OpenStax Textbooks Scraper
Pricing
from $7.50 / 1,000 results
OpenStax Textbooks Scraper
Scrapes OpenStax open textbooks by subject or search term. Returns each textbook as a flat row with title, subject, authors, ISBN, and PDF link.
Pricing
from $7.50 / 1,000 results
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ParseForge
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16 hours ago
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OpenStax Textbooks Scraper
Scrape OpenStax open textbooks by subject or search term, up to a million per run. Every textbook comes with its title, subject, authors, ISBN, and PDF link. No login or API key. Export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML.
OpenStax publishes free, peer-reviewed textbooks for college and high school courses, but browsing them one by one is slow. This Actor reads the public OpenStax catalog directly, filtered by subject or free-text search, and returns each match in one fixed schema.
| Who uses it | What they scrape OpenStax for |
|---|---|
| Curriculum developers | Which OpenStax titles are available for a given course |
| Librarians | Building a catalog of free textbooks for students |
| EdTech product managers | Finding open educational resources to integrate into a platform |
| Researchers | Analyzing the coverage of open textbooks across subjects |
What it does
This Actor collects OpenStax textbooks by subject or search query, and returns each one as a flat row.
- 📚 Subject filter: math, science, social sciences, humanities, business, college success, AP, essentials, high school, nursing.
- 🔍 Free-text search: find textbooks by title keyword.
- 📄 Flat rows: each textbook is one record with title, subject, authors, ISBN, and PDF link.
- 📦 Bulk export: up to 1,000,000 items for paid users, 10 for free preview.
Results export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML, or straight from the API.
What you can do with OpenStax data
📚 Build a course reading list.
A curriculum developer runs the Actor with subject 'math' and gets every OpenStax math textbook with its PDF link to share with faculty.
🔍 Find textbooks by keyword.
A librarian searches 'biology' and receives all matching OpenStax titles with ISBNs to add to the library catalog.
📊 Analyze open textbook coverage.
A researcher scrapes all subjects and compares the number of titles per subject to identify gaps in open educational resources.
🧩 Integrate OER into an app.
An EdTech product manager pulls the full catalog and uses the PDF links to embed textbook content in a learning platform.
Why choose this scraper
| What you get | |
|---|---|
| No API key | Reads the public OpenStax catalog directly, no registration or OAuth. |
| Fixed schema | Every textbook returns the same fields, ready for your database. |
| Bulk ready | Paid users can pull up to a million textbooks in one run. |
How it compares
This Actor and the OpenStax Scraper both read the public OpenStax catalog, but they differ in input options and output details.
| Feature | ParseForge | OpenStax Scraper |
|---|---|---|
| Subject filter | Yes | Yes |
| Free-text search | Yes | Not listed |
| Max items limit | Up to 1,000,000 for paid users | Not listed |
| ISBN in output | Yes | Yes |
| PDF links in output | Yes | Yes |
| Authors in output | Yes | Yes |
Configure the run
Drive the Actor from a subject filter and a free-text search term, alone or together, and filters run as each textbook is read so only matches reach your dataset. The Input tab lists every parameter.
A first run with the defaults:
A larger pull:
Pricing
Pay-per-result: $0.0085 per result collected. You pay only for the results written to your dataset.
| Results collected | Approximate cost |
|---|---|
| 100 results | $0.85 |
| 1,000 results | $8.50 |
| 10,000 results | $85.00 |
New Apify accounts start with $5 in free credit.
Free users
Free-plan runs return up to 10 results as a preview. Upgrade your Apify plan to collect up to 1,000,000 results per run.
Run it
- Create a free Apify account with $5 in credit.
- Open the OpenStax Textbooks Scraper.
- Set your inputs and any filters, then click Start.
- Export the results as CSV, Excel, JSON, or XML from the Dataset tab.
Run it programmatically through the Apify API (run-sync-get-dataset-items) or the ApifyClient for JavaScript and Python.
Use with AI agents (MCP)
Give an AI agent live access to OpenStax through the Model Context Protocol. Add the Actor to Claude, Cursor, or any MCP client:
Then prompt it in plain language to run the scraper and read back the results.
Troubleshooting
Why am I getting no results?
Your subject filter and search term may be too restrictive. Try setting subject to 'all' or clearing the query. Also check that maxItems is at least 1.
Why am I only getting 10 items?
Free users are limited to 10 items as a preview. Upgrade to a paid plan to increase maxItems up to 1,000,000.
The run failed with an error.
Check the run log for details. Common issues are network problems or changes to the OpenStax website. Retry the run, and if it persists, contact support.
The PDF link is broken.
OpenStax may have updated the link. Run the Actor again to get the latest data. If the link is still broken, report it to OpenStax.
Can I filter by author?
The input schema does not have an author filter. You can scrape all textbooks and filter the results in your dataset by the author field.
FAQ
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Do I need an OpenStax account or API key? | No. The Actor reads the public OpenStax catalog directly, so no login or key is required. |
| What subjects can I filter by? | Math, science, social sciences, humanities, business, college success, AP, essentials, high school, and nursing. You can also choose 'all' to get every textbook. |
| Can I search by textbook title? | Yes, use the free-text search field to match titles. For example, 'biology' returns all textbooks with that word in the title. |
| What data do I get for each textbook? | Each row includes the title, subject, authors, ISBN, and a direct PDF link, among other metadata. |
| How many textbooks can I scrape? | Free users are limited to 10 items as a preview. Paid users can set maxItems up to 1,000,000. |
| What export formats are supported? | You can export the results to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML from the Apify dataset. |
| Is the data from OpenStax up to date? | The Actor reads the live OpenStax catalog at the time of the run, so you get the current list of textbooks. |
| Can I run this on a schedule? | Yes, you can set up a recurring schedule in Apify to scrape OpenStax automatically, for example weekly. |
| Does this include high school textbooks? | Yes, the subject filter includes 'high school' and 'AP' to target those titles. |
| What if I get no results? | Check your subject filter and search term. If you combine them, both must match. Try broadening to 'all' or removing the query. |
Related actors
Browse the full ParseForge collection for more scrapers.
🆘 Need help? Email parseforge@protonmail.com with your run ID, your input, and what you expected.
⚠️ Disclaimer. This Actor is unofficial and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by OpenStax. It collects only publicly available data. You are responsible for using the collected data in compliance with the source's terms of service and applicable data-protection laws, including GDPR, CCPA, and PIPL. Do not use it to collect personal data unlawfully.
