# Hotfrog Scraper \[Only $2/1K 💰] Phone Leads · Website · Address (`ahmed_jasarevic/hotfrog-scraper`) Actor

Build B2B lead lists from Hotfrog across 120+ countries with phone, website, address, opening hours and reviews per business. Ideal for sales prospecting, local SEO and CRM seeding.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/ahmed\_jasarevic/hotfrog-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Ahmed Jasarevic](https://apify.com/ahmed_jasarevic) (community)
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $2.00 / 1,000 results

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

Actors are web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.
Actors are written with capital "A".

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.
The best way to integrate Actors is as follows.

- **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use).
- **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`.
- **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`.
- **Python projects** — the official [Python client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): `pip install apify-client`.
- **Any other language** — the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md).

For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below.

For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt).

# README

## Hotfrog Business Scraper — B2B Lead Lists with Phone, Website & Address (120+ Countries)

Extract local business listings from [Hotfrog.com](https://www.hotfrog.com) and [Hotfrog.co.uk](https://www.hotfrog.co.uk) — one of the world's largest business directories with coverage in **120+ countries** — to build B2B lead lists with phone numbers, websites, addresses, opening hours and reviews in one structured dataset.

### Main Use Cases

- **B2B lead generation** — pull phone-validated business lists for outbound sales and prospecting campaigns
- **Local business contact database** — company name, phone, address, website and email in every row
- **Trades & service lists** — plumbers, electricians, dentists, restaurants by city and category
- **Local SEO auditing** — monitor competitor presence, NAP citations and directory coverage
- **Sales intelligence & enrichment** — append missing phone/address/website fields to existing lead lists
- **CRM seeding** — load clean, deduplicated prospect records into your CRM or outreach tool

### How It Works

The actor builds Hotfrog search URLs from `country` + `city` + `category` (e.g. `hotfrog.com/search/us/plumbers`), paginates through the results (12 businesses per page) and writes one normalized record per business to an Apify Dataset. Optional detail-page scraping (`scrapeDetails`) opens each profile to extract website, opening hours, reviews, coordinates, payment methods, social links and the verified badge. All traffic runs through Apify's residential proxy group by default because **Hotfrog is protected by Cloudflare** — without the proxy, requests get blocked.

### Build Business Contact Databases Without an Official API

Hotfrog exposes **no public business-listing API**. This actor reads publicly available directory pages and returns clean, structured JSON — a working Hotfrog API alternative for sales teams, marketers and market researchers.

### Generate Phone & Website Leads for Any Trade

Pick a category like `plumbers`, `dentists` or `restaurants`, a city, and a country edition — the actor returns businesses with direct phone numbers and their own websites, ready for call lists and outreach.

### Multi-Country Directory Data

Supported country editions include US, UK, AU, CA, NZ, ZA, IN, SG, HK, MY, PH, IE, DE, AT, CH, BR, MX, AR, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, SE, NO, DK, FI, PL, CZ, PT, JP, CN, KR, TH, ID, VN, TW, CL, CO, PE.

### Input

Configure from the **Input** tab. All fields are optional — defaults search for plumbers in New York.

| Field | Type | Required | Default | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| `startUrls` | `{url: string}[]` | No | `[]` | Direct Hotfrog search or profile URLs. **Overrides** `country`/`city`/`category`. |
| `country` | `string` (enum) | No | `us` | Two-letter code for the Hotfrog edition (40+ supported). |
| `city` | `string` | No | `new-york` | City slug, e.g. `new-york`, `london`, `sydney` (hyphens for multi-word). |
| `category` | `string` | No | `plumbers` | Business category or search keyword. Leave empty to browse all categories in the city. |
| `maxItems` | `integer` | No | `100` | Max businesses to extract (1–5000). Search pages are calculated automatically. |
| `scrapeDetails` | `boolean` | No | `true` | Visit each profile for full details (website, hours, reviews, coordinates). |
| `proxyConfiguration` | `object` | No | `{"useApifyProxy": true}` | Apify proxy (residential) — **strongly recommended**; Cloudflare blocks non-proxied traffic. |

