# Substack Newsletter Finder & Lead Generator (`axlymxp/substack-newsletter-lead-finder`) Actor

Find Substack newsletters by keyword, category or bestseller leaderboard and get sponsor-ready leads: author, subscriber count, bestseller tier, paid-plan prices and social links (X, LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube). Filter by size, language, paid. Pay only per newsletter.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/axlymxp/substack-newsletter-lead-finder.md
- **Developed by:** [axly](https://apify.com/axlymxp) (community)
- **Categories:** Lead generation, Social media, News
- **Stats:** 3 total users, 2 monthly users, 75.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $3.00 / 1,000 dataset items

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

## Substack Newsletter Finder & Lead Generator

Find the right Substack newsletters and get everything you need to reach them. Search by **keyword** (any niche or topic), browse **categories**, or pull Substack's ranked **Bestseller** and **Rising** leaderboards. Every newsletter comes back as one enriched lead:

- author and audience size
- bestseller tier
- paid-plan prices
- the author's **social links**: X/Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, Bluesky and website

### Who uses this

- **Sponsorship & influencer agencies** build media lists of newsletters in a niche, sized by audience, with a direct social channel to pitch the author.
- **B2B marketers & founders** find newsletters their buyers read, for sponsorships, guest posts and partnerships.
- **PR teams** map the independent writers covering a beat and reach them on X or LinkedIn.
- **Newsletter creators** research competitors' pricing, audience size and who recommends whom in their niche.
- **Investors & analysts** track the creator economy: paid newsletters, price points, bestseller tiers and rising writers by category.

### What data you get

One row per newsletter, de-duplicated across all your keywords and categories.

| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| `name`, `url`, `subdomain`, `customDomain`, `description` | The newsletter |
| `category`, `leaderboardRank` | Category and rank (Bestseller/Rising sources) |
| `authorName`, `authorHandle`, `authorBio`, `authorProfileUrl`, `authorPhotoUrl` | The writer |
| `subscriberCount`, `subscriberCountLabel` | Audience size as published by Substack (e.g. "Over 1,100,000 subscribers") |
| `paidSubscribersLabel`, `bestsellerTier` | Paid-audience bracket and bestseller badge (100 / 1,000 / 10,000+ paid) |
| `authorFollowerCount` | Followers on Substack |
| `isPaid`, `monthlyPrice`, `yearlyPrice`, `foundingPrice`, `priceCurrency` | Monetization |
| `twitterUrl`, `twitterHandle`, `linkedinUrl`, `instagramUrl`, `youtubeUrl`, `tiktokUrl`, `blueskyUrl`, `facebookUrl`, `threadsUrl`, `websiteUrl` | Social channels for outreach |
| `socialLinks` | Every link on the author's profile as `{type, label, url}` |
| `recommendationCount`, `recommendedPublications` | The newsletters it recommends (optional) |
| `language`, `publicationType`, `createdAt`, `stripeCountry`, `logoUrl` | Metadata |
| `source`, `scrapedAt` | Which input found it, and when |

Social links come from the author's public Substack profile. Most authors list at least one (in testing, 37 of 45 keyword results had social links), but not every author does.

### Use cases

1. **Sponsorship media list.** Keywords `"fintech"`, `"personal finance"` + `minSubscribers: 10000` + `paidOnly: true` gives established paid newsletters, with LinkedIn/X links to pitch.
2. **Top-100 per category.** Pull Substack's Bestseller leaderboard for Technology, Business and Finance, with rank, prices and audience, in one run.
3. **Niche mapping via recommendations.** Start from 5 newsletters you know, turn on *Include recommendation network*, and discover the newsletters they recommend.
4. **Rising writers watchlist.** Schedule the *Rising / trending* leaderboard weekly to catch fast-growing newsletters early.
5. **Pricing research.** Compare monthly/annual/founding prices across a niche before launching your own paid tier.

