Kickstarter Scraper

Kickstarter Scraper creates a structured dataset of crowdfunding projects collected from Kickstarter. Each dataset item is one project and can include name, blurb, URL, category, goal, pledged amounts, currency, backers, dates, location, creator, and video URL. Query the source with project or discover URLs, search terms, a category, status, sort, pledged and goal bands, and a Projects We Love filter. Control volume with maxItems. Optional project-page fields and comments are stored on the same row. Retrieve records through the Apify Dataset API or export them as JSON, CSV, Excel, XML, or another supported format. The default charge is $0.001 per project, plus $0.001 per project when project-page fields are included, plus $0.001 per comment.

Dataset at a glance

Property	Value
Source	kickstarter.com
Record unit	One Kickstarter project
Input methods	Project or discover URLs, search queries, category, and filters
Main identifiers	projectId, url
Delivery	Apify Dataset and API. Run counts are also written to the key-value record run-stats
Export formats	JSON, CSV, Excel, XML, and other Apify dataset exports
Update model	Fresh records per Actor run
Pricing	Pay per event. project $0.001. project-details $0.001. comment $0.001

Coverage and available records

A project URL returns that project. A discover or category URL uses the filters in the URL, and any filter the URL omits is taken from the input fields. Search queries are sent with the category and filters. With no search query, category browses that category. Category is ignored for a direct project URL.

category accepts all plus the ids in the input schema: Art, Crafts, Comics, Dance, Design, Fashion, Film & Video, Food, Games, Journalism, Music, Photography, Publishing, Technology, and Theater. states accepts upcoming, live, late_pledge, successful, failed, and canceled. The default is upcoming, live, and late pledge. sort accepts magic (Recommended), popularity, newest, end_date, most_funded, and most_backed.

pledged and goal use Kickstarter’s USD bands: any, under $1,000, $1,000 to $10,000, $10,000 to $100,000, $100,000 to $1,000,000, and $1,000,000 and up. The stored values are the codes any, 0, 1, 2, 3, and 4. staffPicks keeps Projects We Love only.

maxItems of 0 means no project cap. includeProjectDetails adds story, risks, rewards, FAQs, creator biography, and community onto projectDetails and charges project-details once for that project. includeComments adds a comments array and charges comment once per comment, including replies. maxComments of 0 means no comment cap across the run. detailConcurrency is how many projects are enriched at once, from 1 to 25, default 5.

The Actor does not keep a historical pledge series. Dates on the record are the campaign timestamps returned for that run.

Data dictionary

Deduplicate on projectId. Use url when the id is missing.

Field	Type	Nullable	Description	Example
projectId	number	yes	Kickstarter project id	1448211351
name	string	yes	Project name	Desert Village - STL / 28MM
blurb	string	yes	Short blurb	STL files for 3D printing
url	string	yes	Project URL	https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/infiniteprint3d/desert-village-stl-28mm
imageUrl	string	yes	Project image URL	Image URL
state	string	yes	Campaign state	live
category	string	yes	Category name	STL
categoryId	number	yes	Category id	Numeric id
parentCategory	string	yes	Parent category name	Games
goal	number	yes	Funding goal in project currency	100
pledged	number	yes	Amount pledged in project currency	146
currency	string	yes	Currency code	USD
currencySymbol	string	yes	Currency symbol	$
usdPledged	number	yes	Pledged amount in USD	146
percentFunded	number	yes	Percent funded	146
backersCount	number	yes	Backer count	4
deadline	string	yes	Deadline as an ISO timestamp	2026-10-23T14:58:37+00:00
launchedAt	string	yes	Launch time as an ISO timestamp	ISO timestamp
createdAt	string	yes	Created time as an ISO timestamp	ISO timestamp
country	string	yes	Country display name	Country name
countryCode	string	yes	Country code	US
location	string	yes	Location display name	City or region
staffPick	boolean	no	Projects We Love flag	false
latePledge	boolean	no	Late-pledge phase flag	false
creatorName	string	yes	Creator name	InfinitePrint 3D
creatorId	number	yes	Creator id	Numeric id
creatorUrl	string	yes	Creator URL	Profile URL
videoUrl	string	yes	Video URL	Video URL
commentsCount	number	yes	Comment count. Filled when stats are loaded	null until then
sourceQuery	string	yes	Seed URL or search term that produced the row	board game
comments	array	no	Comment objects. Empty when comments are off	[]
projectDetails	object	no	Detail object. Empty when details are off	{}

