Google Play Apps Scraper

Scrape Google Play app search results and app detail metadata for ASO, competitor research, market maps, and app intelligence workflows.

App review-mining workflow

Use Google Play Apps Scraper to discover Android app IDs, ratings, installs, categories, and developer metadata.

Then use Google Play Reviews Scraper and Apple App Store Reviews Scraper to collect public review text for ASO, product feedback, support triage, and competitor analysis.

Compare outputs by app, country, rating, version, and review date to build mobile app intelligence datasets.

What does Google Play Apps Scraper do?

Google Play Apps Scraper collects public app records from Google Play.

It can search by keyword.

It can fetch known app package IDs.

It can process direct Google Play app detail URLs.

It returns structured app intelligence in a dataset.

Use it to monitor mobile categories, compare apps, collect ratings, track installs, and enrich internal app databases.

Who is it for?

ASO and growth teams

Use keyword searches such as budget planner, habit tracker, or photo editor to build a ranked view of competing Android apps in each target country. Export titles, developers, ratings, installs, categories, and pricing signals into your ASO worksheet, then repeat the same inputs weekly to spot ranking and rating changes.

App founders and product managers

Start with a product idea keyword, collect the visible app landscape, and identify which apps dominate installs, which competitors monetize with ads or in-app purchases, and which developer names appear repeatedly. Add known package IDs for your closest competitors when you need a richer side-by-side benchmark.

Market researchers and analysts

Create country-specific app market maps without manually copying Google Play pages. Combine broad discovery queries with direct package IDs to compare rating counts, install buckets, content ratings, categories, developer contacts, and localized descriptions across regions.

Agencies and consultants

Prepare client audits faster by running repeatable searches for each client niche. Save the dataset to Google Sheets, BigQuery, or your reporting stack, then use the app URL and package ID fields as stable references in decks and dashboards.

Data and enrichment teams

Normalize app IDs, app URLs, developer names, installs, ratings, screenshots, categories, and public contact fields into a structured dataset that can feed CRM enrichment, BI pipelines, internal catalogs, or downstream review scraping.

Why use this scraper?

✅ Search and direct app lookup in one actor.

✅ Localized country and language settings.

✅ Ratings, installs, pricing, ads, and IAP fields.

✅ Output ready for CSV, JSON, Excel, BigQuery, and API pipelines.

✅ Built for small checks and larger app-intelligence lists.

What data can you extract?

Field	Description
query	Search keyword that produced the app
rank	Search result position
appId	Android package ID
title	App title
developer	Developer name
appUrl	Google Play detail URL
icon	App icon URL
rating	Average rating
ratingsCount	Number of ratings
reviewsCount	Number of reviews when available
installs	Public install bucket
minInstalls	Numeric lower install bound
maxInstalls	Numeric upper install estimate
free	Whether the app is free
priceText	Public price label
containsAds	Whether the app displays ads
inAppPurchases	Whether in-app purchases are offered
category	Main category
summary	Short app summary
description	Full description when details are enabled
screenshots	Screenshot URLs
contentRating	Content rating
released	Release date
updated	Last update timestamp
developerWebsite	Developer website
developerEmail	Developer email
locale	Requested language and country
scrapedAt	Collection timestamp

How much does it cost to scrape Google Play apps?

This actor uses pay-per-event pricing so cost follows the amount of data saved.

You pay a small run-start event and then a per-app result event for each app record written to the dataset. The live Apify Store pricing tab is authoritative, but the actor is designed so small validation runs remain inexpensive.

Pricing examples

The live Apify Store pricing tab is the source of truth. The table below uses the current configured public price of a $0.005 run-start event plus the FREE-tier result price of $0.000115 per saved app record, so paid-plan tiers can be lower.

Example run	Typical input	Saved app records	Estimated event cost
Quick ASO check	1 keyword, maxResults: 10	10	about $0.0062
Small niche benchmark	2 keywords, maxResults: 50 total	50	about $0.0108
Package enrichment	25 known appIds	25	about $0.0079
Larger market map	several focused searches, maxResults: 250 total	250	about $0.0338

Notes:

• maxResults is the total cap for the run, not a per-keyword cap.
• If Google Play returns fewer public apps than requested, you only pay result events for records actually saved.
• Your final bill can differ if Apify changes Store pricing, plan tiers, platform credits, or taxes.