### Input

| Parameter | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
| `searchQueries` | — | Keywords (topic, niche or newsletter name), one per line |
| `categories` | — | Substack categories, e.g. `technology`, `finance`, `culture`, `health` |
| `categorySource` | `bestsellers` | `bestsellers` (ranked paid leaderboard), `trending` (rising), or `all` (every newsletter in the category) |
| `publicationUrls` | — | Enrich specific newsletters (subdomain, `*.substack.com` URL or custom domain) |
| `includeAuthorProfile` | `true` | Add social links, follower count and audience size (one extra request per newsletter) |
| `includeRecommendations` | `false` | Add the newsletters each result recommends |
| `minSubscribers` | `0` | Skip smaller newsletters |
| `paidOnly` | `false` | Keep only newsletters with paid plans |
| `languages` | — | Keep only these language codes (`en`, `es`, `de`, …) |
| `maxResultsPerSource` | `100` | Cap per keyword or category (`0` = no cap) |
| `maxItems` | `200` | Stop after this many newsletters (`0` = no limit) |
| `proxyConfiguration` | Apify Proxy | Keyword searches are routed through Apify Proxy (datacenter is enough). Everything else goes direct |

Provide at least one of `searchQueries`, `categories` or `publicationUrls`; you can combine them.

#### Example input

```json
{
    "searchQueries": ["artificial intelligence", "machine learning"],
    "categories": ["technology"],
    "categorySource": "bestsellers",
    "minSubscribers": 5000,
    "languages": ["en"],
    "maxResultsPerSource": 100,
    "maxItems": 300
}
```

### Example output

```json
{
  "publicationId": 458709,
  "name": "The Pragmatic Engineer",
  "url": "https://newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com",
  "customDomain": "newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com",
  "description": "Big Tech and startups, from the inside. Highly relevant for software engineers, AI engineers and engineering leaders, useful for those working in tech.",
  "language": "en",
  "category": "Technology",
  "leaderboardRank": 3,
  "authorName": "Gergely Orosz",
  "authorHandle": "pragmaticengineer",
  "authorProfileUrl": "https://substack.com/@pragmaticengineer",
  "subscriberCount": 1100000,
  "subscriberCountLabel": "Over 1,100,000 subscribers",
  "paidSubscribersLabel": "Tens of thousands of paid subscribers",
  "authorFollowerCount": 1216511,
  "bestsellerTier": 10000,
  "isPaid": true,
  "monthlyPrice": 15.0,
  "yearlyPrice": 150.0,
  "priceCurrency": "USD",
  "twitterHandle": "GergelyOrosz",
  "twitterUrl": "https://x.com/GergelyOrosz",
  "linkedinUrl": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/gergelyorosz/",
  "youtubeUrl": "https://www.youtube.com/@pragmaticengineer",
  "blueskyUrl": "https://bsky.app/profile/gergely.pragmaticengineer.com",
  "websiteUrl": "https://www.pragmaticengineer.com/",
  "recommendationCount": 11,
  "recommendedPublications": [
    {"name": "charity.wtf", "url": "https://charity.wtf"},
    {"name": "The Coder Cafe", "url": "https://read.thecoder.cafe"}
  ],
  "source": "category:bestsellers:technology",
  "scrapedAt": "2026-09-23T01:46:11Z"
}
```

### Scheduling, webhooks & integrations

- **Schedule** weekly runs of the Rising leaderboard or your niche keywords to keep a lead list fresh. Rows are de-duplicated within a run.
- Export to **CSV/Excel**, or push straight to **Google Sheets, HubSpot (via Zapier/Make), Airtable or Slack** with Apify integrations and webhooks.

### Use it from AI assistants (MCP)

Available as a tool through the [Apify MCP server](https://mcp.apify.com), so Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor and other MCP clients can call it:

> "Find 30 English-language Substack newsletters about climate tech with over 5,000 subscribers and give me their LinkedIn links."

