# Apple Podcasts Scraper - Search, Top Charts, Episodes, RSS (`bar-lab/apple-podcasts-scraper`) Actor

Scrape Apple Podcasts: search podcasts by keyword, get top charts by country and genre, and export podcast details and episodes (title, date, duration, audio URL, description). No proxy, pay per result.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/bar-lab/apple-podcasts-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Bartosz Golis](https://apify.com/bar-lab) (community)
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $2.00 / 1,000 results

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

## Apple Podcasts Scraper

Search **Apple Podcasts**, pull the **top charts** for any country or genre, and export **podcast details and episodes** — fast, using Apple's public APIs and the podcasts' RSS feeds. No login, no proxy.

### What you can get

- **Podcasts:** name, author, genres, episode count, last episode date, explicit flag, RSS feed URL, Apple URL, artwork, chart rank
- **Episodes:** title, description, publish date, duration, audio file URL, Apple URL, GUID
- **Charts:** overall or genre top charts (up to 200) for any country

### Example input

```json
{
  "searchTerms": ["true crime", "startup"],
  "topChart": true,
  "chartGenreId": "1488",
  "country": "us",
  "includeEpisodes": true,
  "maxEpisodesPerPodcast": 20
}
```

### Use cases

- **Podcast guest booking & PR:** build lists of shows in your niche with RSS feeds and recent activity
- **Advertisers & agencies:** find active, top-ranked shows per country and genre
- **Market research:** track charts over time (schedule daily)
- **Content & AI:** collect episode descriptions and audio URLs for transcription pipelines

### Pricing

Pay per result — you pay only for records saved to the dataset. Use **Max results in total** to cap the cost of a run.

# Actor input Schema

## `searchTerms` (type: `array`):

Find podcasts by keyword, e.g. `true crime`, `marketing`.

## `podcasts` (type: `array`):

Apple Podcasts URLs (e.g. `https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-daily/id1200361736`) or numeric IDs.

## `topChart` (type: `boolean`):

Add the current Apple Podcasts top chart for the selected country.

## `chartGenreId` (type: `string`):

Optional Apple genre ID for a genre chart, e.g. `1488` (True Crime), `1321` (Business), `1318` (Technology). Empty = overall chart.

## `chartSize` (type: `integer`):

How many chart positions to fetch (max 200).

## `country` (type: `string`):

Two-letter store country code, e.g. `us`, `gb`, `de`.

## `maxResultsPerSearch` (type: `integer`):

Maximum podcasts per search term (max 200).

## `includeEpisodes` (type: `boolean`):

Also save episodes for every podcast found.

## `maxEpisodesPerPodcast` (type: `integer`):

Up to 200 come from Apple; more are read from the podcast RSS feed.

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

Stop the run after this many records (podcasts + episodes).

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "searchTerms": [
    "true crime"
  ],
  "topChart": false,
  "chartSize": 100,
  "country": "us",
  "maxResultsPerSearch": 50,
  "includeEpisodes": false,
  "maxEpisodesPerPodcast": 50
}
```

# Actor output Schema

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

No description

# 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 = {
    "searchTerms": [
        "true crime"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("bar-lab/apple-podcasts-scraper").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 = { "searchTerms": ["true crime"] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("bar-lab/apple-podcasts-scraper").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 '{
  "searchTerms": [
    "true crime"
  ]
}' |
apify call bar-lab/apple-podcasts-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,bar-lab/apple-podcasts-scraper"
        }
    }
}
```

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/gcSvlX7rDzy8yoNI4/builds/t7uIKE3btVi6BQ4fb/openapi.json