iTunes Podcast Scraper

Search, browse trending charts, and look up podcast metadata using Apple's free iTunes Search API and Apple Podcast Charts. No authentication required.

Data Source

This actor uses Apple's public iTunes Search API (itunes.apple.com/search) and Apple Charts API (rss.applemarketingtools.com).

Note: podcastindex.org is a JavaScript SPA requiring browser-based rendering and is not directly scrapable. This actor uses Apple's equivalent free public API which indexes all major podcasts globally.

What Does This Actor Do?

• Search millions of podcasts by keyword, topic, or show name
• Get trending/top podcast charts for 20+ countries
• Look up a specific podcast by its iTunes ID to get full metadata including RSS feed URL

Input

Field	Type	Description
mode	select	search, trending, or byId
searchQuery	string	Podcast name or topic (required for search mode)
country	select	Country for trending charts (us, gb, au, etc.)
genre	select	Genre filter for search (Technology, Comedy, True Crime, etc.)
language	string	2-letter language code filter (en, de, fr, etc.)
explicit	select	Content filter: all, clean, explicit
itunesId	string	iTunes numeric ID for byId mode
maxItems	integer	Max records (default: 20, max: 200)

Modes

• search — Search podcasts by keyword using the iTunes Search API. Supports filtering by country, genre, and explicit content.
• trending — Get the current top podcast chart for a specific country (US, UK, AU, etc.). Enriched with full metadata via iTunes Lookup.
• byId — Fetch complete metadata for a specific podcast using its iTunes numeric ID.

Output

{
  "recordType": "podcast",
  "sourceUrl": "https://itunes.apple.com/search?media=podcast&term=technology",
  "scrapedAt": "2025-01-01T00:00:00+00:00",
  "itunesId": "1235836821",
  "artistId": "1280771285",
  "title": "The Future of Everything",
  "author": "Stanford Engineering",
  "feedUrl": "https://feeds.simplecast.com/Y8_HoeNW",
  "podcastUrl": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/id1235836821",
  "imageUrl": "https://is1-ssl.mzstatic.com/.../600x600bb.jpg",
  "episodeCount": 380,
  "primaryGenre": "Science",
  "categories": ["Science", "Technology"],
  "latestEpisodeDate": "2026-05-29T14:00:00Z",
  "country": "USA",
  "explicit": "clean",
  "contentRating": "Clean"
}

Supported Countries (Trending)

United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Germany, France, Japan, Brazil, Mexico, India, Spain, Italy, Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Poland, Russia, China.

Supported Genres

Arts, Business, Comedy, Education, Fiction, Government, Health & Fitness, History, Kids & Family, Leisure, Music, News, Religion & Spirituality, Science, Society & Culture, Sports, Technology, True Crime, TV & Film.

FAQs

Q: Does this require an Apple ID or API key? A: No. The iTunes Search API and Apple Charts API are completely free and public.

Q: How do I find a podcast's iTunes ID? A: Look at the podcast URL on Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/name/id1235836821 — the number after id is the iTunes ID.

Q: Can I get the RSS feed URL? A: Yes — the feedUrl field contains the podcast's RSS feed URL when available.

Q: How many podcasts can I retrieve? A: Up to 200 per run. The iTunes Search API supports pagination.

Q: Does this cover all podcasts? A: It covers all podcasts indexed in the Apple Podcasts directory, which is the world's largest podcast catalog.