### Output

Each record is one business:

```json
{
  "businessName": "Joe's Plumbing",
  "category": "Plumbers",
  "address": "123 Main St, New York NY, 10001",
  "city": "New York",
  "state": "NY",
  "phone": "(212) 555-1234",
  "website": "https://www.joesplumbing.com",
  "email": null,
  "openingHours": "Mon-Fri: 8AM-6PM; Sat: 9AM-2PM",
  "description": "Expert plumbing services available 24/7.",
  "reviewsSnippet": "Great service, fast response...",
  "latitude": 40.7128,
  "longitude": -74.006,
  "images": ["https://assets.centralindex.com/company/123/photo.jpg"],
  "paymentMethods": ["Amex", "Visa", "Cash"],
  "socialLinks": ["https://www.facebook.com/business"],
  "verified": true,
  "profileUrl": "https://www.hotfrog.com/company/123/joes-plumbing/new-york/plumbers",
  "sourceUrl": "https://www.hotfrog.com/search/us/plumbers",
  "scrapedAt": "2026-01-15T10:23:45.000Z"
}
```

Field reference:

| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| `businessName` | Display name |
| `category` | Business category (e.g. Plumbers, Restaurants) |
| `address`, `city`, `state` | Full address components |
| `phone` | Phone number |
| `website` | Business website URL |
| `email` | Contact email (when listed) |
| `openingHours`, `description`, `reviewsSnippet` | Profile content (detail scan) |
| `latitude`, `longitude` | Geo coordinates (detail scan) |
| `images`, `paymentMethods`, `socialLinks` | Media & payment info (detail scan) |
| `verified` | Hotfrog verified badge (detail scan) |
| `profileUrl`, `sourceUrl` | Profile page and source search page |
| `scrapedAt` | ISO 8601 timestamp |

### Example Input

```json
{
  "country": "us",
  "city": "new-york",
  "category": "plumbers",
  "maxItems": 100,
  "scrapeDetails": true,
  "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": true }
}
```

Or scrape specific businesses by URL:

```json
{
  "startUrls": [
    { "url": "https://www.hotfrog.com/company/123/joes-plumbing/new-york/plumbers" }
  ],
  "scrapeDetails": false
}
```

### Cost

Billed at **$0.002 per business record** in the dataset, plus a small per-GB start fee. A 100-lead run therefore costs around $0.20 in result fees. Free-tier plans can extract up to 10 businesses per run.

### Integrations & Automation

- **Apify API** — trigger lead pulls programmatically
- **Zapier / Make** — pipe leads into Sheets, HubSpot, Salesforce or your CRM
- **Scheduling** — refresh prospect lists weekly to catch new listings; recurring usage improves Apify Store recommendation signals

### Related Actors

- [HotFrog Scraper](https://apify.com/crawlerbros/hotfrog-scraper) — US-focused Hotfrog extraction (most-used Hotfrog actor)
- [Hotfrog Business Directory Scraper](https://apify.com/solidcode/hotfrog-scraper) — 25+ country editions with email-enrichment options
- [HotFrog Business Scraper](https://apify.com/compute-edge/hotfrog-scraper) — 18+ country editions
- [Universal Lead Scraper for Business, Influencers & SaaS](https://apify.com/ahmed_jasarevic/universal-lead-scraper-for-business-influencers-saas) — broader lead-gen across multiple sources
- [Extract Business Email Leads from Linktree Categories](https://apify.com/ahmed_jasarevic/extract-business-email-leads-from-linktree-categories) — add email leads from Linktree profiles

### FAQ

**Why use this actor instead of the official Hotfrog API?**

Hotfrog has no public API for directory listings. This actor reads publicly available pages and returns structured records — an unofficial Hotfrog API alternative.

**Why am I getting empty results?**

Hotfrog sits behind Cloudflare. Keep `proxyConfiguration.useApifyProxy` enabled (it's on by default); non-proxied requests typically get blocked.

**Can I scrape a specific business by URL?**

Yes — paste the Hotfrog profile URL into `startUrls` and the actor extracts that single business.

**Which countries are supported?**

All Hotfrog country editions — US, UK, AU, CA, NZ, ZA, IN, SG, HK, MY, PH, IE, DE, AT, CH, BR, MX, AR, and 20+ more.

**What are alternatives to scraping Hotfrog for local business data?**

Other Hotfrog actors on the Apify Store (crawlerbros, solidcode, compute-edge), plus directory-based lead sources such as Yelp, Yellow Pages and Thunderbit's Hotfrog template.

**How much does a lead list cost?**

$0.002 per business record — a 1,000-lead list costs about $2 in result fees.

