# Substack Leaderboard & Profile Scraper (`saswave/substack-leaderboard-profile-scraper`) Actor

$0.9 / 1000 results. Substack leaderboard scraper. Profile Scraper. Collect data at scale about subscriptions. Get data about author, subscriptions plans details, number of subscriber, category, content type, ranking details by languages, show links and more

- **URL**: https://apify.com/saswave/substack-leaderboard-profile-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [SASWAVE](https://apify.com/saswave) (community)
- **Categories:** Automation, Lead generation, News
- **Stats:** 25 total users, 0 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 1 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $0.90 / 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/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

### Substack Leaderboard & Profile Scraper

The Substack Leaderboard Scraper collects detailed subscription and author data at scale.

Profile Scraper.

It’s designed for market research, newsletter analytics, and competitive intelligence.

### 🔹 Features

Author & Newsletter Details

Author name, handle, bio, photo.

Newsletter name, URL, subdomain, custom domain.

Category, language, and type (newsletter, podcast, etc.).

Founding, free, and paid subscription benefits.

Subscription Plans

Plan ID, nickname, currency, interval (monthly/yearly), amount.

Multi-currency pricing.

Founding and premium plans.

Free trial and paywall settings.

Ranking & Subscriber Metrics

Paid and free subscriber counts.

Ranking details globally and by language.

Orders of magnitude for subscriber estimates.

Podcast Integration

Podcast enabled flags.

Feed URLs, Spotify access, paid/free episode availability.

Content & Community

Community-enabled features.

Post settings, moderation, reaction faces, threads.

Sections, show links, and multiple pins.

Technical & Stripe Info

Stripe account and publishable key.

Automatic tax settings.

Theme variables and customization flags.

Metadata & Tracking

Cover photo, hero image/text, email banners.

Pixels: GA, Twitter, Facebook (optional).

Post preview limits, embed tracking, and paywall settings.

### 🔹 Use Cases

Substack newsletter analytics

Ranking and subscriber trend monitoring

Market research for newsletter monetization

Tracking podcast engagement and paid subscriptions

### Output

Profile

```json
{
  "id": 34769175,
  "name": "Elise Bordet",
  "handle": "elisebordet",
  "previous_name": null,
  "photo_url": "https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/4c52b66e-b452-4398-bad1-5807ddd9625c_435x435.jpeg",
  "bio": "Après un parcours scientifique et business à très haut niveau, je partage tout ce que j'ai appris avec le plus grand nombre pour défendre le bien commun et préparer l'avenir ! ",
  "profile_set_up_at": "2023-09-18T16:47:14.329Z",
  "reader_installed_at": null,
  "tos_accepted_at": null,
  "profile_disabled": false,
  "userLinks": [
    {
      "id": 1485396,
      "value": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/%C3%A9lise-bordet-249919102/",
      "url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/%C3%A9lise-bordet-249919102/",
      "type": "linkedin",
      "label": "LinkedIn"
    },
    {
      "id": 1485399,
      "value": "@elise.bordet_",
      "url": "https://instagram.com/elise.bordet_",
      "type": "instagram",
      "label": "Instagram"
    }
  ],
  "publicationUsers": [
    {
      "id": 4112391,
      "user_id": 34769175,
      "publication_id": 4033143,
      "role": "admin",
      "public": true,
      "is_primary": true,
      "publication": {
        "id": 4033143,
        "name": "La newsletter d'Elise",
        "subdomain": "ebordet",
        "custom_domain": null,
        "custom_domain_optional": false,
        "hero_text": "J'ai décidé de créer cette bulle de joie, d'informations et de connaissances! \nBien loin des Buzz et des posts qui remontent dans l'algorithme, c'est aussi un bon moyen de vous envoyer de l'information sans dépendre totalement des plateformes. ",
        "logo_url": "https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/4c52b66e-b452-4398-bad1-5807ddd9625c_435x435.jpeg",
        "author_id": 34769175,
        "primary_user_id": 34769175,
        "theme_var_background_pop": "#FF6719",
        "created_at": "2025-02-05T20:54:56.278Z",
        "email_from_name": "La Newsletter d'Elise Bordet ",
        "copyright": "Elise Bordet",
        "founding_plan_name": "Mécènes 🥦❤️",
        "community_enabled": true,
        "invite_only": false,
        "payments_state": "enabled",
        "language": "fr",
        "explicit": false,
        "homepage_type": "newspaper",
        "is_personal_mode": false,
        "logo_url_wide": null,
        "author": {
          "id": 34769175,
          "name": "Elise Bordet",
          "handle": "elisebordet",
          "previous_name": null,
          "photo_url": "https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/4c52b66e-b452-4398-bad1-5807ddd9625c_435x435.jpeg",
          "bio": "Après un parcours scientifique et business à très haut niveau, je partage tout ce que j'ai appris avec le plus grand nombre pour défendre le bien commun et préparer l'avenir ! ",
          "profile_set_up_at": "2023-09-18T16:47:14.329Z",
          "reader_installed_at": null
        }
      }
    }
  ],
  "subscriptions": [],
  "subscriptionsTruncated": false,
  "hasGuestPost": false,
  "primaryPublication": {
    "id": 4033143,
    "subdomain": "ebordet",
    "custom_domain_optional": false,
    "name": "La newsletter d'Elise",
    "logo_url": "https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/4c52b66e-b452-4398-bad1-5807ddd9625c_435x435.jpeg",
    "author_id": 34769175,
    "primary_user_id": 34769175,
    "user_id": 34769175,
    "handles_enabled": false,
    "language": "fr",
    "explicit": false,
    "is_personal_mode": false,
    "payments_state": "enabled",
    "pledges_enabled": false,
    "ios_app_payments_enabled": true,
    "has_reply_rules": false
  },
  "max_pub_tier": 2,
  "hasPosts": true,
  "hasActivity": true,
  "hasLikes": true,
  "primaryPublicationPodcastTabInfo": null,
  "primaryPublicationChatEnabled": true,
  "lists": [],
  "rough_num_free_subscribers_int": 1000,
  "rough_num_free_subscribers": "Thousands",
  "bestseller_badge_disabled": false,
  "bestseller_tier": null,
  "subscriberCountString": "4K+ subscribers",
  "subscriberCount": "4K+",
  "subscriberCountNumber": 4000,
  "hasHiddenPublicationUsers": true,
  "visibleSubscriptionsCount": 0,
  "followerCount": 4139,
  "slug": "elise-bordet",
  "previousSlug": "",
  "primaryPublicationIsPledged": false,
  "primaryPublicationSubscriptionState": "none",
  "isSubscribed": false,
  "isFollowing": false,
  "followsViewer": false,
  "can_dm": true,
  "leaderboardRanking": {
    "category_name": "Culture",
    "category_id": 96,
    "rank": 26,
    "ranking": "trending",
    "publication_id": 4033143
  },
  "subdomainUrl": null,
  "isPersonalEligible": false,
  "status": {
    "bestsellerTier": null,
    "subscriberTier": null,
    "leaderboard": {
      "ranking": "trending",
      "rank": 26,
      "publicationName": "La newsletter d'Elise",
      "label": "Culture",
      "categoryId": "96",
      "publicationId": 4033143
    },
    "vip": false,
    "badge": null,
    "subscriber": null
  }
}
```