Comment objects, when includeComments is on:

Field	Type	Nullable	Description
commentId	string	yes	Comment id
body	string	no	Comment text. Empty string when the body is missing
authorName	string	yes	Author name
authorUrl	string	yes	Author URL
authorImageUrl	string	yes	Author image URL
authorBadges	array	no	Badge list. Empty when none
createdAt	string	yes	ISO timestamp
isReply	boolean	no	true for a reply

projectDetails keys, when includeProjectDetails is on: story, risks, faqs, rewards, aiDisclosure, environmentalCommitments, verifiedCreatorName, creatorBiography, creatorLocation, creatorWebsites, creatorJoinedOn, creatorLaunchedProjects, creatorBackingsCount, creatorImageUrl, collaborators, and community. Missing sections are empty lists or nulls. community can include backersCount, topCities, topCountries, newBackers, and returningBackers. Community location lists are empty when Kickstarter does not show them.

Example dataset record

This project row is from a search for board game with details and comments off. Long text is shortened in blurb. Nested enrichment is empty because those inputs were off.

{
  "projectId": 1448211351,
  "name": "Desert Village - STL / 28MM",
  "blurb": "STL files for 3D printing, landscape for board games",
  "url": "https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/infiniteprint3d/desert-village-stl-28mm",
  "state": "live",
  "category": "STL",
  "parentCategory": "Games",
  "goal": 100,
  "pledged": 146,
  "currency": "USD",
  "usdPledged": 146,
  "percentFunded": 146,
  "backersCount": 4,
  "deadline": "2026-10-23T14:58:37+00:00",
  "creatorName": "InfinitePrint 3D",
  "sourceQuery": "board game",
  "commentsCount": null,
  "comments": [],
  "projectDetails": {}
}

Query and input reference

Input	Type	Required	Default	Accepted values	Description
startUrls	array	no	none	Project or discover URLs	A project URL returns that project. A discover URL supplies filters
searchQueries	array of string	no	none	Search terms	Each term uses the category and filters
category	string	no	all	all, 1, 26, 3, 6, 7, 9, 11, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 18, 16, 17	All, Art, Crafts, Comics, Dance, Design, Fashion, Film & Video, Food, Games, Journalism, Music, Photography, Publishing, Technology, Theater
states	array of string	no	upcoming, live, late_pledge	upcoming, live, late_pledge, successful, failed, canceled	Campaign statuses
sort	string	no	magic	magic, popularity, newest, end_date, most_funded, most_backed	Result order
pledged	string	no	any	any, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4	USD pledged bands listed above
goal	string	no	any	any, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4	USD goal bands listed above
staffPicks	boolean	no	false	true, false	Projects We Love only
maxItems	integer	no	0	0 or more	Project cap. 0 means no cap
includeProjectDetails	boolean	no	false	true, false	Add projectDetails and charge project-details
includeComments	boolean	no	false	true, false	Add comments and charge comment per comment
maxComments	integer	no	0	0 or more	Comment cap across the run. 0 means no cap
detailConcurrency	integer	no	5	1–25	Projects enriched at once
proxyConfiguration	object	no	Apify residential proxy	Apify proxy object	Proxy selection

Minimal request:

{
  "searchQueries": ["board game"],
  "maxItems": 20
}

Advanced request:

{
  "startUrls": [
    {
      "url": "https://www.kickstarter.com/discover/categories/technology"
    }
  ],
  "states": ["live"],
  "sort": "most_funded",
  "includeProjectDetails": true,
  "includeComments": true,
  "maxComments": 50,
  "maxItems": 25
}

Retrieve the data through the API

1. Start datascrapers/kickstarter-scraper with the JSON input.
2. Wait until the run finishes.
3. Read items from the run’s default dataset. One item is one project.
4. Read run-stats for project, detail, and comment counts.

curl "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/datascrapers~kickstarter-scraper/runs?token=$APIFY_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"searchQueries":["board game"],"maxItems":20}'

$curl "https://api.apify.com/v2/datasets/$DATASET_ID/items?clean=true&format=json&token=$APIFY_TOKEN"

Other languages are on the Actor’s API tab: https://apify.com/datascrapers/kickstarter-scraper

Data quality and record handling

comments is always an array and projectDetails is always an object. Both stay empty when the matching input is false. commentsCount stays null until project stats are loaded. Community maps inside projectDetails can be empty for small campaigns.

