iQiyi Video Scraper

Extract public iQiyi video search metadata at scale. This actor turns iQiyi keyword searches and public search URLs into structured records with titles, source URLs, thumbnails, channels, uploaders, durations, scores, tags, popularity signals, and scrape timestamps.

What does iQiyi Video Scraper do?

The actor searches public iQiyi pages and returns clean dataset rows for video intelligence workflows.

It can collect:

• 🎬 long-form title and album cards
• 📹 short-video search results
• 🖼️ cover and thumbnail URLs
• 🏷️ categories, tags, scores, and year metadata
• 👤 uploader names when iQiyi exposes them
• 🔗 direct iQiyi source URLs
• ⏱️ duration and publish/upload date signals

Who is it for?

Media analysts use it to monitor Chinese streaming catalog trends.

Localization teams use it to track titles, thumbnails, and content categories before campaign planning.

Entertainment researchers use it to compare iQiyi visibility for movies, dramas, documentaries, anime, and short-video topics.

Social/video monitoring teams use it to export public iQiyi metadata into BI tools, alerts, spreadsheets, or enrichment pipelines.

Why use this actor?

Manual iQiyi search checks are slow and hard to compare over time. This actor gives you repeatable, exportable results from the same public search surface.

Use it when you need:

• recurring keyword monitoring
• structured title discovery
• competitor/content intelligence
• short-video metadata exports
• dataset-ready URLs for downstream review

How much does it cost to scrape iQiyi videos?

This actor uses pay-per-event pricing. You pay a small run-start fee and then a per-result fee only for records saved to the dataset.

Current event prices are:

Event	Price
Run started	$0.005 per run
Item extracted, FREE tier	about $0.0000436 per saved record
Item extracted, BRONZE tier	about $0.0000379 per saved record
Item extracted, SILVER tier	about $0.0000296 per saved record
Item extracted, GOLD tier	about $0.0000227 per saved record
Item extracted, PLATINUM tier	about $0.0000152 per saved record
Item extracted, DIAMOND tier	about $0.0000106 per saved record

Example FREE-tier costs:

Run size	Approximate cost
20 results, default test run	about $0.0059
100 results	about $0.0094
150 results	about $0.0115
1,000 results	about $0.0486

If your Apify account includes $5 in free monthly platform credits, that covers roughly 840 default 20-result test runs or about 100,000 results in larger batches before other platform usage is counted.

The default input is intentionally small so a first test run is cheap. Increase maxItems only after the sample output matches your workflow.

Input options

Field	Type	Description
searchTerms	string array	Keywords to search on iQiyi
startUrls	URL array	iQiyi search URLs like /so/q_电影 or direct video URLs
contentTypes	array	Choose album, shortVideo, or both
maxItems	integer	Maximum dataset records across all inputs
pageSize	integer	Number of results requested per iQiyi API page

Output data

Field	Description
searchTerm	Keyword used to find the result
sourceUrl	Search or input URL that produced the result
title	iQiyi video/title text
url	Public iQiyi result URL
contentType	album, shortVideo, or videoUrl
thumbnailUrl	Cover image URL
description	Public snippet or brief
channel	iQiyi channel/category
uploader	Public uploader name when available
publishDate	Public publish date when available
uploadTime	Relative upload time when available
durationSeconds	Duration normalized to seconds
year	Year/subtitle signal exposed by iQiyi
score	Score/rating when visible
tags	iQiyi tags and category labels
playCount	Public play/popularity signal when visible
qipuId	iQiyi internal content ID
isVip	Whether the card appears to be VIP/paywalled
scrapedAt	ISO timestamp for the scrape

Example output

{
  "searchTerm": "电影",
  "title": "万米危机",
  "url": "https://www.iqiyi.com/v_2az3amxqym4.html",
  "contentType": "album",
  "thumbnailUrl": "https://pic0.iqiyipic.com/image/...jpg",
  "description": "释小龙PK跨国悍匪",
  "channel": "电影",
  "year": "2026",
  "score": "7.7",
  "tags": ["近1周上新", "动作犯罪", "灾难"],
  "isVip": true,
  "scrapedAt": "2026-07-08T03:52:34.530Z"
}

How to scrape iQiyi search results

1. Add one or more keywords to searchTerms.
2. Keep maxItems low for the first run.
3. Choose whether you need albums, short videos, or both.
4. Run the actor.
5. Export the dataset as JSON, CSV, Excel, XML, RSS, or HTML.