### FAQ

**Does it return email addresses?** No. Substack does not publish writers' email addresses. You get the public contact channels authors list on their profile (X, LinkedIn, Instagram, website, …) plus the newsletter itself.

**How accurate are subscriber counts?** They are Substack's own published figures, rounded the same way Substack shows them (e.g. "Over 122,000"). If a writer hides their count, `subscriberCount` is `null` rather than a misleading 0.

**Why does keyword search work here when other tools return nothing?** Substack's publication search only answers requests that look like its own apps. This actor sends them correctly, so keyword searches return real newsletters.

**Do I need a Substack account?** No. Only public data is used.

**Why does it use a proxy?** Substack returns empty newsletter search results to cloud-server IP addresses. Keyword searches therefore go through Apify Proxy (enabled by default); categories, leaderboards and enrichment go direct.

**How many newsletters can I get?** Substack's search returns roughly the 50–65 most relevant newsletters per keyword, so use several specific keywords (e.g. "fintech", "payments", "neobank") to cover a niche. Leaderboards return their full ranking, and `categorySource: "all"` lists every newsletter Substack shows in a category. Results are de-duplicated across all sources.

**Is it legal?** The actor collects publicly available business information that authors publish on their profiles. Follow applicable laws (e.g. GDPR, CAN-SPAM) and platform rules when you use it for outreach.

**Need another field or found a problem?** Open an issue on the actor's Issues tab.

# Actor input Schema

## `searchQueries` (type: `array`):

Find newsletters matching these keywords (niche, topic or name). One search per line.

## `categories` (type: `array`):

Substack categories to pull newsletters from.

## `categorySource` (type: `string`):

Which list to read for each category: Substack's paid Bestsellers leaderboard (ranked), the Rising/Trending leaderboard (ranked), or every newsletter Substack lists in the category.

## `publicationUrls` (type: `array`):

Enrich specific newsletters: subdomain (`astralcodexten`), `*.substack.com` URL or custom domain.

## `includeAuthorProfile` (type: `boolean`):

Fetch the author's profile: social links (X/Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, Bluesky, website), follower count and subscriber count. One extra request per newsletter.

## `includeRecommendations` (type: `boolean`):

List the newsletters each result recommends (great for mapping a niche and finding more leads).

## `minSubscribers` (type: `integer`):

Skip newsletters with fewer subscribers than this. 0 = no minimum.

## `paidOnly` (type: `boolean`):

Only keep newsletters that sell paid subscriptions.

## `languages` (type: `array`):

Only keep newsletters in these language codes, e.g. en, es, de. Empty = all.

## `maxResultsPerSource` (type: `integer`):

Cap per keyword or category. 0 = no cap.

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

Stop after this many newsletters. 0 = no limit.

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

Substack's newsletter keyword search returns nothing to cloud-server IPs, so keyword searches are routed through Apify Proxy (datacenter is enough). Other requests go direct.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "searchQueries": [
    "artificial intelligence"
  ],
  "categorySource": "bestsellers",
  "includeAuthorProfile": true,
  "includeRecommendations": false,
  "minSubscribers": 0,
  "paidOnly": false,
  "maxResultsPerSource": 100,
  "maxItems": 200,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true
  }
}
```

# Actor output Schema

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

One enriched row per newsletter.

# 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 = {
    "searchQueries": [
        "artificial intelligence"
    ],
    "proxyConfiguration": {
        "useApifyProxy": true
    }
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("axlymxp/substack-newsletter-lead-finder").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 = {
    "searchQueries": ["artificial intelligence"],
    "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": True },
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("axlymxp/substack-newsletter-lead-finder").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 '{
  "searchQueries": [
    "artificial intelligence"
  ],
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true
  }
}' |
apify call axlymxp/substack-newsletter-lead-finder --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

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

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/Pi0NhxOxeLc27DjI6/builds/yRgeXqeVKmvsNjow7/openapi.json