# Freelancer Scraper (`crawlerbros/freelancer-scraper`) Actor

Scrape Freelancer project pages from direct URLs, Freelancer search queries, or job category URLs. Extract project title, budget or hourly rate, bid counts, days left, skills, and project descriptions.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/crawlerbros/freelancer-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Crawler Bros](https://apify.com/crawlerbros) (community)
- **Categories:** Jobs, Developer tools, Automation
- **Stats:** 1 total users, 0 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 16 bookmarks
- **User rating**: 5.00 out of 5 stars

## Pricing

from $3.00 / 1,000 results

This Actor is paid per event and usage. You are charged both the fixed price for specific events and for Apify platform usage.
Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

Actors are a software tools running on the Apify platform, for all kinds of web data extraction and automation use cases.
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.
Actors are written with capital "A".

## 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.
The best way to integrate Actors is as follows.

In JavaScript/TypeScript projects, use official [JavaScript/TypeScript client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js.md):

```bash
npm install apify-client
```

In Python projects, use official [Python client library](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python.md):

```bash
pip install apify-client
```

In shell scripts, use [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md):

````bash
# MacOS / Linux
curl -fsSL https://apify.com/install-cli.sh | bash
# Windows
irm https://apify.com/install-cli.ps1 | iex
```bash

In AI frameworks, you might use the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/mcp.md).

If your project is in a different language, use the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md).

For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below.

For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt).


# README

## Freelancer Scraper

Scrape Freelancer.com project pages from direct URLs, search queries, category browse, or user profiles.

### Modes

This actor supports four input modes — combine them freely:

1. **Project URLs** — paste direct project URLs into `projectUrls`.
2. **Search queries** — keywords (e.g. `python`, `react native`, `data entry`) listed in `searchQueries`.
3. **Category URLs** — paste a category-listing URL (e.g. `https://www.freelancer.com/jobs/python/`) into `categoryUrls`.
4. **User profiles** — paste an employer/freelancer profile URL (e.g. `https://www.freelancer.com/u/username`) into `userUrls` to scrape projects posted by that user.

### Filters & sorting

| Field | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| `projectType` | enum | `any`, `fixed`, `hourly` — restrict to fixed-price or hourly projects. |
| `sortBy` | enum | `latest`, `lowest_budget`, `highest_budget`, `lowest_bids`, `highest_bids`. |
| `minBidCount` | integer (0-1000) | Drop projects with fewer than N bids. |
| `searchPages` | integer (1-10) | Pages to crawl per search/category/user URL. |
| `maxItems` | integer (1-500) | Hard cap on emitted records. |

### Anti-bot

| Field | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
| `useProxy` | `false` | Route HTTP requests through Apify proxy. Freelancer.com is normally reachable without it. |
| `autoEscalateOnBlock` | `true` | Automatically retry blocked fetches via residential Apify proxy. |
| `proxyConfiguration` | `{}` | Apify proxy configuration (advanced; only used when `useProxy` is on). |

### Output

Each record can include:

- `title` / `pageTitle` / `slug`
- `projectId` / `status`
- `budget` (raw display string, e.g. `"$250-750 USD"`) / `budgetMinMax` (`{"min": 250, "max": 750, "currency": "USD"}`)
- `hourlyRate` (raw display string, e.g. `"$15-30 USD / hr"`) / `hourlyRateMinMax` (`{"min": 15, "max": 30, "currency": "USD"}`)
- `paymentType` / `averageBid` (numeric — `int` when the source is whole, `float` otherwise)
- `bidCount` / `daysLeft` / `postedText`
- `description`
- `skills`
- `marketplaceRating` / `marketplaceReviewCount` / `marketplaceDescription`
- `sourceUrl` / `canonicalUrl`
- `recordType` / `scrapedAt`

Empty values are omitted from output.

### Use cases

- Monitor public freelance demand by skill or budget tier.
- Track sort-rank movements for budget-sensitive projects.
- Build project-intelligence datasets keyed by employer (via user URLs).
- Research freelance marketplace trends across project types.

### Notes

- This actor is HTTP-first (no browser).
- Empty values are omitted from output (no `null`, blank strings, or empty arrays).

