# Apple Podcasts Scraper - Search, Lookup & Episodes (`pinkish_gallop/apple-podcasts-scraper`) Actor

Search Apple Podcasts by keyword or podcast ID through the official iTunes Search and Lookup APIs, get RSS feed URLs, genres, episode counts and last release date, and optionally the latest episodes with audio URLs. Plain HTTP, no login.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/pinkish_gallop/apple-podcasts-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Sai](https://apify.com/pinkish_gallop) (community)
- **Categories:** Lead generation, Social media
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

Pay per event

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

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

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
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.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## 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.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## Apple Podcasts Scraper - Search, Lookup & Episodes

Search Apple Podcasts by keyword or podcast ID through the official iTunes Search and Lookup APIs, get RSS feed URLs, genres, episode counts and last release date, and optionally the latest episodes with audio URLs. Plain HTTP, no login.

### What does this Actor do?

Apple Podcasts is the largest podcast directory, and every listing points to a public RSS feed. This Actor uses Apple's official **iTunes Search API** and **Lookup API** to find podcasts by keyword or ID and returns clean metadata - feed URL, author, genres, episode count, last release date, artwork and explicit flag. Optionally it reads each podcast's RSS feed and outputs the latest episodes with audio URLs, durations and descriptions.

Key features:

- Plain HTTP against official public endpoints - no browser, no proxy, no login, runs on 128 MB memory.
- Pay only for results: one charge per row saved; your maximum charge per run is always respected.
- `maxItems` hard cap (default 100) and bounded pagination - runs can never loop forever.
- Incremental mode via a since-date so scheduled runs only fetch new data.
- Polite rate limiting, retries with exponential backoff and `Retry-After` support.
- Clean, flat, consistently named JSON fields ready for Excel, Google Sheets, BigQuery or your API.

### Who is it for?

- **Podcast guest booking & PR** - build lists of active shows in a niche (filter by last release date) and reach hosts through their feed.
- **Sponsorship and ad sales** - find shows by topic and size them by episode count and frequency.
- **Podcast analytics tools** - seed your database with feed URLs and Apple IDs.
- **Content research** - monitor what competitors and thought leaders publish each week.
- **Lead generation** - podcasters are businesses; their feeds often include owner emails and websites.

### How it works

Search terms go to `itunes.apple.com/search` (up to 200 results per term) and IDs go to `itunes.apple.com/lookup` in batches of 50. Apple allows roughly 20 requests per minute, so the Actor spaces iTunes calls by about 3 seconds by default and retries politely. RSS feeds are fetched directly from the podcast host with a light regex parser - no browser - and failures on a single feed never stop the run.

### Input

| Field | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| `searchTerms` | array | - | Keywords to search podcasts for (e.g. 'saas marketing'). |
| `podcastIds` | array | \[] | e.g. 1200361736 or https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-daily/id1200361736 |
| `country` | string | "us" | Two-letter iTunes storefront code. |
| `maxItems` | integer | 100 | Hard cap on podcasts saved and charged. |
| `maxPodcastsPerSearch` | integer | 20 | iTunes returns at most 200 per query. |
| `expandSearch` | boolean | true | If a multi-word phrase has fewer iTunes matches than requested, its individual words are also searched to fill the quota. Set false for exact-phrase results only. |
| `includeEpisodes` | boolean | false | Fetch each podcast's RSS feed and output episodes (charged as 'episode'). |
| `maxEpisodesPerPodcast` | integer | 10 | Max episodes per podcast |
| `sinceDate` | string | - | ISO date. Skips podcasts whose last release is older, and episodes published before it. |
| `delayMs` | integer | 3200 | Apple allows ~20 requests/minute; keep >= 3000. |

#### Example input

```json
{
  "searchTerms": [
    "saas marketing",
    "indie hackers"
  ],
  "country": "us",
  "maxItems": 100,
  "includeEpisodes": true,
  "maxEpisodesPerPodcast": 5,
  "sinceDate": "2026-09-01"
}
```

