# Whatsapp Profiles Scraper (`inutil_labs/wscrp-free`) Actor

Scrape the Whatsapp network and fetch profile info of any user, including: Profile picture, About status, or check if it's a Whatsapp for Business or personal account.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/inutil_labs/wscrp-free.md
- **Developed by:** [inUtil Labs](https://apify.com/inutil_labs) (community)
- **Categories:** Automation, Social media, Developer tools
- **Stats:** 4,378 total users, 33 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 46 bookmarks
- **User rating**: 5.00 out of 5 stars

## Pricing

Pay per usage

This Actor is paid per platform usage. The Actor is free to use, and you only pay for the Apify platform usage, which gets cheaper the higher subscription plan you have.

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

## 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

## Whatsapp Profiles Scraper

The Whatsapp Profiles Scraper Actor allows to search for profile info on the Whatsapp network and download the data gathered as a HTML, JSON, CSV, Excel, or XML doc.

The actor will accept as input an array of phone numbers, and will return for each:

- The Profile picture of the user (a reachable url).
- Whether the number is registered on whatsapp, or not.
- The user's `About` info.
- When was the last update of the `About` info.
- Type of whatsapp account (if it's a `WA for Business` or `WA regular` account).

Users can execute the Actor at no cost and obtain up to 10 results for free. If you need unlimited results, you can use the paid version of this Actor, [find it listed here](https://apify.com/inutil_labs/whatsapp-scraper).

The backend service supporting this Actor is also available on this [site](https://profile-picture.app/) operated by [inUtil Labs](https://www.inutil-labs.com/).

With this actor, large batches of data (several million data-points) could be processed, obtaining results from the entire dataset to enrich a database. There's also an API based version of all the features of the Actor.

***

### Why scrape Whasapp Profiles?

WhatsApp is reported to have more than 2 billion monthly active users globally, and is ranked among the most popular mobile messenger apps in the world. With so many active users, you can imagine that there is a lot of useful data on the Network.

So what could you do with that data? Here are some ideas:

- Customize your contact center with up-to-date profile pics of your customers.
- Cyber Security: Monitor and track the profile pictures of WhatsApp users, helping to identify suspicious or fraudulent activities.
- For marketing purposes, such as displaying targeted ads or offers based on users' WhatsApp profile pictures.
- Offer personalized services by incorporating WhatsApp profile pictures of users into their accounts. This could include personalized greeting cards, photo books, or other types of customized products.
- When a prospect register on you site, you might want to know if the phone number provided is a real whatsapp number.
- When integrated with social media platforms, you could allow users to update their social media profile picture with their WhatsApp display picture or vice versa.
- If the whatsapp account is a WA for Business, understand how real businesses are promoting their brand, their opening hours, web-page...
- The whatsapp handle you set is tipically the way you are known among your family and friends... this might be relevant on how you want to approach a customer next time you talk to him/her.
- Collect a constantly updated dataset and gain insights into ongoing changes.
- Carry out market or academic research.

***

### Is it legal to scrape Whatsapp?

The Whatsapp Profile Scraper is ethical and does not extract any private user data, such as email addresses, gender, or location.
It only extracts what the users have chosen to share publicly on the Whatsapp network, and therefore we believe that the scraper, when used for ethical purposes by Apify users, is safe.
However, you should be aware that your results could contain personal data. Personal data is protected by GDPR in the European Union and by other regulations around the world.
You should not scrape personal data unless you have a legitimate reason to do so. If you're unsure whether your reason is legitimate, consult your lawyers. You can also read Apify's blog post on the legality of web scraping.
Bear in mind that Whatsapp (Meta) might not be following the same ethical principles: [read](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-02-02/meta-was-scraping-sites-for-years-while-fighting-the-practice)

***

### Cost of usage

When running the Whatsapp Profile Scraper Actor on the Apify platform, there is one crucial factor to consider:

- Compute units - used for running the scraper.

The usage costs differ depending on how many profiles (phone numbers) you are scraping. According to our tests, running a full scrape of 10 numbers has a minimun cost and you don't need to allocate a significant ammount of RAM to run the actor.

The number of records cost is not a factor to consider on this free version. You can scrape an unlimited number of profiles using the paid version of this Actor, listed [here](https://apify.com/inutil_labs/whatsapp-scraper).

***

### How to use the scraper video guide

The Whatsapp Profile Scraper is very easy to use as shown on this [video](https://youtu.be/mOjBTlIUn40).

[![Watch the video](https://img.youtube.com/vi/mOjBTlIUn40/0.jpg)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOjBTlIUn40)

***

### How was possible to scrape thousands of profiles, using a token.

In this video, we demonstrate the integration we made with Stripe to add a token that extended this Actor's processing capacity to more than 10 records. In May 2024, Apify modified the T\&C of its Marketplace, and we have removed this functionality.

We keep this video example solely to demonstrate the ability to code certain integrations that [inUtil Labs](https://www.inutil-labs.com/) has.

[![Watch the video](https://img.youtube.com/vi/08-5gOApDww/0.jpg)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08-5gOApDww)

***

### Input parameters

##### Numbers: (mandatory field)

The input of this scraper must be an array of phone numbers that have to be checked on the Whatsapp Network. The array can be up to 10 numbers.

The whatsapp number must be written as: countrycode and number; do NOT include any non-number character, spaces, or anything which is not a number. Otherwise the job will not be processed.
Examples: of correct numbers are: 34123456789 (for spain) or 491234567890 (for Germany).

Do NOT include '+' before your countrycode.
Do NOT include a '-', or any other character or space (anything which is not a number) as part of your phone number.
If you do not know if you are using a valid country code check this [list](https://countrycode.org/) of valid codes.

***

### Whatsapp Profile Scraper output format

The actor stores its results in a dataset. Each item is a separate item in the dataset.
You can also download Whatsapp Profile Scraper data as a HTML, JSON, CSV, Excel, or XML doc.

***

### Can I consume the Whatsapp Profile Scraper as an API?

Running an actor like this is optimal for batch processing needs. This tool has been specifically designed to streamline the scraping of long lists of numbers, eliminating the need for manual data processing and increasing efficiency.

But we understand that some users may require a transactional alternative, or maybe running this code on a self-hosted environment, which is why we offer some other form factors of this code like RESTful APIs, or a self-hosted container, as the one we demostrate on this [site](https://profile-picture.app/). Feel free to connect with us by using the contact form on the site and share your needs and use-case; we'll gladly assist you in bringing your ideas to life through code.

***

### Notes

This scraper is offered as a free Apify Actor for testing the paid version listed on the [Apify Marketplace](https://apify.com/inutil_labs/whatsapp-scraper).

# Actor input Schema

## `numbers` (type: `array`):

Enter the array of numbers to retrieve information for; remember that you cannot scrape more than 10 numbers on this free version of the Actor.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "numbers": [
    "34655719560"
  ]
}
```

# 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 = {
    "numbers": [
        "34655719560"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("inutil_labs/wscrp-free").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 = { "numbers": ["34655719560"] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("inutil_labs/wscrp-free").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 '{
  "numbers": [
    "34655719560"
  ]
}' |
apify call inutil_labs/wscrp-free --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,inutil_labs/wscrp-free"
        }
    }
}
```

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/JzeFQpv910GeEgKBR/builds/Do9Mt1vXTdA1AEPMU/openapi.json