a licence or email?

Only what hipages exposes on the profile is returned. Some tradies do not publish a licence, insurance record or email, so those fields can be empty for those rows.

Does hipages block scrapers?

The internal .data endpoints return plain JSON without cookies or a Cloudflare challenge, so scrapers work directly. If hipages adds bot protection later, enable the Apify proxy input (residential group) and re-test before scaling.

SEO Keywords

hipages, hipages scraper, hipages api, tradie, tradies, home services australia, tradie directory, lead generation australia, plumber sydney, electrician melbourne, australian tradies, tradesman directory, home improvement australia, tradie reviews, abn builder leads, hipages alternative, hipages data, australia home services, tradie leads, tradie marketplace

For AI Agents & LLM Apps

Purpose: return one structured Australian tradie business row per hipages profile for a given trade category and location, plus optional per-review rows in a separate dataset.

Minimal working input:

{ "category": "plumbers", "location": "nsw/sydney", "maxBusinesses": 50 }

Output fields (default dataset): businessName, profileKey, profileUrl, quoteUrl, primaryCategory, categories, serviceAreas, phone, mobile, email, website, abn, address, suburb, state, rating, ratingCount, hiredCount, recommendYes, recommendNo, totalRecommendations, googleRating, googleRatingCount, licenses, reviewCount, insurance, description, headline, joinedDate, imageUrl, scrapedAt.

Output fields (reviews dataset): reviewId, source, reviewerName, rating, comment, date, location, category, hired, verified, reply, profileKey, profileUrl, businessName, primaryCategory, scrapedAt.

Behaviors an agent should know:

• category and location drive discovery; if startUrls is set, both are ignored and only those pages are scraped.
• location accepts state/suburb or a bare state key; empty means the five major capital cities.
• maxBusinesses defaults to 100; free-plan runs are capped at 10 businesses.
• includeReviews defaults to true; reviews are written to a separate dataset, not into the business rows.
• maxReviewsPerBusiness defaults to 10; higher values page through hipages' reviews API (up to 50 per page). 0 skips reviews entirely.
• The proxy is off by default; enable it only if hipages starts blocking.

Billing: pay-per-event: $0.0009 per business result ($0.90 / 1,000) via the default-dataset item event, $0.0009 per review ($0.90 / 1,000) via the custom review event, plus a $0.00005 actor-start event.

Legal & Compliance Disclaimer

This actor is an independent tool and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by hipages. It accesses only publicly available hipages pages and internal JSON surfaces; it does not log in, bypass authentication, or solve CAPTCHAs on anyone's behalf. Users are responsible for ensuring their use complies with hipages' Terms of Service and with applicable data-protection law (including the Australian Privacy Act). Where output includes business contact details such as phone numbers, mobiles or emails, it must not be used for unsolicited commercial outreach in violation of applicable law.