# Goodreads Book Scraper - Ratings, Reviews Count & Details (`aolmo/goodreads-book`) Actor

Details of any book on Goodreads by URL or id, without login: title, author, description, genres, series, format, pages, publisher, publication date, language, ISBN, cover, average rating, ratings and reviews counts and the star distribution. Scheduled runs report rating changes. $0.002 per book.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/aolmo/goodreads-book.md
- **Developed by:** [Antonio del Olmo Tena](https://apify.com/aolmo) (community)
- **Categories:** E-commerce
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $2.00 / 1,000 book scrapeds

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?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
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.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## 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.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

Get the full details of any book on Goodreads without logging in. Give book URLs or ids and the Actor returns the title, author and contributors, description, genres, series and position, format, pages, publisher, publication dates, language, ISBN-10, ISBN-13, ASIN, cover, average rating, number of ratings and text reviews and the rating distribution by stars. Schedule it and changes in rating, ratings count or reviews count since the previous run are reported with their differences. Book marketing, author dashboards, publisher research, library and bookshop catalogs, comparison sites and reading apps at $0.002 per book.

### What you get

**Book** (one row each): `bookId`, `url`, `title`, `titleComplete`, `originalTitle`, `author`, `authorUrl`, `contributors`, `description`, `genres`, `series`, `seriesUrl`, `seriesPosition`, `format`, `pages`, `publisher`, `publishedAt` (this edition), `firstPublishedAt`, `language`, `isbn`, `isbn13`, `asin`, `image`, `rating`, `ratingsCount`, `reviewsCount`, `ratingsDistribution` (ratings per star, 1 to 5), `source`.

**Changes** on scheduled runs: `ratingChange`, `ratingsCountChange` and `reviewsCountChange` since the previous run of the same book (null on the first run).

Books that do not exist return a row with an `error` field and are not charged.

### How to use it

1. Open the **Input** tab.
2. Add **Book URLs or ids**, one per line (up to 1,000 per run): `https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3735293-clean-code` or `3735293`.
3. Click **Start** and export the rows as JSON, CSV or Excel.
4. Schedule the Actor daily or weekly to follow ratings and reviews of your titles.

### Input

```json
{
  "books": ["https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3735293-clean-code", "11084145"]
}
```

### Output

```json
{
  "bookId": "3735293",
  "url": "https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3735293",
  "title": "Clean Code",
  "titleComplete": "Clean Code: A Handbook of Agile Software Craftsmanship",
  "originalTitle": "Clean Code",
  "author": "Robert C. Martin",
  "authorUrl": "https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/45372.Robert_C_Martin",
  "contributors": [],
  "description": "Even bad code can function. But if code isn't clean, it can bring a development organization to its knees...",
  "genres": ["Programming", "Software", "Computer Science", "Technology", "Nonfiction"],
  "series": "Robert C. Martin Series",
  "seriesUrl": "https://www.goodreads.com/series/318352",
  "seriesPosition": null,
  "format": "Paperback",
  "pages": 464,
  "publisher": "Pearson",
  "publishedAt": "2008-08-01",
  "firstPublishedAt": "2007-01-01",
  "language": "English",
  "isbn": "0132350882",
  "isbn13": "9780132350884",
  "asin": null,
  "image": "https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/....jpg",
  "rating": 4.36,
  "ratingsCount": 24510,
  "reviewsCount": 1538,
  "ratingsDistribution": { "1": 160, "2": 468, "3": 2648, "4": 8536, "5": 12698 },
  "source": "apollo",
  "ratingChange": null,
  "ratingsCountChange": null,
  "reviewsCountChange": null,
  "timestamp": "2026-10-28T10:00:00.000Z"
}
```

### Pricing

Pay per event: **$0.002 per book** and **$0.0005 per book whose stats changed** on a scheduled run. Missing books are free. A catalog of 1,000 titles refreshed weekly costs $2.00 a week.

### Limits and notes

- Each URL or id returns the edition it points to; other editions of the same work are not listed (the rating statistics cover all editions).
- Individual reviews are not included, only their count and the rating distribution.
- Goodreads search is not supported; give the book pages directly.
- Descriptions are returned as plain text without HTML.

### Related Actors

- **Amazon Bestsellers**: the best-selling books of a category.
- **Google Play Reviews** and **App Store Reviews**: user reviews of reading apps.
- **RSS Feed Monitor**: new posts on author and publisher blogs.

# Actor input Schema

## `books` (type: `array`):

One per line: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3735293-clean-code or 3735293. Up to 1,000 per run.

## `product` (type: `string`):

Internal. Leave as is.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "books": [
    "https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3735293-clean-code",
    "11084145"
  ],
  "product": "goodreads-book"
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

Dataset items: url, changed, events, data, timestamp and error (when the target failed).

# 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 = {
    "books": [
        "https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3735293-clean-code",
        "11084145"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("aolmo/goodreads-book").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 = { "books": [
        "https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3735293-clean-code",
        "11084145",
    ] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("aolmo/goodreads-book").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 '{
  "books": [
    "https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3735293-clean-code",
    "11084145"
  ]
}' |
apify call aolmo/goodreads-book --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

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

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/3Wbr71CU6KtrHgTmE/builds/hQoua8jttk6ndhSpf/openapi.json