Category

```json
{
  "id": 96,
  "created_at": "2020-04-23T02:44:52.580Z",
  "updated_at": "2020-04-23T02:44:52.580Z",
  "name": "Culture",
  "canonical_name": "culture",
  "active": true,
  "rank": 0,
  "parent_tag_id": null,
  "slug": "culture",
  "emoji": "🎭️",
  "leaderboard_description": "A full list of the top 25 culture newsletters and podcasts on Substack. Read about the latest pop culture moments, style, movies, music and beyond, and how culture impacts the wider world.",
  "deprecated": false,
  "type": "category"
}
```

Leaderboard

```json
{
  "id": 34769175,
  "name": "Elise Bordet",
  "handle": "elisebordet",
  "previous_name": null,
  "photo_url": "https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/4c52b66e-b452-4398-bad1-5807ddd9625c_435x435.jpeg",
  "bio": "Après un parcours scientifique et business à très haut niveau, je partage tout ce que j'ai appris avec le plus grand nombre pour défendre le bien commun et préparer l'avenir ! ",
  "profile_set_up_at": "2023-09-18T16:47:14.329Z",
  "reader_installed_at": null,
  "bestseller_tier": null,
  "status": {
    "bestsellerTier": null,
    "subscriberTier": null,
    "leaderboard": {
      "ranking": "trending",
      "rank": 26,
      "publicationName": "La newsletter d'Elise",
      "label": "Culture",
      "categoryId": "96",
      "publicationId": 4033143
    },
    "vip": false,
    "badge": null,
    "subscriber": null
  },
  "primary_publication": {
    "id": 4033143,
    "subdomain": "ebordet",
    "custom_domain_optional": false,
    "name": "La newsletter d'Elise",
    "logo_url": "https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/4c52b66e-b452-4398-bad1-5807ddd9625c_435x435.jpeg",
    "author_id": 34769175,
    "primary_user_id": 34769175,
    "user_id": 34769175,
    "handles_enabled": false,
    "language": "fr",
    "explicit": false,
    "is_personal_mode": false,
    "payments_state": "enabled",
    "pledges_enabled": false,
    "ios_app_payments_enabled": true,
    "has_reply_rules": false
  }
}
```

### 🛟 SUPPORT

Share your runs with the developer team and create issues on error to help us improve actor quality.

You might discover edge case we didn't test yet

We stay available anytime

# Actor input Schema

## `category_id` (type: `array`):

Leave empty to extract full list of available categories (not slug, provide id)

## `handles` (type: `array`):

Provide a list of user to get profile infos, for url https://substack.com/@thefreepress handle is thefreepress

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "category_id": [
    "bestseller"
  ],
  "handles": []
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (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 = {
    "category_id": [
        "bestseller"
    ],
    "handles": []
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("saswave/substack-leaderboard-profile-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 = {
    "category_id": ["bestseller"],
    "handles": [],
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("saswave/substack-leaderboard-profile-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 '{
  "category_id": [
    "bestseller"
  ],
  "handles": []
}' |
apify call saswave/substack-leaderboard-profile-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,saswave/substack-leaderboard-profile-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/L3m9mhQfoCugv7YGc/builds/6a92JIUX6t7HuDsIF/openapi.json