### FAQ

**Q: Why does `sortBy=highest_budget` mix projects with different currencies?**

Freelancer's listing endpoint sorts by raw numeric budget upstream — it does **not** convert to a common currency. As a result a `₹1,000,000 INR` project can rank above a `$5,000 USD` project even though USD-equivalent the USD job is larger. This actor returns results in the raw upstream order; **USD-equivalent ranking is not applied client-side**. For strict price comparison, restrict to a single currency by appending `currency=USD` (or another ISO code) to the source Freelancer search URL, then pass that URL via `categoryUrls`.

**Q: How do I sort or filter on numeric budget locally?**

Use the new `budgetMinMax` / `hourlyRateMinMax` companion fields — both contain numeric `min`, `max`, and `currency` (e.g. `{"min": 250, "max": 750, "currency": "USD"}`). The string `budget` / `hourlyRate` fields are kept verbatim for display.

# Actor input Schema

## `projectUrls` (type: `array`):

Direct Freelancer project URLs, such as https://www.freelancer.com/projects/python/demo-project.
## `searchQueries` (type: `array`):

Keywords to convert into Freelancer job listing pages, such as `python`, `react`, or `nodejs`.
## `categoryUrls` (type: `array`):

Freelancer listing URLs such as https://www.freelancer.com/jobs/python/.
## `userUrls` (type: `array`):

Freelancer user/employer profile URLs, e.g. https://www.freelancer.com/u/username. The actor scrapes the public projects posted by that user.
## `projectType` (type: `string`):

Restrict scraped projects to either fixed-price or hourly. `any` (default) keeps both.
## `sortBy` (type: `string`):

Sort order applied when crawling search query or category URLs. `latest` is Freelancer's default.
## `minBidCount` (type: `integer`):

Drop projects with fewer than N bids. 0 keeps everything.
## `searchPages` (type: `integer`):

Number of pages to crawl per search query / category / user URL.
## `maxItems` (type: `integer`):

Hard cap on emitted Freelancer projects.
## `useProxy` (type: `boolean`):

Route HTTP requests through Apify proxy. Freelancer.com is normally reachable without it; enable this only if you see empty pages.
## `autoEscalateOnBlock` (type: `boolean`):

When a fetch returns 403/429/empty, automatically retry that single URL through residential Apify proxy.
## `proxyConfiguration` (type: `object`):

Optional Apify proxy configuration. Only applied when `useProxy` is enabled.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "projectUrls": [
    "https://www.freelancer.com/projects/python/cricket-prediction-rewards-bot"
  ],
  "searchQueries": [],
  "categoryUrls": [],
  "userUrls": [],
  "projectType": "any",
  "sortBy": "latest",
  "minBidCount": 0,
  "searchPages": 1,
  "maxItems": 25,
  "useProxy": false,
  "autoEscalateOnBlock": true,
  "proxyConfiguration": {}
}
````

# Actor output Schema

## `projects` (type: `string`):

Dataset containing Freelancer project 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 = {
    "projectUrls": [
        "https://www.freelancer.com/projects/python/cricket-prediction-rewards-bot"
    ],
    "searchQueries": [],
    "categoryUrls": [],
    "userUrls": [],
    "projectType": "any",
    "sortBy": "latest",
    "minBidCount": 0,
    "searchPages": 1,
    "maxItems": 25,
    "useProxy": false,
    "autoEscalateOnBlock": true,
    "proxyConfiguration": {}
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("crawlerbros/freelancer-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 = {
    "projectUrls": ["https://www.freelancer.com/projects/python/cricket-prediction-rewards-bot"],
    "searchQueries": [],
    "categoryUrls": [],
    "userUrls": [],
    "projectType": "any",
    "sortBy": "latest",
    "minBidCount": 0,
    "searchPages": 1,
    "maxItems": 25,
    "useProxy": False,
    "autoEscalateOnBlock": True,
    "proxyConfiguration": {},
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("crawlerbros/freelancer-scraper").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print("💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/" + run["defaultDatasetId"])
for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "projectUrls": [
    "https://www.freelancer.com/projects/python/cricket-prediction-rewards-bot"
  ],
  "searchQueries": [],
  "categoryUrls": [],
  "userUrls": [],
  "projectType": "any",
  "sortBy": "latest",
  "minBidCount": 0,
  "searchPages": 1,
  "maxItems": 25,
  "useProxy": false,
  "autoEscalateOnBlock": true,
  "proxyConfiguration": {}
}' |
apify call crawlerbros/freelancer-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "mcp-remote",
                "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=crawlerbros/freelancer-scraper",
                "--header",
                "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR_API_TOKEN>"
            ]
        }
    }
}

