# Podcast Scraper: Apple Podcasts Shows, RSS Feeds & Episodes (`informed_almandine_vzb/podcast-directory-search`) Actor

Find podcasts by keyword and get show name, publisher, genres, episode count, RSS feed URL, and recent episodes. It returns RSS plus episodes, no host emails. A test search returned 68 shows.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/informed_almandine_vzb/podcast-directory-search.md
- **Developed by:** [Almandine Data](https://apify.com/informed_almandine_vzb) (community)
- **Categories:** Lead generation, Social media
- **Security:** Limited permissions
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

Pay per event

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

## Podcast Scraper: Apple Podcasts Shows, RSS Feeds, Episodes

Scrape Apple Podcasts by keyword or ID: show title, publisher, RSS feed URL, episode count, last release date, plus latest episodes. Export JSON/CSV.

### What it does

Uses Apple's official iTunes Search and Lookup API. The active-within-days filter finds live shows for guest booking and sponsorship prospecting. Export clean, deduplicated data as **JSON, CSV, Excel, XML, or RSS**, or connect directly via the **Apify REST API, Python/JavaScript SDKs, CLI, MCP Server, n8n, Make, or Zapier** — with **no login, cookies, or browser overhead**.

### Use cases

- **Podcast Guest Pitching & PR Outreach:** Find active shows in any niche (`activeWithinDays: 30` and `minEpisodes`) with publisher names and RSS feed URLs.
- **Sponsorship & Ad Sales Prospecting:** Build targeted lead lists of active podcasts by topic, genre, country, and episode volume.
- **Audio & Newsletter Ingestion:** Discover verified RSS feed URLs and pull latest episode titles, descriptions, durations, and direct MP3 audio links (`episodesPerPodcast`).
- **AI Agents & Media Monitoring:** Track new episodes and show metadata via Apple's official iTunes Lookup/Search API with zero blocks.

### Why use this scraper?

| Feature | This Actor | Generic Browser / HTML Scrapers |
|---|---|---|
| **Architecture** | Direct structured API / JSON / feed requests (`curl_cffi`) | Heavy headless browser automation |
| **Speed & reliability** | **2–25 seconds** for 50–200 items | Minutes of high compute burn |
| **Pricing model** | **Pay per result (`$0.00` actor-start fee)** | Monthly rental or high CU overhead |
| **Error handling** | Failed inputs logged in `ERRORS` key-value record and **never charged** | Bills compute time even on failures |

### Input parameters

- **Search terms** (`searchTerms`, `array`): Keywords to find podcasts, e.g. 'marketing', 'true crime', 'saas'.
- **Max shows per search** (`maxResultsPerSearch`, `integer`): Apple returns at most 200 shows per search.
- **Podcast IDs or URLs** (`podcastIds`, `array`): Apple Podcasts IDs or podcasts.apple.com URLs.
- **Country** (`country`, `string`): Two-letter storefront code, e.g. us, gb, de.
- **Min episodes** (`minEpisodes`, `integer`): Optional. Skip shows with fewer episodes.
- **Active within (days)** (`activeWithinDays`, `integer`): Optional. Keep only shows that released an episode in the last N days. Great for sponsorship prospecting.
- **Latest episodes per show** (`episodesPerPodcast`, `integer`): 0 = shows only. Above 0 adds that many latest episodes (higher per-show price).
- **Max shows** (`maxItems`, `integer`): Stop after this many shows (charged per show).
- **Delay between requests** (`delaySeconds`, `number`): Polite pause between requests (default `3.0`).

#### Example input

```json
{
  "searchTerms": [
    "marketing"
  ],
  "activeWithinDays": 30,
  "maxResultsPerSearch": 100
}
```

### Output & example output

One dataset row per result. Default table view columns: `artwork, title, publisher, genre, episodeCount, lastReleaseDate, feedUrl, url`. Full structured JSON is stored in the run's default dataset.

