# Substack Newsletter Scraper - Subscribers, Pricing & Authors (`brazen_kraken/substack-newsletter-scraper`) Actor

Find Substack newsletters by keyword or category and get subscriber estimates, paid pricing, bestseller status, author info and recent posts. No login needed.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/brazen_kraken/substack-newsletter-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [joyfull news](https://apify.com/brazen_kraken) (community)
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $3.00 / 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

## Substack Newsletter Scraper — Subscribers, Engagement, Pricing & Authors

**Find the right Substack newsletters to sponsor, partner with or research — in minutes.** This Substack scraper pulls newsletters from Substack's category leaderboards (or by keyword or URL) and gives you a clean spreadsheet with **subscriber counts**, **engagement (avg likes & comments per post)**, **posting frequency**, **paid pricing**, **bestseller status**, **leaderboard rank** and **author X/Twitter handles**.

✅ No login, no cookies, no API key ✅ Works with custom domains ✅ Export to CSV, Excel, JSON, Google Sheets ✅ Pay only per newsletter saved

### 🎯 Who uses this Substack scraper

- **Brands & agencies buying newsletter sponsorships** — find newsletters in your niche with 10K+ subscribers *and* real engagement, not just big lists.
- **Founders & marketers** — discover cross-promotion and guest-post partners.
- **Newsletter writers** — benchmark your pricing, posting cadence and engagement against the top newsletters in your category.
- **PR, podcast & influencer teams** — find active writers to pitch or invite.
- **Investors & analysts** — track paid newsletter pricing and the creator economy over time.

### 📊 What data you get

| Field | Example |
|---|---|
| Newsletter name & URL | Lenny's Newsletter — https://www.lennysnewsletter.com |
| Subscribers (number + Substack's text) | `1200000` — "Over 1,200,000 subscribers" |
| Paid subscribers range | "Tens of thousands of paid subscribers" |
| **Leaderboard rank** in its category | `#3 in Finance` |
| **Avg likes / comments per post** | `229.7` / `60.9` |
| **Posts per month** | `15.9` |
| Share of paywalled posts | `0.7` (70%) |
| Last post date | `2026-10-29` — skip inactive newsletters |
| Monthly / yearly price | `$20` / `$200` USD |
| Bestseller badge & tier | `true`, `10000` |
| Author name, bio, Substack profile, X/Twitter | Lenny Rachitsky, `@lennysan` |
| Recent posts | title, date, free/paid, likes, comments, restacks, word count |

### 🚀 How to use it

1. **Pick one or more categories** — Business, Technology, Finance, Health, Culture, Crypto and 27 more. Results come from Substack's popularity leaderboards (~500 newsletters per category).
2. **Add keywords (optional)** — e.g. `real estate`, `AI`, `marketing`. Keywords match whole words in the newsletter name, description or author bio. Keywords with no category selected search *every* category.
3. **Add specific newsletter URLs (optional)** — `https://www.lennysnewsletter.com` or just `bytebytego`.
4. **Filter** — minimum subscribers, paid-tier only.
5. **Run** and download as CSV / Excel / JSON, or send results to Google Sheets, Zapier, Make, n8n, Slack or your own app via API.

#### Example: newsletters to sponsor in marketing

```json
{
  "categories": ["62"],
  "keywords": ["marketing", "growth"],
  "minSubscribers": 10000,
  "includeRecentPosts": true,
  "maxResults": 200
}
```

#### Example: look up specific newsletters

```json
{
  "publicationUrls": ["https://www.lennysnewsletter.com", "pragmaticengineer"]
}
```

### 💰 Pricing

Pay-per-result: **$3.00 per 1,000 newsletters** plus a tiny per-run start fee. Newsletters removed by your filters are free. A typical 200-newsletter sponsorship list costs about **$0.60**.

### ❓ FAQ

**How accurate are the subscriber counts?**
They come straight from Substack's own public numbers, which Substack rounds (e.g. "Over 33,000"). Some newsletters hide their count — those show `null` and are skipped when you set a minimum.

**Can I get email addresses?**
No. This Actor only collects public newsletter and author profile data. Use the newsletter URL, Substack profile or X/Twitter handle to reach out.

**How do I find newsletters in a niche that isn't a Substack category?**
Use keywords. Leave categories empty to search all 33 leaderboards, or combine a category with keywords to narrow it down.

**Why is a run slower with "Include recent posts"?**
It reads each newsletter's archive to calculate engagement and posting frequency. Turn it off if you only need subscriber counts and pricing.

**Can I schedule it?**
Yes — use Apify Schedules to run it weekly and track how newsletters grow, or connect it to Google Sheets for an always-fresh list.

**Can I use it with AI agents?**
Yes. It works through the Apify API and Apify MCP server, and has a full output schema so agents know what data to expect.

### ⚖️ Is scraping Substack legal?

This Actor reads only public information Substack shows to every visitor, does not log in, and does not bypass any protection. It collects no email addresses or private data. You are responsible for using the data lawfully (e.g. GDPR, CAN-SPAM) if you contact anyone.

### 💬 Support

Found a bug or want a new field? Open an issue on the **Issues** tab — we typically reply within 1–2 days and ship fixes fast.

# Actor input Schema

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

Pull newsletters from Substack's category leaderboards (ranked by popularity). Leave empty with keywords set to search every category.

## `keywords` (type: `array`):

Only keep newsletters whose name, description or author bio contains one of these words, e.g. "real estate", "AI", "marketing".

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

Newsletter URLs or subdomains to look up directly, e.g. https://www.lennysnewsletter.com or just "bytebytego".

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

Stop after saving this many newsletters in total.

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

Only keep newsletters with at least this many subscribers (based on Substack's public estimate). 0 = no filter.

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

Keep only newsletters that offer paid subscriptions.

## `includeRecentPosts` (type: `boolean`):

Also fetch each newsletter's latest posts and compute engagement: average likes & comments per post, posts per month and last post date. Recommended for sponsorship research.

## `maxPostsPerPublication` (type: `integer`):

How many recent posts to fetch per newsletter when "Include recent posts" is on.

## `maxPagesPerCategory` (type: `integer`):

Each leaderboard page holds 25 newsletters. Most categories have about 20 pages.

## `maxConcurrency` (type: `integer`):

Keep this low to stay polite to Substack.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "categories": [
    "62"
  ],
  "maxResults": 100,
  "minSubscribers": 0,
  "paidOnly": false,
  "includeRecentPosts": true,
  "maxPostsPerPublication": 10,
  "maxPagesPerCategory": 25,
  "maxConcurrency": 3
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `newsletters` (type: `string`):

Table of newsletters found in this run.

## `allFields` (type: `string`):

Full newsletter records including recent posts.

# 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 = {
    "categories": [
        "62"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("brazen_kraken/substack-newsletter-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 = { "categories": ["62"] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("brazen_kraken/substack-newsletter-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 '{
  "categories": [
    "62"
  ]
}' |
apify call brazen_kraken/substack-newsletter-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,brazen_kraken/substack-newsletter-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/Au7o4aYW9CBqLigdC/builds/knxYApnjcznhtzjgS/openapi.json