```

## OpenAPI specification

```json
{
    "openapi": "3.0.1",
    "info": {
        "title": "Freelancer Scraper",
        "description": "Scrape Freelancer project pages from direct URLs, Freelancer search queries, or job category URLs. Extract project title, budget or hourly rate, bid counts, days left, skills, and project descriptions.",
        "version": "1.0",
        "x-build-id": "PpNnqTjp9p67lDg7y"
    },
    "servers": [
        {
            "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2"
        }
    ],
    "paths": {
        "/acts/crawlerbros~freelancer-scraper/run-sync-get-dataset-items": {
            "post": {
                "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-crawlerbros-freelancer-scraper",
                "x-openai-isConsequential": false,
                "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for its completion, and returns Actor's dataset items in response.",
                "tags": [
                    "Run Actor"
                ],
                "requestBody": {
                    "required": true,
                    "content": {
                        "application/json": {
                            "schema": {
                                "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                "parameters": [
                    {
                        "name": "token",
                        "in": "query",
                        "required": true,
                        "schema": {
                            "type": "string"
                        },
                        "description": "Enter your Apify token here"
                    }
                ],
                "responses": {
                    "200": {
                        "description": "OK"
                    }
                }
            }
        },
        "/acts/crawlerbros~freelancer-scraper/runs": {
            "post": {
                "operationId": "runs-sync-crawlerbros-freelancer-scraper",
                "x-openai-isConsequential": false,
                "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.",
                "tags": [
                    "Run Actor"
                ],
                "requestBody": {
                    "required": true,
                    "content": {
                        "application/json": {
                            "schema": {
                                "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                "parameters": [
                    {
                        "name": "token",
                        "in": "query",
                        "required": true,
                        "schema": {
                            "type": "string"
                        },
                        "description": "Enter your Apify token here"
                    }
                ],
                "responses": {
                    "200": {
                        "description": "OK",
                        "content": {
                            "application/json": {
                                "schema": {
                                    "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema"
                                }
                            }
                        }
                    }
                }
            }
        },
        "/acts/crawlerbros~freelancer-scraper/run-sync": {
            "post": {
                "operationId": "run-sync-crawlerbros-freelancer-scraper",
                "x-openai-isConsequential": false,
                "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.",
                "tags": [
                    "Run Actor"
                ],
                "requestBody": {
                    "required": true,
                    "content": {
                        "application/json": {
                            "schema": {
                                "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                "parameters": [
                    {
                        "name": "token",
                        "in": "query",
                        "required": true,
                        "schema": {
                            "type": "string"
                        },
                        "description": "Enter your Apify token here"
                    }
                ],
                "responses": {
                    "200": {
                        "description": "OK"
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    },
    "components": {
        "schemas": {
            "inputSchema": {
                "type": "object",
                "properties": {
                    "projectUrls": {
                        "title": "Project URLs",
                        "type": "array",
                        "description": "Direct Freelancer project URLs, such as https://www.freelancer.com/projects/python/demo-project.",
                        "default": [
                            "https://www.freelancer.com/projects/python/cricket-prediction-rewards-bot"
                        ],
                        "items": {
                            "type": "string"
                        }
                    },
                    "searchQueries": {
                        "title": "Search queries",
                        "type": "array",
                        "description": "Keywords to convert into Freelancer job listing pages, such as `python`, `react`, or `nodejs`.",
                        "default": [],
                        "items": {
                            "type": "string"
                        }
                    },
                    "categoryUrls": {
                        "title": "Category URLs",
                        "type": "array",
                        "description": "Freelancer listing URLs such as https://www.freelancer.com/jobs/python/.",
                        "default": [],
                        "items": {
                            "type": "string"
                        }
                    },
                    "userUrls": {
                        "title": "User profile URLs",
                        "type": "array",
                        "description": "Freelancer user/employer profile URLs, e.g. https://www.freelancer.com/u/username. The actor scrapes the public projects posted by that user.",
                        "default": [],
                        "items": {
                            "type": "string"
                        }
                    },
                    "projectType": {
                        "title": "Project type filter",
                        "enum": [
                            "any",
                            "fixed",
                            "hourly"
                        ],
                        "type": "string",
                        "description": "Restrict scraped projects to either fixed-price or hourly. `any` (default) keeps both.",
                        "default": "any"
                    },
                    "sortBy": {
                        "title": "Sort order (search/category)",
                        "enum": [
                            "latest",
                            "lowest_budget",
                            "highest_budget",
                            "lowest_bids",
                            "highest_bids"
                        ],
                        "type": "string",