#### Example output item

```json
{
  "podcastId": 1460604334,
  "title": "The CMO Podcast",
  "publisher": "vYve & Jim Stengel",
  "url": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-cmo-podcast/id1460604334",
  "feedUrl": "https://rss.art19.com/the-cmo-podcast",
  "genre": "Careers",
  "genres": [
    "Careers",
    "Business",
    "Marketing"
  ],
  "episodeCount": 447,
  "lastReleaseDate": "2026-10-21T10:00:00Z",
  "explicit": false,
  "country": "USA",
  "artwork": "https://is1-ssl.mzstatic.com/image/thumb/Podcasts211/v4/16/34/0a/16340a67-8c2d-2b75-4518-4ff777038bcd/mza_5077459775349930399.jpeg/600x600bb.jpg",
  "episodes": null,
  "scrapedAt": "2026-10-25T04:23:30+00:00"
}
```

### Pricing (Pay-Per-Result)

This Actor uses transparent **Pay-Per-Event** pricing with a **`$0.00` actor-start fee**:

| Event | What is charged | Price |
|---|---|---|
| `podcast-result` | Podcast scraped (One podcast show) | **$0.002 / result** (**$2.00 / 1,000 results**) |
| `podcast-with-episodes` | Podcast scraped with episodes (One show plus its latest episodes) | **$0.004 / result** (**$4.00 / 1,000 results**) |
| `apify-actor-start` | Actor start fee | **$0.00** |

#### Concrete pricing math

- **`podcast-result` (Podcast scraped):** `1,000 results = $2.00` (`50 results = $0.10`, `10,000 results = $20.00`). Apify's **$5.00/month Free Tier** covers up to **2,500 results/month** at **$0.00** out-of-pocket.
- **`podcast-with-episodes` (Podcast scraped with episodes):** `1,000 results = $4.00` (`50 results = $0.20`, `10,000 results = $40.00`). Apify's **$5.00/month Free Tier** covers up to **1,250 results/month** at **$0.00** out-of-pocket.
- **Empty runs (`0` results) & skipped duplicates (`onlyNew` / `onlyChanged`):** **$0.00**.

### Data and compliance

Official public API. Publisher-level data only. Requests are rate-limited and routed through Apify Proxy. Per-input errors are recorded in the run's `ERRORS` key-value record and are never charged.

### FAQ

**Do I need an account, login, or API key?**\
No. This Actor queries public endpoints directly and requires zero credentials.

**What happens if I start a run with empty `{}` input via API or CLI?**\
Every required input defines both `prefill` and `default` values in `.actor/input_schema.json`, so an empty `{}` run automatically returns **50+ live records** out of the box.

# Actor input Schema

## `searchTerms` (type: `array`):

Keywords to find podcasts, e.g. 'marketing', 'true crime', 'saas'.

## `maxResultsPerSearch` (type: `integer`):

Apple returns at most 200 shows per search.

## `podcastIds` (type: `array`):

Apple Podcasts IDs or podcasts.apple.com URLs.

## `country` (type: `string`):

Two-letter storefront code, e.g. us, gb, de.

## `minEpisodes` (type: `integer`):

Optional. Skip shows with fewer episodes.

## `activeWithinDays` (type: `integer`):

Optional. Keep only shows that released an episode in the last N days. Great for sponsorship prospecting.

## `episodesPerPodcast` (type: `integer`):

0 = shows only. Above 0 adds that many latest episodes (higher per-show price).

## `maxItems` (type: `integer`):

Stop after this many shows (charged per show).

## `delaySeconds` (type: `number`):

Polite pause between requests.

## `proxyConfiguration` (type: `object`):

Apify Proxy settings.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "searchTerms": [
    "marketing"
  ],
  "maxResultsPerSearch": 50,
  "country": "us",
  "episodesPerPodcast": 0,
  "maxItems": 500,
  "delaySeconds": 3,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true
  }
}
```

# Actor output Schema

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

No description

## `results` (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 = {
    "searchTerms": [
        "marketing"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("informed_almandine_vzb/podcast-directory-search").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 = { "searchTerms": ["marketing"] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("informed_almandine_vzb/podcast-directory-search").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 '{
  "searchTerms": [
    "marketing"
  ]
}' |
apify call informed_almandine_vzb/podcast-directory-search --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,informed_almandine_vzb/podcast-directory-search"
        }
    }
}
```

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/vVJ9m6LmJTtJXlKen/builds/2kGHtraOahOuHWxDs/openapi.json