Podcast Directory Scraper

Scrape podcast metadata, Apple ratings, episodes, reviews, and host contact emails from Apple Podcasts and RSS feeds. Search by keyword and get structured data for any podcast — no API keys needed.

Built for podcast advertisers, PR agencies, media buyers, sponsors, market researchers, and anyone who needs podcast data at scale. Run via the Apify Console, API, or integrate with Zapier, Make, Google Sheets, and more.

What does Podcast Directory Scraper do?

This Actor searches the Apple Podcasts directory by keyword and extracts comprehensive data for each podcast found:

• Metadata — podcast name, artist, genres, artwork, episode count, content rating, country
• Apple Podcasts ratings — aggregate star rating and total review count
• Episodes — title, description, publish date, duration, audio URL, episode/season numbers
• Reviews — individual Apple Podcasts reviews with author, rating, title, and full text
• Contact info — host/producer email addresses extracted from RSS feeds (found in ~70-80% of podcasts)
• Links — Apple Podcasts URL, RSS feed URL, podcast website

All data is returned in a clean, structured JSON format ready for analysis or integration.

Why use Podcast Directory Scraper?

• Find podcast host emails at scale — extract contact info for thousands of podcasts without manual research. Perfect for podcast advertising outreach and PR campaigns.
• No API keys required — uses the public iTunes Search API and RSS feeds. Zero setup, zero recurring API costs.
• No browser needed — runs on lightweight HTTP requests only (no Playwright/Puppeteer), so it's fast and cheap to run.
• Deduplicated results — searching multiple queries? Results are automatically deduplicated by Apple Podcast ID.
• Multi-country support — search the US, UK, Canada, Australia, Germany, France, Japan, India, Brazil, or Mexico podcast directories.

How to use Podcast Directory Scraper

1. Click Try for free on this page to open the Actor in the Apify Console.
2. Enter one or more search queries (e.g., "AI podcast", "true crime", "business").
3. Adjust settings: max results per query, whether to include episodes/reviews/contact info.
4. Click Start and wait for the run to complete.
5. Download your data as JSON, CSV, Excel, or HTML from the Output tab.

You can also run this Actor via the Apify API or schedule it to run automatically.

Input

Field	Type	Default	Description
searchQueries	string[]	required	Keywords to search for (e.g., "AI podcast", "true crime")
maxResultsPerQuery	integer	25	Max podcasts per query (1-200)
includeEpisodes	boolean	true	Fetch episode data from RSS feeds
maxEpisodesPerPodcast	integer	50	Max episodes per podcast (1-500)
includeReviews	boolean	false	Fetch individual Apple Podcasts reviews
maxReviewsPerPodcast	integer	50	Max reviews per podcast (1-500)
includeContactInfo	boolean	true	Extract email addresses from RSS feeds
country	string	"us"	iTunes country code (us, gb, ca, au, de, fr, jp, in, br, mx)

Output

Each podcast in the dataset includes the following fields:

Field	Type	Description
podcastName	string	Podcast title
artistName	string	Creator/artist name
appleId	number	Apple Podcasts collection ID
appleUrl	string	Direct link to Apple Podcasts page
feedUrl	string	RSS feed URL
artworkUrl	string	600x600 artwork image URL
genre	string	Primary genre
genres	string[]	All genres/categories
releaseDate	string	Last release date (ISO 8601)
totalEpisodes	number	Total episode count
country	string	Country code
contentRating	string	Content advisory rating (Clean/Explicit)
description	string	Full podcast description from RSS
websiteUrl	string	Podcast website URL
language	string	Language code (e.g., "en")
rating	number	Apple Podcasts aggregate rating (1-5)
reviewCount	number	Total Apple Podcasts review count
contactEmails	string[]	Host/producer email addresses from RSS
episodes	Episode[]	Episode list (if enabled)
reviews	Review[]	Individual reviews (if enabled)
scrapedAt	string	Timestamp of scrape (ISO 8601)

Example output

{
  "podcastName": "Crime Junkie",
  "artistName": "audiochuck",
  "appleId": 1322200189,
  "appleUrl": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/crime-junkie/id1322200189",
  "feedUrl": "https://feeds.simplecast.com/qm_9xx0g",
  "artworkUrl": "https://is1-ssl.mzstatic.com/image/thumb/Podcasts/.../600x600bb.jpg",
  "genre": "True Crime",
  "genres": ["True Crime", "Podcasts"],
  "releaseDate": "2026-04-06T04:00:00Z",
  "totalEpisodes": 500,
  "country": "USA",
  "contentRating": "Explicit",
  "description": "If you can never get enough true crime...",
  "websiteUrl": "https://crimejunkiepodcast.com",
  "language": "en",
  "rating": 4.7,
  "reviewCount": 78432,
  "contactEmails": ["content@audiochuck.com"],
  "episodes": [
    {
      "title": "MISSING: Jennifer Kesse",
      "description": "On January 24th, 2006...",
      "pubDate": "Mon, 31 Mar 2026 04:00:00 GMT",
      "duration": "2700",
      "audioUrl": "https://cdn.simplecast.com/audio/...",
      "episodeNumber": 498,
      "seasonNumber": null
    }
  ],
  "reviews": [
    {
      "author": "PodcastFan123",
      "rating": 5,
      "title": "Best true crime podcast",
      "content": "Ashley and Brit do an amazing job...",
      "date": "2026-03-28T14:30:00-07:00"
    }
  ],
  "scrapedAt": "2026-04-06T13:00:00.000Z"
}

Data views

The Output tab in the Apify Console provides two pre-built views:

• Podcasts Overview — artwork, name, artist, genre, rating, review count, episodes, language, contact emails
• Contact Info — podcast name, artist, emails, website, Apple Podcasts link, RSS feed

How much does it cost to scrape podcast data?

This Actor uses only lightweight HTTP requests (no browser automation), making it one of the cheapest scrapers on the platform.

Approximate costs:

• 25 podcasts with episodes + contact info: ~$0.01 in platform usage
• 100 podcasts with episodes + reviews + contact info: ~$0.05 in platform usage
• 1,000 podcasts: ~$0.50 in platform usage

Costs depend on how many episodes and reviews you fetch per podcast. Disabling episodes and reviews significantly reduces run time and cost.

Tips for best results

• Start with specific search terms — "AI podcast" returns better results than just "AI"
• Disable reviews for large runs — reviews add 1-10 extra API calls per podcast. Only enable if you need them.
• Use multiple queries to cast a wider net — results are automatically deduplicated, so overlapping queries won't produce duplicates.
• Contact emails are in the RSS feed — roughly 70-80% of podcasts include a host email in their RSS <itunes:owner> tag. Platform-generated emails (Anchor, SoundCloud, etc.) are automatically filtered out.

FAQ

Is this legal? This Actor accesses only publicly available data: the iTunes Search API (public, no authentication), Apple Podcasts web pages (public), and RSS feeds (public by design). Always ensure your use case complies with applicable laws and the platforms' Terms of Service.

Why are some ratings missing? Podcasts with very few or no Apple reviews won't have an aggregate rating. This is normal for smaller or newer podcasts.

Why are some contact emails empty? Not all podcasters include their email in the RSS feed. The <itunes:owner> email field is optional. Additionally, platform-generated emails (e.g., from Anchor or SoundCloud) are automatically filtered out since they don't reach the actual host.

Can I search by podcast URL instead of keyword? Currently this Actor searches by keyword. URL-based lookup may be added in a future version.

Something isn't working? Open an issue on the Issues tab or reach out for a custom solution.