# Reddit Lead Finder — Buyer-Intent Posts (`signalengine/reddit-lead-finder`) Actor

Turn Reddit into B2B sales leads. Scan subreddits for buyer-intent posts ("looking for", "alternative to", "recommendations for") and get each as a ready-to-action lead: subreddit, user, post title and a direct link to the thread.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/signalengine/reddit-lead-finder.md
- **Developed by:** [James Taylor](https://apify.com/signalengine) (community)
- **Categories:** Lead generation, Developer tools, Automation
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, NaN bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $1.00 / 1,000 leads

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/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

Actors are a software tools running on the Apify platform, for all kinds of web data extraction and automation use cases.
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.

In JavaScript/TypeScript projects, use official [JavaScript/TypeScript client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js.md):

```bash
npm install apify-client
```

In Python projects, use official [Python client library](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python.md):

```bash
pip install apify-client
```

In shell scripts, use [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md):

````bash
# MacOS / Linux
curl -fsSL https://apify.com/install-cli.sh | bash
# Windows
irm https://apify.com/install-cli.ps1 | iex
```bash

In AI frameworks, you might use the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/mcp.md).

If your project is in a different language, use 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

## Reddit Lead Finder — Buyer-Intent Posts

Turn Reddit into a lead list. This actor scans the subreddits you care about for
**buyer-intent posts** — people actively asking *"looking for a CRM"*, *"alternative to
HubSpot?"*, *"recommendations for a cold email tool"* — and returns each as a clean lead you
can act on: the subreddit, the Reddit user, the post title, a direct link to the thread, and —
optionally — the poster's **company website** (premium).

It's built for founders, marketers, agencies and sales teams who want to **find demand, not
just scrape posts**.

### Why this instead of a generic Reddit scraper?

Most Reddit scrapers hand you *everything* and leave you to dig for the few posts that
matter. This one is opinionated: it filters to **purchase intent** first, so the output is a
short, high-signal list. Every lead is a person who just raised their hand — you decide
whether to reply in-thread, DM them, or add them to your research list. You can also extend
the matcher with your own phrases for niche-specific buying language.

It reads Reddit's public RSS feeds, so it needs **no login, no API key, and no proxy**, and
it's polite by design.

### What it does

- Scans one or more **subreddits** (`new`, `hot`, `rising`, or `top`).
- Keeps only posts whose titles signal **buying intent** (a curated set, extendable).
- Returns a tidy dataset: the matched intent phrase, subreddit, author, post title, a link to
  the post, and when it was posted.
- **Premium:** optionally resolves the poster's **company website** by mining their own Reddit
  activity for the sites they've shared (Reddit blocks the profile bio to scrapers, but a user's
  public feed is readable). Best-effort — set when a confident non-social domain is found.

### Who it's for

- **B2B founders & marketers** finding people who need exactly what you sell.
- **Agencies** sourcing prospects in client niches (SaaS, e-commerce, local services).
- **Sales teams** building warm, intent-based lists to engage.
- **Community & social teams** finding threads worth replying to.

### Input

| Field | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| `subreddits` | array | `["SaaS","marketing","Entrepreneur","smallbusiness"]` | Subreddits to scan (with or without `r/`). |
| `sort` | string | `new` | `new`, `hot`, `rising`, or `top`. `new` surfaces the freshest intent. |
| `maxLeads` | integer | `100` | Stop after this many leads (caps your spend). |
| `extraIntentPhrases` | array | `[]` | Extra case-insensitive intent phrases to match. |
| `resolveWebsites` | boolean | `false` | **Premium.** Mine each poster's activity feed for their company website. Adds one request per lead. |
| `maxConcurrency` | integer | `4` | Parallel feed requests (kept low to be polite). |

#### Example input

```json
{
  "subreddits": ["SaaS", "PPC", "digital_marketing"],
  "sort": "new",
  "maxLeads": 50,
  "extraIntentPhrases": ["need a tool", "any suggestions for"]
}
````

### How to run

1. Click **Try for free** (or open the actor in your Apify Console).
2. Enter the **subreddits** you want to scan and pick a **sort** (`new` is best for fresh intent).
3. Set **maxLeads** to cap your spend.
4. (Optional) Add your own **extraIntentPhrases** for niche-specific buying language.
5. Click **Start**. When the run finishes, open the **Dataset** tab and export to JSON/CSV/Excel,
   or pull it via the API (below).

