# Goodreads Reviews Scraper (`bovi/goodreads-scraper`) Actor

Collect public Goodreads book reviews with reviewer, rating, date, text, likes, spoiler status, and profile links.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/bovi/goodreads-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Vitalii Bondarev](https://apify.com/bovi) (community)
- **Categories:** Automation, Developer tools, SEO tools
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $1.60 / 1,000 goodreads reviews scrapers

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

## Goodreads Reviews Scraper

Collect public book reviews from Goodreads. Each dataset item represents one review and includes the book, reviewer, star rating, review date, review text, like count, spoiler warning, and links back to the review and reviewer profile. The actor reads Goodreads' public review page without logging in.

### Input

| Field | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `startUrl` | string | — | Optional HTTPS URL for a Goodreads book reviews page. When provided, it takes precedence over `bookId`. |
| `bookId` | string | `4671` | Goodreads book ID used when `startUrl` is empty. |
| `maxResults` | integer | `50` | Maximum number of records written. Goodreads currently returns review cards in page-sized responses, so a run may return fewer items than this cap. |
| `sort` | string | `default` | Keep page order, sort by rating, or sort by newest review date. |
| `rating` | integer | — | Keep only reviews with the selected rating from 1 to 5. |
| `proxyConfiguration` | object | — | Optional Apify proxy settings. Set `useApifyProxy` to `false` or omit the field to connect directly. |

Example input:

```json
{
  "bookId": "4671",
  "maxResults": 10,
  "sort": "default",
  "proxyConfiguration": {"useApifyProxy": false}
}
```

### Output

The dataset contains only values present in Goodreads' review markup. A profile image, rating, likes count, or text field is omitted from an individual record when the page does not provide it. The `spoiler` field is true when Goodreads marks a review as hidden because it contains spoilers.

Example based on the first review in the captured public page. The review body is omitted here:

```json
{
  "imageUrl": "https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/users/1619377733i/3672777._UX200_CR0,12,200,200_.jpg",
  "reviewId": "101057684",
  "bookId": "4671",
  "bookTitle": "The Great Gatsby",
  "reviewerName": "Nataliya",
  "rating": 5,
  "reviewDate": "May 3, 2010",
  "reviewText": "[review text omitted]",
  "likeCount": 2638,
  "spoiler": false,
  "reviewUrl": "https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/101057684",
  "reviewerProfileUrl": "https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/3672777-nataliya",
  "scrapedTimestamp": "<UTC timestamp>"
}
```

### Pricing

The comparable Goodreads actor lists a price of **$0.012 per result**. This README records that benchmark; customer billing depends on the price configured for the published listing.

# Actor input Schema

## `startUrl` (type: `string`):

Optional HTTPS Goodreads book reviews URL. Filters in the URL are applied to the returned records.

## `bookId` (type: `string`):

Goodreads book ID used when startUrl is empty.

## `maxResults` (type: `integer`):

Maximum number of review records to write to the dataset.

## `sort` (type: `string`):

Optional local ordering: default page order, highest rating first, or newest review date first.

## `rating` (type: `integer`):

Optionally keep reviews with this star rating, from 1 to 5.

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

Optional Apify proxy settings. Set useApifyProxy to false or omit this field to connect directly.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "startUrl": "https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4671.The_Great_Gatsby/reviews",
  "bookId": "4671",
  "maxResults": 50,
  "sort": "default",
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true,
    "apifyProxyGroups": [
      "RESIDENTIAL"
    ]
  }
}
```

# Actor output Schema

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

Dataset with the scraped review records.

# 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 = {
    "bookId": "4671",
    "proxyConfiguration": {
        "useApifyProxy": true,
        "apifyProxyGroups": [
            "RESIDENTIAL"
        ]
    }
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("bovi/goodreads-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 = {
    "bookId": "4671",
    "proxyConfiguration": {
        "useApifyProxy": True,
        "apifyProxyGroups": ["RESIDENTIAL"],
    },
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("bovi/goodreads-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 '{
  "bookId": "4671",
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true,
    "apifyProxyGroups": [
      "RESIDENTIAL"
    ]
  }
}' |
apify call bovi/goodreads-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,bovi/goodreads-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/gxEByZMdi3SMnMKhG/builds/UhtOL5GB4hpsHHELJ/openapi.json