# Google Play Similar Apps Scraper - Competitor Discovery API (`appdata-labs/google-play-similar-apps`) Actor

Find the competitors of any Android app: the apps Google Play itself recommends as similar, plus everything else the same developer publishes, each row tagged with which. Competitor discovery from Google's own recommendations rather than your guesses about the market.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/appdata-labs/google-play-similar-apps.md
- **Developed by:** [Kobkoon Janngam](https://apify.com/appdata-labs) (community)
- **Categories:** Agents, MCP servers, Developer tools
- **Stats:** 1 total users, 0 monthly users, 0.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

$4.00 / 1,000 related app 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?

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

## Google Play Similar Apps Scraper — Android Competitor Discovery

**Point it at any Android app and get its competitors** — both the apps Google Play itself recommends as similar, and everything else the same developer publishes — in one ranked table.

**Quick start:** press **Start** with no configuration at all. The Actor ships with two seed apps and returns around a hundred related apps immediately. Then paste in the app you actually care about.

### Sample output

| seedTitle | relation | rank | title | developer | score | priceText |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Netflix | similar | 1 | Prime Video | Amazon Mobile LLC | 4.1 | Free |
| Netflix | similar | 2 | Max: Stream HBO, TV, & Movies | WarnerMedia | 3.9 | Free |
| Netflix | same-developer | 1 | Netflix Games | Netflix, Inc. | 4.3 | Free |

Every row also carries `appId`, `url`, `summary`, `developerId`, `score`, `scoreText`, `price`, `currency`, `free`, `icon`, `seedAppId`, `seedDeveloper` and `country`.

### Why two relations, not one

A bare similar-apps scraper gives you one list and no context. This one tags every row so you can tell the two signals apart:

- **`similar`** — Google Play's own "similar apps" cluster. This is what Google decides to show a user standing on your app's page, which makes it the closest thing to an objective competitor set that exists.
- **`same-developer`** — everything else that publisher ships. Useful on its own, and necessary to *exclude*: Google's similar list is often padded with the developer's other apps, and without the tag you would mistake a publisher's own portfolio for a competitive field.

Duplicates across the two lists are removed, the seed app itself is never returned, and the row shape is identical for both relations so the result drops straight into a table.

### Set expectations before you buy

**How many competitors exist is Google's call, not ours.** Measured across seven popular apps: Pinterest returns 171 similar apps, Netflix 10, Uber 7, Spotify 5, Duolingo 3, Canva 2. There is no setting that changes this — it is how large a cluster Google chose to publish for that app.

If a seed returns two rows, that is the real answer for that app, and the run charges you for two rows. Seed several apps in one run if you want breadth.

### What you can do with it

- **Build a competitor set you did not pick yourself.** Your own list of rivals is biased. Google's is not.
- **Map a publisher's portfolio.** One call returns everything a developer ships, with ratings attached.
- **Find acquisition targets or partners.** Small, well-rated apps sitting next to a giant in the same cluster.
- **Feed an AI agent.** Rows are under 1 KB, consistently shaped and pre-ranked, so a model can reason over a whole competitive field in one pass.

### Input

| Field | Default | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| `appUrlsOrIds` | Netflix, Pinterest | Package names or full Google Play URLs. |
| `includeDeveloperApps` | `true` | Adds the `same-developer` rows. Turn off for Google's similar list alone. |
| `countries` | `["us"]` | Two-letter storefront codes. Recommendations differ by country. |
| `language` | `en` | Independent of country. |
| `maxAppsPerSeed` | `50` | Counts both relations together, per seed per country. |

A seed app that is not published in a requested country is reported in the log and in `SUMMARY`, and the run continues with the rest.

### Pricing

Pay per related app delivered. A seed with no competitors charges you nothing.

### Disclaimer

This is an **unofficial** tool. It is not affiliated with, authorised by, endorsed by, or in
any way officially connected to Google LLC. "Google Play", "Android" and "Google" are
trademarks of Google LLC.

It reads only **public, unauthenticated** Google Play pages — the app listing
(`/store/apps/details`), the similar-apps cluster (`/store/apps/collection/cluster`) and the
developer page (`/store/apps/developer`). None of those paths are disallowed by
`play.google.com/robots.txt`. It signs into nothing, stores no credentials, and returns
nothing behind a login or a paywall.

Google can change the page structure at any time. When a cluster cannot be read, this Actor
says so in the log rather than handing you an empty result that looks like an answer.

# Actor input Schema

## `appUrlsOrIds` (type: `array`):

The apps to find competitors for. Each entry can be a Google Play URL (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.spotify.music) or a bare package name (com.spotify.music). How many competitors exist is Google’s call, not ours — some apps have a list of two, others of nearly two hundred.

## `includeDeveloperApps` (type: `boolean`):

On by default. As well as Google Play’s similar-apps list, return everything else the seed app’s developer publishes. Each row is tagged in the relation field so you can tell the two apart.

## `countries` (type: `array`):

Two-letter country codes of the storefronts to read. Stores differ by country — rankings, prices and reviews are all per-country — so add countries to widen the result rather than raising the per-app limit.

## `language` (type: `string`):

Two-letter language code for the text Google Play returns (titles, descriptions, review text). Independent of country: you can read the Thai store in English with country=th and language=en.

## `maxAppsPerSeed` (type: `integer`):

How many related apps to return for each seed app in each country, counting the similar-apps list and the developer’s catalogue together.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "appUrlsOrIds": [
    "com.spotify.music",
    "com.duolingo"
  ],
  "includeDeveloperApps": true,
  "countries": [
    "us",
    "de"
  ],
  "language": "en",
  "maxAppsPerSeed": 50
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `rows` (type: `string`):

One row per related app, tagged with how it relates to the seed app — Google Play’s own "similar apps" list, or another app by the same developer.

## `summary` (type: `string`):

What was requested, what was delivered, and the per-request counts behind it — enough to check a run without reading every row.

# 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 = {
    "appUrlsOrIds": [
        "com.netflix.mediaclient",
        "com.pinterest"
    ],
    "includeDeveloperApps": true,
    "countries": [
        "us"
    ],
    "language": "en",
    "maxAppsPerSeed": 50
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("appdata-labs/google-play-similar-apps").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 = {
    "appUrlsOrIds": [
        "com.netflix.mediaclient",
        "com.pinterest",
    ],
    "includeDeveloperApps": True,
    "countries": ["us"],
    "language": "en",
    "maxAppsPerSeed": 50,
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("appdata-labs/google-play-similar-apps").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 '{
  "appUrlsOrIds": [
    "com.netflix.mediaclient",
    "com.pinterest"
  ],
  "includeDeveloperApps": true,
  "countries": [
    "us"
  ],
  "language": "en",
  "maxAppsPerSeed": 50
}' |
apify call appdata-labs/google-play-similar-apps --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,appdata-labs/google-play-similar-apps"
        }
    }
}

```

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/tjwkf4Uz94oClAxWp/builds/Bd152ffhC7mfzGxvK/openapi.json