# Checkatrade Tradespeople Scraper (`muhammadafzal/checkatrade-tradespeople-scraper`) Actor

Find public UK Checkatrade tradespeople by directory URL or postcode. Return names, ratings, review counts, services, profile URLs, and publicly visible contact details for local-market research and AI-agent workflows.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/muhammadafzal/checkatrade-tradespeople-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Muhammad Afzal](https://apify.com/muhammadafzal) (community)
- **Categories:** Lead generation, MCP servers, AI
- **Stats:** 1 total users, 0 monthly users, 0.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $5.00 / 1,000 tradesperson listings

This Actor is paid per event and usage. You are charged both the fixed price for specific events and for Apify platform usage.

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

## What's an Apify Actor?

Actors are web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows.
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.
Actors are written with capital "A".

## 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.
The best way to integrate Actors is as follows.

- **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use).
- **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`.
- **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`.
- **Python projects** — the official [Python client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): `pip install apify-client`.
- **Any other language** — the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md).

For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below.

For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt).

# README

## Checkatrade Tradespeople Scraper

Scrape public Checkatrade directory pages and return structured UK tradesperson listings for local-market research, supplier prospecting, contractor discovery, and AI-agent workflows.

### What it returns

| Field | Meaning |
|---|---|
| `businessName` | Public tradesperson or company name |
| `profileUrl` | Public Checkatrade profile URL |
| `rating`, `reviewCount` | Rating and review count shown on the listing |
| `services` | Services and skills shown on the card |
| `phone` | Phone number only when publicly revealed on the profile |
| `address` | Public locality/service-area text when available |
| `description` | Public profile description when available |
| `sourceUrl`, `scrapedAt` | Provenance and extraction timestamp |

### Input

`startUrls` accepts public Checkatrade directory or near-me URLs. The default is a public plumbers near-me page. Use the page for the trade you need, for example a public electrician or roofer near-me page, or pass a direct directory URL discovered from Checkatrade.

`postcode` is optional. When a page exposes a postcode/location input, the actor fills it before collecting cards. `maxResults` defaults to 25 and is capped at 100. Set `scrapeProfiles` to `false` for a faster listing-only run; leave it enabled to visit public profile pages for phone, address, and description fields. `proxyCountry` defaults to `GB` in the UI and can be blank to use the default Apify proxy pool.

Example input:

```json
{
  "startUrls": [{"url": "https://www.checkatrade.com/blog/plumbers-near-me/"}],
  "postcode": "SW1A 1AA",
  "maxResults": 25,
  "scrapeProfiles": true,
  "proxyCountry": "GB"
}
```

### Output example

```json
{
  "businessName": "Example Plumbing & Heating",
  "profileUrl": "https://www.checkatrade.com/trades/example",
  "rating": 10,
  "reviewCount": 178,
  "services": ["Plumber", "General Plumbing"],
  "phone": null,
  "address": "London",
  "description": null,
  "sourceUrl": "https://www.checkatrade.com/blog/plumbers-near-me/",
  "scrapedAt": "2026-07-16T12:00:00.000Z"
}
```

### Reliability and scope

This actor uses a rendered Playwright browser because Checkatrade may return a Cloudflare challenge to plain HTTP clients. It throttles navigation, uses the Apify proxy pool, deduplicates profile URLs, and writes a diagnostic dataset item when a page fails or is blocked. Empty valid results are successful; a block is not silently represented as an empty directory.

Only publicly visible information is collected. The actor does not log in, bypass access controls, submit quotes, reveal phone numbers hidden behind a user interaction, or collect private customer data. Follow Checkatrade's terms, robots guidance, and applicable UK privacy and data-protection law before using the output for outreach.

### Pricing

Pay-per-event billing is configured at $0.005 per returned listing, plus a $0.00005 actor-start event. Blocked or failed profile requests are recorded diagnostically and are not treated as successful listings.

### AI-agent use

Use this actor when an agent needs a bounded list of public Checkatrade tradespeople for a UK trade/location. It is not a quote-booking, review-writing, customer-lead form submission, or private member-directory tool. Results are stable JSON records suitable for CRM enrichment and downstream filtering.

# Actor input Schema

## `startUrls` (type: `array`):

Use this when you have a Checkatrade directory or near-me page to scrape. Accepts public https://www.checkatrade.com URLs; example: https://www.checkatrade.com/blog/plumbers-near-me/.

## `postcode` (type: `string`):

Use this when the directory page has a postcode search and you want local results. Enter a UK postcode such as SW1A 1AA; leave blank to keep the page's existing results.

## `maxResults` (type: `integer`):

Use this when you need to cap the returned listings. Set a value from 1 to 100; the default is 25. This controls output volume, not geographic radius.

## `scrapeProfiles` (type: `boolean`):

Use this when you need extra publicly visible fields from each linked tradesperson profile. Profile visits may increase runtime and can return null for fields hidden behind contact forms.

## `proxyCountry` (type: `string`):

Use this when Checkatrade requires a proxy for your run. Use a two-letter country code such as GB; leave blank to use the default Apify proxy pool.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "startUrls": [
    {
      "url": "https://www.checkatrade.com/blog/plumbers-near-me/"
    }
  ],
  "postcode": "",
  "maxResults": 25,
  "scrapeProfiles": true,
  "proxyCountry": "GB"
}
```

# Actor output Schema

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

API link to returned listings and diagnostics.

# 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 = {};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("muhammadafzal/checkatrade-tradespeople-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 = {}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("muhammadafzal/checkatrade-tradespeople-scraper").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print("💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/" + run["defaultDatasetId"])
for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{}' |
apify call muhammadafzal/checkatrade-tradespeople-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "mcp-remote",
                "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=muhammadafzal/checkatrade-tradespeople-scraper",
                "--header",
                "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR_API_TOKEN>"
            ]
        }
    }
}

```

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/eKfATbG3ufFNHkKT2/builds/Awb7CIyLZO5qLihW4/openapi.json