# Substack Scraper - Newsletter Posts, Likes & Comments (`aolmo/substack-newsletter`) Actor

Posts of any Substack newsletter by name, URL or custom domain, without login: title, subtitle, date, free or paid, word count, likes, comments, restacks, authors, cover and public excerpt, from the newest back. Scheduled runs flag new posts. $0.0005 per post.

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

## Pricing

from $0.50 / 1,000 post 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

Export the posts of any Substack newsletter without logging in. Give the newsletter name, its URL or its custom domain and the Actor returns one row per post, newest first, with title, subtitle, date, free or paid, word count, likes, comments, restacks, authors, cover image and public excerpt. Schedule it and posts published since the previous run are flagged. Newsletter research, content and competitor analysis, sponsorship prospecting and curated digests at $0.0005 per post.

### What you get

**Post** (one row each): `id`, `title`, `subtitle`, `slug`, `url`, `publishedAt`, `type`, `audience`, `isPaid`, `wordCount`, `reactions`, `comments`, `restacks`, `authors`, `coverImage`, `excerpt`, `podcastUrl`, `position`.

**Newsletter** on every row: `newsletter`.

**Changes** on scheduled runs: `isNew` is true for posts that were not in the previous run of the same newsletter.

Sites that are not Substack newsletters return a row with an `error` field and are not charged.

### How to use it

1. Open the **Input** tab.
2. Add **Newsletters**, one per line (up to 500 per run): `astralcodexten`, `https://noahpinion.substack.com` or a custom domain such as `https://www.lennysnewsletter.com`.
3. Set **Max posts per newsletter** (up to 1,000).
4. Click **Start** and export the rows as JSON, CSV or Excel.
5. Schedule the Actor to get every new post.

### Input

```json
{
  "newsletters": ["astralcodexten", "https://www.lennysnewsletter.com"],
  "maxPosts": 50
}
```

### Output

```json
{
  "newsletter": "https://astralcodexten.substack.com",
  "position": 1,
  "id": "212349565",
  "title": "Your Book Review: The History And Adventures Of An Atom",
  "subtitle": "Finalist #14 in the Book Review Contest",
  "slug": "your-book-review-the-history-and",
  "url": "https://www.astralcodexten.com/p/your-book-review-the-history-and",
  "publishedAt": "2026-10-30T16:30:33.689Z",
  "type": "newsletter",
  "audience": "everyone",
  "isPaid": false,
  "wordCount": 5789,
  "reactions": 37,
  "comments": 5,
  "restacks": 1,
  "authors": ["Scott Alexander"],
  "coverImage": "https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/159d85cb-5750-4fc3-a090-68f420bbae5d_777x394.jpeg",
  "excerpt": "Finalist #14 in the Book Review Contest",
  "podcastUrl": null,
  "isNew": false,
  "timestamp": "2026-10-30T10:00:00.000Z"
}
```

### Pricing

Pay per event: **$0.0005 per post** and **$0.001 per new post** detected on a scheduled run. Non-Substack sites are free. The latest 50 posts of 20 newsletters cost $0.50.

### Limits and notes

- The full text of posts is not included, only the public excerpt. Paid posts are listed with their stats and marked `isPaid`.
- Subscriber counts are not published by Substack and are not returned.
- `reactions` counts the likes shown on the post.

### Related Actors

- **Website to Markdown**: full text of public posts.
- **RSS Feed Monitor**: new entries in any feed.
- **News Article Scraper**: articles from news sites.

# Actor input Schema

## `newsletters` (type: `array`):

One per line: astralcodexten, https://noahpinion.substack.com or a custom domain such as https://www.lennysnewsletter.com. Up to 500 per run.

## `maxPosts` (type: `integer`):

From the newest back, up to 1,000.

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

Internal. Leave as is.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "newsletters": [
    "astralcodexten",
    "https://www.lennysnewsletter.com"
  ],
  "maxPosts": 50,
  "product": "substack-newsletter"
}
```

# 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 = {
    "newsletters": [
        "astralcodexten",
        "https://www.lennysnewsletter.com"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("aolmo/substack-newsletter").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 = { "newsletters": [
        "astralcodexten",
        "https://www.lennysnewsletter.com",
    ] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("aolmo/substack-newsletter").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 '{
  "newsletters": [
    "astralcodexten",
    "https://www.lennysnewsletter.com"
  ]
}' |
apify call aolmo/substack-newsletter --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

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

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/uViC1bWOTwOvL7WcO/builds/cIirJeLp1H3No4YsA/openapi.json