# PCMag Reviews Scraper (`parseforge/pcmag-reviews-scraper`) Actor

Scrapes PCMag reviews from category pages, search results, or direct URLs. Returns each review as a flat row with rating, pros, cons, verdict, and full text.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/parseforge/pcmag-reviews-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [ParseForge](https://apify.com/parseforge) (community)
- **Categories:** E-commerce, Marketing
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $31.87 / 1,000 results

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.
Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#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

[![ParseForge](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ParseForge/apify-assets/main/banner.jpg)](https://apify.com/parseforge?fpr=vmoqkp)

### PCMag Reviews Scraper

**Scrape PCMag reviews from any category, search result, or URL, up to a hundred per run.** Every review comes with its rating, pros and cons, full verdict, and product specs. No login or API key. Export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML.

PCMag publishes expert, lab-tested reviews for laptops, software, phones, and every other piece of tech a buyer researches, but browsing category pages and copying data by hand is slow. This Actor reads the public review feeds directly, follows each product link, and returns the full review in one fixed schema. You get the structured data you need for a comparison spreadsheet, a market report, or a product database without writing a single line of code.

| Who uses it | What they scrape PCMag for |
|---|---|
| Product marketers | Collect competitor product ratings and reviewer complaints to sharpen their own positioning. |
| E-commerce managers | Pull specs and expert verdicts for the products they sell and enrich their own product pages. |
| Tech journalists | Track which products PCMag is reviewing this week and spot industry trends. |
| Data analysts | Build a dataset of tech product ratings and specs for a price-performance model. |

### What it does

This Actor collects PCMag reviews from category pages and search results, and returns each one as a flat row with its rating, pros, cons, verdict, and specs.

- ⭐ **Expert rating:** the numeric score and the Editors' Choice badge when PCMag awards it.
- 📋 **Pros and cons:** the bullet lists the reviewer wrote, ready for a side-by-side comparison.
- 📝 **Full verdict:** the complete bottom-line review text that explains the rating.
- 🔧 **Product specs:** the spec table PCMag publishes, captured as key-value pairs.

Results export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML, or straight from the API.

### What you can do with PCMag data

**🖥️ Build a competitor comparison matrix.**

A product marketer scrapes the Laptops category, pulls every rating and con, and builds a spreadsheet that shows where their own product wins.

**📱 Enrich a product catalog with expert reviews.**

An e-commerce manager scrapes reviews for the phones they sell and adds the PCMag rating and verdict to each product detail page.

**📈 Track which tech categories get the most reviews.**

A tech journalist scrapes the PCMag reviews homepage weekly and counts reviews per category to spot where the editorial focus is shifting.

**🔍 Collect specs for a price-performance analysis.**

A data analyst scrapes the Monitors category, extracts resolution, refresh rate, and price, and runs a regression to find the best value buys.

### Why choose this scraper

| | What you get |
|---|---|
| **No API key** | Reads the public review pages directly, no registration or token refresh. |
| **Fixed schema** | Every review lands as the same flat row, ready for a spreadsheet or a database. |
| **Residential proxies** | Built-in Apify proxy support keeps your runs from being blocked. |
| **One-click export** | Download as CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML, or push straight to a warehouse. |

### How it compares

No other Store actor targets PCMag the same way, so the honest comparison is with the alternatives teams actually weigh.

| | PCMag Reviews Scraper | Build it in-house | By hand |
|---|---|---|---|
| Setup | Run it now, zero config | Days of engineering | None, but hours per pull |
| When PCMag changes | Maintained for you | You fix it | You re-learn the page |
| Proxies, retries, anti-bot | Built in | Your problem | Browser only |
| Output | Fixed JSON schema, CSV/Excel export | Whatever you build | Copy-paste |
| Cost | Pay per result | Engineering time | Analyst hours |

### Configure the run

Drive the Actor from PCMag category pages and search result URLs, alone or together, and set a max items limit so only the reviews you need reach your dataset. The Input tab lists every parameter.

A first run with the defaults:

```json
{
 "startUrls": [
 {
 "url": "https://www.pcmag.com/reviews"
 }
 ],
 "proxyConfiguration": {
 "useApifyProxy": true,
 "apifyProxyGroups": [
 "RESIDENTIAL"
 ]
 }
}
```

A larger pull:

```json
{
 "startUrls": [
 {
 "url": "https://www.pcmag.com/reviews"
 }
 ],
 "proxyConfiguration": {
 "useApifyProxy": true,
 "apifyProxyGroups": [
 "RESIDENTIAL"
 ]
 },
 "maxItems": 200
}
```

### Pricing

Pay-per-result: **$0.03522 per result** collected. You pay only for the results written to your dataset.

| Results collected | Approximate cost |
|---|---|
| 100 results | $3.52 |
| 1,000 results | $35.22 |
| 10,000 results | $352.20 |

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](https://console.apify.com/sign-up?fpr=vmoqkp) to collect up to 1,000,000 results per run.

