# Substack Scraper & API – Newsletter Leads & Full Posts (`ramgoxxx/substack-newsletter-leads-posts-scraper`) Actor

Find Substack newsletter sponsorship leads (subscriber counts, author socials, domains) by keyword or extract full plain-text posts & engagement metrics ($0.90/1K, $0 start fee).

- **URL**: https://apify.com/ramgoxxx/substack-newsletter-leads-posts-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Antonio Ramos Gómez](https://apify.com/ramgoxxx) (community)
- **Categories:** Lead generation, Agents, Integrations
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

$0.90 / 1,000 substack records

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

### What does Substack Scraper & API (Newsletter Leads & Full Posts) do?

**Substack Scraper & API** is a dual-mode B2B creator prospecting and content extraction engine for [Substack](https://substack.com/). Use **`creator_leads` mode** to discover niche newsletters by keyword (*subscriber counts, bestseller badge tiers, custom domains, author bios, X/Twitter handles, external links, and Substack addresses*), or use **`posts` mode** to extract **complete plain-text newsletter archives**, word counts, reactions, comments, and podcast audio URLs from any Substack subdomain or custom domain.

Unlike multi-fee scrapers that charge a run-start fee plus double rates (`$2.30/1K`) for post content, this **Substack API alternative** charges one flat rate with **`$0.00` start fee** and **full post text included at no extra cost**.

- **Flat Pay-Per-Event Pricing:** `$0.90 per 1,000 leads or full posts` (`$0.0009` per item, `$0.00` run-start fee). Platform compute is 100% free.
- **5,555 Free Leads or Posts / Month:** Apify's `$5.00/month` free plan credit covers **5,555 Substack creator leads or full-text newsletter posts every month at `$0`**.
- **Supports Custom Domains Natively:** Works seamlessly on both `*.substack.com` URLs and custom-domain publications (`www.fintechbrainfood.com`, `newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com`, etc.).

***

### Why scrape Substack newsletters, creator leads, and post archives?

Substack hosts over 35 million active subscriptions across high-intent B2B, AI, fintech, SaaS, VC, and consumer niches — yet offers **no official public API** for sponsorship discovery or RAG archive ingestion.

#### High-ROI B2B & AI workflows

1. **Newsletter Sponsorship & Creator Partnership Prospecting:** Search keywords like `"b2b saas"`, `"fintech"`, `"devtools"`, or `"cybersecurity"` to build instant media-buying lists pre-qualified by `subscriberCount` (`42K+ subscribers`), `bestsellerTier` (`100` / `1,000` / `10,000` paid subscribers), and `paidSubscriptionsEnabled`.
2. **Cold-Outreach & Influencer Lead Workflows (Clay, Instantly, Smartlead, n8n):** Export `authorName`, `publicationUrl`, `customDomain`, `twitterHandle`, `externalLinks`, and `substackAddress` directly into your CRM or enrichment waterfall.
3. **AI Agents, RAG & Deep Industry Research (Claude, Cursor, ChatGPT via MCP):** Ingest full long-form essays from top Substack analysts with clean HTML-stripped `contentText`, `wordCount`, and `reactionsCount` for high-signal LLM grounding.
4. **Viral Content & Topic Benchmarking:** Sort any publication's archive by `reactionsCount` and `commentsCount` to pinpoint which headlines and formats drive maximum reader engagement.

