# Substack Posts Scraper 💰$2/1k posts (`flyingnimbus/substack-newsletter-scraper`) Actor

Scrape Substack publications: post titles, dates, authors, likes and optional full text as JSON. No browser needed. Pay per post.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/flyingnimbus/substack-newsletter-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Rakshit Solanki](https://apify.com/flyingnimbus) (community)
- **Categories:** Social media, News, For creators
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

$2.00 / 1,000 posts

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

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

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
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.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## 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.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## 📰 Substack Newsletter & Posts Intelligence Scraper

Fast, reliable, and lightweight scraper for Substack publications, newsletters, podcasts, and articles.

***

### ⚡ Key Features

- **Blazing Fast**: Asynchronous official REST endpoint extraction with zero browser overhead.
- **Rich Post Intelligence**:
  - `title` & `subtitle`
  - Canonical `url`
  - `postDate`
  - `reactions` & `commentsCount`
  - `audience` (free vs paid tier indicator)
  - `coverImage` & `audioUrl` (podcast attachments)
  - Optional full text body content extraction.
- **Works on Custom Domains**: Handles `.substack.com` subdomains as well as custom domains (e.g. `pragmaticengineer.com`).

***

### 📥 Input Example

```json
{
  "publications": [
    "thealgorithmicbridge",
    "https://pragmaticengineer.com"
  ],
  "maxPostsPerPublication": 30,
  "includeContent": false
}
```

***

### 📤 Output Example

```json
{
  "title": "I Have Been Writing About AI For 6 Years: Something Changed This Summer",
  "subtitle": "Notes on becoming, like everyone else, obsolete",
  "publication": "https://thealgorithmicbridge.substack.com",
  "url": "https://www.thealgorithmicbridge.com/p/i-have-been-writing-about-ai-for",
  "postDate": "2026-09-28T16:37:54.975Z",
  "reactions": 142,
  "commentsCount": 38,
  "audience": "everyone"
}
```

### Pricing

Pay per event: **$0.002 per post** ($2 per 1,000). You only pay for results delivered. Platform compute is included, so there are no extra usage charges. Set a maximum budget on the run to cap spend.

### How to use it

1. Open the Input tab and fill in the fields (the prefilled example works as is).
2. Click Start and wait for the run to finish.
3. Download the dataset as JSON, CSV or Excel, or read it through the Apify API.

You can schedule runs, call the actor from the API, or connect it to Make, Zapier, n8n or an AI agent through MCP.

### FAQ

**Is the data live?** Yes. Each run fetches fresh data at the time you run it.

**What happens when nothing is found?** The run finishes without charging for empty results.

**Can I use this in an AI agent?** Yes. It runs with limited permissions and returns structured JSON, so agents can call it through the Apify MCP server.

**Is it legal?** The actor collects publicly available information. You are responsible for using the data in line with the source's terms and applicable law, including privacy rules. Do not use it to collect personal data without a lawful basis.

**Something broke or you need a field added?** Open an issue on the Issues tab. Reports are read and fixed quickly.

# Actor input Schema

## `publications` (type: `array`):

List of Substack publication subdomains (e.g. 'thealgorithmicbridge', 'stratechery', or full URLs like 'https://pragmaticengineer.com').

## `maxPostsPerPublication` (type: `integer`):

Maximum number of newsletter posts to extract per publication.

## `includeContent` (type: `boolean`):

Whether to include full body text or metadata only.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "publications": [
    "thealgorithmicbridge"
  ],
  "maxPostsPerPublication": 30,
  "includeContent": false
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

One row per Substack post.

## `overview` (type: `string`):

No description

# 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 = {
    "publications": [
        "thealgorithmicbridge"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("flyingnimbus/substack-newsletter-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 = { "publications": ["thealgorithmicbridge"] }

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

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

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

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "publications": [
    "thealgorithmicbridge"
  ]
}' |
apify call flyingnimbus/substack-newsletter-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,flyingnimbus/substack-newsletter-scraper"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/otY0Ou5vz2iP3xe9N/builds/A1hanAO1zmsZtg8H7/openapi.json