### Run it

1. [Create a free Apify account with $5 in credit](https://console.apify.com/sign-up?fpr=vmoqkp).
2. Open the [PCMag Reviews Scraper](https://apify.com/parseforge/pcmag-reviews-scraper?fpr=vmoqkp).
3. Set your inputs and any filters, then click **Start**.
4. Export the results as CSV, Excel, JSON, or XML from the **Dataset** tab.

Run it programmatically through the [Apify API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2) (`run-sync-get-dataset-items`) or the [ApifyClient](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js) for JavaScript and Python.

### Use with AI agents (MCP)

Give an AI agent live access to PCMag through the Model Context Protocol. Add the Actor to Claude, Cursor, or any MCP client:

```bash
claude mcp add --transport http apify "https://mcp.apify.com?tools=parseforge/pcmag-reviews-scraper"
```

Then prompt it in plain language to run the scraper and read back the results.

### Troubleshooting

**Why am I getting no results?**

Check that the Start URL you pasted is a valid PCMag category page or search results page. A direct product review URL will return one result, but a homepage or a non-review page may return none. Also confirm that your Max items is set to a number greater than zero.

**The run is taking a long time. Is that normal?**

Yes. The Actor visits each review page to collect the full text and specs. If you set a high Max items value, the run will take longer. Residential proxies also add a small delay to avoid detection.

**Some reviews are missing the spec table. Why?**

Not every PCMag review includes a product spec table. Software reviews, for example, often omit it. The Actor collects whatever PCMag publishes for that product.

**I got blocked or saw a CAPTCHA. What should I do?**

Make sure your proxy configuration is set to use Apify residential proxies. If you are already using them, try reducing your Max items and running the Actor more slowly across multiple smaller runs.

**The rating field is empty for some reviews.**

A small number of PCMag reviews, particularly roundups or previews, do not carry a numeric rating. The Actor leaves the field empty when PCMag does not publish a score.

### FAQ

| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Can I scrape a single PCMag review by URL? | Yes. Paste the direct URL of any PCMag review page into the Start URLs field and the Actor will collect that one review. |
| Does this Actor scrape the full review text? | Yes. It collects the complete verdict text, the pros and cons lists, the numeric rating, and the product spec table. |
| How many reviews can I scrape in one run? | You set the limit with the Max items field. The default is 100, and you can raise it to collect as many as you need from the category pages you supply. |
| Do I need a PCMag subscription or login? | No. The Actor reads the publicly available review pages. No account, no login, no API key. |
| What output formats are supported? | You can export your dataset as CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML, or push it directly to a cloud storage bucket or database. |
| Can I scrape reviews for a specific product category? | Yes. Paste the URL of any PCMag category page, like Laptops or Antivirus, into the Start URLs field and the Actor will scrape every review listed on that page. |
| Will I get blocked by PCMag? | The Actor uses Apify residential proxies by default, which rotate IP addresses and reduce the chance of being blocked. |
| Does it collect user reviews or only the expert review? | This Actor collects the expert review written by the PCMag editorial team. It does not scrape user-submitted comments. |
| Can I schedule this Actor to run weekly? | Yes. Once you have configured the run, you can set a schedule in the Apify console and the Actor will collect new reviews automatically. |
| What is the Editors' Choice badge? | PCMag awards an Editors' Choice badge to products that earn a rating of 4.0 or higher and stand out in their category. The Actor captures this badge when it is present. |

### Related actors

Browse the full [ParseForge collection](https://apify.com/parseforge?fpr=vmoqkp) 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 Ziff Davis, LLC. 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.

# Actor input Schema

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

List of PCMag review category or search result pages to scrape.

## `maxItems` (type: `integer`):

Maximum number of review records to collect.

## `proxyConfiguration` (type: `object`):

Select proxy settings. Apify proxy is recommended to avoid IP blocks.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "startUrls": [
    {
      "url": "https://www.pcmag.com/reviews"
    }
  ],
  "maxItems": 100,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true,
    "apifyProxyGroups": [
      "RESIDENTIAL"
    ]
  }
}
```

# Actor output Schema

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

Complete dataset of all scraped records.

# 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 = {
    "startUrls": [
        {
            "url": "https://www.pcmag.com/reviews"
        }
    ],
    "proxyConfiguration": {
        "useApifyProxy": true,
        "apifyProxyGroups": [
            "RESIDENTIAL"
        ]
    }
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("parseforge/pcmag-reviews-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 = {
    "startUrls": [{ "url": "https://www.pcmag.com/reviews" }],
    "proxyConfiguration": {
        "useApifyProxy": True,
        "apifyProxyGroups": ["RESIDENTIAL"],
    },
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("parseforge/pcmag-reviews-scraper").call(run_input=run_input)

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

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

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "startUrls": [
    {
      "url": "https://www.pcmag.com/reviews"
    }
  ],
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true,
    "apifyProxyGroups": [
      "RESIDENTIAL"
    ]
  }
}' |
apify call parseforge/pcmag-reviews-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,parseforge/pcmag-reviews-scraper"
        }
    }
}

```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/BofPK1uVYtKfjj9rs/builds/Y4jpwCSofUWm3urYo/openapi.json