Coursera Course Scraper

Extract rich Coursera course and program data with search-based collection. Gather titles, ratings, difficulty, provider details, language coverage, badges, and product classification in a clean dataset for education research, catalog monitoring, and competitive analysis.

Features

• Richer Course Records — Collect ratings, review counts, skills, providers, language availability, badges, and catalog classification
• Search-Driven Collection — Use a keyword or a Coursera search URL to target the exact topic you need
• Clean Output — Duplicate records, null-only values, and incomplete items are filtered before they reach the dataset
• Pagination Support — Continue across result pages until you reach your target volume or page cap
• Research-Ready Metadata — Keep search rank, page number, catalog source, and eligibility indicators for downstream analysis

Use Cases

Education Research

Track how subjects, skill clusters, and learning pathways are represented across Coursera. Compare catalog breadth, language support, and difficulty distribution over time.

Program Discovery

Build searchable datasets for internal tools, recommendation systems, or content curation workflows. Use provider names, badges, and program types to segment the catalog quickly.

Market Intelligence

Monitor which topics, institutions, and credential formats are prominent for specific keywords. Spot trends in new programs, subscription inclusion, and translated content availability.

Content Benchmarking

Compare competing programs by ratings, review volume, skills coverage, and duration category. This is useful for analyzing certification landscapes or designing similar learning offers.

Localization Analysis

Measure how widely programs are translated and subtitled. Language coverage fields make it easier to identify global-ready content without manual checking.

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Input Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
query	String	No	—	Search term such as python, machine learning, or data science
startUrl	String	No	—	Specific Coursera search URL; the actor reads the query value from it
results_wanted	Integer	No	20	Maximum number of records to collect
max_pages	Integer	No	10	Maximum number of result pages to process
proxyConfiguration	Object	No	—	Optional proxy settings for request routing

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Output Data

Each item in the dataset contains:

Field	Type	Description
id	String	Coursera product identifier
name	String	Course or program title
url	String	Absolute Coursera URL
imageUrl	String	Course or program image
avgProductRating	Number	Average rating
numProductRatings	Integer	Number of ratings
productDifficultyLevel	String	Difficulty level
productDuration	String	Duration bucket
productType	String	Catalog type such as course or certificate
skills	Array	Skills associated with the item
partners	Array	Provider or institution names
partnerLogos	Array	Provider logo URLs
tagline	String	Subtitle or short pitch
isCourseFree	Boolean	Whether the item is listed as free
isCreditEligible	Boolean	Whether the item is credit eligible
isNewContent	Boolean	Whether the item is marked new
isPartOfCourseraPlus	Boolean	Whether the item is included in Coursera Plus
cobrandingEnabled	Boolean	Whether co-branding is enabled
fullyTranslatedLanguages	Array	Fully translated languages
subtitlesOnlyLanguages	Array	Subtitle-only languages
translatedName	String	Localized title when available
translatedSkills	Array	Localized skills when available
parentCourseName	String	Parent course name for lesson-level results when present
parentLessonName	String	Parent lesson name when present
productCardId	String	Product card identifier
canonicalType	String	Canonical catalog type
marketingProductType	String	Marketing-facing product type
badges	Array	Labels such as Free Trial or NEW
isPathwayContent	Boolean	Whether the item is part of a pathway
courseCardRating	Number	Card-level rating when available
courseCardReviewCount	Integer	Card-level review count when available
searchQuery	String	Search term used for collection
searchRank	Integer	Position in the collected result set
page	Integer	Result page number
totalElements	Integer	Total items reported for the query
totalPages	Integer	Total pages reported for the query
sourceIndexName	String	Source index label from the catalog
aiSearchSummaryEligible	Boolean	Whether the query is eligible for summary features

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Usage Examples

Basic Search

Collect the first 20 Python-related records:

{
    "query": "python",
    "results_wanted": 20
}

Higher Volume Collection

Collect more records while capping the number of pages:

{
    "query": "machine learning",
    "results_wanted": 100,
    "max_pages": 8
}

Start From a Coursera Search URL

Use an existing Coursera search URL instead of a separate keyword:

{
    "startUrl": "https://www.coursera.org/search?query=data%20analytics",
    "results_wanted": 50
}