Run it on a **schedule** (Apify Schedules) to get a fresh intent list every morning, or call it
from **Make / Zapier / n8n** via the Apify integrations.

### Output

Each item in the dataset:

```json
{
  "type": "lead",
  "subreddit": "marketing",
  "author": "specialchar123",
  "intentPhrase": "looking for",
  "title": "Looking for marketing SOPs",
  "body": "We just hired two juniors and need documented processes…",
  "postUrl": "https://old.reddit.com/r/marketing/comments/1trov7o/looking_for_marketing_sops",
  "createdAt": "2026-06-01T18:22:00.000Z",
  "website": null,
  "businessName": null,
  "score": null
}
```

Field notes:

- **`author`** is the Reddit username — engage them in-thread via `postUrl`, or DM them.
- **`intentPhrase`** is the exact phrase that matched (built-in or one of your `extraIntentPhrases`).
- **`website` / `businessName`** are filled when **`resolveWebsites`** is on and a confident company
  domain is found in the poster's activity; otherwise `null` (we never fake it). `businessName` is
  the website's domain.
- **`score` is always `null`** — RSS doesn't expose engagement counts, and we don't fabricate them.

#### Export & API

```bash
## Last run's dataset items as JSON
curl "https://api.apify.com/v2/datasets/<DATASET_ID>/items?format=json&token=<APIFY_TOKEN>"
```

Or use the **run-sync-get-dataset-items** endpoint to run-and-wait in a single call — handy for
embedding the actor in your own backend.

### Limitations

- **Intent is matched on the post title.** A buying signal buried only in the body may be
  missed — add `extraIntentPhrases` to widen the net.
- **RSS depth.** Each subreddit feed returns its most recent ~25 posts, so scan more subreddits
  (or run on a schedule) for broader coverage rather than expecting a full historical export.
- **No engagement metrics.** RSS doesn't expose upvote/comment counts (we never fake them).
- **Website enrichment is best-effort.** It depends on the poster having shared their site in their
  public activity; expect it on a meaningful share of leads, not all.

### Compliance

This actor reads **public Reddit RSS only**, identifies itself with a descriptive User-Agent,
runs at modest concurrency, and does not log in, post, vote, or message. You are responsible
for using the output in line with Reddit's terms and any outreach/marketing rules that apply
to you.

### FAQ

**Do I need a Reddit account, API key, or proxy?** No — it reads public RSS feeds directly.

**How is it priced and how do I control cost?** Apify Pay-Per-Event — you're charged per
**lead** returned. Set `maxLeads` to cap spend; non-matching and duplicate posts are never charged.

**Can I add my own intent phrases?** Yes — `extraIntentPhrases` are matched alongside the
built-in set, and the matching phrase is recorded in each lead's `intentPhrase`.

**Which subreddits work best?** Niche, buyer-heavy communities (e.g. `r/SaaS`, `r/PPC`,
`r/digital_marketing`, `r/smallbusiness`) tend to produce the highest-intent leads.

**How fresh is the data?** It reads the live feed on each run. Use `sort: "new"` plus a schedule
to catch intent as it's posted.

**Can I get the poster's company website?** Yes — turn on **`resolveWebsites`** (premium). Reddit
blocks the profile bio to scrapers, so we mine the sites a poster has shared in their own public
activity feed instead. It's best-effort: you get a website when there's a confident signal, `null`
otherwise — never a fabricated one.

***

#### Want this fully automated?

This actor finds the intent. If you'd like the **whole loop** — intent discovery, contact
enrichment, AI-personalised outreach, and reply handling — done for you, that's what we build
at **[SignalEngine](https://engine.signalsprint.io)**. This actor is a taste of the engine that
powers it.

# Actor input Schema

## `subreddits` (type: `array`):

Subreddits to scan (with or without the r/ prefix), e.g. "SaaS", "marketing".

## `sort` (type: `string`):

Which listing feed to read. "new" surfaces the freshest intent.