### Competitive Positioning

Verified against competing Hotfrog actors on the Apify Store:

| Capability | Competitors | This actor |
|---|---|---|
| Price per result | $0.00433 (crawlerbros), $0.019 (scrapers\_lat), $0.00999 (moving\_beacon), $0.00285 (solidcode) | **$0.002** — lowest in cluster |
| Country coverage | 18–27 editions | **120+ editions** |
| Detail fields (hours, reviews, payment methods, social, verified) | Partial/optional in most | ✅ Standard via `scrapeDetails` |
| Free-tier preview | Most cap at 5–10 | ✅ 10 businesses per run |

### For AI Agents & LLM Apps

**Purpose:** Returns one structured JSON record per Hotfrog business listing — name, phone, website, address, category and optional profile details — for B2B lead generation and local-business databases.

**Minimal working input:**

```json
{
  "country": "us",
  "city": "new-york",
  "category": "plumbers",
  "maxItems": 20
}
```

**Variant — specific businesses (no search):**

```json
{ "startUrls": [{ "url": "https://www.hotfrog.com/company/123/joes-plumbing/new-york/plumbers" }] }
```

**Output fields:** `businessName, category, address, city, state, phone, website, email, openingHours, description, reviewsSnippet, latitude, longitude, images, paymentMethods, socialLinks, verified, profileUrl, sourceUrl, scrapedAt`

**Behaviors an agent should know:**

- `startUrls` takes priority: when set, `country`/`city`/`category` are ignored
- **Apify proxy is effectively mandatory** — Hotfrog uses Cloudflare; keep `useApifyProxy: true` in `proxyConfiguration`
- `scrapeDetails: false` returns only name/address/phone/category-level fields and is much faster/cheaper
- `maxItems` hard range is 1–5000; pagination (12 results/page) is calculated automatically
- Fields like `email`, `openingHours`, `latitude` may be `null` when a listing doesn't publish them or detail scanning is off

**Billing:** pay-per-result — $0.002 per dataset record, plus a small per-GB start fee.

### Legal & Compliance Disclaimer

This actor is an independent tool and is **not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Hotfrog** (Central Index Ltd.). It accesses only publicly available directory pages — no login bypass and no access to non-public data. Output may include business contact details (phones, emails, addresses); do not use them for unsolicited commercial outreach in violation of applicable law (e.g. CAN-SPAM, GDPR, TCPA). Users are responsible for their own compliance with Hotfrog's Terms of Service and applicable data-protection law.

### SEO Keywords

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# Actor input Schema

## `startUrls` (type: `array`):

Hotfrog search or business profile URLs to scrape. You can provide search result pages (e.g. https://www.hotfrog.com/search/us/plumbers) or individual business profile pages. Leave empty to use the country + city + category fields below.

## `country` (type: `string`):

Two-letter country code for the Hotfrog edition (used when startUrls is empty).

## `city` (type: `string`):

City slug for search (e.g. 'new-york', 'london', 'sydney'). Use hyphens for multi-word cities.

## `category` (type: `string`):

Business category or keyword (e.g. 'plumbers', 'restaurants', 'dentist'). Leave empty to browse all categories in the city.

## `maxItems` (type: `integer`):

Maximum number of businesses to extract. Limits total output records.

## `scrapeDetails` (type: `boolean`):

Visit each business profile page to extract full details (website, opening hours, description, reviews). Slower but more complete.

## `proxyConfiguration` (type: `object`):

Proxy settings for anti-bot protection. Hotfrog uses Cloudflare — Apify proxy is strongly recommended.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "startUrls": [
    {
      "url": "https://www.hotfrog.com/search/us/plumbers"
    }
  ],
  "country": "us",
  "city": "new-york",
  "category": "plumbers",
  "maxItems": 100,
  "scrapeDetails": true,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true
  }
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `dataset` (type: `string`):

No description

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "startUrls": [
        {
            "url": "https://www.hotfrog.com/search/us/plumbers"
        }
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("ahmed_jasarevic/hotfrog-scraper").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = { "startUrls": [{ "url": "https://www.hotfrog.com/search/us/plumbers" }] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("ahmed_jasarevic/hotfrog-scraper").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "startUrls": [
    {
      "url": "https://www.hotfrog.com/search/us/plumbers"
    }
  ]
}' |
apify call ahmed_jasarevic/hotfrog-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,ahmed_jasarevic/hotfrog-scraper"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/dooX8WLM99q4u8hmu/builds/fFz2bUpy0deo8yeic/openapi.json