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Sample Output

{
    "id": "s12n~F-h1g0w7EeWeOApO_l5R1w",
    "name": "Python for Everybody",
    "url": "https://www.coursera.org/specializations/python",
    "imageUrl": "https://d2j5ihb19pt1hq.cloudfront.net/sdp_page/s12n_logos/python.jpg",
    "avgProductRating": 4.815413103278494,
    "numProductRatings": 280281,
    "productDifficultyLevel": "BEGINNER",
    "productDuration": "THREE_TO_SIX_MONTHS",
    "productType": "SPECIALIZATION",
    "skills": [
        "Database Design",
        "Debugging",
        "Web Scraping",
        "SQL",
        "JSON",
        "Python Programming"
    ],
    "partners": [
        "University of Michigan"
    ],
    "partnerLogos": [
        "https://coursera-university-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/70/de505d47be7d3a063b51b6f856a6e2/New-Block-M-Stacked-Blue-295C_600x600.png"
    ],
    "tagline": "Learn to Program and Analyze Data with Python\nOffered by University of Michigan",
    "isCourseFree": false,
    "isCreditEligible": false,
    "isNewContent": false,
    "isPartOfCourseraPlus": true,
    "fullyTranslatedLanguages": [
        "English"
    ],
    "subtitlesOnlyLanguages": [
        "Arabic",
        "French",
        "German",
        "Japanese",
        "Spanish"
    ],
    "productCardId": "F-h1g0w7EeWeOApO_l5R1w",
    "canonicalType": "SPECIALIZATION",
    "marketingProductType": "SPECIALIZATION",
    "badges": [
        "Free Trial"
    ],
    "isPathwayContent": true,
    "searchQuery": "python",
    "searchRank": 1,
    "page": 1,
    "totalElements": 605,
    "totalPages": 31,
    "sourceIndexName": "consumer_products_cohere_embed_english_v3_cold_start_alias"
}

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Tips for Best Results

Choose Precise Keywords

• Use focused phrases such as python for beginners or data analytics
• Add institution or credential terms when you want narrower results
• Run separate searches for different subject clusters to keep datasets clean

Keep Initial Runs Small

• Start with results_wanted: 20 to validate output shape
• Increase gradually for larger exports
• Use max_pages as a safety cap for broad queries

Review Language Fields

• Check fullyTranslatedLanguages and subtitlesOnlyLanguages when analyzing international reach
• Use those fields to segment content by localization maturity

Use Proxies When Needed

• Add proxy settings for larger or repeated runs
• Residential routing can help smooth out collection over time

Preserve Search Context

• Keep searchQuery, searchRank, and page for downstream ranking analysis
• Combine those fields with ratings and badges for richer comparisons

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Integrations

Connect your data with:

• Google Sheets — Review and share search results quickly
• Airtable — Build searchable learning catalogs
• Slack — Notify teams when new keyword pulls finish
• Webhooks — Forward results into custom pipelines
• Make — Automate research and monitoring workflows
• Zapier — Trigger follow-up actions from new datasets

Export Formats

• JSON — Best for structured pipelines
• CSV — Easy spreadsheet analysis
• Excel — Business reporting and review
• XML — Legacy system integration

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Frequently Asked Questions

Can I collect both courses and certificate programs?

Yes. Search results can include courses, specializations, professional certificates, and other product types, and each record includes its catalog classification.

What happens if some fields are missing?

The actor drops empty values from each record and skips incomplete items that do not have the minimum required course identity fields.

Does the dataset include duplicate courses?

No. Duplicate records are filtered during collection before they are written to the dataset.

Can I start from a Coursera search link?

Yes. Pass a Coursera search URL in startUrl, and the actor will extract the query value from that link.

How many results can I collect?

You can request large collections, but broad queries may span many pages. Use results_wanted and max_pages together to control run size.

Is language coverage included?

Yes. When Coursera provides it, the output includes fully translated languages and subtitle-only languages.

Can I use the data for ranking analysis?

Yes. Each record includes search position context such as searchRank, page, and total result counts.

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Support

For issues or feature requests, contact support through the Apify Console.

Resources

• Apify Documentation
• API Reference
• Scheduling Runs

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Legal Notice

This actor is intended for lawful data collection and analysis. Users are responsible for ensuring compliance with Coursera terms and all applicable laws before running large-scale collection jobs.