TopAI.tools Scraper

Extract structured data from TopAI.tools — the AI tools directory with 21,762+ tools across 121 categories. The only TopAI.tools scraper on Apify.

Part of the AI Directory Scraper Suite — see also Futurepedia AI Tools Scraper (1,200+ AI tools), TAAFT Scraper (46,500+ AI tools), and MCP Server Directory Scraper (28,000+ MCP servers).

What does TopAI.tools Scraper do?

This Actor scrapes the complete AI tool listings from TopAI.tools, extracting:

• Tool name, slug, and TopAI.tools URL
• Short description from each listing card
• Thumbnail/logo URL
• Pricing model (Free, Freemium, Free Trial, Paid, or price string)
• Category tags associated with each tool
• External website URL (tracking parameters stripped)
• Deal indicators (tools with active promotions)
• Internal tool IDs

TopAI.tools lists 21,762+ AI tools across 121 categories. This Actor is the only automated way to query the full directory from a single API call.

Why use this Actor?

• Zero competition: The only TopAI.tools scraper on Apify — no alternatives exist
• 21,762+ tools: One of the largest AI tool directories, larger than TAAFT (~15K) and Futurepedia (~1.2K)
• 3 flexible modes: Scrape everything, target specific categories, or search by keyword
• Clean, structured output: Normalized pricing labels, deduplication, tracking param stripping
• Residential proxy support: Built-in retry logic and proxy rotation for reliable access
• Part of a suite: Combine with TAAFT, Futurepedia, and MCP Directory scrapers for complete AI ecosystem coverage

How much does it cost?

This Actor runs on the Apify platform. Usage costs depend on how many tools you scrape:

Tools	Approx. Cost	Time
5	~$0.01	~15s
100	~$0.10	~2 min
1,000	~$0.50	~15 min
21,762 (full)	~$8–12	~2–3 hr

Costs are based on Apify platform compute units (CU) plus residential proxy bandwidth.

Input

The Actor accepts the following input parameters:

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
mode	enum	all	Scraping mode: all, category, or search
categories	array	[]	Category slugs to scrape (only used with category mode)
searchQuery	string	""	Keyword to search for (only used with search mode)
maxTools	integer	5	Maximum number of tools to return (0 = unlimited)

Input modes

all mode — Scrape the complete TopAI.tools directory. Starts from the browse page and paginates through all 21,762+ tools in order. This is the default mode.

category mode — Scrape tools from specific categories only. Provide one or more category slugs. Find slugs from TopAI.tools category page URLs: topai.tools/category/{slug}. Examples: writing-assistant, chatbot, image-generation, code-assistant, seo.

search mode — Search for tools matching a keyword. Searches across tool names and descriptions. Useful for targeted data collection (faster and cheaper than scraping all tools).

Example input

Scrape 50 tools from the full directory:

{
    "mode": "all",
    "maxTools": 50
}

Scrape tools from specific categories:

{
    "mode": "category",
    "categories": ["writing-assistant", "chatbot", "image-generation"],
    "maxTools": 100
}

Search for code-related AI tools:

{
    "mode": "search",
    "searchQuery": "code assistant",
    "maxTools": 20
}

Scrape the full directory (no limit):

{
    "mode": "all",
    "maxTools": 0
}

Output

Each tool record contains the following fields:

Field	Type	Description
name	string	Tool name
slug	string	URL slug identifier
topaiUrl	string	Full TopAI.tools listing URL
externalUrl	string	Official tool website (tracking params stripped)
shortDescription	string	Brief tool description from listing card
thumbnailUrl	string	Tool thumbnail/logo image URL
categories	array	Category/tag labels associated with the tool
pricingModel	string	Pricing type: Free, Freemium, Free Trial, Paid, or price string
hasDeal	boolean	Whether the tool has an active deal/discount indicator
toolId	integer	TopAI.tools internal numeric tool ID
scrapedAt	string	ISO timestamp of when data was collected

Fields are null when the listing card does not provide that data.