***

### What data can Substack Scraper extract?

#### Mode 1: `creator_leads` (B2B Newsletter & Author Discovery)

| Field Name | Type | Description |
| :--- | :--- | :--- |
| `publicationName` | `string` | Official Substack newsletter title (e.g., `Fintech Brain Food`). |
| `subdomain` | `string` | Substack handle/subdomain (`sytaylor`). |
| `publicationUrl` | `string` | Canonical URL (uses `https://<customDomain>` when configured). |
| `customDomain` | `string \| null` | Custom web domain (`www.fintechbrainfood.com`) — ideal for Hunter/Apollo domain enrichment. |
| `authorName` | `string \| null` | Creator's full display name. |
| `bio` | `string \| null` | Creator bio / newsletter value proposition. |
| `subscriberCount` | `integer \| null` | Numeric subscriber count when publicly exposed (`42000`). |
| `subscriberCountLabel` | `string \| null` | Formatted subscriber badge (`"42K+ subscribers"`). |
| `followerCount` | `integer \| null` | Public Substack follower count. |
| `bestsellerTier` | `integer \| null` | Official Substack Bestseller badge tier (`100`, `1000`, `10000` paid subscribers). |
| `paidSubscriptionsEnabled` | `boolean` | Whether the publication monetizes via paid Stripe subscriptions. |
| `substackAddress` | `string` | Direct Substack publication address (`<subdomain>@substack.com`). |
| `twitterHandle` | `string \| null` | Linked X / Twitter username when connected. |
| `externalLinks` | `array<string>` | Personal websites, LinkedIn, media kits, or sponsorship booking links from profile. |

#### Mode 2: `posts` (Full Newsletter Archive & Engagement)

| Field Name | Type | Description |
| :--- | :--- | :--- |
| `postTitle` | `string` | Full newsletter issue title. |
| `subtitle` | `string \| null` | Post deck / subtitle summary. |
| `authorName` | `string \| null` | Published byline author name. |
| `publishedAt` | `string` | ISO-8601 publication timestamp. |
| `audience` | `string` | Access tier (`everyone` vs `only_paid`). |
| `wordCount` | `integer \| null` | Exact word count of the issue. |
| `reactionsCount` | `integer` | Total hearts / likes on the post. |
| `commentsCount` | `integer` | Total reader comments on the post. |
| `postUrl` | `string` | Canonical URL to the newsletter issue. |
| `audioUrl` | `string \| null` | Direct podcast/audio enclosure URL when the issue includes audio. |
| `contentText` | `string` | Clean plain-text article body ready for LLMs, RAG, and NLP analysis. |

***

### How to scrape Substack step-by-step

1. Click **Try for free** to open **Substack Scraper & API** in Apify Console.
2. Select **Extraction Mode** (`mode`):
   - `creator_leads` — find newsletters & authors by topic keywords.
   - `posts` — extract full articles & engagement from specific Substack URLs.
   - `both` — run discovery and archive extraction together.
3. Enter your **Niche Keywords** (`searchKeywords`) or **Substack URLs** (`publications`).
4. Set **Max Leads / Max Posts** (`maxItemsPerTarget`) and click **Start**.
5. Export your dataset in **CSV, Excel, JSON, or HTML**.

***

### How much does it cost to scrape Substack?

Simple flat **Pay-Per-Event (`$0.90 / 1,000` items)** pricing with **`$0.00` start fee** and **compute included**:

| Volume | Our Price (`$0.90/1K`) | Typical Rival (`$2.30/1K` + start fee) | Covered by Apify `$5/mo` Free Credit? |
| :--- | :--- | :--- | :---: |
| **100 creator leads or full posts** | **`$0.09`** | `$0.24+` | Yes (`$0`) |
| **1,000 creator leads or full posts** | **`$0.90`** | `$2.31+` | Yes (`$0`) |
| **5,555 leads or posts / month** | **`$5.00`** | `$12.78+` | **100% Free every month** |

***

### Use with AI Assistants & MCP (Claude, Cursor, VS Code, ChatGPT)

Connect Substack discovery and essay reading directly to **Claude Desktop**, **Cursor**, or **VS Code** via Apify MCP:

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "substack-intelligence": {
      "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?actors=ramgoxxx/substack-newsletter-leads-posts-scraper",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_APIFY_API_TOKEN"
      }
    }
  }
}
```

Ask your AI agent:

- *"Find 30 Substack newsletters in `ai agents` and `devtools` with over 5,000 subscribers for our Q4 sponsorship campaign."*
- *"Pull the latest 5 essays from `pragmaticengineer.substack.com` and summarize their engineering hiring trends."*

***

### Input examples

#### Example 1: B2B Newsletter Sponsorship Lead Discovery (`creator_leads`)

```json
{
  "mode": "creator_leads",
  "searchKeywords": ["fintech", "b2b saas", "devtools"],
  "maxItemsPerTarget": 50
}
```

#### Example 2: Full-Text Newsletter Archive for RAG (`posts`)

