Homebrew Packages & Install Analytics Scraper

Turn the Homebrew ecosystem into structured, ranked package intelligence. This actor pairs full formula (CLI tools and libraries) and cask (macOS apps) metadata with the official Homebrew install analytics: real 30, 90 and 365 day install counts plus leaderboard rank. Browse the most-installed packages, look up specific packages, or search by name and description. Optional add-ons compute reverse dependents (supply-chain impact) and an AI summary of each package.

Perfect for developer-tool market research, package popularity ranking, dependency and supply-chain analysis, and developer marketing (which CLI tools and macOS apps developers actually install).

What you get

• Real install analytics - 30d / 90d / 365d install counts and the leaderboard rank for each package.
• Full metadata - description, homepage, license, latest version, tap, deprecated / disabled / keg-only flags.
• Dependencies - runtime and build dependencies for every formula.
• Cask fields - version and auto-updates flag for macOS apps.
• Reverse dependents (add-on) - which other formulae depend on a package, with a count and a sample list.
• AI summary (add-on) - what the package is, its category, what it is an alternative to, and its target user.
• Export to JSON, CSV or Excel.

Example output

{
  "name": "openssl@3",
  "type": "formula",
  "description": "Cryptography and SSL/TLS Toolkit",
  "homepage": "https://openssl.org/",
  "license": "Apache-2.0",
  "latestVersion": "3.6.3",
  "dependencies": ["ca-certificates"],
  "buildDependencies": [],
  "deprecated": false,
  "deprecationReason": null,
  "disabled": false,
  "kegOnly": false,
  "tap": "homebrew/core",
  "caskVersion": null,
  "autoUpdates": null,
  "installs30d": 522254,
  "installs90d": 1455561,
  "installs365d": 5656093,
  "installRank": 2,
  "dependentCount": 524,
  "dependents": ["adios2", "afflib", "alpine", "amber", "..."],
  "aiWhatItIs": null,
  "aiCategory": null,
  "aiAlternativeTo": null,
  "aiTargetUser": null,
  "observedAt": "2026-08-17T09:20:00.000Z",
  "error": null
}

Input

Field	Type	Description
mode	select	top (most-installed leaderboard), package (specific names), or search (name / description contains). Default top.
type	select	formula (CLI tools / libraries) or cask (macOS apps). Default formula.
names	array	Exact package names for package mode, for example git, wget, google-chrome.
query	string	Text to match in name or description for search mode.
analyticsWindow	select	30d, 90d or 365d - window used to rank top results and attach counts and rank. Default 30d.
includeDependents	boolean	Add-on: attach reverse dependents to each formula (count + sample). Paid plans only. Default off.
withAiSummary	boolean	Add-on: attach an AI summary to each package. Paid plans only. Default off.
maxResults	integer	Maximum number of packages to return.

Output fields

Field	Description
name	Package name or cask token
type	formula or cask
description	Short package description
homepage	Project homepage URL
license	SPDX license (formulae)
latestVersion	Latest stable version
dependencies	Runtime dependencies (formulae)
buildDependencies	Build-time dependencies (formulae)
deprecated / deprecationReason	Deprecation flag and reason
disabled / kegOnly	Disabled and keg-only flags
tap	Homebrew tap
caskVersion / autoUpdates	Version and auto-update flag (casks)
installs30d / installs90d / installs365d	Install counts per window (integers, null if unavailable)
installRank	Rank in the chosen window leaderboard (null if not ranked)
dependentCount / dependents	Reverse dependents (add-on)
aiWhatItIs / aiCategory / aiAlternativeTo / aiTargetUser	AI summary fields (add-on)
observedAt	Collection timestamp
error	Error message if a package could not be fetched (unbilled)

Use cases

• Developer tools research - rank CLI tools and libraries by real install volume across 30, 90 and 365 day windows.
• Package popularity tracking - monitor which formulae and macOS apps are trending up or down.
• Dependency and supply-chain analysis - map runtime and build dependencies, and use reverse dependents to see the blast radius of a package.
• Developer marketing - find which tools and apps your target developers already install and where your product fits.
• Competitive and category research - pair AI summaries with install counts to size categories and spot alternatives.

Billing

This actor uses pay-per-event pricing. You are never charged for failed lookups.

Event	Price (USD)	When it is charged
result	$0.008	Per package record returned
dependents	$0.008	Per formula enriched with reverse dependents (opt-in add-on)
ai_summary	$0.012	Per package with a successful AI summary (opt-in add-on)

Free Apify users are capped at 10 results per run and cannot use the paid add-ons.

Data source and honest limitations

• Data comes from the public, keyless Homebrew formulae API. Install counts are Homebrew's own opt-in analytics, so they reflect users who did not disable analytics, not every install on earth.
• installRank is only present when the package appears in the chosen window leaderboard; less-popular packages may have a rank of null while still reporting install counts.
• dependents covers formula-to-formula dependencies from the core catalog; it does not include casks or third-party taps outside the main list.
• License and dependency fields apply to formulae; casks expose version and auto-updates instead.