Comments are nested on the project row. They are not separate dataset items. The comment charge still applies once per comment that is kept. If the comment charge limit is reached, the stored comments array is cut to the charged count.

The Actor does not deduplicate across runs. Use projectId. maxItems of 0 does not cap projects. Dates are ISO-8601 strings. Amounts are numbers in the project currency, with usdPledged in USD.

The default proxy is Apify residential. Discover and project pages can fail on datacenter addresses.

run-stats includes project, project-detail, and comment counts for the run.

Export and pipeline examples

Destination	Recommended method	Typical use
PostgreSQL or Supabase	Dataset API or a webhook consumer	Upsert projects on projectId and store comments as JSON
Google Sheets	Apify integration	Track name, pledged amount, and URL
S3 or other cloud storage	Scheduled dataset export	Archive one file per category or query
Warehouse	JSON items	Flatten projectDetails.rewards in a later step

Schedule one run per searchQueries entry when each term should have its own dataset. A shared run puts every term in sourceQuery on the same dataset.

Pricing and cost examples

Billing is pay per event. The same prices apply to Free, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, and Diamond.

Event	Price on every plan	When it is charged
project	$0.001	One project row. This is the primary event
project-details	$0.001	Once when project-page fields are added for that project
comment	$0.001	Once per comment or reply kept on the row

Projects	Details	Comments	Estimated event cost
1,000	off	0	$1.00
1,000	on	0	$2.00
1,000	off	5,000	$6.00

These are the default prices set for this account. They are placeholders and can be changed in the Actor pricing settings. Estimates do not include Apify platform usage, which is billed to the user in addition to event charges.

Limitations and responsible data use

The Actor returns publicly available Kickstarter project fields for the URLs and queries you submit. It does not guarantee every category, ended campaign, or comment. Rewards, FAQs, and community lists are conditional. Comment text is user-generated content.

Each run is a current snapshot of funding and status. It is not a stored pledge history. You are responsible for complying with privacy, contractual, and legal requirements for the records you collect and store.

Dataset questions

What does one dataset item represent?

One Kickstarter project. Comments and project-page fields are nested on that same item when you enable them.

Which field should I use as a unique identifier?

Use projectId. Use url if the id is missing. Do not deduplicate on comment id across projects unless you flatten comments yourself.

Are fields nullable or conditional?

Yes. Image, video, location, and comment count can be null. projectDetails is empty until includeProjectDetails is true. comments is empty until includeComments is true.

Can I retrieve the records as CSV or JSON?

Yes. JSON keeps nested comments and project details. CSV flattens nested objects, so use JSON when you need rewards or comments.

How do I paginate large datasets?

Set maxItems and maxComments above 0 to cap a run. Page the dataset afterward with offset and limit.

Does the Actor return historical data?

No. Goal, pledged amount, and state are the values available at run time.

What counts as a billable result?

Each project charges one project event at $0.001. Project-page fields add one project-details event. Each kept comment adds one comment event. Platform usage is separate.

Related datasets from Data Scrapers

• AppSumo Scraper covers software deals that can sit beside a product-launch list.
• Etsy Scraper covers product listings for campaigns that also sell on Etsy.
• Zapier Apps Scraper covers software app records that can be matched to a creator or product name.
• YouTube Channel Scraper covers channel records when the workflow includes creator video presence.

Data Scrapers support

Need an additional field, record type, or export workflow? Contact Data Scrapers at stardustspotlight@gmail.com. Include a sample source URL, required fields, expected record volume, and preferred delivery format.