Example output

{
    "name": "ChatGPT",
    "slug": "chatgpt",
    "topaiUrl": "https://topai.tools/t/chatgpt",
    "externalUrl": "https://chat.openai.com",
    "shortDescription": "An AI assistant by OpenAI that can help with writing, coding, analysis, and more.",
    "thumbnailUrl": "https://statics.topai.tools/img/tools/thumbs/chatgpt.webp",
    "categories": ["Chatbot", "Writing Assistant", "AI Assistant"],
    "pricingModel": "Freemium",
    "hasDeal": false,
    "toolId": 142,
    "scrapedAt": "2026-02-18T12:00:00.000Z"
}

Use cases

• AI tool market research: Analyze the full AI tools landscape — 21,762+ tools, 121 categories
• Competitive intelligence: Track which tools appear in your target categories and how they're priced
• Lead generation: Find AI tools in specific niches for partnership or integration opportunities
• Directory building: Build your own AI tool comparison site or vertical directory using pre-scraped data
• Pricing analysis: Survey the free/freemium/paid distribution across the AI tools market
• Deal monitoring: Schedule weekly runs to detect new tools with promotions
• Ecosystem mapping: Combine with TAAFT Scraper and Futurepedia Scraper for cross-directory coverage of 60,000+ AI tools

Category slugs

TopAI.tools organizes tools into 121 categories. Find category slugs from the URL when browsing a category page: topai.tools/category/{slug}.

Common categories include: writing-assistant, chatbot, image-generation, code-assistant, seo, video-generation, productivity, customer-support, research, audio-generation, data-analysis, email-assistant, social-media, translation, summarizer.

Integrations

This Actor works with standard Apify integrations:

• API — Call via REST API or Apify client libraries (Python, JavaScript, Go)
• Webhooks — Get notified when scraping completes
• Scheduler — Run on a schedule for fresh data (daily, weekly, etc.)
• Zapier / Make — Connect to 1,000+ apps for automated workflows
• Google Sheets — Export directly to spreadsheets
• Datasets — Browse and download results in JSON, CSV, XML, or Excel

Tips and best practices

• Start small: Begin with maxTools: 5-50 to validate output format before scaling up.
• Use search or category mode for targeted data collection instead of scraping everything. Faster and cheaper.
• Schedule weekly runs to maintain a fresh dataset. TopAI.tools adds new tools regularly.
• Residential proxies: This Actor automatically uses residential proxies for reliable access. Datacenter proxies may encounter blocks.
• Combine with our other scrapers: Use alongside TAAFT Scraper and Futurepedia Scraper to build a comprehensive AI tools dataset.

FAQ

Q: How fresh is the data? A: Data is scraped in real-time from TopAI.tools when the Actor runs. There is no caching.

Q: Can I scrape all 21,762+ tools? A: Yes, set maxTools to 0 for unlimited. A full directory scrape takes approximately 2–3 hours and costs $8–12 in platform credits. We recommend testing with a small maxTools value first.

Q: Why are some fields null? A: TopAI.tools listing cards don't always include every field. For example, the external URL may not be visible in the listing card, and some tools don't have category tags displayed. Fields are null when the source page doesn't provide that data.

Q: Does this scrape individual tool detail pages? A: No. This Actor scrapes listing card data from the browse and category endpoints. Individual tool detail pages (/t/{slug}) require a full browser session to access. The listing cards contain the most commonly needed fields for most use cases.

Q: Why does the Actor use residential proxies? A: TopAI.tools uses Cloudflare protection. Residential proxies provide reliable IP rotation that mimics real user traffic, reducing the chance of IP blocks. The Actor falls back to datacenter proxies if residential proxies are unavailable.

Q: What's the difference between all and category mode? A: all mode scrapes every tool across all 121 categories in a single stream — no duplicates. category mode scrapes only tools from the categories you specify, which is faster and cheaper when you only need data from specific niches.

Q: How do I find category slugs? A: Browse to a category on TopAI.tools and look at the URL: topai.tools/category/{slug}. The slug is the part after /category/. For example, topai.tools/category/chatbot → slug is chatbot.

Related Actors

• TAAFT Scraper — Scrape 46,500+ AI tools from There's An AI For That
• Futurepedia AI Tools Scraper — Scrape 1,200+ AI tools from Futurepedia.io
• MCP Server Directory Scraper — Scrape 28,000+ MCP servers from Glama.ai, PulseMCP, and mcp.so

Changelog

• 1.0 — Initial release. Scrapes 21,762+ AI tools from TopAI.tools with 3 modes (all, category, search), residential proxy support, pricing normalization, and deduplication.