## `maxLeads` (type: `integer`):

Stop after this many leads have been collected (caps your spend).

## `extraIntentPhrases` (type: `array`):

Additional case-insensitive phrases to treat as buying intent, on top of the built-in set.

## `resolveWebsites` (type: `boolean`):

For each lead, mine the poster's own Reddit activity feed for their company website. Best-effort (set only when a confident non-social domain is found). Adds one request per lead, so runs cost a little more.

## `maxConcurrency` (type: `integer`):

Parallel feed requests. Kept low by default to stay polite.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "subreddits": [
    "SaaS",
    "marketing",
    "Entrepreneur",
    "smallbusiness"
  ],
  "sort": "new",
  "maxLeads": 100,
  "extraIntentPhrases": [],
  "resolveWebsites": false,
  "maxConcurrency": 4
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `leads` (type: `string`):

All leads collected in this run (subreddit, user, title, post link, matched intent phrase).

# 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 = {
    "subreddits": [
        "SaaS",
        "marketing",
        "Entrepreneur",
        "smallbusiness"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("signalengine/reddit-lead-finder").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 = { "subreddits": [
        "SaaS",
        "marketing",
        "Entrepreneur",
        "smallbusiness",
    ] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("signalengine/reddit-lead-finder").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print("💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/" + run["defaultDatasetId"])
for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "subreddits": [
    "SaaS",
    "marketing",
    "Entrepreneur",
    "smallbusiness"
  ]
}' |
apify call signalengine/reddit-lead-finder --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "mcp-remote",
                "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=signalengine/reddit-lead-finder",
                "--header",
                "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR_API_TOKEN>"
            ]
        }
    }
}

```

## OpenAPI specification