### Output

Each result is one row in the default dataset. You can download it as JSON, CSV, Excel, XML or HTML, or read it through the Apify API. A real row from a test run on 26 October 2026:

```json
{
  "type": "podcast",
  "podcastId": 1200361736,
  "name": "The Daily",
  "author": "The New York Times",
  "feedUrl": "https://feeds.simplecast.com/Sl5CSM3S",
  "appleUrl": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-daily/id1200361736",
  "artworkUrl": "https://is1-ssl.mzstatic.com/image/thumb/Podcasts221/v4/ab/64/66/ab6466a9-9a7d-e20e-7a3d-bc5be37d29ce/mza_15084852813176276273.jpg/600x600bb.jpg",
  "genres": [
    "Daily News",
    "Podcasts",
    "News"
  ],
  "primaryGenre": "Daily News",
  "episodeCount": 2760,
  "lastReleaseDate": "2026-10-25T10:00:00Z",
  "country": "USA",
  "explicit": false,
  "contentAdvisoryRating": "Clean",
  "source": "lookup"
}
```

### Tips

- Set `sinceDate` to keep only podcasts that released something recently - a quick filter for active shows.
- Use several narrow search terms rather than one broad one; Apple caps each query at 200 results.
- Change `country` to search other storefronts (gb, de, jp...).
- Episodes are charged separately so you only pay for them when you turn them on.

### Pricing

This Actor uses pay-per-event pricing: about **$1.00 per 1,000 podcasts and $0.30 per 1,000 episodes**. There is no monthly rental fee. Platform usage is minimal because the Actor runs on 128 MB with plain HTTP requests. Set **Maximum cost per run** in the run options and the Actor stops cleanly as soon as the limit is reached - you are never charged beyond it.

### Scheduling and integrations

Create an Apify Schedule (for example daily at 08:00) and pass a since-date to get only new items each time. Connect the dataset to Google Sheets, Slack, Zapier, Make, n8n or a webhook to receive results automatically, or call the Actor from Python or JavaScript using the Apify API client.

### Limitations

The iTunes Search API does not expose ratings, review counts or chart positions. Some podcasts hide or move their RSS feed; those still return metadata but no episodes.

### FAQ

**Do I need an account or API key on the source site?** No. Only public, unauthenticated endpoints are used.

**Do I need proxies?** No. The Actor makes a small number of well-spaced requests to official APIs, so datacenter IPs work fine.

**Why did my run return fewer items than maxItems?** The source simply had no more items matching your filters and date range, or your maximum cost per run was reached.

**Is this legal?** The Actor only reads publicly available data through documented public endpoints. You are responsible for using the data in line with the source's terms and applicable laws such as GDPR, especially for personal data.

**Something broke?** Open an issue on the Actor's Issues tab with your run ID and we will fix it quickly.

# Actor input Schema

## `searchTerms` (type: `array`):

Keywords to search podcasts for (e.g. 'saas marketing').

## `podcastIds` (type: `array`):

e.g. 1200361736 or https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-daily/id1200361736

## `country` (type: `string`):

Two-letter iTunes storefront code.

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

Hard cap on podcasts saved and charged.

## `maxPodcastsPerSearch` (type: `integer`):

iTunes returns at most 200 per query.

## `includeEpisodes` (type: `boolean`):

Fetch each podcast's RSS feed and output episodes (charged as 'episode').

## `maxEpisodesPerPodcast` (type: `integer`):

No description

## `sinceDate` (type: `string`):

ISO date. Skips podcasts whose last release is older, and episodes published before it.

## `delayMs` (type: `integer`):

Apple allows ~20 requests/minute; keep >= 3000.

## `expandSearch` (type: `boolean`):

If a multi-word term returns fewer podcasts than requested, also search its individual words to fill the quota.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "searchTerms": [
    "indie hackers"
  ],
  "podcastIds": [],
  "country": "us",
  "maxItems": 100,
  "maxPodcastsPerSearch": 20,
  "includeEpisodes": false,
  "maxEpisodesPerPodcast": 10,
  "delayMs": 3200,
  "expandSearch": true
}
```

# Actor output Schema

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

No description

## `resultsView` (type: `string`):

No description

# 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 = {
    "searchTerms": [
        "indie hackers"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("pinkish_gallop/apple-podcasts-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 = { "searchTerms": ["indie hackers"] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("pinkish_gallop/apple-podcasts-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 '{
  "searchTerms": [
    "indie hackers"
  ]
}' |
apify call pinkish_gallop/apple-podcasts-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,pinkish_gallop/apple-podcasts-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/oU1bPLn4hhcduON92/builds/SVtVco8EX3COccjk5/openapi.json