# Substack Scraper: Newsletter Posts & Content (`inimi/substack-scraper`) Actor

Scrape Substack newsletters: every post with title, subtitle, date, authors, likes, comments, restacks, paywall status, word count and full text. Works with substack.com subdomains and custom domains.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/inimi/substack-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Inimi](https://apify.com/inimi) (community)
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $1.00 / 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 Scraper: Newsletter Posts & Content

Scrape **Substack newsletters**: the full post archive with titles, dates, authors, engagement (likes, comments, restacks), paywall status, word count and the post text.

No login, no API key and no browser: the Actor reads the data directly, which makes it **fast and cheap**. Proxies are included in the price.

### What can you use it for?

- **Content research**: find the most popular topics in a niche.
- **Competitive analysis**: track what other newsletters publish and how it performs.
- **AI & RAG**: build knowledge bases from newsletters you subscribe to.
- **Media monitoring**: follow expert newsletters on any subject.

### Features

| | |
|---|---|
| Inputs | substack.com subdomains, custom domains, post URLs |
| Per post | Title, subtitle, URL, date, authors, audience (free/paid), paywall flag, type (newsletter/podcast), word count, likes, comments, restacks, cover image, podcast URL, text |
| Filters | Newest or top, only posts newer than a date, max posts |

### How to use

1. Fill in the input (the form explains every field).
2. Click **Start**.
3. Download the results as JSON, CSV or Excel, or use them through the API, webhooks, Zapier, Make or n8n.

### Input example

```json
{
    "publications": [
        "https://www.lennysnewsletter.com"
    ],
    "maxPostsPerPublication": 0,
    "sort": "top"
}
```

### Output example

```json
{
    "publication": "lenny.substack.com",
    "postId": 219482066,
    "title": "How to tell if a startup has a moat ",
    "subtitle": "A framework for assessing whether the company you’re considering joining is built to last",
    "url": "https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-to-tell-if-a-startup-has-a-moat",
    "slug": "how-to-tell-if-a-startup-has-a-moat",
    "postDate": "2026-10-13T12:45:41.160Z",
    "authors": [
        "Dan Hockenmaier"
    ],
    "audience": "only_paid",
    "isPaywalled": true,
    "type": "newsletter",
    "wordCount": 4153,
    "likes": 375,
    "comments": 2,
    "restacks": 22,
    "coverImage": "https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!7Uce!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F...",
    "podcastUrl": null,
    "content": "👋 Hey there, I’m Lenny. Each week, I share deeply researched product, growth, and career advice. For more: Lenny’s Jobs | Lenny’s Podcast | Lennybot | How I...",
    "status": "ok"
}
```

Inputs that cannot be scraped (wrong URL, not found, blocked) get a free row with `status` and `error`, so you always know what happened. A run summary is saved to the key-value store as `SUMMARY`.

### Pricing

You pay **per post** saved. Proxies and compute are included. Set a maximum cost per run and the Actor stops cleanly when it is reached.

### FAQ

**Can it read paid posts?**
Only the free preview that Substack shows to everyone. Paid posts are flagged with isPaywalled.

**Does it work with custom domains?**
Yes, as long as the newsletter is hosted on Substack.

**Can I call it from code or an AI agent?**
Yes, via the Apify API, the official JS/Python clients, or Apify's MCP server.

# Actor input Schema

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

Substack URLs, custom domains or subdomains, one per line: lenny, https://www.lennysnewsletter.com.

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

0 = the whole archive.

## `sort` (type: `string`):

Newest posts or the most popular ones.

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

Full text of free posts (the free preview for paid posts).

## `onlyPostsNewerThan` (type: `string`):

Optional date, e.g. 2026-01-01.

## `maxConcurrency` (type: `integer`):

How many items to process at the same time.

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

Proxies are included in the price. Switch to residential proxies if you see many blocked requests.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "publications": [
    "https://www.lennysnewsletter.com"
  ],
  "maxPostsPerPublication": 50,
  "sort": "new",
  "includeContent": true,
  "maxConcurrency": 5,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true
  }
}
```

# Actor output Schema

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

No description

## `summary` (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": [
        "https://www.lennysnewsletter.com"
    ],
    "proxyConfiguration": {
        "useApifyProxy": true
    }
};

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

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

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,inimi/substack-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/FtTgZl6mOgShkj51b/builds/IWWx1mtgTUiZC5bQg/openapi.json