App Store and Google Play Search / Rankings Scraper

Search the Apple App Store or Google Play by keyword and get the ranked list of apps the store shows: rank, title, developer, rating, price, genre, app ID and URL. For app-store-optimization (ASO) keyword tracking, competitor discovery and market research. Price: $0.0005 per app returned on the free plan ($0.50 per 1,000), lower on higher Apify plans; no start fee.

Empty {} input searches the App Store for "habit tracker" in the US and returns up to 50 apps (about $0.025). Use maxResults: 5 for a cheap first test. One store per run; run twice to compare stores.

Example input

{
  "searchTerms": ["habit tracker"],
  "store": "app_store",
  "country": "us",
  "maxResults": 10
}

Example output

Real row (App Store, rank 1 for "habit tracker", US):

{
  "store": "app_store",
  "query": "habit tracker",
  "country": "us",
  "rank": 1,
  "appId": "1438388363",
  "bundleId": "com.davetech.habit",
  "title": "Habit Tracker",
  "developer": "InnerGrow",
  "rating": 4.79179,
  "ratingCount": 147771,
  "price": 0,
  "currency": "USD",
  "genre": "Productivity",
  "url": "https://apps.apple.com/us/app/habit-tracker/id1438388363?uo=4",
  "icon": "https://is1-ssl.mzstatic.com/image/thumb/Purple211/v4/d4/b3/2b/d4b32bd9-f4dd-e9cb-9a26-207f33befafb/AppIcon-pink-gr-0-0-1x_U007epad-0-1-0-85-220.png/100x100bb.jpg"
}

Google Play rows have the same fields; ratingCount is null there and the App Store appId is the numeric track ID.

Output fields

store, query, country, rank (1 = first in the store's order), appId, bundleId, title, developer, rating, ratingCount, price, currency, genre, url, icon. Field details are in the table further below.

Limits

• App Store: up to 200 apps per term; Google Play: about 30.
• Ranks are the store's order at run time for that country/language, not a stable index.
• Cost = terms x apps returned x $0.0005. Set a maximum charge per run; the Actor stops cleanly when it is reached.

Use from an AI agent / API

Python (apify-client)

from apify_client import ApifyClient
client = ApifyClient("<APIFY_TOKEN>")
run = client.actor("datamule/app-store-search-scraper").call(
    run_input={"searchTerms": ["habit tracker"], "store": "app_store", "maxResults": 10},
    max_total_charge_usd=0.05,   # hard cost cap for the run
)
for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items():
    print(item)

MCP (Claude, Cursor, any MCP client): add https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=datamule/app-store-search-scraper as a remote MCP server with your Apify token as a Bearer header. The Actor then appears as one tool whose arguments are the input fields above; call it with the example input.

Agent rules: pass JSON matching the input schema; {} is valid and returns real default data; always set a maximum charge per run; read results from the run's default dataset (one row per result).

FAQ

Which store does it search? Apple App Store by default; set store to google_play for Google Play. Why fewer results than maxResults? The store returned fewer matches (Google Play caps near 30). Can I track rank over time? Schedule runs and compare rank by appId across datasets. Does it need a login or key? No.

Inputs

Field	Required	Accepted format	Default or prefill	Limits and store behavior
searchTerms	Yes	Non-empty JSON array of keyword strings	Console prefill: ["meditation", "habit tracker"]; no runtime default	Each term is searched separately. The schema does not set a maximum number of terms, so keep the list small to control result count and cost.
store	No	app_store or google_play	app_store	Selects one source for the whole run. The two stores have different catalogs and ranking systems.
country	No	Two-letter country or storefront code such as us, gb, sg, or de	us	The Actor lowercases the value. Both sources use it, and results can differ by country.
language	No	Two-letter language code such as en or de	en	The Actor lowercases the value. Google Play uses it; the App Store ignores it.
maxResults	No	Integer	50	Schema range: 1–200 per term. The App Store can return up to 200; Google Play is clamped to roughly 30.

The same keyword can return different apps and a different order across stores, countries, or languages. rank is the source's observed result order at run time; the Actor does not normalize or combine the two ranking systems.

Output fields

Field	Type	Meaning
store	string	Source used: app_store or google_play.
query	string	Search term that produced the row.
country	string or null	Country or storefront code sent to the source.
rank	integer	One-based position in the returned source order.
appId	string or null	App Store numeric track ID as a string, or Google Play package ID.
bundleId	string or null	Apple bundle ID or Google Play package ID.
title	string or null	App name reported by the source.
developer	string or null	Developer or publisher name reported by the source.
rating	number or null	Average user rating when the source returns it.
ratingCount	integer or null	Rating count for App Store results; the current Google Play search path returns null.
price	number or null	Listed numeric price; free Google Play apps are recorded as 0.0.
currency	string or null	Currency code reported by the source.
genre	string or null	Primary genre or category.
url	string or null	Canonical app detail URL.
icon	string or null	App icon URL reported by the source.

Use cases

• Take keyword-rank snapshots for app store optimization work.
• Compare the apps visible for the same term across countries or between the two stores.
• Find competing apps, their publishers, ratings, prices, and categories.
• Schedule repeated runs and compare exported datasets to track source-order changes over time.

Source, coverage, freshness, and responsible use

Apple results come from the public iTunes Search API. Google Play results come from the public catalog through the maintained google-play-scraper search client. The Actor fetches both sources at run time and does not maintain a historical index.

Source catalogs, localization, availability, and ranking logic differ. The App Store supports up to 200 requested results per term, while Google Play usually exposes roughly 30 through this search path. A returned list is a current source observation, not a complete catalog or a promise that the same order will appear later.

Use the data in line with Apple and Google terms and applicable law. Do not use ratings or rankings as proof of quality, and avoid decisions that require stronger evidence than a public catalog snapshot.

Troubleshooting

• Input rejected: searchTerms must be a non-empty array, and maxResults must be an integer from 1 to 200. Use only app_store or google_play for store.
• Zero results: check the keyword and two-letter country code. For Google Play, also check the language code. Try a broad public term such as habit tracker; a source can also return no data during a temporary failure.
• Fewer results than requested: the source may have fewer matches. Google Play is limited to roughly 30 even when maxResults is higher.
• Ranks differ from another storefront or later run: country, language, catalog changes, and each store's own ranking logic can change both membership and order.