```json
{
    "openapi": "3.0.1",
    "info": {
        "title": "Reddit Lead Finder — Buyer-Intent Posts",
        "description": "Turn Reddit into B2B sales leads. Scan subreddits for buyer-intent posts (\"looking for\", \"alternative to\", \"recommendations for\") and get each as a ready-to-action lead: subreddit, user, post title and a direct link to the thread.",
        "version": "0.1",
        "x-build-id": "68IhyKF5q8O5WJeq7"
    },
    "servers": [
        {
            "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2"
        }
    ],
    "paths": {
        "/acts/signalengine~reddit-lead-finder/run-sync-get-dataset-items": {
            "post": {
                "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-signalengine-reddit-lead-finder",
                "x-openai-isConsequential": false,
                "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for its completion, and returns Actor's dataset items in response.",
                "tags": [
                    "Run Actor"
                ],
                "requestBody": {
                    "required": true,
                    "content": {
                        "application/json": {
                            "schema": {
                                "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                "parameters": [
                    {
                        "name": "token",
                        "in": "query",
                        "required": true,
                        "schema": {
                            "type": "string"
                        },
                        "description": "Enter your Apify token here"
                    }
                ],
                "responses": {
                    "200": {
                        "description": "OK"
                    }
                }
            }
        },
        "/acts/signalengine~reddit-lead-finder/runs": {
            "post": {
                "operationId": "runs-sync-signalengine-reddit-lead-finder",
                "x-openai-isConsequential": false,
                "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.",
                "tags": [
                    "Run Actor"
                ],
                "requestBody": {
                    "required": true,
                    "content": {
                        "application/json": {
                            "schema": {
                                "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                "parameters": [
                    {
                        "name": "token",
                        "in": "query",
                        "required": true,
                        "schema": {
                            "type": "string"
                        },
                        "description": "Enter your Apify token here"
                    }
                ],
                "responses": {
                    "200": {
                        "description": "OK",
                        "content": {
                            "application/json": {
                                "schema": {
                                    "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema"
                                }
                            }
                        }
                    }
                }
            }
        },
        "/acts/signalengine~reddit-lead-finder/run-sync": {
            "post": {
                "operationId": "run-sync-signalengine-reddit-lead-finder",
                "x-openai-isConsequential": false,
                "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.",
                "tags": [
                    "Run Actor"
                ],
                "requestBody": {
                    "required": true,
                    "content": {
                        "application/json": {
                            "schema": {
                                "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                "parameters": [
                    {
                        "name": "token",
                        "in": "query",
                        "required": true,
                        "schema": {
                            "type": "string"
                        },
                        "description": "Enter your Apify token here"
                    }
                ],
                "responses": {
                    "200": {
                        "description": "OK"
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    },
    "components": {
        "schemas": {
            "inputSchema": {
                "type": "object",
                "required": [
                    "subreddits"
                ],
                "properties": {
                    "subreddits": {
                        "title": "Subreddits",
                        "type": "array",
                        "description": "Subreddits to scan (with or without the r/ prefix), e.g. \"SaaS\", \"marketing\".",
                        "default": [
                            "SaaS",
                            "marketing",
                            "Entrepreneur",
                            "smallbusiness"
                        ],
                        "items": {
                            "type": "string"
                        }
                    },
                    "sort": {
                        "title": "Sort",
                        "enum": [
                            "new",
                            "hot",
                            "rising",
                            "top"
                        ],
                        "type": "string",
                        "description": "Which listing feed to read. \"new\" surfaces the freshest intent.",
                        "default": "new"
                    },
                    "maxLeads": {
                        "title": "Max leads",
                        "minimum": 1,
                        "type": "integer",
                        "description": "Stop after this many leads have been collected (caps your spend).",
                        "default": 100
                    },
                    "extraIntentPhrases": {
                        "title": "Extra intent phrases",
                        "type": "array",
                        "description": "Additional case-insensitive phrases to treat as buying intent, on top of the built-in set.",
                        "default": [],
                        "items": {
                            "type": "string"
                        }
                    },
                    "resolveWebsites": {
                        "title": "Resolve company website (premium)",
                        "type": "boolean",
                        "description": "For each lead, mine the poster's own Reddit activity feed for their company website. Best-effort (set only when a confident non-social domain is found). Adds one request per lead, so runs cost a little more.",
                        "default": false
                    },
                    "maxConcurrency": {
                        "title": "Max concurrency",
                        "minimum": 1,
                        "maximum": 20,
                        "type": "integer",
                        "description": "Parallel feed requests. Kept low by default to stay polite.",
                        "default": 4
                    }
                }
            },
            "runsResponseSchema": {
                "type": "object",
                "properties": {
                    "data": {
                        "type": "object",
                        "properties": {
                            "id": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "actId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "userId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "startedAt": {
                                "type": "string",
                                "format": "date-time",
                                "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z"
                            },
                            "finishedAt": {
                                "type": "string",
                                "format": "date-time",
                                "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z"
                            },
                            "status": {
                                "type": "string",
                                "example": "READY"
                            },
                            "meta": {
                                "type": "object",
                                "properties": {
                                    "origin": {
                                        "type": "string",
                                        "example": "API"
                                    },
                                    "userAgent": {
                                        "type": "string"
                                    }
                                }
                            },
                            "stats": {
                                "type": "object",
                                "properties": {
                                    "inputBodyLen": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 2000
                                    },
                                    "rebootCount": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "restartCount": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "resurrectCount": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "computeUnits": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    }
                                }
                            },
                            "options": {
                                "type": "object",
                                "properties": {
                                    "build": {
                                        "type": "string",
                                        "example": "latest"
                                    },
                                    "timeoutSecs": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 300
                                    },
                                    "memoryMbytes": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 1024
                                    },
                                    "diskMbytes": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 2048
                                    }
                                }
                            },
                            "buildId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "defaultKeyValueStoreId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "defaultDatasetId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "defaultRequestQueueId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "buildNumber": {
                                "type": "string",
                                "example": "1.0.0"
                            },
                            "containerUrl": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "usage": {
                                "type": "object",
                                "properties": {
                                    "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATASET_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATASET_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 1
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "PROXY_SERPS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    }
                                }
                            },
                            "usageTotalUsd": {
                                "type": "number",
                                "example": 0.00005
                            },
                            "usageUsd": {
                                "type": "object",
                                "properties": {
                                    "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATASET_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATASET_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "number",
                                        "example": 0.00005
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "PROXY_SERPS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    }
                                }
                            }
                        }
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    }
}
```