Free-plan estimate

Apify free-plan credits are usually enough for trial runs such as 5-25 apps, depending on the current Store pricing and your remaining monthly platform credits. For predictable first tests, keep the prefilled maxResults low, use one keyword, and enable details only when you need richer metadata.

Cost-control tips

• Start with maxResults: 10 before scaling to larger market maps.
• Use specific keywords to reduce duplicate or irrelevant apps.
• Use direct appIds when you already know the competitors you want.
• Check the dataset count after each run; per-result charges match saved records.

How to scrape Google Play search results

1. Open the actor on Apify.

2. Add one or more search queries.

3. Choose a country code such as us, gb, or de.

4. Choose a language code such as en, de, or es.

5. Set the maximum number of apps.

6. Run the actor.

7. Export the dataset.

How to fetch direct app details

Add Android package IDs such as com.spotify.music.

You can also paste Google Play app detail URLs.

The actor extracts the package ID and fetches public metadata.

This is useful when you already have a list of competitor apps.

Input options

queries

Search keywords to run on Google Play.

Examples: calculator, fitness tracker, budget planner.

appIds

Direct Android package IDs.

Examples: com.spotify.music, com.duolingo.

startUrls

Direct Google Play app detail URLs.

Example: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.duolingo.

country

Two-letter country code for localized results and prices.

Default: us.

language

Two-letter language code for localized text.

Default: en.

maxResults

Maximum number of app records to save.

Default: 25.

includeDetails

When enabled, the actor fetches richer public app metadata.

price

Search price filter: all, free, or paid apps.

Example input

{
  "queries": ["calculator", "fitness tracker"],
  "appIds": ["com.spotify.music"],
  "country": "us",
  "language": "en",
  "maxResults": 25,
  "includeDetails": true,
  "price": "all"
}

Example output

{
  "query": "calculator",
  "rank": 1,
  "inputType": "search",
  "appId": "com.sec.android.app.popupcalculator",
  "title": "Samsung Calculator",
  "developer": "Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.",
  "appUrl": "https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.sec.android.app.popupcalculator",
  "rating": 4.46,
  "ratingsCount": 967477,
  "installs": "1,000,000,000+",
  "free": true,
  "priceText": "Free",
  "category": "Tools",
  "locale": "en_US"
}

Tips for best results

Start with a small maxResults value.

Use specific keywords for cleaner rankings.

Use country and language settings that match your target market.

Enable details when you need installs, screenshots, and developer contacts.

Disable unnecessary broad keywords if you only need known app IDs.

Common use cases

📱 ASO keyword monitoring.

📊 Competitor app benchmarking.

🌍 Country-specific app market research.

💸 Free versus paid app analysis.

🧩 Package ID enrichment.

🏷️ Category mapping.

📈 Install and rating trend snapshots.

Integrations

Google Sheets ASO reporting

Export the dataset to Google Sheets and build tabs for keyword rank, installs, ratings, category, and monetization model. This works well for weekly ASO snapshots where stakeholders want a familiar spreadsheet.

BigQuery and BI dashboards

Send finished datasets to BigQuery, Snowflake, or another warehouse. Join package IDs with internal revenue, ad-spend, or review data to build mobile-market dashboards.

Make, Zapier, and webhooks

Use Apify webhooks to trigger a Make or Zapier scenario when a run succeeds. Common flows include: new app dataset → filter high-rating apps → append to CRM; or keyword run → notify Slack when a new competitor appears.

Backend enrichment jobs

Call the actor from your backend whenever a new Android package ID enters your system. Store the returned title, developer, app URL, installs, and rating fields alongside your internal app records.

Review-analysis pipeline

Run this actor first to discover app IDs, then pass selected package IDs to a reviews scraper for sentiment analysis, support triage, or feature-request mining.

API usage with Node.js

import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

const client = new ApifyClient({ token: process.env.APIFY_TOKEN });
const run = await client.actor('fetch_cat/google-play-apps-scraper').call({
  queries: ['calculator'],
  country: 'us',
  language: 'en',
  maxResults: 10,
  includeDetails: true
});
console.log(run.defaultDatasetId);

API usage with Python

from apify_client import ApifyClient
import os

client = ApifyClient(os.environ['APIFY_TOKEN'])
run = client.actor('fetch_cat/google-play-apps-scraper').call(run_input={
    'queries': ['calculator'],
    'country': 'us',
    'language': 'en',
    'maxResults': 10,
    'includeDetails': True,
})
print(run['defaultDatasetId'])

API usage with cURL

curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/fetch_cat~google-play-apps-scraper/runs?token=$APIFY_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"queries":["calculator"],"country":"us","language":"en","maxResults":10,"includeDetails":true}'

MCP usage

Use this actor through Apify MCP from Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Cursor, VS Code, or any MCP-compatible client that supports remote HTTP servers.