```json
{
  "mode": "posts",
  "publications": [
    "pragmaticengineer.substack.com",
    "www.fintechbrainfood.com"
  ],
  "maxItemsPerTarget": 25,
  "includeFullContent": true
}
```

***

### Output example (`creator_leads` mode)

```json
[
  {
    "recordType": "creator_lead",
    "publicationName": "Fintech Brain Food",
    "subdomain": "sytaylor",
    "publicationUrl": "https://www.fintechbrainfood.com",
    "customDomain": "www.fintechbrainfood.com",
    "authorName": "Simon Taylor",
    "authorHandle": "sytaylor",
    "bio": "Fintech Brainfood is my personal space to make sense of fintech, payments and banking...",
    "subscriberCount": 42000,
    "subscriberCountLabel": "42K+ subscribers",
    "followerCount": 58400,
    "bestsellerTier": 1000,
    "paidSubscriptionsEnabled": false,
    "substackAddress": "sytaylor@substack.com",
    "twitterHandle": "sytaylor",
    "externalLinks": ["https://www.fintechbrainfood.com"],
    "matchedKeyword": "fintech"
  }
]
```

***

### Integrate with Python, Clay, n8n & Make

#### Python (`apify-client`)

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

client = ApifyClient("YOUR_APIFY_API_TOKEN")
run = client.actor("ramgoxxx/substack-newsletter-leads-posts-scraper").call(
    run_input={
        "mode": "creator_leads",
        "searchKeywords": ["cybersecurity", "cloud native"],
        "maxItemsPerTarget": 40,
    }
)

for lead in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items():
    print(lead["publicationName"], "|", lead["subscriberCountLabel"], "|", lead["publicationUrl"])
```

#### cURL / n8n Webhook

```bash
curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/ramgoxxx~substack-newsletter-leads-posts-scraper/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=YOUR_APIFY_API_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"mode":"creator_leads","searchKeywords":["ai startup"],"maxItemsPerTarget":25}'
```

***

### Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

#### Can this extract paywalled subscriber-only content?

No. Respecting creator paywalls, the Actor only extracts publicly accessible free issues (`audience: "everyone"`) and public preview excerpts on paid-only posts.

#### Legal, GDPR & Ethical Notice

> Our Actors are ethical and do not bypass paywalls or extract private subscriber data. They only aggregate public publication profiles, creator bios, public links, and openly published newsletter issues. Creator names and social handles may constitute personal data under GDPR in the EU and similar regulations globally; ensure any B2B sponsorship or partnership outreach complies with applicable privacy and anti-spam laws. Open a ticket in the **Issues** tab for support.

# Actor input Schema

## `mode` (type: `string`):

'creator_leads' discovers Substack newsletters & authors by keyword; 'posts' extracts full articles & engagement from target publications; 'both' runs both.

## `searchKeywords` (type: `array`):

Keywords to discover Substack newsletters, subscriber counts, and creators (e.g. 'fintech', 'ai agents', 'b2b saas').

## `publications` (type: `array`):

Substack URLs, custom domains, or subdomains (e.g. 'pragmaticengineer.substack.com', 'www.fintechbrainfood.com').

## `maxItemsPerTarget` (type: `integer`):

Maximum records to extract per keyword or per publication.

## `includeFullContent` (type: `boolean`):

Fetch complete plain-text article body (no extra charge per post).

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

Optional automatic Apify Proxy fallback.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "mode": "creator_leads",
  "searchKeywords": [
    "fintech",
    "artificial intelligence"
  ],
  "publications": [
    "pragmaticengineer.substack.com"
  ],
  "maxItemsPerTarget": 25,
  "includeFullContent": true,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true
  }
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `records` (type: `string`):

Structured Substack creator leads and/or full newsletter post 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 = {};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("ramgoxxx/substack-newsletter-leads-posts-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("ramgoxxx/substack-newsletter-leads-posts-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 '{}' |
apify call ramgoxxx/substack-newsletter-leads-posts-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,ramgoxxx/substack-newsletter-leads-posts-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/5X5CoZcr0hnjKvwuV/builds/JwnH0f0VPEZdyLMca/openapi.json