BetaList Startups Scraper: names and individual card descriptions

Build a dated reading list from public BetaList startup cards. The Actor exports each product's own title, directory URL and short description, together with the page that supplied it. Start with the saved three-record Task to inspect the output before collecting more of a page.

BetaList's homepage contains featured cards and normal startup rows. Those layouts position the title and description differently. The parser now handles both and keeps each description inside its own card; it no longer copies adjacent product names and taglines into every record.

What the card boundary changes

The September 11 public-page sample contains DigiWarranty with “Scan receipts, track warranties, and get timely reminders.” SparrowCRM and BillingHub have separate descriptions. These texts belong to their respective directory cards; they are not descriptions assembled from the surrounding section.

Normal BetaList rows can use an empty link over the entire card. The visible product name sits in another element, so reading link text alone can miss it. The Actor reads that row's title and description while retaining the linked /startups/<slug> URL. Featured cards use a different arrangement, which the parser handles separately.

Follow buttons and navigation links are excluded from product identity. The output does not identify whether a card was sponsored, and its index is only extraction order on that fetched page. Do not call it a popularity rank or a comprehensive launch order.

A directory appearance is an observation

A product appearing near the top of the homepage is a useful discovery signal, but it does not prove a launch date, funding round, customer count or revenue. The Actor does not export founder contact details, verified company identity, investment data or independent product reviews.

For a weekly research list, store the source URL and run completion time alongside each product. Let a reviewer select products for further investigation. A later absence from the first page can reflect rotation, sponsorship or a changed layout; it is not proof that a company shut down.

Product titles are display text. Keep the directory URL when joining successive exports, because a company can change its tagline while keeping the same listing. Separate the original description from any notes or classifications your team adds.

Try the public example

Open the existing three-record Task. It contains the accepted source URL, selected input fields and the overview dataset view. Review the saved input and charge cap before starting a run. The Task is a convenient bounded example; publication does not establish the source's long-term reliability.

{
  "searchUrls": [
    "https://betalist.com/"
  ],
  "maxResults": 3
}

searchUrls is a list of public page URLs. maxResults caps output per input URL, not across the whole run. Two URLs with a limit of three can therefore save up to six records. The Actor deduplicates item URLs within a fetched page, but does not suppress duplicates across separate input pages or remember earlier runs.

Dated output example

This record comes from an ordinary public-page read on September 11, 2026. It illustrates the current parser output; the source can change its ordering or content after that observation.

{
  "source": "betalist-startups-scraper",
  "kind": "startups",
  "index": 1,
  "title": "DigiWarranty",
  "url": "https://betalist.com/startups/digiwarranty",
  "description": "Scan receipts, track warranties, and get timely reminders",
  "input_url": "https://betalist.com/",
  "source_url": "https://betalist.com/"
}

title and url identify the displayed item. description contains that item's short source text when available. source names this Actor, and kind gives its broad record category. index is the one-based extraction order for that page. input_url and source_url preserve redirect provenance.

Structured source objects, when accepted, can additionally expose company and raw. Those optional fields are not guaranteed on every HTML card. The typed Output page documents field shapes; it does not promise that an upstream publisher fills every field.

Billing and export

The existing Free-tier price is $0.0025 per saved record, plus $0.00005 per start event. Paid-plan discounts remain listed in the Pricing tab. Start-event quantity depends on selected memory; use the small saved Task when evaluating a sample. At 512 MB, three result events and one start event equal $0.00755 in Actor fees. Check your account's applicable platform charges separately.

The result limit is a collection cap, not a dollar budget. Set an appropriate maximum total charge in the run options as well. A repeated run can bill for the same records again because this Actor does not maintain cross-run state. Owner verification usage is separate from customer revenue.

Download the default dataset as JSON, JSONL, CSV or Excel through Apify. JSON preserves nulls and optional nested objects more clearly than a flat spreadsheet. Retain the source URLs in either format so a reader can check an ambiguous record.

Failures and recurring use

An unavailable source page now fails the run visibly. If earlier pages produced valid records, those records remain in the dataset and the final error reports the failed-page count. Treat a failed multi-page run as partial data; do not replace a complete prior snapshot with it automatically.

A successfully fetched page with no supported item cards can still produce an empty result. That does not prove an empty directory: the site may have changed layout or delivered a different page. Inspect the log, final source URL and a small source sample before deciding what happened.

To automate collection, save your chosen URLs in an Apify Task, then use a Schedule or the existing Make, Zapier or n8n integration. Custom clients can start /v2/acts/benthepythondev~betalist-startups-scraper/runs, wait for the returned run ID to finish and read its default dataset. Store the API token on the server, never in public page code.

Keep collection and notification decisions separate. Save the observation time in your destination and compare records by source URL before alerting. The Actor does not email anyone, create schedules or verify product claims on your behalf.

For a different product directory, compare BetaPage/PitchWall. A matching title across the two sites does not establish that the listings refer to the same legal company.

Use public data within the source's access and reuse rules. For support, include the run ID, a small redacted input and a link showing the expected field. Avoid posting tokens or private account data. If the result was useful, an honest Store review helps other users assess it.