# Substack Scraper: Posts, Likes, Comments & Free Post Text (`informed_almandine_vzb/substack-posts-stats`) Actor

Scrape any Substack newsletter: every post with date, authors, likes, comments, restacks, word count, paywall flag, plus free-post text. Fast JSON, no login.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/informed_almandine_vzb/substack-posts-stats.md
- **Developed by:** [Almandine Data](https://apify.com/informed_almandine_vzb) (community)
- **Categories:** Social media, Marketing, AI
- **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

## Substack Scraper: Posts, Likes, Comments & Free Post Text

Scrape any Substack newsletter: every post with date, authors, likes, comments, restacks, word count, paywall flag, plus free-post text. Fast JSON, no login.

### What it does

Reads each publication's public archive and returns posts newest-first with engagement metrics. Optional plain text of free posts.

### Input

- **Publications** (`publications`): Substack subdomains (e.g. 'astralcodexten'), \*.substack.com URLs or custom-domain Substack URLs.
- **Max posts per publication** (`maxPostsPerPublication`): Newest posts first. You are charged per post returned.
- **Published after (YYYY-MM-DD)** (`publishedAfter`): Optional. Stop at posts older than this date.
- **Include free post text** (`includeContent`): Adds the plain-text body of free posts (higher per-post price). Paywalled bodies are never returned.
- **Only new posts** (`onlyNew`): On scheduled runs, return only posts not seen in earlier runs.

### Output

One dataset row per result. Table view columns: coverImage, publicationUrl, title, postDate, authors, likes, comments, restacks, wordcount, isPaywalled, url. Full JSON in the dataset.

### Pricing

Pay per result:

| Event | What | Price |
|---|---|---|
| `post-result` | Post scraped | $0.002 ($2.00 / 1,000) |
| `post-with-content` | Post scraped with text | $0.003 ($3.00 / 1,000) |

### Data and compliance

Free content only: paywalled post bodies are never returned. No subscriber data. Requests are rate-limited and go through Apify Proxy. Errors per input are stored in the run's `ERRORS` record and are not charged.

### Example input

```json
{
 "publications": [
  "astralcodexten"
 ],
 "maxPostsPerPublication": 20
}
```

# Actor input Schema

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

Substack subdomains (e.g. 'astralcodexten'), \*.substack.com URLs or custom-domain Substack URLs.

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

Newest posts first. You are charged per post returned.

## `publishedAfter` (type: `string`):

Optional. Stop at posts older than this date.

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

Adds the plain-text body of free posts (higher per-post price). Paywalled bodies are never returned.

## `onlyNew` (type: `boolean`):

On scheduled runs, return only posts not seen in earlier runs.

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

Polite pause between requests to the target site. Keep it at 1 s or more.

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

Apify Proxy settings. The default works for most runs.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "publications": [
    "astralcodexten",
    "https://www.lennysnewsletter.com"
  ],
  "maxPostsPerPublication": 50,
  "includeContent": false,
  "onlyNew": false,
  "delaySeconds": 1.5,
  "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 = {
    "publications": [
        "astralcodexten",
        "https://www.lennysnewsletter.com"
    ],
    "proxyConfiguration": {
        "useApifyProxy": true
    }
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("informed_almandine_vzb/substack-posts-stats").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": [
        "astralcodexten",
        "https://www.lennysnewsletter.com",
    ],
    "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": True },
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("informed_almandine_vzb/substack-posts-stats").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": [
    "astralcodexten",
    "https://www.lennysnewsletter.com"
  ],
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true
  }
}' |
apify call informed_almandine_vzb/substack-posts-stats --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

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

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/IClxNFJlaE5JAUAcK/builds/Vo1a0pK74I73HYae9/openapi.json