                        "description": "Sort order applied when crawling search query or category URLs. `latest` is Freelancer's default.",
                        "default": "latest"
                    },
                    "minBidCount": {
                        "title": "Minimum bid count",
                        "minimum": 0,
                        "maximum": 1000,
                        "type": "integer",
                        "description": "Drop projects with fewer than N bids. 0 keeps everything.",
                        "default": 0
                    },
                    "searchPages": {
                        "title": "Search pages per query",
                        "minimum": 1,
                        "maximum": 10,
                        "type": "integer",
                        "description": "Number of pages to crawl per search query / category / user URL.",
                        "default": 1
                    },
                    "maxItems": {
                        "title": "Max items",
                        "minimum": 1,
                        "maximum": 500,
                        "type": "integer",
                        "description": "Hard cap on emitted Freelancer projects.",
                        "default": 25
                    },
                    "useProxy": {
                        "title": "Use Apify proxy",
                        "type": "boolean",
                        "description": "Route HTTP requests through Apify proxy. Freelancer.com is normally reachable without it; enable this only if you see empty pages.",
                        "default": false
                    },
                    "autoEscalateOnBlock": {
                        "title": "Auto-escalate on block",
                        "type": "boolean",
                        "description": "When a fetch returns 403/429/empty, automatically retry that single URL through residential Apify proxy.",
                        "default": true
                    },
                    "proxyConfiguration": {
                        "title": "Proxy configuration (advanced)",
                        "type": "object",
                        "description": "Optional Apify proxy configuration. Only applied when `useProxy` is enabled.",
                        "default": {}
                    }
                }
            },
            "runsResponseSchema": {
                "type": "object",
                "properties": {
                    "data": {
                        "type": "object",
                        "properties": {
                            "id": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "actId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "userId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "startedAt": {
                                "type": "string",
                                "format": "date-time",
                                "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z"
                            },
                            "finishedAt": {
                                "type": "string",
                                "format": "date-time",
                                "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z"
                            },
                            "status": {
                                "type": "string",
                                "example": "READY"
                            },
                            "meta": {
                                "type": "object",
                                "properties": {
                                    "origin": {
                                        "type": "string",
                                        "example": "API"
                                    },
                                    "userAgent": {
                                        "type": "string"
                                    }
                                }
                            },
                            "stats": {
                                "type": "object",
                                "properties": {
                                    "inputBodyLen": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 2000
                                    },
                                    "rebootCount": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "restartCount": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "resurrectCount": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "computeUnits": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    }
                                }
                            },
                            "options": {
                                "type": "object",
                                "properties": {
                                    "build": {
                                        "type": "string",
                                        "example": "latest"
                                    },
                                    "timeoutSecs": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 300
                                    },
                                    "memoryMbytes": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 1024
                                    },
                                    "diskMbytes": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 2048
                                    }
                                }
                            },
                            "buildId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "defaultKeyValueStoreId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "defaultDatasetId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "defaultRequestQueueId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "buildNumber": {
                                "type": "string",
                                "example": "1.0.0"
                            },
                            "containerUrl": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "usage": {
                                "type": "object",
                                "properties": {
                                    "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATASET_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATASET_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 1
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "PROXY_SERPS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    }
                                }
                            },
                            "usageTotalUsd": {
                                "type": "number",
                                "example": 0.00005
                            },
                            "usageUsd": {
                                "type": "object",
                                "properties": {
                                    "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATASET_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATASET_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "number",
                                        "example": 0.00005
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "PROXY_SERPS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    }
                                }
                            }
                        }
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    }
}
```