Search URL workflow

You can paste an iQiyi search URL into startUrls, for example:

https://www.iqiyi.com/so/q_%E7%94%B5%E5%BD%B1

The actor extracts the keyword from the URL and uses the same structured search pipeline.

Direct video URL workflow

You can also submit a direct public iQiyi video URL. Direct URLs are fetched for basic title, description, thumbnail, and source URL metadata.

For richer discovery, use keyword searches because iQiyi exposes more structured fields on search result cards.

Tips for better results

• Use Chinese keywords for strongest iQiyi coverage.
• Run separate keywords for each category you want to compare.
• Use contentTypes: ["album"] when you only need long-form titles.
• Use contentTypes: ["shortVideo"] when monitoring social/video clips.
• Keep pageSize at 25 unless you need faster large runs.

Integrations

Common workflows include:

• exporting iQiyi metadata to Google Sheets
• feeding title URLs into media monitoring dashboards
• enriching CRM or research tables with thumbnails and categories
• scheduling keyword monitoring and comparing datasets over time
• sending new records to Slack, Make, Zapier, or webhooks

API usage: Node.js

import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

const client = new ApifyClient({ token: process.env.APIFY_TOKEN });
const run = await client.actor('automation-lab/iqiyi-video-scraper').call({
  searchTerms: ['电影', '纪录片'],
  maxItems: 100,
});
console.log(run.defaultDatasetId);

API usage: Python

from apify_client import ApifyClient

client = ApifyClient('YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN')
run = client.actor('automation-lab/iqiyi-video-scraper').call(run_input={
    'searchTerms': ['电影', '纪录片'],
    'maxItems': 100,
})
print(run['defaultDatasetId'])

API usage: cURL

curl -X POST 'https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/automation-lab~iqiyi-video-scraper/runs?token=YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"searchTerms":["电影"],"maxItems":50}'

MCP integration

Use this actor from Claude Desktop or Claude Code through Apify MCP:

https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=automation-lab/iqiyi-video-scraper

Claude Code setup:

$claude mcp add --transport http apify https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=automation-lab/iqiyi-video-scraper

Claude Desktop JSON config:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "apify": {
      "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=automation-lab/iqiyi-video-scraper"
    }
  }
}

Example prompts:

• "Search iQiyi for new documentary titles and summarize the top records."
• "Export iQiyi short videos for this keyword and group them by uploader."
• "Monitor iQiyi search results for these movie terms every week."

Data quality notes

The actor extracts only public metadata that iQiyi exposes to unauthenticated visitors. Some cards do not include every optional field, so fields like uploader, play count, score, or publish date may be empty for certain result types.

Limitations

This actor does not log in, bypass paywalls, download video files, or extract private user data. It is designed for public metadata collection, not media downloading.

Troubleshooting

If you get fewer records than expected, broaden the keyword, enable both content types, or increase maxItems.

If a direct video URL returns sparse metadata, try the matching keyword search URL instead because iQiyi search cards often expose richer public fields.

Legality

This actor collects publicly available metadata. You are responsible for ensuring your use case complies with applicable laws, iQiyi terms, and privacy requirements. Do not use the actor to collect private data, bypass access controls, or redistribute copyrighted media.

Related scrapers

Explore other Automation Lab media and video actors:

• https://apify.com/automation-lab/bilibili-scraper
• https://apify.com/automation-lab/rumble-channel-video-intelligence-scraper
• https://apify.com/automation-lab/vimeo-user-videos-scraper
• https://apify.com/automation-lab/youtube-trending-videos-scraper

FAQ

Can it download iQiyi videos?

No. It extracts public metadata and source URLs only.

Does it require an iQiyi account?

No. The actor uses public unauthenticated search surfaces.

Can I schedule recurring monitoring?

Yes. Create an Apify task with your search terms and schedule it hourly, daily, weekly, or monthly.

What languages are supported?

Any keyword can be submitted, but Chinese search terms usually produce the strongest iQiyi coverage.

Changelog

• 0.1.0: Initial public metadata extractor for iQiyi search and video URLs.

Support

Open an Apify issue if a public iQiyi page stops returning expected metadata or if you need an additional output field from visible search cards.