AlternativeTo Scraper — Software Alternatives & Likes

AlternativeTo Scraper exports the ranked software alternatives AlternativeTo lists for any product, with each alternative's name, description, likes, cost and license labels, application types, platforms, origin country, icon, and AlternativeTo links. It is built for product marketers, competitive-intelligence teams, and software directories, and costs $20 per 1,000 alternatives on the FREE tier ($0.02 each) plus a $0.005 start fee.

What data does the AlternativeTo scraper return?

It returns one dataset record per alternative shown on a public AlternativeTo alternatives page, such as https://alternativeto.net/software/slack/.

Field	What it contains
sourceSoftware, sourceSlug, sourceUrl	The product you asked about and the page that was read
position, pageNumber	Rank on AlternativeTo (after optional sponsored filtering) and page number
name, slug	Alternative's name and AlternativeTo slug
description	Description shown on the alternative's card
likes	AlternativeTo like count
alternativeCount	How many alternatives AlternativeTo lists for that product, when shown
licenses	Cost and license labels, for example Freemium, Open Source (AGPL-3.0)
platforms	Supported platforms, for example Windows, Linux, iPad, Self-Hosted
origin	Country of origin, when shown
applicationTypes	Application-type labels from the card, for example Instant Messenger, Group Chat (filled on all 20 records of the 2026-10-27 default run)
iconUrl, aboutUrl, alternativesUrl	Icon and the alternative's own AlternativeTo pages
sponsored, scrapedAt	Sponsored flag and retrieval time

Each run also writes a SUMMARY record with status (DATA, EMPTY, BLOCKED, or REJECTED), pages processed, pages blocked or failed, records returned, and warnings.

How do I find software alternatives for a product?

Give the product's AlternativeTo slug, the part after /software/ in its URL, in softwareSlugs, or paste the full alternatives URL in startUrls. The Actor opens the page in a real browser, reads the ranked list, and follows the next pages up to maxPagesPerSoftware.

On the 2026-10-26 default run (slack, 20 results), page 1 held 12 alternatives and page 2 the remaining 8; the run took 58 seconds.

• Up to 20 products per run, through slugs, URLs, or both.
• maxResults (1–500) is one cap across all products and is also the billing cap.
• The same alternative is never saved twice for the same product.

Can I use it for competitor software research?

Yes. Run it for your own product and your main competitors, then compare likes, licenses, platforms, and position across the lists. Alternatives that appear for several competitors but not for you are usually the gaps worth a closer look.

When should I use it, and when not?

Use it when you need:

• a ranked competitor list for a software product, with likes and platforms;
• open-source or self-hosted alternatives, filtered on licenses and platforms;
• seed data for a software directory or comparison page;
• a scheduled check on how a product's alternatives ranking moves.

Do not use it when you need:

• open-source repositories with stars, forks, and languages: use GitHub Repository Search Scraper;
• iPad apps with prices and ratings: use iPad App Store Scraper;
• user reviews, comments, or vendor websites: the Actor reads alternatives pages only;
• a keyword search across AlternativeTo: you need the product's slug or URL.

How do I run it?

Console default input (prefill):

{
  "softwareSlugs": ["slack"],
  "maxResults": 20,
  "maxPagesPerSoftware": 3
}

Several products, with sponsored listings included:

{
  "softwareSlugs": ["notion", "trello"],
  "startUrls": [{ "url": "https://alternativeto.net/software/jira/" }],
  "maxResults": 90,
  "maxPagesPerSoftware": 3,
  "includeSponsored": true
}

Input	Default	Bounds
softwareSlugs	none (Console prefill ["slack"])	Up to 20 slugs
startUrls	none	Up to 20 https://alternativeto.net/software/<slug>/ URLs
maxResults	20	1–500 across all products
maxPagesPerSoftware	3	1–25 pages per product
includeSponsored	false	true keeps cards AlternativeTo labels as sponsored
maxConcurrency	2	1–5 browser pages at once

Give slugs, URLs, or both; an API call with only startUrls reads only those pages. URLs that are not AlternativeTo alternatives pages are rejected before anything is charged.

JavaScript (apify-client)

import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

const client = new ApifyClient({ token: process.env.APIFY_TOKEN });
const run = await client.actor('muhammadafzal/alternativeto-scraper').call({
  softwareSlugs: ['notion'],
  maxResults: 36,
});
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
console.log(items.map((alt) => [alt.position, alt.name, alt.likes, alt.licenses]));

Python (apify-client 3.x)

import os
from apify_client import ApifyClient

client = ApifyClient(os.environ["APIFY_TOKEN"])
run = client.actor("muhammadafzal/alternativeto-scraper").call(
    run_input={"softwareSlugs": ["notion"], "maxResults": 36}
)
for alt in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(alt["position"], alt["name"], alt["likes"], alt["licenses"])

Use it from an AI assistant

The Actor works from Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, or any MCP client through Apify's MCP server. Add https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=muhammadafzal/alternativeto-scraper as a server, then ask, for example: "List the top 30 AlternativeTo alternatives to Notion and show which ones are open source and self-hosted."