MCP URL pattern:

https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch_cat/google-play-apps-scraper

Claude Code setup

$claude mcp add --transport http apify-google-play-apps "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch_cat/google-play-apps-scraper"

Then ask Claude Code to run the fetch_cat/google-play-apps-scraper tool with an input such as:

{
  "queries": ["calculator"],
  "country": "us",
  "language": "en",
  "maxResults": 10,
  "includeDetails": true
}

Claude Desktop setup

Add the server to your Claude Desktop MCP configuration and restart Claude Desktop:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "apify-google-play-apps": {
      "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch_cat/google-play-apps-scraper"
    }
  }
}

Make sure your Apify account is connected to MCP so the run can access your Apify token and dataset exports.

Cursor setup

In Cursor, open MCP settings, add a new remote HTTP server, and use the same Apify MCP URL:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "apify-google-play-apps": {
      "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch_cat/google-play-apps-scraper"
    }
  }
}

After saving, reload Cursor and ask the agent to call fetch_cat/google-play-apps-scraper with the JSON input you want to run.

VS Code setup

In VS Code with MCP support enabled, add an HTTP MCP server named apify-google-play-apps and set the URL to:

https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch_cat/google-play-apps-scraper

If you manage MCP servers through a JSON settings file, use the same mcpServers block shown in the Claude Desktop and Cursor examples. Restart or reload VS Code after saving so the Google Play Apps Scraper tool appears in the chat/tool picker.

MCP workflow prompts

Example prompt you can ask after connecting the MCP server:

• “Use Google Play Apps Scraper to find the top 10 calculator apps in the US, then summarize installs, ratings, ads, and in-app purchases.”
• “Compare com.spotify.music and com.duolingo using public Google Play metadata and return a table.”
• “Build a CSV-ready list of fitness tracker apps in Great Britain with rating, install bucket, category, and app URL.”
• “Find paid budgeting apps in Germany and identify developers with multiple apps.”

Data quality notes

Google Play displays localized public metadata.

Some fields may be absent for certain apps or countries.

Install counts are public buckets, not exact private analytics.

Ratings and review counts can change frequently.

Use timestamps to compare snapshots over time.

Limits

Very broad keywords can return overlapping apps.

Google Play may show different rankings by country and language.

Some apps are not available in every country.

Developer contact fields are only returned when publicly available.

FAQ

What does this actor collect?

It collects public Google Play app search and detail metadata for app intelligence workflows.

Troubleshooting

I got fewer results than requested. Why?

Google Play may have fewer public results for the keyword, country, price filter, or locale.

Try a broader keyword or lower the result limit.

Why are some fields null?

Not every public app page exposes every metadata field.

Direct app details usually provide richer data than search-only cards.

Can I scrape reviews with this actor?

This actor focuses on app search and app details.

Use a dedicated reviews scraper when you need individual review text.

Legality

This actor extracts publicly available Google Play app metadata.

You are responsible for using the data lawfully.

Respect applicable terms, privacy rules, and local regulations.

Do not use scraped data for spam, harassment, or prohibited profiling.

Related actors and scrapers

Use these related actors from the same catalog for adjacent mobile, review, and discovery workflows:

• Google Play Reviews Scraper — collect individual reviews after this actor discovers the target package IDs.
• Apple App Store Reviews Scraper — compare iOS review sentiment with Android app intelligence.
• Google Maps Reviews Scraper — analyze local-business reviews when your app research connects to physical locations.
• TikTok Comments Scraper — study social feedback around app launches, ads, and creator campaigns.
• YouTube Search Results Scraper — find videos and creators discussing competitor apps.

Changelog

0.1

Initial version with search queries, app IDs, direct URLs, locale settings, detail metadata, and pay-per-result output.

Support

If a run fails, open the run log and dataset sample first.

Share the input, run ID, and expected app examples when asking for help.

Small reproducible inputs make support faster.