What does the output look like?

Records from the default slack run (2026-10-26; applicationTypes from the 2026-10-27 run; descriptions and platform lists shortened):

[
  {
    "sourceSoftware": "Slack",
    "sourceSlug": "slack",
    "sourceUrl": "https://alternativeto.net/software/slack/",
    "pageNumber": 1,
    "position": 1,
    "name": "Element",
    "slug": "element-app",
    "aboutUrl": "https://alternativeto.net/software/element-app/about/",
    "alternativesUrl": "https://alternativeto.net/software/element-app/",
    "description": "Provides secure collaboration with end-to-end encryption, supporting chat, voice, and video calls…",
    "likes": 848,
    "alternativeCount": 365,
    "licenses": ["Free Personal", "Open Source (AGPL-3.0)"],
    "applicationTypes": ["Instant Messenger", "Video Calling"],
    "platforms": ["Mac", "Windows", "Linux", "Online", "Android", "iPhone", "iPad", "Self-Hosted"],
    "origin": "United Kingdom",
    "iconUrl": "https://img.alternativeto.net/icons/140/element-app_245901.svg",
    "sponsored": false,
    "scrapedAt": "2026-10-26T07:22:06.896Z"
  },
  {
    "sourceSoftware": "Slack",
    "sourceSlug": "slack",
    "pageNumber": 1,
    "position": 2,
    "name": "Discord",
    "slug": "discord-app",
    "likes": 1168,
    "alternativeCount": 255,
    "licenses": ["Freemium", "Proprietary"],
    "applicationTypes": ["Group Chat", "Video Calling"],
    "platforms": ["Mac", "Windows", "Linux", "Online", "Android", "iPhone"],
    "origin": "United States",
    "sponsored": false
  }
]

How much does it cost to scrape AlternativeTo?

You pay per alternative delivered, plus one start fee. Platform usage, including the browser and access handling, is included in these prices.

Event	FREE	BRONZE	SILVER	GOLD, PLATINUM, DIAMOND
Software alternative (per alternative)	$0.02	$0.02	$0.02	$0.016
Actor start (per started GB of allocated memory)	$0.005	$0.005	$0.005	$0.005

The default memory is 1 GB, so a run normally pays one start event. Worked totals on the FREE tier:

• Default run, 20 alternatives to Slack: $0.005 + 20 × $0.02 = $0.405 (measured on 2026-10-26: 20 alternatives and 1 start event charged).
• 3 products, 36 alternatives each (108): $0.005 + 108 × $0.02 = $2.165 (GOLD: $1.733).

Blocked, empty, and rejected runs charge no alternative events. If the run's charge limit is reached, the Actor stops writing records and says so in its status message.

Limits and reliability

• AlternativeTo challenges plain HTTP clients, so the Actor uses a real browser with managed sessions and handles access itself; you do not need to configure a proxy.
• Images, fonts, and analytics are blocked to keep runs light. Each page gets up to two retries.
• If every page is challenged, SUMMARY.status is BLOCKED with zero records and the run ends as failed instead of an empty success; alternatives already saved are kept if later pages fail.
• Rankings, likes, and labels change on AlternativeTo over time; each record reflects the page at scrape time.

FAQ

Do I need an AlternativeTo account or API key?

No. The Actor reads the public alternatives pages and returns them as structured records, without logging in.

How many alternatives can I get per product?

Up to maxPagesPerSoftware pages, at about 12 alternatives per page, so roughly 300 for 25 pages, within the 500-record run cap.

Are sponsored listings included?

Not by default. Set includeSponsored to true to keep them; they carry sponsored: true.

Where do I find a product's slug?

Open the product on AlternativeTo. In https://alternativeto.net/software/notion/, the slug is notion.

Can I export the alternatives to CSV or Excel?

Yes. Export the run's dataset as JSON, CSV, Excel, XML, or RSS from Apify Console, or read it through the API.

Can I monitor a product's alternatives over time?

Yes. Save the input as a Task, attach an Apify schedule, and compare position and likes between runs.

Related Actors

• GitHub Repository Search Scraper: open-source repositories by keyword, language, topic, and stars.
• iPad App Store Scraper: iPad app prices, ratings, versions, and developers.
• Stack Overflow Questions Scraper: developer questions by tag with scores and views.
• devRant Scraper: public developer rants with tags and scores.

Legal and responsible use

The Actor reads public AlternativeTo pages only. It does not log in, solve CAPTCHAs, or bypass paywalls. Follow AlternativeTo's terms, keep request volumes reasonable, and do not republish its descriptions as a competing directory without the rights to do so.

Last verified: 2026-10-27